Faculty Handbook 2016-2017

RHS Bell Schedule 8:00 – 9:31

1st Block

9:31 – 9:45

Break

9:45 – 11:16

2nd Block

11:16 – 12:10

Lunch

12:10 – 1:41

3rd Block

1:41 – 1:49

Break

1:49 – 3:20

4th Block

Two Hour Delay Schedule 10:00 – 11:10

1st Block

11:10 – 12:00

Lunch

12:10 – 1:10

2nd Block

1:15 – 2:15

3rd Block

2:20 – 3:20

4th Block

*On-Campus TCCC classes override this schedule. *Online TCCC classes do not.

Three Hour Delay Schedule 11:00 – 11:45

Lunch

11:50 – 12:38

1st Block

12:43 – 1:31

2nd Block

1:36 – 2:24

3rd Block

2:32 – 3:20

4th Block

*On-Campus TCCC classes override this schedule. *Online TCCC classes do not.

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Notice of Compliance Title IX and Section 504 of the Education Amendments of 1972 Title IX of the Amendments of 1972 states: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, race, religion, national origin, or handicapped condition be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any educational program or activity.” The Graham County Board of Education operates in compliance with the law. Mr. Rex Smith has been designated by the Superintendent and Graham County Board of Education to coordinate the compliance policies and the law requirements of Title IX and may be reached at the following address and phone number: Graham County Schools, P.O. Box 605, Robbinsville, North Carolina, 28771. Telephone: (828) 479- 3413. Any questions concerning the policies and procedures of the Graham County Board of Education to assure compliance with Title IX and Section 504 should be directed to Mrs. Knight.

CLASS COMMITTEES/ SPONSORS In order for as many teachers as possible to be involved in the activities of our students, teachers will be members of committees responsible for a cohort of students. The cohorts will be the committee’s responsibility from year to year until their assigned cohort exits Robbinsville High School by graduation. The primary responsibility for the 9-12 committees will be for fundraising to give all students ample time and opportunity to generate funds to assist them with the expenses of activities associated with their senior year at Robbinsville High School. There will be one (1) fund raising event per grade level per year with more events permitted for the senior class should the need arise. The Principal of Robbinsville High School must approve all fund raising activities before being initiated. Each year that a committee’s cohort is the junior class, it will take on the responsibilities involved in the Junior Trip, which include and not limited to scheduling the trip, purchasing tickets, planning for transportation, and raising any additional funds associated with the trip. Each year that a committee’s cohort is the senior class, it will take on the responsibilities of the Senior Committee, which will include: 

Graduation Exercise: The graduation directors will be responsible for assigning Senior Class Sponsors duties related to the graduation exercise including: seeing that diplomas are ordered, covers are printed, graduation program is designed and published, speakers are arranged, music is obtained, marshals are supervised and given appropriate responsibilities, and taking care of all other activities associated with a successful graduation activity.

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Senior Prom: The committee will be responsible for arranging the site for the prom, decorating, arrangement for music, arranging for chaperones and clean-up activities after the prom. Senior sponsors are required to attend the prom.

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2016 - 2017 CLASS SPONSORS Freshmen Miranda Buchanan Jake Beasley Adam Brooks Melissa Duckworth Karla Jones Felicia Moody

Sophomores Cayman Brooks Brent Icenhower Karen Lail Melissa Rooney Crystal White Dale Wiggins

Juniors Andrea Adams Amanda Daniels Sabrina Lane Wren Millsaps Rick Parham Chase Stewart

Seniors Linea Cable Lisa Keener Billy Knight Chastity Sellers Jameson Stout Lorie Waldroup

***Senior Sponsors are required to attend ALL GRADUATION activities including Graduation Practice, Baccalaureate, and Baccalaureate practice. FUND RAISING SCHEDULE FOR THE YEAR  Junior Class: First nine weeks of the year  Senior Class: Second nine weeks of the year  Sophomore Class: Third nine weeks of the year  Freshman Class: Fourth nine weeks of the year GRADUATION DIRECTORS Sherry Williams Brittany Tincher JUNIOR TRIP ORGANIZER Ben Davis PROM/SENIOR BON-FIRE Erica Sawyer

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DISCIPLINE Faculty and staff of Robbinsville High School are responsible for monitoring student behavior in all areas of the campus. Faculty and staff members are expected to supervise all students on a school-wide basis to maintain proper behavior. Consequences for misbehavior are to be firm, fair, and consistent throughout the school community. Expectations for student behavior and consequences for misbehavior are spelled out in the Robbinsville High School Student Handbook. CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT  Each teacher will have an assertive discipline plan which is to be submitted to the Principal’s Office and is to be posted in your classroom.  When misbehavior occurs in your classroom the teacher will have a conference with the student and make a record of that conference. Document all activities regarding incidents of misbehavior and consequences for future reference.  If there is subsequent misbehavior by the student, another consequence should occur, i.e. time after class, writing assignment, etc.  If misconduct continues, you should contact the student’s parent/guardian by phone regarding the matter. If contact by phone is not successful, a letter should be sent. In either case a record of the contact should be made including the date, nature of the contact, and person talked to in the contact.  If the misconduct continues after the interventions listed above have been followed and in cases of serious immediate misconduct, the student is to be sent to the office. When sending a student to the office, be sure to send a completed discipline referral form.  Points cannot be taken from a student class average as a discipline measure.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES STAFF WORK HOURS (Regular student days and teacher workdays) Each teacher is expected to be in his/her classroom promptly at 7:40 AM and work until 3:30 PM. If school is dismissed early, teachers should remain 15 minutes after students are dismissed. Teacher may leave early on Friday afternoons as soon as the buses clear the parking lot. On teacher workdays teachers may not work through lunchtime in order to leave early. Teachers are also asked not to bring their small children to the place of work on teacher workdays. Also, on optional teacher workdays it is imperative that teachers sign-in and out on the sign-in sheets in the office area in order to be credited with working on the optional day. FACULTY/STAFF LEAVING CAMPUS DURING WORKING HOURS In the event it becomes necessary for a faculty/staff member to leave the campus during working hours, please clear your absence with the principal or assistant principal before departing. No teacher, teacher aide, or other staff member is to leave school for any part of working hours without notifying the office beforehand. Please remember to sign in and out on such occasions. TEACHER ABSENCES Teachers should make every effort to give as much advanced notice of their planned absence as possible. To do this, please call David Matheson (479-3658) or Tina Carver (479-3498) between 7:00 AM and 7:15 AM, or between 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM the night before you are unable to attend school.  In order for a substitute teacher to come to your classroom and carry on your classes effectively, lesson plans from the teacher must be available. 5

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Emergency lesson plans should be left in the teacher’s desk in the case that an emergency does arise.  Movies and videos are not appropriate lesson plans. TEACHERS MUST FILL OUT SUBSTITUTE REQUEST FORMS IN THE OFFICE. Also, be aware that should you need to leave school for any other period than your planning period, you must arrange for a substitute teacher to cover your classes and follow proper sign out procedures before leaving campus. LEAVING CLASSROOM ALWAYS ATTENDED There are times when it becomes necessary for a teacher to be out of the classroom during instructional time momentarily. Please be aware of situations that could develop and take the necessary precautions. Try as best you can to have your class monitored by another staff member on such occasions. PLANNING PERIOD This is an assigned period of released time to use for preparation for instruction of students. CURRICULUM STANDARDS It is important for all students and teachers to be aware of the curriculum standards to be covered during a class period. To help accomplish this, curriculum standards (“I can…” statements) for each class period should be displayed by all teachers in such a way that they are visible to students for the entire class period. FACULTY MEETINGS There are no set dates for faculty meetings at Robbinsville High School. In the event a meeting becomes necessary, every effort will be made to give as much advanced notice as possible about the time and place of the meeting. Most meetings in the past have been schedule during the high school lunch block in Room 101. SECURING YOUR CLASSROOM/WORK AREA WHEN NOT IN USE All faculty members are urged to secure your classrooms/ work areas when you are not actively teaching a class or are not going to be present for an extended period of time, i.e. lunch break, planning away from your room, taking a class to another venue for instruction. Unsecured areas can lead to unwanted problems. PROGRESS REPORTS Progress reports will be sent to the parent/guardian of your students every three weeks of the grading period. This notice should inform the parents of their child’s progress in your class. It is the student’s responsibility to present this report to their parent/guardian. If a student has a failing progress report, not only give the student the failing report, but also mail a copy to the parent/guardian. The front office staff will mail these failing reports for you if you will ask them to. Progress reports are to be sent out by the following dates for the 2015-2016 school year: 1st Grading Period 3rd Grading Period 9/09/2016 1/27/2017 9/25/2016 2/17/2017 10/14/2016 – End of Grading Period 3/16/2017 – End of Grading Period 2nd Grading Period 11/04/2016 12/02/2016 12/23/2016 – End of Semester

4th Grading Period 4/07/2017 5/05/2017 5/30/2017 – End of Year 6

TEST MAKEUP POLICY Tests that are missed because of excused absences will be made up during the regular class period in the subject in which the test was missed unless other arrangements, which are mutually agreeable to the teacher and student. All students who miss class in order to make up tests are responsible for making up the work missed during that class. Students will have a reasonable time (approximately double the time of the absence) to prepare for the test unless the test was assigned before the student was absent. All students should make up tests the day after the test was given if the student was absent only on the test day. Teachers should utilize the SMART Lunch period as much as possible for administering make-up exams. CARE OF BUILDING AND CLASSROOMS It is important that special care be given to the building that we occupy. It is the teacher’s duty to see that his/her classroom is kept clean and orderly at all times. NC Statute 115-149 provides the legal basis for holding teachers and principals responsible for the care of the buildings and right to charge for damages resulting from neglect or willful damages. Any damages to the building should be reported to the principal. Nothing is to be built, painted, or nailed into or onto the walls without the principal’s permission. Hot glue is NOT to be used to hang objects on the walls in the hallway. TEACHER ATTIRE The Robbinsville High School staff is asked to dress in a professional manner. Shorts, jeans, tee shirts, or sleeveless tops are considered inappropriate dress for the school setting. FACULTY CELL PHONE POLICY It is inappropriate for faculty members to have cell phones on or to use cell phones during instructional time with students present in the classroom. Faculty members should enforce student cell phone rules within their classroom at all times. Failure to adhere to this rule will lead to a letter of reprimand in faculty members file. CHILD ABUSE POLICY STATEMENT The safety of our children must be a primary concern. The fact that so many children are suffering at the hands of their parents or other adults demands our full-fledged attention. All employees of the Graham County Public Schools who work with children have the responsibility to be aware of the circumstances under which child abuse should be reported. The question should not be if you report, but rather how to report. The following steps will be the procedural guidelines for reporting child abuse in Graham County Schools:  Anyone can report child abuse or suspected child abuse.  In the school setting the teacher will bring the child to the school nurse for observation and documentation of the child’s condition by the nurse and the teacher.  The principal of the respective school may make the official report to the Department of Social Services for cases of child abuse or suspected child abuse, but this is not required.  If sexual abuse is suspected or reported to the teacher or other persons, then the person receiving this confidence will report directly to the Department of Social Services.  Documentation will be made of all the facts of which one has knowledge.  No other party or parties will be permitted to talk with the child until the Department of Social Services has investigated.  After a reasonable period of time, the principal or nurse will make follow-up inquiry, if no word has been received, to ascertain findings or actions taken.  If a faculty member files a report to the Department of Social Services, they are expected but not required to make the principal aware of the situation. 7

KEEPING RECORD OF STUDENT GRADES Teachers should have a good method of record keeping for grades. It is imperative to keep these records for sake of monitoring student progress and keeping parents informed about their progress. Be able to justify your grading, sometimes you may be asked to give account for your grading system, particularly during parent/teacher conferences. Grades need to be entered into PowerSchool in a timely manner so parents can have access to student grades through the Parent Portal portion of PowerSchool. COURSE SYLLABUS Each faculty member is required to have a syllabus in place for the courses they teach. The syllabus is to be given to each of the students in your course and their parent/guardian. The syllabus is to contain the course requirements, discipline plan, grading system, timelines, information on major topics/projects, and other pertinent information regarding your expectations in the course. A copy of your syllabus will be submitted to the principal’s office. PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES Parent and teacher conferences are encouraged. Please let the office know about planned individual conferences, administration may need to assist in the meeting. There are two system-wide conference days scheduled on the school calendar, one in each of the semesters of the school year. Please consult your school calendar for exact scheduled conference days. SCHOOL ACTIVITIES CALENDAR The official calendar for all Robbinsville High School activities is kept in the administrative office of the school. Any activities involving the school will not be official without first being on this calendar. Certain activities take preference, but for the most part, activities are placed on the calendar on a first come first served basis. All activities must be approved by the principal of the school and placed on the calendar at least two weeks prior to the event, if possible. FIELD TRIPS All Field trips must be approved by administration. Overnight and Out-Of State field trips require approval from the Board of Education. Students must have approval from each teacher in order to miss classes for field trips. No field trips will be allowed during the month of May. VIDEO USE IN THE CLASSROOM It is the policy at Robbinsville High School that movies shown in the classroom be used for educational purposes. Movies are to be rated “G” for general audiences. Any “PG” rated movie implies parental guidance and parental consent in writing must be obtain from the student’s parent before being allowed to view such a movie of this rating. Teachers are urged to comply with this procedure for their own protection and the protection of the school at large. STUDENT INJURIES Students who are injured at school should be sent to the office to be seen by the school nurse for an examination of injuries. ANNOUNCEMENTS Announcements will be made in the morning report each school day. The report will available on the school TV Monitor and also on the school webpage. Submit announcement request to the High School office by first thing in the morning to get the announcement read or put on the announcement page. Announcements will be made at the beginning of first block each day via the intercom. To have announcement made this way, please have your announcement written on paper and submitted to the front desk in the office, doing this will help in reducing the number of intercom interruptions during classroom instruction. Announcements should include the date(s) that each message should be read. 8

TEACHER MAIL Each staff member at Robbinsville High School has a mailbox in the workroom located in the office area of the school. Every effort is made to have your mail in your box daily by 11:30a.m. Please check your box regularly for your mail, memos, requests, and messages. EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN ADMINISTRATIVE PLACEMENT COMMITTEE (APC) The APC will have meetings set up by the Director of Exceptional Children in order to provide a team framework to evaluate data and make recommendation of the most appropriate placement for students referred to special programs. This team is comprised of:  Principal or designee  Guidance Counselor  EC Director  EC teacher  Faculty member  Vocational teacher When appropriate, other teachers may be asked to participate in the meetings. It is the EC Directors responsibility to inform the committee of scheduled meetings. EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN: POLICY ON GRADING AND IEP IMPLEMENTATION It is the responsibility of all teachers at Robbinsville High School who have EC students in their charge to implement the points established in the student’s Individual Education Plan. Each teacher of an EC student will receive a copy of the IEP and is to work with the EC staff in making needed modifications in instruction and establishing parameters for modified grading when needed. It is particularly important to keep the parent/guardian of these students adequately informed about the progress their child is making in the class. Work closely with the EC staff. STUDENT CLASS ATTENDANCE All teachers are asked to take careful attendance at the beginning of each class. If you have a student absent from your class whose name does not appear on the daily absence list, please call the office immediately to see if the student has checked out of school or is not accounted for. Also be reminded that some students in your first period class may not be in your class due to ISS assignments. Please mark all students not present as absent even if you think they may be in ISS, the Guidance Office will make adjustment to your roster for students in ISS. TARDIES/EARLY DISMISSALS Under the student handbook, students are allowed only three (3) tardies or early dismissals before they are to be referred to the office for disciplinary measures. Teachers should refer students promptly when they exceed the allowed number of tardies or early dismissals in each class. END OF SEMESTER EXAMS Final exams will be given in every class at the end of each semester, some of which will be NC End of Course Exams and NC Final Exams, and some are CTE Exams. The exams must be given on the days scheduled for final exams and every class should have a final exam. These final exams will count as 20% of the student’s semester average for your class. LETTERS OF ABSENCES On the third unlawful absence from class, teachers must notify the parent/guardian of the child’s absence from your class. Another letter will be mailed at the sixth unlawful absence.

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FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES All money must be turned into Donna Hyde by 1:00 p.m. daily. No money is to be left in your classroom overnight. A receipt must be issued for all money collected. This receipt should identify the item being paid, i.e., student fees, insurance, pictures, etc. Students are to be told that no refunds can be made unless they have a receipt. You are responsible for all money you collect until it is turned in. You will be given a receipt for the money you turn in. All receipt books should be turned in to Donna Hyde at the end of the school year. All expenditures from all and any funds must be by use of a check request and/or purchase order. Make the request in a reasonable advanced time, so your request can be properly met. The principal prior to any purchase must sign the purchase orders. To purchase by reimbursement, the principal must approve the agreement of reimbursement and receipts must be presented before any reimbursement is made. TRANSFERRING STUDENTS Students transferring from our school to another or transferring from another school to ours must do so through the Guidance Office. ACT/SAT Teachers are required to implement some type of ACT/SAT prep activities at least three times per week within their classroom. There are many resources available and several people on staff have been trained using the “Study Smart” activities and will be available to assist you If you need help.

SAFETY ISSUES FIRE The building is equipped with a fire alarm system, which alerts our school to evacuate in the event of a fire. Teachers are to have evacuation plans posted in their classroom. In the event of an alarm/drill, take all of your students out of the building via the route on your plan and go to the Healthful Living Center. Students should be quickly moved away from the building. Teachers should take their grade book with them for accounting for the number of students in their class. Windows in each room should be closed before exiting. Everyone should wait for an all-clear message before returning to the building. TORNADO In the event of a tornado warning/drill the intercom system will sound an alarm that sounds like a British emergency siren (high-low pitch repetitively). Teachers and students are to enter the area outside of their classroom (usually a hallway). Students are to face the wall in a squat position, covering their heads with their arms. Everyone should wait for an all-clear message before returning to the classroom. LOCKING CLASSROOM DOORS Due to Safe Schools issues, it is very important that all teachers keep their classroom doors closed and locked during class sessions.

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