ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FAMILY HANDBOOK 2023-2024
This campus handbook contains information to help students and parents understand school specific expectations for our students. Students and parents also need to be familiar with the Student and Parent Guidebook and Student Code of Conduct, which are separate documents provided by the district, and used to make decisions at the campus level. These documents contain detailed information important to all families such as attendance, truancy, policies, school expectations, and bullying.
Both handbooks are available on the Student Services Policies Page. Please take time to read and discuss this information with your child/children. Thank you and I look forward to a great year!
Students will be able to enter the building at 7:30 a.m. and go directly to classrooms. Parents must wait with their students until the doors open.
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. Please be mindful of the traffic flow at all times.
Dismissal time is 2:50 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 document provided by the school.
Our traffic pattern at Dobie is unique and can get very congested at arrival and dismissal. All drivers must adhere to the expectations as explained in our arrival/dismissal map on our dismissal cards each parent was given. Please practice patience as you follow the traffic rules. Our children need our attention for their safety.
If your child has an appointment and needs to be picked up early, a picture ID is required. Children should not be picked up early on a regular basis as this interrupts instruction and causes the child to miss important routines for concluding the day. Only adults listed on the child’s emergency form may take the child from campus. Students will not be released from the office after 2:35. If you need to pick up children early for an appointment, please do so before 2:35. The student will not be released from the classroom until after the parent has arrived and presented the necessary identification.
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 7:45 a.m. Students arriving between 7:46 a.m.-8:01 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.
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.
All students at Dobie receive a free breakfast, lunch, and snack. Breakfast and snack are provided in the classroom. Students eat lunch in the Dobie Cafeteria.
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 lunch time. In order to set the routines and procedures with our young students, there are no lunch visitors until the first week of October. We encourage parents to be involved, but ask parents to eat lunch with their children only once or twice per month.
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, on the bus and in common areas of the building. Early childhood students are learning how to follow the school rules, how to respectfully interact with others, and how to regulate their own emotions. These are lessons that are taught throughout the day all year long. Our focus is to teach these skills. Part of the learning is understanding that there are consequences for inappropriate behavior and the rewards for appropriate behavior. A goal of Dobie 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.
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 (prior to 7:30 a.m.) or after (after 3:00 p.m.) school hours. Teachers will not answer their desk phones during school hours while working with students. Communication between parent and teacher is an important piece of a student’s success. The progress of the child is communicated to the parents during conferences, and by telephone, email, or SeeSaw.
Each teacher assigns a locker/cubby to every student in the class, two students per locker/cubby. All students are expected to keep any personal belongings such as coats or backpacks in them.
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 in to 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 with the student on the day the child returns to school.
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);
● A red top with a sleeve or strap and must cover the stomach, back and chest area.
● Blue bottoms, such as pants, jeans, or the equivalent of a skirt, sweatpants, jobbers, leggings, dress, or shorts
● Closed-toe shoes without heels
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.
Parents may provide non food items for the students in the class to celebrate their child’s birthday. These can be pencils, erasers, treat bags, etc. Please place the items in your child’s backpack and communicate with the teacher so they can be passed out at the end of the day as students are dismissed. The items may also be brought to the office to be delivered. Birthday party invitations may be passed out at school if the entire class receives one.
The last day before winter break and the last day of school are both early release days where students will be picked up at 12:50. There is limited time between lunch and early release, so Dobie will not have traditional class parties. The Dobie PTA will plan classroom crafts and provide each class with the materials for the crafts as well as a special classroom snack. Parents do not need to provide anything for the class on these days.
Students may not bring personal items to school without teacher 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 Dobie 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.
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 must complete the online application. You must go to https://risd.voly.org to complete the process.
Dobie has a parent volunteer program every Friday from 8:00 to 10:00. Please contact Dobie’s community liaison, Alfonso Velasquez, for more information. Alfonso.Velasquez@RISD.org
Dobie’s Mascot is Sammy the Star! We strive to be Dobie Stars daily by eing RESPONSIBLE, RESPECTFUL AND SAFE!
Our colors are RED and BLUE!
Purchase a Dobie T-Shirt for $12. Shirts can be purchased from the Main Office or send your desired size (2T-5T) and cash to your child’s teacher. Be sure to tell the teacher it’s in the backpack!
Please contact your campus principal for any additional information specific to your campus.
