The education of children is a cooperative effort involving school, home and community. We urge you to take an active role in this process. This handbook is designed to give parents and students a better understanding of the daily operation of our school. Please keep it on hand so that you can refer to it throughout the year.

The Zama City School is committed to providing children with meaningful experiences that help them reach their full potential. We, therefore, make use of clearly defined goal statements, focused on improving results in the areas of student performance, and parent satisfaction.

Mr. Roger Clarke, Superintendent

Mr. Rick Cusson, Assistant Superintendent

Mrs. Kathryn Kirby, Assistant Superintendent

Mrs. Bev Hilhorst, Principal of Special Programs

Principal of Zama City School

Not available at this time.

Mrs. Janet Forrest, Secretary/Custodian

Vacant Position…Child Circle Worker/Teaching Assistant

Zama City School serves the needs of approximately 20 students from Kindergarten through grade 12. We plan and present programs based on the Alberta Learning curriculum. We also utilize Alberta Learning Distance Education Materials for Grades 7 to 12. This year we are implementing the mandatory Daily Physical Activity as well as beginner’s French. We are continuing with our Instrumental Music (guitars and recorders) instruction, as well as adding Sewing and Photography.

9:00 Classes begin

10:24 Recess

10:39 Classes resume

12:05 Lunch

1:00 Afternoon classes

2:02 Recess

2:17 Classes resume

3:35 Dismissal

The office is staffed from 9:00 to 12:00, Monday through Friday. We have voice mail if no one is available to answer the telephone.

Each student is assigned a locker in which to keep belongings. Students may bring a combination lock if they wish, providing that they provide the office with the combination. The school reserves the right to inspect all lockers.

Newsletters will be sent home frequently to keep you informed of special events. If you have something that you would like to have included in the letters, please let us know and we will include them.

Please be sure that the school is supplied with our current phone number and an alternate way to reach you in an emergency. We also need to be informed of any allergies or other medical problems that pertain to your child.

If you or your group wishes to use the school for an activity or meeting, please book this time through the office.

Fresh air and free play are necessary for effective learning. Therefore, we expect all ECS to Grade 9 students to play outdoors for recess breaks under teacher supervision. As we have limited staff for supervision, we assume that a child who is well enough to come to school is well enough to go outside. However, please ensure that your children are properly dressed with hats, warm coats, mitts, snow pants, and warm boots so that they enjoy their time outdoors. At temperatures lower than -25^oC, the children will stay indoors. We never close the school because of cold weather.

Regular attendance is a requirement of the School Act. Please ensure that your child is absent only when necessary. Punctuality is a general expectation for all students. If a child is habitually late, the parents or guardians will be informed. For your child’s safety, a note or phone call from home is required for absences. Nonetheless, your child does share workspace with many others. If he/she is ill enough to be kept inside during breaks, the child should stay at home.

We do not cancel recess due to wild animal sightings. The Fish and Wildlife service advise only the use of common sense; therefore there is no garbage storage outside of the school and the children are expected to stay in the playground during recess. Children are at greater risk of attack from dogs than from wild animals. For the safety of the children, we will call Animal Control to remove dogs from the school yard.

The school closes between 12:05 and 1:00 p.m. so that the students and staff may go home for lunch. Please ensure that students do not return to school too early. Students should not arrive prior to 12:50 p.m. as there is no supervision on the playground at lunch time.

Children are encouraged to bring nutritious snacks for recess. Snacks must be stored in lockers and eaten outside during recess. Garbage is to be disposed of in the boot room garbage cans. Water only is permitted in the classrooms.

If your child requires medication for any reason, please arrange to take care of this at home, if possible. Staff may not administer any medication without the original prescription bottle, a note from home, and a verbal consent from the staff.

The school phone is only to be used by students in the case of an emergency.

All belongings should be labeled with the student’s name. Please emphasize to your child that his/her belongings are his/her responsibility. All lost articles not claimed at the end of each school year will be given away.

The school environment is the same as any place of work and students are expected to dress accordingly. We expect children to wear appropriate, comfortable clothes that are modest enough to cover cleavage, stomach and buttocks. Indoor footwear is required at all times, preferably running shoes that are also suitable for the gym. Outdoor footwear is to be placed on the boot racks. Please avoid black soles that mark the floors. No hats indoors.

Fire drills will be conducted at various times during the year. A planned escape route is posted in each classroom to ensure safe and orderly evacuation. Children will be required to wear their indoor shoes outside to ensure the fastest possible evacuation. In the event of a real fire, the children would be taken to the principal’s house and parents contacted from there.

We have created a small in-school library which will facilitate most of the required reading. However, we will still make use of the Community Library for specific assignments or projects.

Students are welcome to bring their bicycles or skateboards providing that they wear the proper helmet at all times. Snowmobiles, ATV’s and other motorized vehicles are not permitted on school property at any time, by law and for the safety of the children.

All students will be required to participate in the new curriculum as mandated by Alberta Learning. We will be skating during the winter months, weather permitting. Please ensure that your child is equipped with skates and appropriate clothing. The school will supply the required helmets. Since our school does not include a gymnasium, we are required to share the Zama Community Hall for indoor physical activities. Students are allowed access to the main hall, the school equipment, and the bathrooms only.

Students attending Zama City School are expected to act in a safe and courteous manner, demonstrating respect and consideration for themselves and other people, as well as for personal and school property. We expect the students to develop pride in themselves, the school and their community.

Zama City School advises the following rules to be in force:

Generally, the classroom teacher will deal with students not behaving in the expected manner. Unacceptable behaviour will be documented. If the infraction is severe or continues, the principal and parents will be involved. The student can be suspended from school for one to four days. If school-based discipline methods are not successful, the principal shall recommend to the Board that the student be expelled.

There are many ways in which the home can help directly or indirectly to ensure the best educational progress for each child:

Information regarding curriculum requirements can be obtained on-line at http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/parent.asp. Please let us know if there are other items that you would like the School Handbook to contain.

Sept.2005:bn

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