Grand Oak Elementary School 15410 Stumptown Road Huntersville, NC 28078 August, 2016 Dear Students and Parents,

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to Grand Oak Elementary School!

As we get ready for another exciting school year I want to promise our parent community several things. Our staff will be committed to creating a safe and nurturing environment for our children and set the stage for their success this year. Classroom teachers will work tirelessly to make sure children are met on their level and are challenged to continue to grow and learn each day and each and every class will have high expectations for learning and behavior at all times. As you can see in our logo we will be focusing on Collaboration, Innovation and Achievement in everything we do!

The faculty and staff at Grand Oak are passionate about what they do and continue to learn as educators throughout the year. They set a standard for instruction in the classroom so that it is engaging, motivating, and appropriate for student learning levels. Character development, communication skills, and responsibility will also be focused on daily in the classroom as we teach our children about how to “fill each other’s buckets” and create a community of responsible, supportive learners. Our school community strongly believes that social, emotional and physical growth of our children are just as important as cognitive success in developing well-rounded citizens and future leaders.

We truly hope that each of our families will join us in our journey for success this year. Our school can not be truly successful without each of your support. Even if you can’t be in our building on a regular basis, you can help support your teachers by holding your children accountable and making sure they see the importance of respect and continuous learning. We also hope all families will participate with our Parent Teacher Association this year. With this support our students will see the importance that families are putting on school and will be engaged to do their best.

I am excited to work with all of the families of Grand Oak Elementary School and hope that we can work in harmony to provide a high quality educational experience for your child and school that the entire community can embrace and take pride in.

Respectfully,

Raymond J. Giovanelli Principal

Grand Oak Elementary Student and Parent Handbook

School Hours 8:15- 3:15pm 7:45 a.m. Students begin arriving (school doors will not open until this time) 8:15 a.m. Start of instructional day 3:15 p.m. Dismissal begins *It is extremely important that your children are in their classrooms and ready to begin their school day at or before 8:15 A.M. and in attendance for the entire day when he or she is well. If children arrive after 8:15 A.M. they must be brought to the office by an adult and signed in as tardy (oversleeping and bad traffic are not considered excused). Setting a goal to be at school between 7:45-8:05am will allow for appropriate time to be in class on time. Before School/After School Enrichment Program (ASEP) The Before School program will go from 6:45-8:15 a.m. and the ASEP will operate daily from 3:15-6:00 p.m. Applications are available by calling to speak with our ASEP director, Lori Scott at 980-343-2063. ASEP is also available online at asep@cms.k12.nc.us or by calling the ASEP central office at (980) 343-5567. The Grand Oak program is a 5-Star program. Agendas Students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade are required to use a school agenda. The agenda is used as an organizational and communication tool between school and home. Students will record homework and other important information and teachers and parents use the agenda to communicate with one another (in addition to email, conferences and phone calls). This important tool should be part of the evening ritual and checked daily by parents. All K through 5th grade teachers will use agendas.

Attendance There is strong evidence to support a direct correlation between good attendance and school achievement. Parents or guardians are responsible for seeing that their child(ren) attend school each day it is in session, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education policy and the North Carolina Compulsory Attendance Law (GS-115C-378). The parent is required to notify the school in writing within three days of an absence from school. Failure to notify the school will result in the absence being coded as unexcused. Excused absences are for: illness, death in family, religious holiday, or a family emergency. According to the current CMS policy, family vacations are unexcused absences. When a child accumulates three unexcused absences, the parent will receive a letter of notification. Then, if a student reaches six and ten cumulative days of unexcused absences, the parent will be notified of the next steps according to state attendance policy. Please do not be offended by the tone of the letter, as it was designed to make sure that students are not being marked for unexcused absences if they shouldn’t be. On days that children are absent the family will receive an automated notification at approximately 7 PM. A student must be in attendance for at least half of the school day to be counted present, a half-day at Grand Oak is 11:45 AM.

We encourage you to take your child from school as little as possible. Students need the benefit of a full instructional day. Absences from school should be for illness and emergencies only. Students who are frequently absent or tardy miss the sequence of learning and can fall behind. Attendance: Sign-in/Sign-out policy If a student is late or if an emergency dictates an early dismissal the parent is required to sign the child in or out in the main office. Please do not go to the classroom first, as teachers will ask for notification from the office prior to accepting or releasing a student. Student supervision is a part of our safe school plan and we want to make sure students are released from the parent/teacher into the hands of the receiving adult. Exceptions to the sign-in policy are a late bus or late breakfast due to the late bus arrival. Attendance: Tardiness/Early Dismissals Students are considered tardy if they are not in their classroom ready to work when the 8:15 bell rings. Due to a demanding curriculum and time restraints, announcements will begin when the tardy bell rings and instruction will begin immediately after. It is disruptive to the incoming child and the students in the classroom when someone arrives late.

Bus Transportation Students riding the bus must adhere to safety and behavior guidelines. Students are expected to be at the stop 10 minutes prior to the assigned pick up time. Buses will not wait for students to walk to the stop as this impedes traffic flow and schedules. Students are expected to sit in an assigned seat, talk quietly, and follow the driver’s directions. Standing, yelling, making inappropriate comments, and any physical contact with others are violations of bus guidelines. Students who do not adhere to bus guidelines will be disciplined as follows: 1st offense- conference with student and verbal warning (contact parent) 2nd offense-bus suspension 1-3 days 3rd offense-bus suspension for 1-3 days (For more serious offenses, such as fighting, a student may be suspended from the bus immediately). Notices regarding bus behavior are required to be signed by the parent and returned to school the following day. Please speak to your child about bus safety and the importance of practicing good bus behavior both to and from school.

FREQUENTLY ASKED TRANSPORTATION QUESTIONS Q: What if I need to have my stop changed for some reason? A: In order to change a bus stop or request a new one, you must go to the CMS website and complete the Alternate Stop, Unsafe Stop, or Change in Request form. These are then submitted electronically. The site is www.cms.k12.nc.us. Look for the transportation link at the bottom of the site. Depending on the time of year, this could take several days to two weeks to be approved before they can actually be assigned to the bus and begin riding. Once you have submitted the change of information, please contact the school in about 3 days to verify if it has been approved.

Q: What if I need my child to ride to a daycare center that is being served via a CMS bus? A: If you have registered your child at a daycare service that CMS provides transportation to, you will need to go online at the CMS website and request that stop in the section titled Alternate Stop. Your child’s daycare service cannot do this for you. This only applies to daycare services that CMS provides bus transportation for, not daycare vans. Failure to request the daycare stop will mandate that the driver take your child to the assigned home stop. The sooner this is completed, the sooner your child will be able to ride the bus to that daycare. Students are only allowed to ride on a bus that they are assigned to. Q: What if I need to change my transportation for a period of time, such as to a car rider? A: A written note must be sent into the child’s teacher explaining the change in transportation. This will be signed off by an administrator. We do not accept changes for transportation over the phone. Bring Your Own Technology/Device (BYOT/BYOD) Bring Your Own Technology is a CMS initiative to allow students to use their own technology at specified times at school to enhance the learning experience. We will begin the BYOT process with our 3rd-5th grade students and use a well thought-out process of implementation to ensure success. We will then move to other grades as the infrastructure allows. Learning will look the same but with integrated technology. Technology should always be at the service of teaching. The power of integrating technology into the classroom is the ability to redefine the relationships in the classroom and reorient them toward a more student-centered approach to learning along with real-world, authentic connections. Unacceptable use WILL BE dealt with accordingly based on our school's discipline process and digital citizenship expectations. Frequently Asked Questions - Will there be a permission form that needs to be signed before a student brings a personal device to school? There is no district special-permission form to be signed. Students/families will sign an Acceptable Use Agreement and the Code of Conduct for Grand Oak Elementary. - Who is responsible for security of the device? How will theft, loss, or damage of a personally-owned device be handled in a school? Guidelines for the BYOT program specifically address the risk of students bringing their own devices to school. The school is not responsible for lost, stolen, or damaged devices. The student, not the teacher, is in charge of the student’s device. - When will my students use the device? The teacher is in charge of classroom procedures, including “filtered” internet access. No use of 3G/4G will be allowed at school for any reason. Although access is available, it is not guaranteed for every classroom situation. The teacher will let the students know when they can use the device. Students can use the devices for reading, research, note taking etc. Devices are NOT allowed to be used on our buses.

Cafeteria Students may pay for lunch on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Please make checks payable to the Grand Oak Elementary cafeteria. If you are interested in paying online go to http://www.paypams.com or call 1-888-994-5100. If necessary you may request a print-out of your child’s purchases from the Cafeteria Manager. Applications for free or reduced lunch are available in our main office. Parents requesting free or reduced meals must complete an application within the first ten days of school or during the enrollment process. Lunch status is evaluated at the beginning of each school year. This designation does not carry over from year to year. Students are asked to RESPECT and follow all cafeteria procedures, to RESPECT the rights of others around them, be RESPONSIBLE for using appropriate manners and inside voices, showing good CITIZENSHIP by cleaning up all trash and putting it in the proper place, and by showing TRUSTWORTHINESS by taking their turn to clean and sweep for their class. Cafeteria-Birthdays and Guests Parents may bring store bought cake, cupcakes, or treats to the cafeteria during the regularly scheduled lunch time to celebrate a child’s birthday. Please make sure the teacher is aware of your plans in advance. Also be very aware of students with allergies in your classroom. We need to let teachers know if you are bringing items in so they can help parents of students with allergies plan an alternate treat. We also expect that all students in the class are included in the celebration. Please do not bring or send balloons or other gifts to school. If you choose to do so, they will remain in the office until the end of the day. Balloons or other large items cannot be taken onto a bus. Parents and siblings are welcomed and encouraged to visit our cafeteria and have lunch with your children. Please sit at the assigned tables so that we have adequate space for students and visitors. We ask that you and your child only invite 1 child to sit with you during your visit if you are sitting away from the assigned table area. Please adhere to the regular lunch schedule so the students may rejoin their class immediately after lunch. Food Choices I hope that all of you will support our cafeteria by buying school lunch. However, I know that we all look forward to a special lunch and it is acceptable to bring in lunch for your child occasionally. If you pack lunch, please be advised that soft drinks are not allowed in the cafeteria and we ask parents to support us and only allow children to have one small treat a day or make a treat a special Friday event. We also ask our families to please monitor student intake of sweets while at school. Talk to your children about only getting one dessert or using it as a reward on Friday’s. Our goal is to have a healthy student body at Grand Oak.

Food Allergies Although the school nutrition program no longer serves peanut products, there is not a CMS policy banning peanut products from the cafeteria. If your child has a food allergy, we will make every effort to accommodate the student’s needs. Please inform the teacher and the school nurse as soon as possible. We will also have a “peanut/allergy free area” in our cafeteria for students as needed. Carpool Safety is our primary concern and we want all of our children supervised when on school grounds. I am asking that parents follow the directions of the school staff in regards to loading and unloading students. Registration for carpool will be available at the beginning of the school year. A thirty-minute window prior to the start of the instructional day is provided to accommodate transportation needs. Staff will begin accepting students out front at 7:45 a.m. Please make sure you release your child into the custody of a staff member on duty. The carpool drop-off and pick-up will be available at the front of the building only. Do not drop your child in any other location beside our main drop off area for safety reasons. In the afternoon, please pick your child up by 3:30 p.m. Many meetings for the staff are scheduled in the afternoons and begin immediately after the students depart. If you have an emergency, please notify the office so that arrangements can be made for your child to wait in the office. If the carpool procedures do not accommodate your needs we will be happy to help with arrangements for bus transportation. Change in transportation Occasionally you will need to make a change in regard to the way a child goes home. If you are making a change in this regard please do the following: Please send in written notification to your child’s classroom teacher regarding changes on how your student will be leaving school. This includes a request for bus, day care van, or car pool changes. If it is an emergency and a transportation change must be made via phone please call the school prior to 2:00 PM. It can be very hectic in the office after this time and will be difficult to get the information to your child. Early pick-up of students will not be allowed between 2:45-3:15 p.m. unless it is an emergency. An adult must come to the office to request an early dismissal. Identification will be required if the office staff is not familiar with the adult picking up the student(s). Please give us as much notice as possible if a change in transportation is needed. Students enrolling in August or later in the year will be assigned a bus stop by our central transportation department. This process usually takes 1-2 weeks at the beginning of the year and later, 2-3 days after the request has been received. If a bus change has been requested, students will not be allowed to ride the new bus until the school receives notification of the assignment from our transportation department. Please understand that we will not call a child out of class until the parent arrives at the school so we can maximize learning. Communication Regular communication and quality customer service is very important to us. The school website will be updated on a weekly basis and classroom teachers will establish a communication link with the parents. Teachers will also have access to email communications as a tool to use with parents throughout the year. Our goal is to respond to all parent calls and communication in a timely manner and we will make every effort to get in touch with you by the end of the working day. Please stay in contact with us and make sure that all changes in phone numbers are given to teachers and office staff. In addition, we will send home communication

folders on Friday of each week. Friday is also the day to expect progress reports, work samples, important information, class news and an email blasts from our PTA and Mr. Giovanelli. We will also use a tool called Connect Ed to communicate with our school community. This is a phone message system that allows us to get information to large parts of our community quickly and efficiently. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter (@grand_oak). We will use these tools to regularly share information, updates and students “in action” learning! Curriculum All instruction in grades kindergarten through fifth grade follows the Common Core State Standards. In addition, units of study will be developed to integrate reading, writing, and content (social studies and science). Our core math program is entitled Investigations and it will be extended with North Carolina math strategies, Math Super Stars, and problem solving units. Grades K-5 will use a Balanced Literacy philosophy and will use novels and leveled texts for literacy instruction. Students in grades K-5 will participate in approximately one-½ hours a day of differentiated reading and writing instruction based on individual learning needs. Writer’s Workshop will also be a part of our program at Grand Oak. Science and social studies will be an integral part of the curriculum and you will see a focus on vocabulary and authentic writing using “note-booking” to write down thoughts, reflections and observations in these areas. In grades 2-5, Grand Oak will utilize the Catalyst Model for our Talent Development program whenever possible (push-in model). Students with Individual Education Plans and those learning English as a Second Language will receive specialized instruction in addition to the regular classroom instruction. Students reading below grade level expectations in grades K-3 will also receive additional support in reading instruction. All students will be appropriately challenged through purposeful and relevant learning experiences. Homework will be given on a regular basis (3-4 nights a week) and will provide practice with skills students are learning. Students will be expected to produce quality work on all of their assignments, including homework and projects. Our goal will be to only give homework that is of quality and make sure it is tied in to the instruction in the classroom.

Discipline Character Education is the cornerstone of school discipline. Our faculty will focus on a school wide discipline plan that promotes respect, responsibility and citizenship. The purpose of the plan will be to identify expectations for student behavior, plan opportunities to teach and practice appropriate behaviors and to use logical and appropriate consequences for both good and poor choices. Teachers will be encouraged to handle discipline concerns in private and to utilize both school support services and parents in the process. A character education program will be implemented that focuses on practicing behaviors that represent good character. Our school also will implement the “How Full is Your Bucket” philosophy in regards to character education. Students are taught the importance of what their student to teacher and student to student interactions are and how they can affect those around us. Teachers will be encouraged to engage students to participate in the school, community and world through meaningful character initiatives as they integrate these concepts in all things that they do each day. A copy of the school discipline policy and the CMS Rights and Responsibilities Handbook will be reviewed during the first two weeks of school and sent home with each student as added reinforcement for students so all children understand school rules. It is our expectation that

students and parents read and understand the guidelines and the consequences for violations. Our school behavior matrix can also be found on our school website. Dismissal Procedures Dismissal procedures will begin at approximately 3:15 PM. ASEP students and car riders will be dismissed first. Within minutes, bus dismissal will begin. The end of the day is an extremely busy time so I ask that you not ask for early check-out between 2:45-3:15. I realize that afternoon appointments may require an early dismissal and the office staff will try to accommodate your requests prior to this time period. All students are typically loaded safely and off campus on or before 3:30pm each day. Emergency Dismissal In the event of inclement weather or an emergency, students may be dismissed early. It is very important that you complete an emergency dismissal form for your child at the beginning of the school year. Please notify the office if this vital information changes. Information regarding cancellation of school is broadcast on television and radio shortly after 5:00 AM. This information will also be listed on the CMS website (www.cms.k12.nc.us) and parents will receive a message through our Connect Ed automated phone system. In addition I will use the Facebook and Twitter pages as tools to communicate any closings so that we can be responsive and efficient.

Faculty and Staff Grand Oak Elementary School will have a faculty of approximately 68 staff members for the 2016-2017 school year and they represent a highly skilled and dedicated group of individuals. Each individual brings strengths that he/she will share with other members of the school. Balanced teams of teachers, including experienced and young teachers, will serve on most of our grade levels. Teachers will share assistants based on a significantly reduced allotment of assistants. Special area teachers include art, music, physical education, media, and technology. We will have 5 classroom assistants to support our instructional program. We will have a full-time technology teacher and a K-5 academic facilitator. The facilitator’s job is to build the capacity of the teaching staff, support classroom teachers and students and to make recommendations to the principal regarding curriculum and instruction. A Talent Development specialist serves our school each day and they will work in grades 2-5 in team teaching and pull-out situations as our schedule requires. Our Exceptional Children’s department is comprised of a speech/language pathologist, 1 Exceptional Children teacher, an Exceptional Children Assistant teacher and a part time English as a Second Language teacher. Additional faculty includes a guidance counselor who will be available as both a student and parent resource. They will also spend time in classrooms talking to students about bullying and other social expectations of Grand Oak. Please call this dedicated professional if you have any school based developmental issues. We are also very fortunate to have a dedicated office, cafeteria, custodial and before/after school enrichment staff who complete our team.

Health/Emergency Locator Card It is important that we have accurate and up to date information to reach you if your child becomes sick or injured. Please complete and return the emergency locator card during the first week of school. Please notify the office if this information changes. It is critical that you inform the teacher and the office staff of any serious illnesses or conditions that your child has so that we can be prepared if assistance is needed. The nurse will contact the parent to complete a specialized health plan if necessary. We will have personnel trained in CPR, and we will have first responders to handle emergencies. Health Room Our full time nurse for the upcoming school year will be Pattie Costner. The following procedures will guide services provided: Each faculty member will have a first aid packet consisting of band-aids, gloves, etc. Cuts or scrapes will be washed and band-aids applied by the teacher. Parents will be notified by the classroom teacher if necessary. If a child has a fever, is vomiting or has other significant symptoms of illness a parent will be called. If a child receives a head injury of any kind, the child will be sent to the health room and a parent will be called. In the event that a student has a severe accident, the parent and 911 will be called. Please keep the teacher and main office updated regarding phone numbers where you can be reached at all times. It is important to know that our staff CANNOT give even a cough drop, aspirin or any over the counter medication, even with parent permission. Health Room-Medication A medical authorization form completed by a doctor must be on file for any school person to give medicine. The prescribing doctor and parent must sign this form and return it to the school before medication can be given. This includes medicine for colds, allergies, upset stomach, headaches, etc. Health Policy on Contagious Illnesses or Conditions CMS policy requires that students with infections or contagious illnesses must stay home the first 24 hours of the illness or until they no longer have a fever. A student with head lice will be sent home and may return when the parent provides evidence of treatment and there are no “live lice.” Please let us know immediately if your child has any contagious illness, so we can notify parents if necessary. Student names will always be kept confidential. Our lice protocol is as follows: when we are notified or suspect the presence of lice, we check to confirm, we will send a health department letter to the class parents (no names are mentioned), we will contact parent of child with the lice to take home, the parent must treat for lice, and we will re-check child when they return to school. Students will not be able to return to school until all live lice and nits are gone from the child’s scalp. Lice will die without a host in 24 hours. Homework Homework is given 3-4 days a week at Grand Oak Elementary except in the event of a special school activity held on a school night or over the weekend (except in special circumstances). This may be given at one time for the week or daily based on teacher discretion. Reading is an important component of homework and each student or parent must record their reading assignments. Young students may be read to by an adult. Students should have a variety of texts to read: choosing from leveled “just right” books, a class book or novel, a magazine, poetry or

other selections from the media center. Guidelines for time it takes to do quality homework are: K-1st grade, approximately 30-40 minutes, 2nd -3rd grade 45-60 minutes, and 4th-5th grade 60-90 minutes. Homework is practice for the work done in school and should be of quality. Our goal is to make sure that all homework is meaningful and useful to our children in the learning process. Please notify your child’s teacher if you have a concern regarding homework. Lost and Found Please mark all student coats, jackets, lunch boxes, etc. with a permanent marker. Lost items may be reclaimed in the lost and found area located near the main office. Unclaimed items will be donated to charity at the winter and spring break and again at the end of school. Name Tags All faculty and staff members are required to wear a CMS name tag as part of the safe schools initiative. We will also ask all parents visiting the school to use our ID system to create a name tag as well. Students will be issued a name tag and will wear them at all times they are traveling in the building. Student name tags are provided free at the beginning of the year. Name tags include vital information, including a bar code for checkout in the media center, and lunch codes. PowerSchool- Grade Monitoring/Information Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools offers a program to parent’s that allows them to access student grades in 3rd through 5th grade and other demographic information on their child. The PowerSchool program will allow families to stay updated on their child's attendance, assignments, grades and other important information. For K-2 students the program is for demographic information only. In grades 3-5 all academic information is accessible. PowerSchool is an Internet-based program that is free to use. Our 3rd grade parents will receive information regarding how to use the program once it is available to us. Parent Volunteers Parents are welcome and encouraged to participate in school activities at any time. We ask parents that visit our school frequently to please sign up as a CMS volunteer. In addition to visiting, there are many opportunities to be involved as a volunteer. Opportunities include: classroom helpers, health room assistants, office/technology assistants and media assistants. There are several “at home” jobs that parents can assist with. You do not have to be at our school to volunteer! Please consider volunteering by contacting your child’s teacher, the school office or the PTA volunteer coordinator. The website to register with CMS is https://www.cmsvolunteers.com. ALL volunteers must register prior to volunteering. Parents can be involved in their child’s education at Grand Oak in many ways:

Establish quality communication/rapport with your child’s teacher and principal

Check your child’s backpack each evening for information coming home to you about the class and school- especially make sure folders are returned each Monday morning!

Be aware of class work that your child is covering each week

Read to your child each evening and encourage them to read independently if they are able

Join our PTA and attend PTA and school events regularly

Join a PTA committee and volunteer in some aspect of the classroom and school environment

Eat lunch with your child periodically and get to know classmates and other parents

Be a Room Parent and be an active participant in class events

Sign up to be a “Grand Oak Buddy” tutor and work with children throughout our school

Ask questions if you are in doubt about something

Listen attentively to your child

Nurture your child with unconditional love and understanding

Teach and remind children to eat a healthy lunch including fruits and vegetables each day.

PTA

Every child. One voice.

The mission of the PTA is to work together as parents and staff to enrich our children’s lives by offering creative social, educational, and physical opportunities for them.

If you are interested in being a part of this wonderful organization in a leadership or volunteer role please let us know! Our goals cannot be met without a strong parent support network working in unison with teachers for our children. We want all of our families to be involved in their child’s education and we look forward to having you join us in this educational journey.

To learn more about what we do, to sign up for our weekly eNewsletter and to link our calendar to yours, visit www.grandoakpta.org. If you have questions for our PTA president please email grandoakpta@gmail.com.

"At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child's success is the positive involvement of parents." -Jane D. Hull

School Leadership Team The School Leadership Team is comprised of administrators, teachers, staff, and parents who meet monthly to oversee the school improvement planning process. The PTA president or a liaison is a member of the team. We open this opportunity to all parents. The principal may add members to the team to balance the representation to reflect the student population of the school. This team focuses on the “big picture” of the school and looks at ways to continue to improve throughout the year. Families can also contact Mr. Giovanelli to discuss areas of concern that they would like to be reviewed by the School Leadership Team. If parents are interested in this committee please contact the principal for more information. Safety Measures are in place to insure that our students and staff is safe at all times. This year, all exterior doors will be locked and using a video system our parents will have to be “buzzed in” after ID is shown. Once they are given entrance to the building they must sign in using the ID system in the office and wear a visitor or volunteer name badge. This system will also make sure that parents are allowed to be in CMS schools. All doors will be locked during the school day. In addition CMS has added video cameras inside and outside of the building that will monitor our our students and families to keep us safe. Safety audits are conducted a minimum of three times a year to rate our effectiveness in responding to an emergency by locking down our school

within three minutes. We will conduct safety drills, known as “lockdowns”, to practice how to stay safe in an emergency. We also will practice fire and tornado drills. Please follow the directions of the school staff during a drill or emergency. We request that you help us monitor student safety in our building. Please notify the office of any condition that appears to be unsafe. Student Dress CMS has a student dress code for all students so that clothing does not become a distraction. Students should wear comfortable clothes and shoes. Tank tops (less than 2 finger width) and spaghetti strap tops are not allowed unless they have shirts underneath them. Shorts and skirts need to be an appropriate length reaching mid-thigh or longer. Clothing showing bare backs, abdomens, or suggestive or inappropriate language is not appropriate for school. Flip flops are not allowed because of safety. Students will need to wear athletic shoes on physical education days. Most days children will be playing outside so please send your child in clothes that are “play friendly.” Parents will be called and asked to bring a change of clothing or shoes should a student come to school dressed inappropriately. Hat or stocking caps may not be worn in the building. Student Population Approximately 600 students in grades K-5 will attend Grand Oak Elementary for the 2016-2017 school year. The number of classes per grade level ranges from 3-5. Classroom size is limited by the NC Legislature to 24 in grades K-3 and 29 in grades 4 and 5, but this is subject to change based on policy revisions at the state level. Classroom sizes are monitored closely and our goal is to keep K-3 class sizes to 24 or less and 3-5 class sizes to approximately 26, but this is subject to change based on new enrollment. Website/Facebook/Twitter The website for Grand Oak Elementary School: http://schools.cms.k12.nc.us/grandoakES/Pages/Default.aspx Please visit the website for weekly updates. Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter (@grand_oak)