Our School

Attendance

All children are expected to attend school every day unless they are ill or there is some type of family emergency.  Parents should try to schedule outside appointments for times other than during school hours.

Children Who Are Absent

As required by state law, the school will try to contact the parents of students who are absent from school. This is done as a safety precaution to verify that the parent is aware of the absence. If your child is going to be absent, please call 373-5454 before 10:00 A.M. to report the absence. This will greatly reduce the number of calls we must make during the busy morning hours.

When your child returns to school, he/she must bring a written excuse stating the date(s) of the absence and the reason for the absence in order for it to be excused. Make-up work will be provided to the student upon returning from an absence.

Children Who Are Tardy

For students arriving at school after 9:00 A.M., parents are required to bring their child into the office to sign in and receive a tardy slip. A written excuse is required for students arriving late to school.

Student Sign Out

When picking up your child, please report to the office to sign him/her out.  Your child will be called to meet you in the office.  For the safety of all students, children will not be released to parents at the classroom door.  When custody papers or special situations exist, the office must be informed and a copy of any official documents should be provided for our files. Photo identification must be presented to pick a child up from school. Due to the volume of people in and out of the office, we are unable to dismiss students who are being picked up in the office between 3:30 and 3:40 P.M. (1:00 and 1:10 P.M. on early dismissal days). These students will be called to the office at 3:45 P.M. following afternoon announcements and dismissal of the first round of buses and car riders.

The citizens of Stafford County have chosen to provide bus transportation for our children. Because bus transportation is not required, riding a bus to and from school is a privilege. Insuring student safety is the primary goal of bus rules and regulations. For that reason, students are expected to behave properly and follow the rules at all times.

Should a student be reported to the school Principal or Assistant Principal, he/she will be responsible for disciplinary action. Parents will be responsible for the transportation of students who have lost school bus transportation privileges.

Parents needing to discuss a bus problem should contact the school administrators at 373-5454 or the Transportation Department at 373-6095. Your cooperation in the safe transportation of your child and others is appreciated. 

Bus Loading Area

The bus loading area at Grafton Village Elementary is at the front of the building. The area is clearly marked for bus traffic only. This is done for the safety of our students. Please adhere to this policy and park in one of the designated parking areas when you visit the school.

Waiting for the Bus

Students are to be at the bus stop at least five (5) minutes before the regular pickup time, but no earlier than ten (10) minutes before this time. Students are to wait quietly in a safe designated place well off the traveled portion of the roadway until the bus has come to a complete stop. Most bus problems either occur or start at the bus stop. For this reason, parents are encouraged to accompany their children to and from the bus stop. Parent supervision during the time that the students wait for their bus to arrive could prevent a serious accident.

Procedure

If your child is an everyday car rider, please complete the car rider information form. If your child will be a car rider on occasion, please send a note to school on the days that your child will be a car rider. Children who have a note and are designated as car riders will be called to the library at 3:40 P.M. These children will be dismissed from the library. All students should be picked up by 3:55 P.M.

Occasionally, you may need to have your child dismissed prior to 3:30 P.M. to go to the doctor’s office, etc. Call the office or send a not prior to 3:00 P.M. Then come in to the office and sign him/her out. The office staff will call your child to the office for dismissal.

Grafton Village Elementary students are prohibited from using cell phones during the school day. Students should not bring cell phones to school unless parents contact the Principal and receive special permission to possess them. 

Children should wear clothing appropriate for physical education and outdoor play. Shirts or t-shirts promoting drug, alcohol, or tobacco products, as well as shirts with vulgar or suggestive statements, are not appropriate in a school setting and will not be allowed.  Skirts and shorts should extend past the child’s fingertips with their arms by their sides. No tank tops, tube tops, mesh tops, sheer tops, halters, bare midriff or sleeveless tops.  Shirts must cover shoulders, have sleeves, and must extend past the top of the pants. At the elementary level, sleeveless tops and dresses are permitted providing they do not violate any other part of the dress code. Clothing must cover undergarments at all times. Pants will be worn around the waist and all underclothes must be covered. No pajamas, tight fitting spandex pants, or sagging pants. Pant legs may not extend beyond the sole of the shoe.  Athletic shoes should be worn for physical education and recess.  No heels higher than three (3) inches. High heels, loose fitting sandals and flip flop are discouraged for safety reasons. Headgear (hats, bandanas, curlers, etc.) is not allowed for boys and girls. No sunglasses, dog collars, chains, wallet chains, safety pins, spike jewelry or fishhooks worn as jewelry is allowed.

Grading

All students in grades K-5 will receive a report card at the end of each nine-week period. Grades are assigned based on the following rubrics:

Grades Kindergarten-Fifth Grade:

• 1= Performs below standards
• 2= Works towards standards
• 3= Meets standards
• 4= Exceeds standards

A conference will be held to distribute the report card to the parents at the end of the first grading period.  In addition,   interim reports are sent home for each child in grades 1-5 at the midpoint of each grading period.

Homework Guidelines

It is important to form good study habits at a young age.  On the elementary level, homework is usually not new work, but rather a practice or extension of what was covered in class.  The student will assume increasing responsibility for homework assignments as he/she progresses through the grades.

Suggested guidelines for homework in Stafford County are as follows:

• Grades 1-3: Approximately 20 minutes for written work once or twice a week.
• Grade 4: Approximately 20 – 40 minutes for written work two to three times per week.
• Grade 5: Approximately 45 minutes to one hour four times a week.

How to Help Your Child Do Well in School

• Ensure that your child wakes up in time to dress and eat breakfast.
• Check to see that all necessities, such as lunch money, school supplies, and homework, are carried to school.
• Read with your child and encourage the use of school and public libraries.
• Praise your child for tasks that are well done and encourage your child to continue to do well.
• Provide opportunities for your child to be independent and responsible at home.
• Avoid comparisons with other children.
• Encourage positive peer relationships at home and in the community.
• Help your child to understand that the teachers, administrators, and other adults at school are there to help.
• Provide an opportunity for your child to study at home each day.
• Get to know your child’s teacher and help that teacher understand some of the experiences your child has had that may impact on success in school.

If a physician prescribes medication that must be administered to your child during the school day, the school requires that the original prescription container and a medication request form be sent to our nurse.  The medication form can be obtained from the school.  Both the physician and the parent should sign the medication request.  This will allow school staff members to give your child the medication as prescribed on the form.  Short term medications, (10-12 days) such as antibiotics, need only the parent signature and the original prescription container.

Non-prescription drugs should be administered at home.  School personnel have no authority to give aspirin, cough syrup, decongestants, etc. to children.  Parents who feel that a non-prescription medication must be given can (a) ask a doctor to sign the medication request form to authorize it or (b) come to the school to personally administer the medication to their child.

Do not send unmarked medication to school with your child.  This practice could place your child or another student in danger.  Do not instruct your child to take medication on his own.  For the safety of our students, all medications are kept in the clinic and are administered by an adult. 

We make every effort to preserve instructional time.  Parents calling the school requesting to speak with students or teachers will be asked to leave a message.  When a parent leaves a message, the teacher will make every effort to return the call at the earliest possible time, either during their planning time, after school, or at a time when they are able to leave the classroom.  Children are allowed to use the office telephone only in the case of an emergency.

Visitors to our school and parents dropping off/picking up students are asked to enter our lot from the access road near the water tower and park in a designated parking space.  When parking your vehicle, we ask that you not park in any of our fire lanes or block a bus throughway.  Be sure that you are aware of arriving and departing buses. 

In order to ensure the safety of our students as they load and unload from their buses, the road that passes directly in front of our building is for bus traffic only.  To avoid difficulties with bus arrivals and departures, it is important that traffic moves smoothly.  Please adhere to the following guidelines and directions when dropping off or picking up your child:

• Encourage your child to have his/her backpack, supplies, and lunch money ready before you enter the driveway.
• Please do not pull away from the unloading area until the crossing guards signal you to do so.  The directions of the crossing guards must be followed for the safety of our students.
• If you must accompany your child into the building, even for a short time, please park your car in one of our parking spots.

Please remember that the bus loading area is a fire lane, and parking is prohibited at all times.

Volunteers at Grafton Village Elementary are a critical part of our school family.  Without volunteers, we would not be able to provide the high quality of education that we have come to expect in Stafford County.  There are number of ways our volunteers help in the school.  Please contact your child’s teacher or the school office if you wish to volunteer.

All volunteers are to sign in and present photo identification immediately upon entering the building.  Please understand that this is a School Board Policy that is in place for the protection of our students…your children!  We ask that you contact the teacher at least one day prior to the visit if you wish to volunteer in the classroom. Dropping in unannounced can be a distraction to both the teacher and students and interrupt the flow of a lesson. All volunteers must wear a visitor’s badge during their visit.   In addition, parents are not permitted to make unscheduled visits.  Should you need to see the teacher on short notice, please stop by the office so we can check the teacher’s availability.

No student is allowed to bring a weapon of any kind on school grounds or on school bus.  This includes pocket knives, any other type of knife, guns, laser pens/laser pointers, and/or explosives.  Students are also prohibited from bringing toys that look like weapons, e.g. cap guns, dart guns, water pistols.  Please be aware that NO REAL WEAPONS OR TOY WEAPONS ARE ACCEPTABLE AT SCHOOL.