School hours are from 7:50 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. every day. All students will enter and exit the building through their assigned grade level door. Doors open in the morning at 7:30 a.m. Children dropped off before 7:30 a.m. are unsupervised. It is HIGHLY encouraged that students do not arrive on campus BEFORE the doors open at 7:30 a.m. All students are welcome to eat breakfast in the cafeteria. Parents are not allowed to escort child(ren) to the classroom when they arrive on time or if they are tardy. Parents need to say goodbye to student(s) in the car or at the door. Please be mindful of the traffic flow in the morning and afternoon. This is a difficult area to navigate and all drivers, walkers, and bike riders must follow the traffic rules. Do not park in the drop off/pick up lane on Ferndale or the back drive, and do not exit your vehicle.

All students must wear a RISD badge around their neck, all day, every day. RISD will provide the badge and a lanyard.

Students riding the bus will be given a second badge attached to their backpacks. Starting the 3rd week of school, the RISD expectation is that every bus rider must have a current RISD badge with RFID technology to swipe/scan on and off a RISD bus.

The campus will issue one replacement badge at no charge. A charge of $3 per badge will occur after the first badge replacement.

The school day concludes at 3:10 p.m. for Pre-K-5th grades. Students are expected to leave school grounds at that time unless they are involved in tutoring or other after-school activities. If you are going to be late, please contact the teacher or office to inform them of your pickup plan. Our staff and teachers have meetings and professional development classes after school and it is imperative that students are picked up on time. Students who are not picked up ten minutes after their dismissal time will be brought to the office to wait for their ride.  Parents who are late for pickup must enter the building, show their state issued ID, and sign their child(ren) out.  If school personnel are unable to contact the parent, guardian, or someone on the emergency card to pick the student up, the police department will be contacted by the school. Repeated, habitual, late pick up will be referred to Student Services. If your dismissal plans change, please make every effort to let your child(ren) know before school begins. If the change happens during the day, we ask that you notify the teacher directly before 12:00 p.m.

Children and adults on bikes or scooters must WALK with their equipment on school grounds at all times. It is strongly advised that all bikes are locked at the bike racks. Please bring all helmets inside to store in lockers.

Our traffic pattern at LHE 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 here. Please practice patience as you follow the traffic rules. Our children need our attention for their safety.

Xplore is a RISD sponsored after school program.  Students are supervised in the school from 3:10-6:00.  Contact the website www.risd.org/xplore for more information.  Drop off for morning Xplore is 6:30am at the 1st/2nd grade porch/Computer Lab.  Pick up for Xplore is located at the southernmost door adjacent to the teacher parking lot.

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 2:45 p.m. If you need to pick up children early for an appointment, please do so before 2:45 p.m. The student will not be released from the classroom until after the parent has arrived and presented the necessary identification.

Every effort should be made to make sure your child is in school daily and on time at 7:50 am.  If your child is absent, an upload absence note to Focus Parent Portal or email is required within 3 days of absence.  The note should include your child’s name, date of absence, reason for absence and parent signature.  Email nancy.saavedra@risd.org

State law requires that students must attend school 90% of the required school days.

Absences that count toward the 90% rule:

• Absence unverified (truancy, non-school activities and vacations)
• Absence verified by written note

Absences exempt from the 90% rule if the student makes up all work and a written note/email is submitted within 3 days.

• Religious/Holy Days
• Documented health-care appointments
• Medical-based excused absences with valid documentation
• Activities relating to obtaining US citizenship
• Any other court-ordered activity

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 campus attendance team made up of counselors & 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 Nancy Saavedra, the school SDS, with changes that need to be made as needed at Nancy.Saavedra@risd.org.

Breakfast and Lunch prices, menus, and other information are available online. Parents can prepay for their child’s meals with a check or cash at school, or on schoolcafe.com. 

While we set expectations and routines in the cafeteria during the first few weeks of school, we ask that there are no lunch visitors until after the Labor Day Holiday. To accommodate limited space and promote student socialization, we ask that each student has lunch visitors no more than one time per week. All lunch visitors must check in at the front office and receive a visitor badge before entering the building. You must bring a driver’s license with you & be scanned through Raptor. Our lunch visitor area is the LHE Courtyard for guests eating with their own students. Lunch visitors and their students only will eat together (no friends). Before the end of your student’s lunch, students will return to the cafeteria to meet their class. Lunch visitors are not to walk their students back to class. Lunch visitors will need to reschedule on days with inclement weather.

If your child forgets their lunch, you may drop it off on the designated lunch carts located in the foyer area. Please do not enter the front office to deliver lunches, water bottles, or other items.

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. Students know the consequences for inappropriate behavior and the rewards for appropriate behavior. A goal of LHE is to  build a community with mutual respect for students, staff, and parents based on the PBIS model (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports). 

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 (Code of Conduct available on the Student Services Policies Page) to be informed about the process.

Grading in RISD serves as a standardized method to assess student learning, provide feedback, motivate performance, and determine academic progress towards mastery of the state standards. Your children’s grade level communication plan will be presented at Parent Night. Grades reflect the alignment of curriculum, instruction and assessment. Please review the Grading Guidelines for specific information on the grading policy.

Parents can expect a weekly grade level newsletter and a weekly campus newsletter, the Paw Print. Specifics for other class and grade level communication will be shared at Parent Night. 

Other important campus and district information will go out through Blackboard calls and emails. If your contact information changes, please contact the main office to stay informed. RISD uses Peachjar flyers for third-party organizations that provide services, activities or events for children and families to distribute materials electronically. The link can be found on the LHE website or here.

A parent who wants to schedule a phone or in-person conference with a teacher should call or use Parent Square to contact the teacher 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. 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.

Each teacher assigns a locker to every student in the class, one or two students per locker. All students are expected to keep any personal belongings such as coats or backpacks in them. Students are not allowed to bring locks of any kind to use on the lockers.

Please label all of your child’s coats, backpacks, water bottles and lunch boxes so that items can be returned to the correct person(s).  If your child misplaces something, please check the lost and found located in the front office foyer. At the end of each semester any unclaimed items will be donated.

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, check the LHE Facebook page for a QR code to preregister. This will allow us to check a larger volume of visitors 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 with 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 cellphones or smart devices during the school 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. See RISD Student Cellphone Guidelines. Please note the Cell Phone Policy includes smart watches and airpods. 

At LHE, all students are expected to arrive on campus with their cell phone and smart devices turned off and placed in their backpacks for the instructional day.

Staff will confiscate cell phones or smart devices being used by students during the school day. Parents will be contacted. Continued violations will result in disciplinary actions.

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. RISD Guidelines

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, joggers, leggings, dress, or shorts
• Closed-toe shoes

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 a treat for the students in their homeroom class to celebrate their child’s birthday. Food must be labeled and individually wrapped store bought items ONLY, due to food allergies. No drinks/favors will be distributed to students. Prior arrangements should be made with the classroom teacher to deliver the treats for the classroom. The classroom teacher will ensure birthday treats are shared with the class. Birthday party invitations may not be passed out at school unless every child in the class receives one.

There will be two school sponsored parties during the school year, the Holiday Party in December & Valentine’s Day Party in February. The PTA organizes and executes these parties with parent volunteers.  Food items are limited to labeled and individually wrapped store bought items ONLY due to food allergies.  All parents and volunteers must have completed and cleared a background check through Verkada 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 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 collect 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 LHE must enter 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.

School tours are available by appointment only and can be made by contacting ptavicepresidentlhe@gmail.com.

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.  Please refrain from bringing younger siblings to any event during the school day or while volunteering on campus.  Any parent wishing to volunteer at LHE must complete the online application at https://web.risd.org/home/volunteer/.

The LHE PTA is here to support our students, teachers, and school for a successful year. Please visit our website at https://lhepta.membershiptoolkit.com/ for more information.