Policies & Procedures

School hours are from 8:00am until 3:00pm each day. Children should not arrive earlier than 7:30am for breakfast nor remain on campus later than 3:45pm unless they are participating in a supervised school activity. Supervision is not provided for students who arrive before 7:30am or remain later than 3:45pm. These procedures are for the safety and well-being of your child(ren). Breakfast time for car riders is 7:30am – 7:50am.

During school hours, all school visitors must sign in at the front office with a picture ID through the RAPTOR system.  A visitor’s badge will be issued upon approval. To ensure the safety of our students and staff, visitors are required to only go to their designated area. Visitation includes attending a conference or any activity on campus.  If visiting for lunch, then you are only permitted to take your child outside to the picnic table area. No other students can be allowed due to safety regulations. All visitors are to wear a visitor’s tag while on campus and report to the office when leaving. Adult restrooms are located in the front office. All other restrooms are designated only for students.

Florida State Law states that school attendance is mandatory. Regular attendance is necessary for the learning process to be consistent and meaningful. We want your child to reach his/her full potential for learning by being in school daily. Vacations, trips, routine doctor and dentist appointments should be planned so students will not miss school. If a student is ill, then a note from the parent/guardian must accompany the student upon return to school. A student may be excused for up to 10 days of absences. After this period of time, a doctor’s note is required. Three unexcused tardies or 3 early check-outs are equal to 1 unexcused absence. If excessive absences occur, parents will be notified and a meeting will be scheduled with the school social worker. Attendance is very important to ensure each student’s academic success.

Students must be in their classroom and seated by 8:00am; instruction, organization, and preparation for the day begins immediately. When tardiness is unavoidable, students must obtain a tardy slip from the office.

If your child is tardy, an adult must bring the child in the office to sign them in for the day.

It is imperative that your child’s emergency card information is always up to date. Let the office know of any address changes or phone number changes immediately. You can update this information as well by accessing Parent Portal.

Parent Portal allows you to check your child’s grades, update emergency contact information, and view other student information. How do you get started? First, obtain your personal identification number by visiting the school office. You will need your picture ID. If you have any questions, please contact the main office at 863-635-7820.

If you must check your child out during the school day, you must come to the main office first to sign your child out. You will need your driver’s license in order to checkout your child.  Teachers may not dismiss a child directly from their class. Students will ONLY be released to those adults listed on the emergency card. Check out time ends at 2:45 pm as classes are beginning to prepare for dismissal unless it is an emergency.

Notify the office of any change in the normal dismissal of any student. This can be done with a note or phone call from home. Please call in advance and prior to 2:00pm as last minute calls may not get to your child in time for dismissal. Failure to contact the school of any changes in departure will result in the student going home their normal way.

All children picked up in a car will be assigned a number and given tags that must be hung in the windshield of their car each day when picking up their children. Multiple tags can be requested for those with more than one vehicle. If you do not have your tag number then you will be asked to park and go into the office to check out your child with your picture ID. Please do not park and walk up to get your child from the car rider area. You will need to go through the car rider line like all other parents picking up their child(ren). This is for the safety of all students!

You can only pick up your child as a walker out front by car riders. Do not park near the school campus and walk up to get your child. Parents who are walkers will have a colored walker tag that they need to bring when they come to pick up their child(ren). Parents without a walker tag will need to pick up their child through the car rider line. The walker procedures are for the security and safety of our students and staff.

Riding the school bus is a privilege and students must follow these procedures:

Only students living in designated areas approved for school bus transportation shall ride school buses on regular school bus routes.

Ineligible riders are not permitted to ride the school bus to a baby-sitter, Girl or Boy Scout meeting, ball practice etc.

Bus Riders may not switch buses to ride home with a friend or attend special meetings.

If a rider is not to ride the bus home, he/she must bring a note from a parent indicating this; otherwise, the child will be sent home on the bus.

For their safety, students are expected to follow the bus rules at all times, as well as the BARK expectations. Failure to behave on the bus could result in a traffic accident.

The Student Code of Conduct will be followed for continuous misbehavior on the school bus.

When the child is suspended from the bus, the parents are responsible for getting the child to and from school.

If you have any questions regarding school busing, please contact the school’s main office or you can contact the district’s bus transportation services at 863-534-7300.

Students are expected to dress in compliance with Polk County Public Schools Dress Code; which includes shirts tucked in and a belt. Please see Polk County Public Schools Code of Student Conduct for more detailed information on student dress. (https://polkschoolsfl.com/dresscode/)

If your child must have medication of any type given during the school hours, including over the counter drugs, you have the following choices:

You may come to school and give the medication to your child at the appropriate time.

You may take an Authorization for Medication Form to your child’s doctor/nurse practitioner and have him/her complete the form by listing the medication, dosage, and number of time per day medications is to be administered. The doctor/nurse practitioner must sign the form. A fax number 863-635-8500 is available to expedite the completion of this form. Prescription medicines must be brought to school in a pharmacy-labeled bottle, which contains instruction on how and when the medication is to be given. Over the counter drugs must be received in the original container labeled with the child’s name and will be administered according to the doctor’s/nurse practitioner’s written instructions. No medication will be administered without parental authorization and medical practitioner’s instructions.

All medication must be stored in a locked cabinet in the clinic. This includes all nonprescription medicines. Exceptions for asthma inhalers may be made upon the physician’s recommendation.

Parents/Guardians or students may report bullying at any time. Bullying Report forms are available in the main office and on the Polk County Public Schools website polkschoolsfl.com/bullying and the schools website at fbhg.polkschoolsfl.com/reportbullying.

Students may not bring items to school that become a distraction to their learning and the teacher’s instruction. These items will be taken and held onto until the end of the day from the student if they are out in view and are becoming a distraction. If necessary, the parent will be required to come and pick the items up from the front office. Also, please do not send students with large bags of chips, Takis, sodas, etc for lunch. They can bring an additional small healthy snack to eat with their lunch. Please get with your child’s teacher regarding bottled water in the classroom and snacks.

Any violation of this rule will be processed through the procedure outlined in the Student Code of Conduct.

NO rolling book bags or shoes with wheels are allowed on campus due to safety concerns.

All food items that are used as refreshments at school must be commercially prepared. Home-prepared foods are not permitted at school due to food allergies.

We understand birthdays are an important event in a child’s life. If you would like to bring in a treat to share with the class, please get with your child’s teacher to schedule a time to bring in the treat that is not during classroom instruction. Please do not just show up without getting with your child’s teacher first.

Siblings are not allowed to attend field trips, classroom celebrations, and school volunteering activities.

Frostproof Ben Hill Griffin, Jr. Elementary is a Title 1 school in which we receive federal funds to help assist our students. The funds we receive are used to help promote student achievement by providing extra resources to the school. Parents/Guardians are invited to help in the development of our Family and Parent Engagement Plan by:

Attending a face to face meeting

Developing a “Needs Assessment” to see what is necessary for all students to meet the educational standards

Planning goals and strategies to determine the best course of action for our school

Evaluating the plan

If you are interested in participating with the creation of the Family and Parent Engagement Plan, then please contact the school at 863-635-7820.

Parents/Guardians have the right to request information about the professional qualifications of teachers and teacher assistants at any time. Parents can access additional information in our Parent Involvement  Notebook located in the main office. Also as a Title I school, parents and teachers are required to have at least one face to face conference.

We are always looking at ways to help make Frostproof Ben Hill Griffin, Jr. Elementary better. If you have any feedback or suggestions, please call the school, send in a note, send an email, or click on the feedback link on our website at fbhg.polkschoolsfl.com.

SAC is a committee that includes staff, parents, and community members. SAC meets for an hour up to eight times throughout the school year to discuss school data, Title I information, School Improvement Plan, parent survey data, and providing input on how to make the school even better. If you are interested in being a part of SAC, please contact the main office at 863-635-7820.

Parents are encouraged to support PTO by becoming an active member. If you have any questions about PTO, please contact the main office at 635-7820.

Parents/Guardians or community members who are interested in becoming school volunteers are required to complete a volunteer application and pay a fee established by Polk County Public Schools. You have to apply online by going to polkschoolsfl.com, click on Need to know, and then click on Get Involved. You are required to be an approved volunteer before you can chaperone on field trips and volunteer around the school. Volunteer badges are not to be used as a visitor’s pass. All volunteers will log their hours into the RAPTOR system. Volunteers are required to renew their volunteer application every five years.

Parents are encouraged to contact the school whenever the need arises. Teachers may be contacted by student planner, note, telephone, or email.  If you call during the day, the office will send a message to the teacher to return your call.  Classroom instruction time will not be interrupted. If you wish to have a conference with your child’s teacher, please call ahead or send a note to your child’s teacher requesting an appointment 24 hours in advance. Our teachers’ schedules do not allow time for drop-in conferences. We will host two parent conference nights in which teachers stay late in order to accommodate working parents. As a Title I school, parents are required to have at least one face to face conference with their child’s teacher each year.

Frostproof Ben Hill Griffin, Jr. Elementary has been a PBIS School for several years.

Positive Behavior Intervention Support is a collaborative effort aiming to build effective environments in which positive behavior is reinforced more than the problem behavior using preventative teaching strategies to achieve optimal student behavior.

BARK

B<e Prepared     Act Responsibly     Respect Everyone     Keep Safe

 

CHAMPS

Conversation, Help, Activity, Movement, Participation, SUCCESS!

CHAMPS is a process we use in setting procedures, rules, and expectations for the classroom and other areas around the school campus.

Multi-tier System of Supports / Response to Instruction/Intervention

MTSS/RTI is a process for students who are struggling academically and behaviorally at school. If you have any questions regarding this process, please contact the school counselor at 863-635-7820.