This page contains information about certain policies and procedures at Stoddert.
MORNING DROP OFF
School begins promptly at 8:45am. In order to move the students to their classrooms and get settled for the day, parents are asked to have their children arrive to school promptly between 8:30AM and 8:40AM. Parents are asked to watch their children who arrive prior to this time. At approximately 8:40AM the teachers will begin to move their students to their classrooms. Students arriving after this time should report directly to the front office. Late students should NOT go directly to their classrooms. The following is information regarding the specific line-up and drop off information for each grade:
- Pre-K students will enter through the Pre-K classroom door, which is adjacent to the brick courtyard area at the front entrance of school. The Pre-K teachers will greet students and parents at the door beginning at 8:40AM
- Kindergarten students will enter through the kindergarten “porch” area. Each kindergarten classroom will enter through its own door on the “porch.” Each door will be clearly marked with the name of the classroom. The kindergarten instructional aides will be outside on the “porch” at 8:30AM to greet and assist parents and students. At 8:40AM the “porch” doors will be opened.
- 1st-2nd grade students will line up by classroom in the courtyard area in front of the main entrance doors. Teachers will be in the courtyard area at 8:40AM, with classroom signs. First-grade classrooms will line up the west side of the courtyard area (the side closest to the original wing of the building). Second-grade classrooms will line up in the middle of the courtyard area. Third-grade classrooms will line up on the east side of the courtyard area. At 8:40AM teachers will lead students to their classrooms. Parents are asked to drop their students before the brick area and allow the students to line up. Parents should not wait on the brick area. If you arrive early, please watch your child and wait until the teachers arrive.
- 3rd,4th,5th grade students Line up between the playground and the far end of the kindergarten porch. At 8:40AM teachers will lead students to their classrooms.
AFTERNOON PICK UP
School ends promptly at 3:15pm. Parents are asked to pick up their children at exactly 3:15PM Parents are asked to wait outside for their children and NOT enter building or wait in the lobby. Parents are asked wait on the bricks in the outdoor courtyard area to allow the students to come outside of the building. Please remain off of the benches, the stairs and the area just outside the doors. Should you arrive after this time, please go directly to the front office to pick up your child. Students will be escorted outside according to the following schedule:
DRIVING TO SCHOOL CODE OF CONDUCT
All parents and caregivers who drive their children to school are asked to please review and respect the rules and guidelines outlined the Driving Code Of Conduct Map & Procedures.
Stoddert ES is an urban designed school in the heart of a very busy residential neighborhood. It is critical that all parents and drivers abide by the rules and guidelines outlined in in the map.
Please respect these rules during morning drop off and afternoon pick up:
- Find a LEGAL parking spot to park and walk your child into school. Legal spots are all throughout the neighborhood. Do NOT park illegally in bus zones, near stop signs, in crosswalks and in the “no standing zone” in front of the school.
- If you must drop off, FIRST look for a legal parking spot to park and then let your child out. If you cannot find a legal spot, you may pull over only at the “no parking between 8am and 4pm zone” along the school side of Calvert Street. If you use this area, it is drop off only. You may NOT park, wait, idle and/or leave your car. You must pull all the way to the curb and let your child out on the sidewalk side of the street.
Please Note:
- There are no U-turns on Calvert Street.
- Glover Park is a 25 MPH residential community. Respect the community and fellow students walking to school. Fully stop at all stop signs and do not speed.
Driving Code Of Conduct Map & Procedures
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ATTENDANCE & ABSENCES POLICIES:
Stoddert Elementary School’s policy on school absences:
Attendance matters because academic success begins with good attendance. Students who miss school regularly are exposed to academic jeopardy.
What You Need to Know:
- Students, parents and staff play an integral role in maintaining regular attendance.
- School begins promptly at 8:45AM.
- The Chancellor’s office has mandated that ALL schools stop taking paper attendance and enter attendance solely through ASPEN. (The school’s electronic system.)
- At Stoddert, the classroom teachers take attendance.
What We Expect From Our Families:
- Get your children to sleep on time so they can get to school on time.
- Communicate with teachers and/or staff in writing during school hours e.g. note or email, every day a child is absent, including the first day of an absence. (Link to faculty emails and contact information.)
- Provide your teacher and Ms. Rivera with a written explanation for absences that accrue beyond five days upon a student’s return.
- An excuse note is required for a student’s absence to be excused.
- Parent written excuse notes or email must be immediately submitted upon a student’s return to school.
- Official excuse documentation (from a doctor, dentist, etc.) is required if a student misses 5 or more consecutive days of school.
- Parent excuse notes should include:
- Student Name
- Date(s) the student was absent
- Reason for the absence
- Parent signature
- Students should only miss school for legally approved reasons. Such as:
- Student illness
- Student court proceedings
- Medical appointment
- Religious Holidays
- Funeral/Bereavement
- An unexcused absence is when a student misses school without a legally approved reason. Such as:
- Vacation
- Babysitting
- Car trouble
- Inclement weather when school is open
What Happens With Unexcused Absences?
- At 3 total unexcused absences, a three day letter is sent to the home address.
- At 5 total unexcused absences, the student and parents/guardians are invited to a five- day Attendance Team meeting.
- At 10 total unexcused absences, the student is considered truant. Students between the ages of 5-13 are referred to CFSA for educational neglect.
- At 15 total unexcused absences the student is referred to DC Truancy Court.
- Principal Rivas has the discretion to ask out-of-boundary students with more than 10 unexcused absence of 20 unexcused tardies to return to their neighborhood schools at the end of the school year.
What Are 80/20 Absences?
- Students must be present at least 80% of the school day.
- Ms. Rivera will mark a student absent for the day if they miss more than 20% of the school day.
Stoddert’s Attendance Team is a team of school professionals who attempt to assist students and families who are experiencing barriers with regular school attendance.
Stoddert’s Attendance Team:
- Victoria Legerwood-Rivera
- Jill Sanderson
- Wanda Martin
- Margaret Hoyt
- Ibis Villegas
- Karen Rivas
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COMMUNICATIONS:
The staff and administration at Stoddert Elementary and the PTO work together to communicate to our families. There are two types of communications: (1) general communications include day-to-day activities, events and news happening at the school on a daily basis, and (2) emergency communications include unexpected safety and security situations and school closings and delays due to weather.
Please read this notice about the difference between general and emergency communications.
General Communications
Website:
All general school-wide activities, events and news about the school is posted on the website (www.stoddert.org). The Stoddert website contains information that relates to entire school body. The website is always the first place to find information (non-emergency) on what is taking place at school.
The website is maintained, managed and updated by the PTO’s volunteers with information provided by the school staff and administration.
The Chalkboard:
Every Sunday morning at approximately 9am, an email blast is sent to all families who sign up. This email is named “The Chalkboard” and it is a compilation of all news and events that are listed on the website. ALL families are asked to please sign up for The Chalkboard at http://www.stoddert.org/news-and-events/chalkboard/
The Chalkboard is an opt-in e-mail list, which means that you must go to the website and sign yourself up. Even if you have provided your e-mail to your teacher, the front office or on a DCPS form, you MUST still sign yourself up in order to receive e-mail communications on what is happening at Stoddert.
Classroom Communication:
Each teacher will communicate individually with their families with information specific to their classrooms. Please see your child’s teacher and room parents for their preferred method of communication.
Green Folders:
Each student is provided a green folder at the beginning of the school year. Each teacher uses the green folder differently and many times will use it to send home papers and homework. The PTO and the school also uses the green folders to send home paper copies of information.
Emergency Communications
DCPS and the school administration are responsible for communicating to families regarding emergencies and school closures and delays. The PTO and room parents should not be relied upon for emergency communications.
School Emergencies:
The school will communicate with parents and families via their e-mail, ROBO call and text message system. They will use the information on file with the front office. Please make sure that the front office has your up-to-date information so that you can be contacted in an emergency.
Weather Delays and Closures:
DCPS will communicate with families regarding closures and delays due to weather. Please visit www.dcps.dc.gov for more information on how DCPS communicates.
For more, please read Principal Bryant’s update on winter closures.
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SECURITY RULES
Stoddert Elementary works with agencies to make sure that schools provide a physically safe environment for learning. Stoddert has a security office located as you walk into the front lobby of the school. All visitors must sign in at the desk prior to visiting the office or a classroom, and using the restroom. These security officers work for MPD through a contract. They work with the school principal and staff to make sure that students are physically safe at all times.
The Basics:
- Two security officers staff the security desk every day students are in school. The security team monitors security cameras, patrol the campus and greet all visitors who wish to enter the building. They are responsible for having every visitor who enters the building sign-in at the security desk. Visitors that they do not know or recognize must present an ID.
- The security officers conduct security patrols throughout the building and grounds. They monitor cafeterias, auditoriums, hallways, stairwells, restrooms, entrances and exits. They provide security at athletic events, social gatherings, group assemblies and other school activities.
- DCPS has its own 24 hour Command Center.
- Each school year, Stoddert has a monthly fire drill, 2 lockdown drills, 2 evacuation
drills and 2 severe weather drills.
Security Rules:
- The entrance door from the parking lot is for STAFF AND STUDENT USE ONLY. All parents and guests must enter the building the front door main entrance.
- All non-staff members – even parents and other familiar faces – are required to sign in at the security desk every time they enter the building. As they sign in at the security desk, their images are also being recorded on our security cameras, which allows us to have video documentation of all guests who are in the building.
Click here for more information on Stoddert’s School Emergency Response Team.
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STUDENT DISCIPLINE:
Stoddert is a No Bullying School. To find out more about our Culture of Kindness and our policies click here.
We also follow DCPS’s approach to student behavior and discipline. For more on their policy click here.
STUDENT CELL PHONE and SMART WATCH EXPECTATIONS:
We recognize that parents may provide their children with cell phones and/or smart watches for safety reasons. Therefore, we understand that students may bring their cell phones and/or smart watches to school. Students can call parents immediately upon arrival or at dismissal. Other than that, cell phones must remain turned off and away during the school day including breakfast and lunch.
Cell phones and smartwatches that are being used to make calls, text (parents or peers) or play games during the day will be confiscated and returned to students at the end of the day.
Cell phones and smartwatches may be used as set forth below during the school day and/or after school:
- may not be turned on or used during instructional time, except for instructional and educational purposes with the explicit approval of the teacher and/or teaching artist.
- may not be turned on or used during lunch or recess.
- may not be turned on or used in the bathroom or locker room.
- may not be turned on or used during field trips, fire drills, or lockdown drills.
- may not be turned on or used during testing
Students are not to call, text, or message their family members during the school day. If students need to reach a member of their family, they can use one of the phones in the main office. Students are not allowed to photograph or take videos of any staff members or other students in and outside of the building.
You can help us enforce this policy by not texting your children and calling or answering their calls during the day.
To enforce this policy, we will implement the following consequences:
- If a phone rings during class, the student will be reminded of the policy and instructed to turn off the phone.
- Students seen using phones anywhere at school will have the phone taken for the remainder of the school day. The teacher who takes the phone will turn it into the assistant principal, or the main office.
- Students with consistent cell phone usage during the school day will have to turn their phone into the office each morning and parents will be contacted.
For more information about the DCPS (District of Columbia Public Schools) technology acceptable use policy, see here