Students will be able to enter the building at 7:30 a.m. Children dropped off before 7:30 a.m. are unsupervised. It is HIGHLY suggested that students do not arrive on campus BEFORE the doors open at 7:30 a.m. Students who arrive between 7:30 a.m. – 7:40 a.m. are required to enter the building through the first set of doors near the cafeteria.  Staff will be present to monitor the students. Students eating breakfast will go to breakfast upon arrival. Students not eating will go to the gym. Students will be dismissed from the gym at 7:40 a.m. and will then report straight to their classroom. At 7:40 a.m. the front door to the building and the door near fifth and sixth grade will be opened where students can enter and go straight to their classroom. 

Parents are asked to adhere to the expectations of the Hug Zone at morning drop-off. Please hug your children and say goodbye in front of the school away from the entrance. Families and students will not wait in the foyer.  If you must wait with your child, please do so outside.

Dismissal time is 3:10 p.m. Students must be picked up on time. Parents are expected to follow the dismissal traffic expectations. We need you to help us ensure the safety of all children. Please refer to the dismissal information provided by your child’s homeroom teacher.

Students meeting younger siblings to walk home must exit at the appropriate door and meet up with siblings outside of the building.

The carpool line in the morning is located off La Manga. Students should be ready to exit the car when they enter the line. Please ensure that students are ONLY exiting on the sidewalk side and not in the middle of the street. There will be a staff member or volunteer there to help your child out of the car and ensure that they enter the building safely. Please pull all the way up in the carpool line.

A picture ID is required to pick a child up from school. Only adults listed on the child’s emergency form may take the child from campus. Students will not be released from the office after 2:15. If you need to pick up children early for an appointment, please do so before 2:15.

All students are required to be regular and punctual in attendance. Please refer to the district handbook for absence and truancy information. Parents must send a note with the student on the day the child returns to school, or up to 3 days later. This note must contain the student’s full name, teacher’s name, date, and reason for the absence.

Phone calls from the school and school district often are sent through an automated system. If a student is marked absent in the system, an automated call will be sent to the primary number on file. Please listen to the message before calling the school.

Students are expected to be seated in the classroom at 7:50 a.m. Students arriving between 7:50 a.m.-8:05 a.m. will be documented as tardy. Significant tardy issues will be addressed by the administrators. Individual plans for students with significant tardies will be developed with parental involvement. 

Make-up assignments or tests shall be made available to students after any absence. The teacher shall not impose a grade penalty for make-up work completed within the specified timelines. The timeline for completing make-up work is one day for every day the student was absent. Teachers shall inform their students of the time allotted for completing make-up work after any absence. Students shall receive a zero (0) for any assignment or test not made up within the allotted time. iPads will not be sent home per district elementary policy.

It is important that the emergency contact information in Focus is up-to-date and correct. The contact information in Focus is used when determining who should have access to your student in the event the parent cannot be reached. Email the SDS with changes that need to be made as needed. gina.johansen@risd.org

Breakfast and Lunch prices, menus, and other information are available online. Parents can prepay for their child’s meals on school cafe.com. 

Getting students in and out of the cafeteria in a timely manner is a complicated task as our cafeteria is at capacity during most of the lunchtime. In order to set the routines and procedures, there are no lunch visitors in the first three weeks of school. Because space is limited, we ask that you visit according to the following schedule:

Last names A-L: Monday and Wednesday

Last names M-Z: Tuesday and Thursday

Friday: Open

Our aim is for each student to reach the goal of self-discipline and self-responsibility. Students are taught what is expected of them in the classroom, on school grounds,  and in common areas of the building. Students know the consequences of inappropriate behavior and the rewards for appropriate behavior. When behavior in the classroom becomes an interruption to the teacher’s teaching or children learning, teachers are guided by campus administration to send the student to the office. Our goal at Bowie is to build a community with mutual respect for students, staff, and parents based on the PBIS model (positive behavior intervention system). 

We strive to prevent bullying, however, should an incident occur, we identify and intervene immediately upon the knowledge of the situation. We follow the RISD  guidelines for bullying as identified in the Richardson ISD Code of Conduct. Please review that document (link attached on page 1) to be informed about the process.

Report card grades will be reflective of the student’s academic ability and should be a reflection of such in each subject/content area. Grades reflect the alignment of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Grades will be an average of projects, classroom, and homework assignments. The weight of each category could vary for each grade level.

A small amount of meaningful practice (i.e. rehearsal of the day’s concepts) may be given by grade levels for regular practice on specific and targeted skills. Additional homework by skill can be provided per parent request.

Homework assigned by teachers may include:

•  Nightly/weekly reading expectations
• Completion of work not finished during class time 
•  Extra support practice given for specific, targeted skills as needed
• Makeup work from days missed

A parent who wants to schedule a conference with a staff member should contact them for an appointment. Generally, a teacher will be able to meet with parents or return calls during his/her conference period or after school within 24 hours of a work day. It is advised to always contact the teacher about a situation/question before asking another staff member or administrator. In most cases, the teacher has more knowledge of a situation or event and can help a parent in a timely manner. Teachers are expected to supervise their learning environments and cannot visit with parents for any length of time during the day, except during their conference period, before or after school hours. Teachers will not answer their desk phones during school hours while working with students. Communication between parents and teachers is an important piece of a student’s success. The progress of the child is communicated to the parents by progress reports, report cards, written notices, conferences, and telephone or email communication.

Due to heightened safety and security measures across all schools please be aware that we will be utilizing increased safety measures when buzzing visitors into the building, as well as using our Raptor system to print badges.  During large school-wide events, this may take longer than in the past for all to be checked into our system.  We appreciate your patience and support as we continue to work to keep our students and staff safe.

Parents of any student who must take prescription or nonprescription medicine during the school day must complete a Parent Physician Request for Administration of Medication form which is available in the clinic. All medicine must be kept in the school clinic.

A child who is ill or whose temperature is 100 degrees or above in the last 24 hours should not attend school. When the nurse calls, please come pick up your child or send someone listed on the emergency card immediately. Students must be fever free without medication for 24 hours before returning to school. Parents must send a note to the student on the day the child returns to school.

RISD Student Cell Phone Guidelines: To promote the best possible learning and social environment in Richardson ISD, students will not use their cell phones during the school day, unless provided permission from an authorized district employee during the instructional day. The intent of the cell phone policy is to establish a cell phone-free environment and avoid cell phones distracting from learning as well as causing a loss of instructional time. 

**We understand that you might need to send your child with a communication device in order to coordinate after-school plans. If your child needs to bring a smartwatch or cell phone,  their device will need to be turned off and placed in their backpack until after 3:10. Staff will confiscate cell phones and smart watches being used by students during the school day. Parents will be contacted. Continued violations will result in disciplinary actions following the RISD Student Cell Phone Guidelines.

Clothes must be worn in a way that private areas are all fully covered. Undergarments, except straps and waistbands, should not be visible. All items listed in the “must wear”  and “may wear” categories below must meet this basic principle. 

Students must wear (while following the basic principle above);

• An opaque top with a sleeve or strap and must cover the stomach, back, and chest area. 
• An opaque bottom, such as pants, jeans, or the equivalent of a skirt, sweatpants, jobbers, leggings, dress, or shorts
• Closed-toe shoe

Students may wear, as long as these items do not violate basic principle above:

• Closed-toe shoes
• Fitted pants, including leggings, yoga pants, and skinny jeans
• Ripped jeans as long as underwear and private body parts are not exposed
• Athletic shorts and athletic skirt
• Religious headwear

Students cannot wear:

• Images, language, or symbols that depict tobacco products, drugs, drug paraphernalia, alcohol, violence, hate speech, profanity, pornography, gang symbols, or other illegal activities. 
• Images or language that creates a hostile or intimidating environment based on a protected class or group
• Accessories that could be considered dangerous or could be used as a weapon

In lieu of birthday parties or snacks/treats brought for birthdays, students will be named Birthday Hero and class will earn 5 extra minutes of recess. Birthday invitations are only allowed if there is one for every student. Teachers are not allowed to give out student addresses or parent emails to other families.

There will be two parties during the school year. These are prior to the winter break and Valentine’s Day. The PTA organizes and executes these parties with parent volunteers. All Parents and volunteers must have completed a background check before attending. All visitors must enter the building through the main door, present a valid picture ID, sign in, and receive a visitor badge.

Students may not bring personal items to school without teacher’s permission. This includes electronics, sporting equipment, toys, and games. It also includes items that may distract the learning environment such as trendy toys, playing cards, etc…Teachers may take the item causing a disruption. They will contact the parent to discuss the disruption and retrieval of the item(s).

Parents and/or visitors who enter Bowie must proceed directly to the office, present a valid picture ID, sign in, and receive a visitor badge. All RISD schools use a system that scans visitor information and cross-references a database to ensure the safety of our students. No one will be allowed in hallways at any time without a visitor badge. Only those individuals designated on the Emergency Card will be allowed access to your children provided they can display proper identification. For student and staff security, teachers have been instructed to report the presence of any visitor not wearing a visitor badge provided by the school.

Visits to individual classrooms during instructional time are permitted only with the approval of the principal.Pets can be unpredictable. Please be careful with them on school grounds and they must always be on a leash. Pets are not allowed inside the building for any reason.

Volunteers must complete and pass an online background check every year. There are NO Exceptions. Please apply early to be guaranteed approval in time for an event you would like to attend. Any parent wishing to volunteer at Bowie must complete the online application. You must go to https://risd.voly.org to complete the process.