Welcome to the new school year!
We can’t wait to see your children back on campus and in our classroom in the Fall! Our goal is “High Achievement for Each Student” and we are continually striving for new and better ways to meet that goal. We have reviewed our policies and procedures and have made some adjustments in order to help our students focus and be their best selves! Please take a moment to review some of the changes that will take place on campus. We want to be sure that we are setting clear expectations. Students will be provided more information the first week of school in Camp Viking. Please see a staff member if you have any questions. We are looking forward to a fantastic year!
Incentive Program: We have made a few adjustments to our Viking Vouchers and Casual Clothes Day passes. Students will be able to earn Viking Vouchers from any staff member for various reasons, including exceptional behavior, improvement, participation, good citizenship, etc. These vouchers may be saved and redeemed for Casual Clothes passes and other items. Students can also earn Casual Clothes passes by meeting/exceeding our grade level attendance goal for the day. We look forward to many students earning these rewards!
Campus Discipline / Choice System: We #believeinmiddleschoolkids! We believe that every Viking wants to be successful and do their best. We have developed a Choice System based on the research of Cline and Faye’s “Love and Logic,” that will give each child the opportunity to correct any inappropriate behavior that occurs. Every day, in each class, students will be given three (3) oppor-tunities to correct any misbehavior. If they are not successful in correcting their behavior by the third attempt, they will go to Stu-dent Services with a “Choice 4” and call a parent. The student will not be allowed to return to any classroom until a parent comes up to the school for a brief, yet very important discussion of the behavior. If a parent is not able to come to the building, the stu-dent will remain in in-school suspension until the end of the day when a parent phone conference can be conducted. Each day will begin anew. There are only a few behaviors that will result in an automatic “Choice 4” where the student will go directly to Stu-dent Services. These include being out of dress code, having personal devices visible when not in the cafeteria, physical aggression, and other serious infractions. We believe this system will create calm and productive classrooms, allowing students to practice making good choices.
Use of Personal Devices: Vikings will be allowed to use their personal devices only when they are in the cafeteria. All devices as well as ear buds must be put away out of site when not in the cafeteria. This will allow our focus to remain on instruction. Our school is fortunate to have access to technology such as desk-top computers, chromebooks, and ipads. We will conduct our digital learning on these devices. If personal devices/ear buds are visible anywhere except in the cafeteria, the student will go to student services with an automatic Choice 4 (see Campus Discipline). We ask parents to remember that if you text your child during the day, they will only be able to see the text and respond to it at lunch. If you have an emergency or simply need to get a message to your child, please call our front office at 972-968-3900 and we would be happy to relay the information immediately. The fee for having a device taken remains $15 to be paid to retrieve it.
Dress Code: Our dress code for this year remains the same as last school year. All students will be expected to wear a VF T-shirt or solid white, navy, or grey collared shirt. Bottoms may be black, navy, or khaki pants or skirts. Sweatshirts or jackets must be VF or Turner. The PTA has many great styles to choose from. Shoes should be closed-toe for safety. Students who are seen out of dress code will go to Student Services with an automatic Choice 4 (see Campus Discipline).
We are looking forward to a fantastic school year! Have a great day, and remember, Character Counts!