1. Back To School 101

2. Starting the new school year off right is a wonderful thought. What a great time to get rid of a few bad habits, start a few good ones, and pledge to do things a little better than the year before. See... told you it was a wonderful thought! Here are some simple suggestions that I know will be helpful to you as a new school year begins.

3. Lay the Groundwork Create homework schedules or activity chartshomework schedules Talk about homework rules and daily routines before school starts. Then, enforce family rules consistently.daily routines

4.  Homework is supposed to be an additional opportunity to practice and sometimes extend a skill that you have learned in class. Homework provides necessary practice. Like anything, the more you practice the better you become.  Here are a few tips and resources for making your homework experience less stressful and more productive:  Set a regular time AND place for homework. Choose a place such as a desk or kitchen table where you can focus.  Keep it quiet during homework time. Soft music can help some students concentrate – but loud music or TV can be very distracting. Turn cell phones to off or vibrate. Keep conversation to a minimum.phones  Keep supplies handy. An old shoe box or even a gallon-sized Ziploc bag can be used to hold supplies such as pencils, erasers, a pencil sharpener, markers, crayons, scissors, glue stick or a ruler.pencil sharpener  Don’t be afraid to take short breaks - stand, stretch, play a quick game of Simon Says, do some jumping jacks or even set the table for dinner. Adults need breaks from their work, so do students.  Communicate with your teacher. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about the homework. That’s why they’re there. It’s okay to say that you don’t understand it and ask them to explain it.  Whenever possible, try to make homework fun! You can act out a story problem or plan that science project together with a friend or family member. You can even make up make a game to learn facts (ex. addition facts, the names of the states, etc.)

5. Get Organized  Visit the pediatrician.  Find out whether your child needs immunizations or a physical exam to participate in school activities. Make an appointment with a pediatrician, if necessary.  Plan transportation and child care.  Arrange a carpool and/or after-school care for your child. Even if you don’t plan to carpool, gather contact information for neighbors and other parents who may be able to help when needed.  Mark school events on the calendar.  Create a master family schedule and add each person’s appointments and activities. If you have children at more than one school, plan ahead to make sure a parent is available to attend each open house and family night. (http://www.wcpss.net/Calendars/)family schedule  Stock up on school supplies.  Besides buying the supplies on the list provided by your child’s teacher, get extras of items your child is likely to misplace, such as glue sticks or scissors. Think about the items your child may need while doing homework and keep them in a central location.

6. Meet School Staff  Teachers  School Counselors  School Administration

7. Learn About the Curriculum The No Child Left Behind Act has made standardized tests more high-stakes than ever. Help your child do his/her best by understanding what she is expected to learn in her grade level.No Child Left Behind Act http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/

8.  Visit the school before classes start.  Check the school homepage to see when they have scheduled their Open House. Check the mail for information that was sent home in the last few weeks. Take your child on a tour of the school so he knows how to find his/her classrooms, his/her locker, and the cafeteria.  Talk with the teacher.  Find out whether the teacher(s) prefers to communicate by phone, e- mail, or written notes. Let the teacher know about things in your child’s life that may affect his/her performance, such as health problems, a recent move, or family changes. You might also mention your child’s hobbies or special interests. Schedule a meeting with your child’s Counselor to discuss theses issues as well.Let the teacher know  Learn about school resources.  Find out which professionals the school has on staff and what services they provide. Ask about the best way to get in touch with the principal, school counselor, or other staff members you may need to contact.  Make contact with the parent group.  The PTO or PTSA will have lots of information about the school, including nuances and tips that aren’t written down anywhere else. Join the PTSA at your child’s school(s).

9. Get Involved Find a way to be more involved in your child’s education this year. It might be volunteering to help in the classroom, or it could be as simple as talking with your child each day about what he/she’s learned. Set the stage for sharing by telling your child highlights of your day. “Just by asking and paying attention you send a message that you think school is very important.” It is recommended that you ask your children to talk about the best part of the day, whether they learned anything that surprised them, and whether they asked good questions in class.talking with your child each day

10. Plan Healthy Meals Keep nutritious food on hand for breakfast or make sure your child eats breakfast at school. Students who eat breakfast focus better in class, perform better on tests, behave better, and are more likely to maintain a healthy weight.

11. Talk It Over  Review the rules.  Get a copy of the school’s guidelines and go over them with your child. Make sure he understands all the rules he’ll be expected to follow.  Check in regularly.  Ask your child how she feels about starting school. If she’s nervous about making new friends, consider arranging a play date with classmates. Talk over any issues she’s concerned about, such as bullies or cliques.bullies  Evaluate extracurricular activities.  Talk with your child about extracurricular activities. Select fun activities that teach new skills, but avoid over scheduling your family or your child. Taking on too many activities can cause anxiety and distract children from schoolwork.extracurricular activities

12. Build a Parent Network You never know when you might need to call on other parents for help or advice. Seek them out at school events and parent group meetings. If the school publishes a family directory, write notes in the margins with information about parents you’ve met.

13. Student/Parent Access Network (SPAN) Student accounts will be distributed to each student at school. Parents may register by completing the SPAN application and submitting it to the school office. Once the account has been created, you will receive an email with instructions on how to activate your account. Parents/guardians will be given one account per student. Parents must submit a separate form for each student enrolled in a WCPSS Middle or High schools.

15. TRANSPORTATION The Wake County Public School System provides bus transportation to all students who live one-and-a-half miles or more from their assigned schools, as long as that school appears on the child’s choice list. For answers to any additional questions regarding school bus transportation, please feel free to contact the system's transportation department directly.  Wake County Public Schools Transportation Department 1551 Rock Quarry Road Raleigh, NC 27610 919-856-8050 Fax: 919-856-7773 E-mail: Transportation@wcpss.netTransportation@wcpss.net

16. School Bus Safety - Tips for Parents  Allow enough time in the morning for unhurried, calm school preparation time.  Prepare as much as possible the night before.  Have your children wear bright, contrasting colored coats or put a piece of high visibility, reflective tape on coats and backpacks.  Help your children to leave on time. Allow for weather and plan to arrive at the bus stop 10 minutes before the scheduled pickup time.  Go with your children to the bus stop.  Tell your children to walk in groups, if possible.  Please train pets to stay in the yard, away from bus traffic.  Remind your children to walk on the sidewalks or out of the street, single file, facing traffic, and as close to the edge of the road as possible.  Teach your children to stop, look left, right, and then left again before crossing the street.  Running games, shoving, or horseplay is too dangerous at the bus stop and around traffic.  Regardless of weather conditions, students should be standing at the designated stop when the bus arrives.  If anything is dropped during loading or unloading the bus, children tell the bus driver before attempting to retrieve it.  Encourage your children to secure loose drawstrings or other objects that may get caught in the handrail or door of the bus as they exit.  If transportation other than the assigned bus is desired, parents are responsible for making other accommodations, due to space limitations, assigned seating and accountability.  Six feet on either side and 10 feet in front of the bus are considered the Danger Zone. This is the area most difficult to SEE children around the school bus. Remind your children about the Danger Zone often.  Instruct your children to STOP and look before hurrying away from the bus as they exit at the end of the day.  When you meet your child at the bus stop after school, wait on the side where the child will be dropped off.  Any person who enters a public school bus without authorization, or who willfully stops, impedes, delays or detains a public school or activity bus shall be guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor.

17. Social Media Tips for Middle School Parents  Facebook won't let kids have sites if they're under 13. That said, kids simply do the math to figure out what year to put so they'll seem 13 -- or older. Check your kid's computer browser history. If you see Facebook listed, assume your kid has an account.  Tell your kids to think before they post. Remind them that everything can be seen by a vast, invisible audience (otherwise known as friends of friends of friends). Each family is different, but for middle school kids, it's a good idea for parents to have access to their kids' pages, at least at first, to be sure that what's being posted is appropriate. Parents can help keep their children from doing something they'll regret later.  Make sure kids set their privacy settings. Privacy settings aren't foolproof, but they're important. Take the time to learn how privacy settings work on your kids' favorite sites, and teach your kids how to control their privacy.  Kindness counts. Lots of sites have anonymous applications like "bathroom wall" or "honesty boxes" that allow users to tell their friends what they think of them. Rule of thumb: If your children wouldn't say it to someone's face, they shouldn't post it.  Go online. If you don't have one already, get an account for yourself. See what kids can and can't do.

18. Social Media Tips for Middle School Parents  Talk about the nature of their digital world. Remind them that anyone can see what's on their pages -- even if they think no one will. Potential employers and college admissions staff often surf social networking sites. Ask your teens to think about who might see their pages and how they might interpret the posts or photos.  Set some rules for what is and isn't appropriate for your kids to communicate, play, and post online. Posts with photos or comments about youthful misbehavior could come back to haunt them.  Let them know that anything they create or communicate can be cut, altered, pasted, and sent around. Once they put something on their pages, it's out of their control and can be taken out of context and used to hurt them or someone else. This includes talk and photos of sex, drugs, and alcohol. Tell them that online stuff can last forever. If they wouldn't put something on the wall of the school hallway, they shouldn't post it online.  Don't post your location. Social networks allow kids to post their location -- but it's just not safe for teens to do this.  Watch the clock. Social network sites can be real time suckers. Hours and hours can go by -- which isn't great for getting homework done.  Except as permitted by policy, no student shall use, display, transmit or have in the “on” position on school property any wireless communication device or personal entertainment device, including but not necessarily limited to, cell phones, pagers, two- way radios, CD/ MP3 players, and electronic games, or any laser pointer or similar devices until after the conclusion of the instructional day. Any device possessed or used in violation of this policy shall be confiscated and only returned to the student’s parents/guardian. Penalties for violation of this policy are set at the discretion of the principal.

19. Free & Reduced Lunch Application Process To apply for Free and Reduced Priced meals, please fill out an application, sign it and return it to your child's school or to Child Nutrition Services at 1551 Rock Quarry Road, Raleigh, NC 27610. Applications are also available at the schools or at Child Nutrition Service. You will find a sample application below. Application packets have been mailed to all households with registered students in Wake County. Please answer all questions on the form. Send only one application per household.

20. Breakfast & Lunch Prices  Middle School Student Prices  Breakfast $1.25  Reduced $.30  Lunch $2.25  Reduced $.40  High School Student Prices  Breakfast $1.25  Reduced $.30  Lunch $2.25  Reduced $.40

21. Bullying What is Bullying? stopbullying.govstopbullying.gov defines bullying as:  behavior involving an imbalance of power or strength behavior  intended to cause harm  and repeated over time Cyber bullyingCyber bullying is an aggressive, intentional act carried out by a group or individual, using electronic forms of contact, repeatedly and over time.

22. WCPSS Policy WCPSS Policy (6414)  It is the priority of the Wake County Board of Education to provide every student and employee in the school system with a safe and orderly learning and working environment.school  To this end, the Board specifically prohibits harassing or bullying behavior at all levels  All complaints of harassing or bullying behavior made by students shall be promptly and thoroughly investigated by the principal or designee  Violations of this policy shall be considered misconduct and will result in disciplinary action up to and including long-term suspension or expulsion in the case of students

23. How Can Parents Help?  Communicate with the school  Let the school know the who, what, when, where of the bullying  Let the school officials contact the other child’s parents  Be supportive  Listen, get the facts, assess the child’s feelings  Let the child know it’s not his/her fault  Praise the child for discussing the bullying  Find out what the child feels he/she needs to feel safe  Encourage and support child in making friends  Talk regularly with your child and the school to assess if the bullying has stopped

24. Bullying Links  StopBullying.gov StopBullying.gov http://www.stopbullying.gov  No Name Calling Week No Name Calling Week http://www.nonamecallingweek.org

25. Disciplinary Action If the problem has to do with student discipline, such as a suspension, you can find out more about you and your child's rights and the appeals process through the Student Due Process section (http://www.wcpss.net/student- dueprocess/index.html) Student Due Process section

26.  If a parent has a problem with a teacher or staff member at a particular school, they should contact that school's principal.school  If the principal does not respond satisifactorily, or if the problem is with the principal, they may contact the area assistant superintendent responsible for that school. Grievance Process

27.  You can find area superintendent responsibility in the Area Superintendents‘ website (http://www.wcpss.net/superintendent/area- superintendents/). Area Superintendents‘http://www.wcpss.net/superintendent/area- superintendents/  If the problem is still not resolved, a student, parent or guardian may initiate the grievance procedure as outline in Board Policy 6520. This is a formal process, and each step must be followed as stated in the policy. The sequence of steps is as follows: teacher, assistant principal or principal, area superintendent, superintendent, Board of Education.Board Policy 6520step

28. Let’s Have a Great Year!