Policies and Procedures

Please review very carefully the changes to the attendance policy in the St. Tammany Parish School Board District Handbook for Students and Parents. This can be accessed by clicking on the following link and reading page 16 and 17:
https://www.stpsb.org/our-district/policies-and-procedures/district-handbook

Please note that the ONLY absences that do not count toward the 10 cumulative absences will be those that have an original doctor’s excuse. Doctor’s excuses will be accepted up to two days after your child’s return to school, and we must have the original copy.  Notes faxed directly from doctors’ offices are accepted, and may be faxed to 985-893-2304, with attention to Paula.  Parent notes will allow a student to make up the work, but will count in the 10 cumulative absences. These notes will also only be accepted within two days of the child’s return.  Any days over the 10 day limit will be REQUIRED to be made up on Saturdays for Seat Time Recovery to meet state requirements for promotion. 

  Bullying is not acceptable behavior at Abita Springs Middle.  It is defined by Act 861 of 2012, as a pattern of one or more of the following: 

∙ Gestures, including but not limited to obscene gestures and making faces; 

∙ Written, electronic, or verbal communications, including, but not limited to calling names, threatening harm, taunting, malicious teasing, or spreading untrue rumors; 

∙ Electronic communication including but is not limited to a communication or image transmitted by email, instant message, text message, blog, or social networking website through the use of a telephone, mobile phone, pager, computer, or other electronic device; 

∙ Physical acts including but not limited to hitting, kicking, pushing, tripping, choking, damaging personal property, or unauthorized use of personal property; 29 

∙ Repeatedly and purposefully shunning or excluding from activities; where the pattern of behavior is exhibited toward a student, more than once, by another student or group of students and occurs, or is received by a student while on school property, at a school-sponsored or school related function or activity, in any school bus or van, at any designated school bus stop, in any other school or private vehicle used to transport students to and from schools, or any school sponsored activity or event.

Victims of bullying should: clearly tell the bullies to stop. If bullying persists, victims should not ignore the incident(s) but should report immediately the incident to someone at school. Students should tell their parent(s). If the bullying continues after having clearly told the bullies to stop, students should make a written record of the incident including dates, times, witnesses, and parties involved in the incident. The incident should be reported immediately to an adult who has authority over the bullies, for example, a teacher, guidance counselor, assistant principal, or principal. Victims should avoid being alone with the person(s) who attempted to bully them in the past. Victims of bullying who feel uncomfortable reporting this fact to adult personnel at school should contact another appropriate adult or friend who will report on their behalf.

Allegations of bullying will be promptly investigated, giving due regard to the need for confidentiality and the safety of the alleged victim and/or any individual(s) who report incident(s) or alleged victim and/or any individual(s) who report an incident(s) of bullying. 
Proven allegations of bullying can have serious consequences for the person deemed guilty, including verbal or written reprimand, in-school or out of school suspension, disciplinary reassignment and/or expulsion.
 

Abita Springs Middle School follows the calendar that is set forth by St. Tammany Parish School Board. 

Please view the calendar for upcoming events.

After school care is available for any student from dismissal until 6:00 PM. All participants must register through Elizabeth Damare’ or Yvette Morlier, our aftercare directors. They can be reached at 985.373.9051. Please remember that all school rules must be followed at this time, and students who misbehave will be asked to leave the program. Students who are not picked up by 3:00 will be sent to Aftercare. Parents will be responsible for a drop-in fee.  No students should be left on campus unless under direct supervision of a teacher, tutor, or aftercare personnel.

The first step in addressing a concern about your child would be to call or e-mail your child’s teacher.  That teacher is with your child for most of the day and is a wealth of information for any concerns you may have. Conferences may be set through the teacher or front office. We are unable to accommodate parents who drop in to see a teacher, as we work very hard to protect instructional time for all students. As always, please feel free to e-mail Mrs. Petrovich or Mr. Strohmeyer with questions or concerns. 
 

The Implementation of the Chromebook program is to provide tools and resources for our students. Chromebooks are issued to every student like a textbook. Students are to use their Chromebooks for academic uses only. 

Students are responsible for the general care of their Chromebook. It is STRONGLY recommended that all students purchase Chromebook insurance. Chromebooks that are broken or fail to work properly are to be reported to a teacher. The student is expected to charge the Chromebook NIGHTLY and brought to school fully charged. The Chromebooks are managed by STPSB. Any strategy used to circumvent security settings including removing the device from the domain is a violation of policy and may result in disciplinary action and loss of use. Students are not to use external removable devices such as USB drives and flash drives.  
 

The School Board may require parents and/or legal guardians to compensate the school district for lost, destroyed, or unnecessarily damaged books and materials, and for any books which are not returned to the proper schools at the end of each school year or upon withdrawal of their dependent child. Under no circumstances may a student of school age be held financially responsible for fees associated with textbook replacement.
 

Please refer to the STPSB Handbook on Attendance and Discipline for a detailed look at how discipline is handled by our schools.  At Abita Springs Middle School, any child will be disciplined fairly and the parish guidelines for discipline will be followed by teachers and administration.  You may view the paper copy provided to you, or you can view it at https://www.stpsb.org/our-district/policies-and-procedures/district-handbook.

Please be certain that your phone numbers and addresses are updated on the emergency cards as they change. Remember that we can only allow your child to be checked out by those listed on the cards. If there are custody papers, please be sure to send those, as well, so that we may follow them.  Please keep the school informed of any changes in your child’s life that may affect school performance.  We want to work as a team to help every child succeed each and every day.  Please make sure that medication forms and immunization records are also up to date. Please be sure to sign up for emergency alerts on the STPSB website at https://www.stpsb.org/our-district/departments-and-services/safety-and-security. 

St. Tammany Parish Public School System is committed to providing safe and caring schools.  The school system works in partnership with community emergency preparedness officials to respond to emergency situations.  If an emergency occurs, please check local television and radio stations, the School System Website (www.stpsb.org) or Channel 13.  Please refer to the School System “Emergency Guide for Parents” for more information.

The St. Tammany Parish School Board may impose certain student fees or charges to help offset special costs incurred in the operation of specific classrooms or subjects. Generally, students should not be denied or delayed admission nor denied access to any instructional activity due to failure or inability of their parent or guardian to pay a fee. Report cards and other academic records cannot be withheld for failure to pay a fee, pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. Ann. §17:112(C).
 

93-100 A
85-92   B
75-84   C
67-74   D
0-66     F

Please keep in touch with your child’s teacher throughout the year, and please call or e-mail the teacher for a conference at first sign of a concern.

If you wish to review the Pupil Progression Plan for your child, please visit www.stpsb.org and look under the Pupil Progression Plan.

Students are not allowed to have over the counter or prescription medication in their possession at any time on campus.  Specific doctor’s paperwork is required for medication to be administered by school staff. 

Here at Abita Springs Middle School, we realize that sometimes a student may need support due to family issues, a loss, or personal struggles.  Our counselor, Erin Majnerick, is one resource here that can help.  We also have a MHP (Mental Health Provider) who can support students in need.  Please call us or email erin.majnerick@stpsb.org if you feel your child may benefit from speaking to a counselor.  Our counselors can also help in providing a list of outside resources for children or families in need of help.

Students shall be allowed to possess a telecommunication device (cell phone) on a school campus during the instructional day or on the bus to and from school provided the device is turned to the off position, completely stowed away, and not in use. Stowing of cell phones is defined as being placed in the student’s locker, school bag, pocket, or purse and shall not be displayed in view using any type of clip or other device.  If a student is found using a cell phone, displaying a cell phone, or in possession of a ringing cell phone during the instructional day or on the school bus, the disciplinary procedures as outlined in the District Handbook for Students and Parents shall be utilized as a consequence.

Any student found using a cell phone, displaying a cell phone, or in possession of a ringing cell phone during the instructional day, may have the cell phone confiscated by the principal/designee and have disciplinary consequences. The parent/guardian will be required to retrieve the cell phone from the school principal/designee. Progressive consequences will be followed as outlined below: 

∙ Warning or Administrative Detention 
∙ Administrative Detention or Saturday Detention or In School Suspension
 ∙ Saturday Detention or In School Suspension or Suspension 
∙ Suspension and/or Expulsion 

Related disruption and/or refusal to hand over a cell phone when directed by a school system employee may result in more severe disciplinary action such as suspension and/ or expulsion.
 

Abita Springs Middle School is a smoke-free facility, as are all STPSB facilities.  This includes during after school events/activities. Please adhere to these rules before, during, and after school hours.

The Student Building Level Committee (SBLC) is comprised of your child’s teacher(s), the  SBLC chair, Melanie Adcox, an educational diagnostician, and other school personnel to brainstorm ideas to help your child should they be struggling in any area (academically, emotionally, behaviorally, or socially).  If a teacher contacts you about an SBLC meeting, please know that we will all be working together to determine what we can do to help your child have success. As a parent, please bring any information that you have that may give us a better picture of your child from prior teachers, information from any doctors, tutors, counselors or other individuals who may be working with your child outside of the school.  As a parent, you may also request an SBLC meeting for your child if you are concerned that there is an issue getting in the way of your child’s progress.  Please note that there is a process to this, and may require more than one meeting.  Our commitment and goal is to work with you to find ways to help your child succeed here at Abita Springs Middle School.
 

To ensure the safety of all of our students on campus, please check in the main office to get a visitor’s pass before going to any event or classroom.  Please enter only through the main office door.  Please remember to bring in your Driver’s License when visiting or checking a child out.  Students will only be released to those listed on the emergency cards.  We will hold anything that you bring to your child or any messages you may have for your child until there is a break in instruction.  At this time, we will have your child come up to get what you brought.  Medication is excluded, as you will be required to administer any medication you bring to your child and we will be required to note this.

Because we use the traffic circle during the school day for PE as well as for other outdoor events, we ask that you park outside of the gate if delivering anything or picking up your child during school hours.  We understand that this can be an inconvenience, but safety is a priority.  During special events, we will open up the gates for parking to accommodate the amount of visitors to our campus.  However, please be mindful of dismissal time so that buses are not blocked and students are safe.
 

At no time should any child on campus have a weapon, or an object that can be used as a weapon, or a look-alike weapon in their possession.  Any reports of this are taken seriously and will be promptly investigated.  Please refer to the STPSB Handbook on Attendance and Discipline for more information.