School Policy Guide

Refer to Attendance tab and our Chavez Elementary Bell Schedule for more information.

We focus on teaching positive behaviors to set all students up for success. We know that for students to be successful, we need to ensure we are teaching our expectations and practicing them throughout the year. We celebrate our success throughout the year and reteach or review lessons as needed.

If your child has a cell phone that they use for safety before and after school, it must be stored by their teacher or in their locker and powered off until the end of the day.

• Watches - If your child has a watch that they use for safety, messages should only be sent from it before and/or after school.
• If students need to contact you during school hours, they need to ask a teacher and use a school phone.

Wisconsin Youth Company provides after-school programming at Chávez Elementary. For specific information about the Wisconsin Youth Company program at our school or to enroll, please visit wisconsinyouthcompany.org or call (608) 276-9782.

The following offsite options are also available:

Blackbelt America, (608) 273-4111

http://blackbeltamerica.com/

6121 Odana Road

Capitoland Daycare, (608) 228-2022

https://www.capitoland.com/children/capitoland-daycare/

3651 Maple Grove Drive

Country Grove Preschool, (608) 845-7988

https://www.countrygrovepreschool.com/

3201 Tanglewood Drive

Hometown Preschool (formerly Tanya’s Big House 4 Kidz), (608) 848-5437

http://hometownpreschool.com/

120 Enterprise Drive, Verona

Kid’s Junction Learning Center, (608) 827-5437

https://kidsjunctionpreschool.com/

8084 Watts Road

Kind & Joyful Childcare, (608) 497-1888

http://kindandjoyful.com/

3751 Mammoth Trail

Kindercare, (608) 271-0775

https://www.kindercare.com 

6726 Raymond Road

Olson Family Childcare

https://www.olsonfamilychildcare.com/

 

The most important way for parents/legal guardians to be involved with their child’s education is by spending time each day with their child and by reading to them. Many parents/legal guardians also share their talents and interests by assisting teachers with classroom projects and activities. Additionally, your involvement in our Padres Unidos Parent Group, Parents of Black Excellence Parent Group or our Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) are great ways for you to get involved.

See what our PTO is up to on their Facebook page! We love having volunteers at Chavez! If you would like to volunteer and/or chaperone a school field trip, please complete the Volunteer Application and Training. Online training is completed once and background checks are completed annually.

We believe field trips can enhance learning for all students.You will get a permission slip to inform you of any cost of the trip and to let you know about the arrangements; however, all students are expected to participate in trips as they are connected to our curriculum.

If you plan to chaperone a field trip, please ensure you have completed a Volunteer Application and Disclosure form (background check) at least one week prior to the field trip. This online application can be found at https://appgarden6.app-garden.com/VolTrackWI3269.nsf. A background check is also required for any individual working in a classroom or chaperoning a trip.

Parent/teacher conferences are a critical time to share how your student is progressing at Chávez Elementary. We offer two times for conferences: November and April. Should you need to meet at other times throughout the year to discuss your child’s progress at school, please contact your child’s teacher to schedule a time to meet. Our strong partnership with parents/guardians increases the success of each student.

If your child needs to leave early during the school day due to an appointment or planned absence, please communicate (i.e. Email or Remind message) in advance with your child’s teacher and they will forward it to the school office. If a parent/guardian is dropping their student off late, or wants to release their child early to go to an appointment, these procedures must be followed:

• Parents/Authorized adults (on Infinite Campus) must come into the entryway vestibule and fill out the signout/sign-in sheet (Elementary only).
• The adult must have authority (on Infinite Campus or via verbal/written consent from a parent/guardian) to pick up the child during the school day. (K-12)
• If the office does not know the adult, identification will need to be seen and/or verification procedures will be used. (K-12)
• The child’s teacher will be notified by the office to send the child to the office; or support staff will escort the student to the office if necessary. (Elementary only) Parents/family members should not be sent to the classrooms to pick up their children. Parents/guardians should wait in the vestibule until their child arrives.
• No pick-ups are allowed from the playground. (Elementary & Middle School)

Families play a key role in school safety.  We believe that it is beneficial for families and the community to engage in our students’ education. We also want to provide a safe and comfortable environment for our students to learn. If you plan to visit, please pre-arrange your visit with the classroom teacher. The teacher will communicate with the office about your visit. You’ll find more information on district safety and security, including how we communicate with you in an emergency, at madison.k12.wi.us/safety. Thank you for your partnership in creating a safe and positive school environment. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me for any reason.

It is very important that students bring to school only those things they need for learning. To avoid classroom disruption, theft and/or loss, items such as electronic devices, personal music players, trading cards and toys should not be brought to school. All students’ property and any outdoor clothing should be labeled with their name. Please be sure to check the lost and found area often. The lost and found is located in the benches and coat rack area adjacent to the school’s main entrance. For smaller items such as jewelry, keys and glasses, please check with the office.

Note: The lost and found will be donated 1x/month so please make sure to check it often.

We are largely a neighborhood school. We strongly encourage students to walk or bike to school when possible to help reduce the traffic congestion and to help keep the parking lot and streets around Chávez safer. Students MUST use the crosswalk with the crossing guard when crossing the street on Maple Grove Drive. We understand that some families choose to drive their child to school. If so, you may drop off starting at  8:10 AM and pick up at 3:20 PM (2:00 PM on Mondays)

 

Transportation is provided by First Student through yellow bus routes with stops that are placed at centrally located intersections within an acceptable walk distance by students. Riding the bus is a privilege that requires respectful behavior at all times. Specific times and routes can be found here. Generally, students who live more than 1.5 miles from the school and within the school’s attendance area meet the criteria and are eligible to ride.

Visitors and volunteers should be scheduled by the teacher prior to coming into the building.

• Visitors must come into the office to sign-in and show photo ID.

• Teacher/Staff members should let the office know the names of the scheduled dates/times of the prearranged visitors, parents and volunteers visiting classrooms.

• If the office does not have knowledge of the visitor or volunteer coming to school, the office will call the appropriate person before allowing the visitor/volunteer to leave the office.
• Parents, visitors and volunteers should not go beyond the office unless already pre-arranged by the teacher. Teachers should notify the office of expected visitors for the day, otherwise the office will call the teacher to confirm prior to sending a parent or visitor to the classroom. (K-12)
• Once everything is confirmed, visitors/volunteers will be given a visitor badge or sticker and will be able to enter the building from the office.