General School Information

  • AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS

    If your child has an onsite after school activity or if your child is going home with a friend, you must notify the classroom teacher. This is very important for student safety. Please note that unless your child is remaining for one of the purposes above, he/she must be picked up on time. This includes timely pick-up on Thursdays, when the children in K-2nd grades are dismissed at 1:15 p.m. and students in 3rd-5th grades are dismissed at 1:30p.m. The school staff is not available after dismissal time to supervise your child.

    Recreation Department

    The Hillsborough Recreation department offers a before school program and after school program called Workshop Education (http://www.workshopeducation.org/) at North from 7:30-10am and 1:15-5:30pm. There are numerous offerings in physical fitness and the arts too. For more information, please visit the recreation website at http://www.hillsboroughrecreation.com or contact Tony Giacomazzi, the Director of Recreation, or Nancy Farrell, the Recreation Secretary, at 342-5439. The Recreation Office is located in the portable building beside the Crocker gym.

    BIRTHDAYS

    Invitations to parties (e.g. birthdays) may not be distributed at school unless all of the children in the class have been included. If your child is in a grade level where there is a combination class, the North Stars Learning Center, or students from the Bridge School, please remember to include those children as well. Please help us to see that no child’s feelings are hurt.

    CHANGE OF EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION

    Please notify the school secretary of any changes in your email, address, home, or work telephone number, place of business or emergency contacts (including nannies and babysitters). It is extremely important that the school can contact you in the event of an emergency or illness. If your email, name, address and/or telephone number are incorrectly written in the directory, please notify the school office immediately.

    CLASS ASSIGNMENT PROCEDURE

    In the spring of each year, the teaching staff, in collaboration with the principal, assigns students to classes for the following year. Every attempt is made to place each student in the classroom situation that will be the most beneficial. Placement is based on many factors including academic achievement, learning style, gender, ethnicity, special needs, peer relationships, and student behavior. Information from parents is always considered, however parent requests cannot always be honored. If a parent wishes to share information regarding their child’s placement, this may be done in writing using a “Parent Input” letter in the spring. Determination of placement will be driven by the need to generate balanced classes. The principal makes final class placements.

    COMMUNICATION

    School to Home

    The “North News” is sent via email twice a month. It contains pertinent announcements, calendar updates, and information from the principal. Please be sure to read the information to keep abreast of school happenings, Parent Group activities, recreation opportunities, and other relevant information. From time to time, e-blasts or Blackboard Connect messages will also be sent out with important and timely information. Please check your email regularly for these. The school’s website gives parents access to the calendar, forms, and links.

    Parent-Teacher

    We encourage parents to contact their child’s teacher with any concerns or questions they might have. There are two regularly scheduled parent-teacher conferences each year, one in the fall and one in the spring. These provide an opportunity to discuss your child’s progress. In addition, each teacher has a classroom telephone number and an e-mail address so they can be contacted directly. Teachers are not available to come to the phone or check email during most of the school day, so if there is an urgent message, please contact the office. If it is not time sensitive, then please send an e-mail or leave a voicemail (with a best time to call and phone number) and your call will be returned. Teachers will not always be available to meet with parents who drop in without an arranged appointment. It is important to respect teacher preparation time for the beginning of the day and their duties and responsibilities for student safety at dismissal times.

    FIELD TRIPS

    Occasional well-planned field trips are an important aspect of our student learning and are curriculum-based. Students are required to return a written permission slip for each trip. Buses will be used for all field trips. Change of transportation for an individual child must be submitted in writing prior to the field trip. Parent volunteers are needed and appreciated for field trips. If space permits, parents may ride the bus on the field trip. Siblings are not allowed on field trips. Parents need their full attention for the safety and learning of the students. We ask for voluntary donations to cover the cost of each field trip. Your donation is not required to ensure that your child may take part in this activity. Please note: Student scholarships are available on a need basis by contacting the school principal.

    HEALTHY FOOD POLICY

    Our current healthy food policy came from parent feedback on the amount of junk food their children were receiving from school personnel and other parents via classroom events at school. Research tells us that a healthy diet can improve one’s performance in school's social, physical and mental arenas and it shows that eating healthy can improves the memory, problem solving and concentration skills. In order to excel academically, children must be physically able to attend class, collaborate with their peers, and focus on the tasks at hand. Proper nutrition is essential for the brain to perform at its peak and eating healthy is one of the easiest ways to improve performance in school.

    Parent-Provided Recess Snacks and Lunch

    Research also tells that students who do not eat breakfast or who do not take in enough calories early in the morning often do not have enough energy to make it through the morning without brain fatigue. We encourage you to send in a healthy snack for the morning and afternoon recesses for your child. We fully respect that you have your own standard for your child’s nutrition, including dietary goals and restrictions, and we would love to have you send in snacks and lunches for your child that reflect your values.

    Class Parties

    The classrooms will have 4 class parties each year before the school year ends. These will include one in the fall, winter, spring, summer, which will likely turn out to be for Halloween, Winter, Valentine’s, and End of the Year, but it will be up to the classroom teachers. Family Heritage Day and Semester at Sea will have food and use the healthy food list as their guide. Please note: Food brought into a classroom for any reason except the above reason will not be accepted and will not be served to the students.

    Celebrations Not Involving Food
    There are so many ways to honor and celebrate a child that do not involve serving food. All of the following activities are celebrated in a way that the classroom teacher chooses without food: Birthdays, Star of the Week, Class Auctions, Individual Rewards/Incentives (Students will be able to earn points for parents to give a special item at home), and Field trips (Each parent should provide food for his/her own child depending on the needs of the field trip.)

    Click HERE to see the Healthy Food List.

    LIBRARY BOOKS

    In order for the librarian to keep account of North’s collection of books, and to enable all children to have access to it, students must account for all overdue books each trimester. Please see the librarian or classroom teacher for questions or concerns. All library books must be returned the Tuesday after Memorial Day or the student will not receive his/her yearbook until the account is settled.

    LOST AND FOUND

    Small items, such as watches and keys, are kept in the office. Other items, such as lunch boxes and jackets, are kept in the Lost and Found bin outside the school office. We advise parents to label clothing and other belongings to minimize loss. At the end of the each trimester, unclaimed items are donated to local charities.

    LUNCH

    Students eat lunch in the Multi-purpose room. They can either bring their lunch from home or participate in the School Lunch Program. Each child is responsible for cleaning up his/her eating area and throwing away his/her own trash. Fifth grade students help all students with the responsibility of recycling. Please note: If your child has a severe allergy to foods (i.e., peanuts), please notify the school immediately to discuss necessary safety steps in the lunchroom.

    From Home

    If you need to bring your child a lunch after the instructional day has started, please label the lunch and bring the lunch to the office. Please do not interrupt instruction for all of the students in the class. Please note that we are unable to heat any foods in a microwave.

    School Lunch

    The Hillsborough City School District uses Choice Lunch as the school lunch provider. Please visit the Choice Lunch website at www.choicelunch.com to find out more.

    OFFICE HOURS

    The office will be open from 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. on school days. If there are any changes to this (meetings or trainings), there will be a note on the door.

    PERSONAL ITEMS FROM HOME

    We encourage children at North to use the equipment available at school. Electronics, toys, balls, etc. should not be brought to school. Please do not send your child to school with valuable items. They should not carry more than $5.00 in cash to school. Please send all money for fundraising, photos, school events, etc. in an envelope marked clearly with the child’s name, room number, and intended use of the money. Children are allowed to bring cell phones to school in case of emergency and cell phones are for use before or after school. Cell phones need to be turned off during school hours. Please note: Items that might be hazardous, such as camping knives, cap guns, matches, lighters, etc., are never allowed at school and will be confiscated if brought to school. In addition, parents will be contacted for an immediate conference and possible school suspension per California Ed. Code.

    PRESCHOOL/PRE-K

    The Hillsborough Recreation Board sponsors a program at North School for Preschool from 8:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. and for Pre-Kindergarten from 11:45 a.m. – 3:15 p.m. Monday through Friday. All of the programs require tuition fees. For more information, please call the Preschool at 342-1478 or the Hillsborough Recreation Department at 342-5439.

    STUDENT RECOGNITION

    At North School we encourage students to become leaders and go above and beyond to help make their school a better place. We recognize all students for Perfect Attendance (no tardies and no absences) and Outstanding Attendance (fewer than 3 combined tardies and absences) and participation in leadership and/or club roles including Character Team, Student Council, Library Monitors, 5th Grade Leadership, Tech Challenge Teams, Junior Fire Marshals, etc.

    TECHNOLOGY USE

    Technology is integrated into every area of the curriculum at North School. Technology resources provided by the district are to be used in a responsible and proper manner in support of the instructional program and for the advancement of student learning. Students use the internet both in the classrooms and in the computer lab. Each student and his/her parent or guardian must sign an Acceptable Use Agreement specifying use obligations and responsibilities prior to using the district’s on-line resources.

    TELEPHONES

    All play date and pick up arrangements need to be arranged before children leave home in the morning. If a message needs to be delivered to a child during school hours, please call the school office to ensure delivery of the message.

    TRANSFERS OUT, MOVING WITHIN THE DISTRICT and MOVING OUT OF THE AREA

    We like to have an opportunity to say "good-bye" to students who are leaving North School. Please inform the teacher and the school office at least one week in advance if you are moving outside of the North School attendance area. Please give the office your residence address and the name and address of the new school. Cumulative records are sent after an official request is received from the new school. Please notify the HCSD district office with any changes of address or when you are moving out of the district. Inter and Intra district transfer policies can be found at the district office. Inter and Intra district transfer requests and/or questions should be directed to the district office.

    VISITING NORTH SCHOOL

    All visitors must report to the office upon arrival. Once in the office, the visitor needs to sign in and obtain a visitor’s badge. If a visitor is on campus visiting and he/she is not wearing a visitor’s badge, staff members will ask the person to go to the office to sign in and obtain a badge. Students may not bring friends or relatives to school to “shadow” or to spend the day with them at North. If a parent or guardian would like to observe classroom instruction, he/she should contact the principal directly.

    VOLUNTEERING AT SCHOOL

    Parents and guardians are welcome to volunteer at North School. All volunteers must sign in and wear a volunteer lanyard while on campus. The sign in sheets and lanyards are located both in the office or in each classroom. Volunteers may go directly to the classroom and sign in and obtain a lanyard there. Volunteering in the classroom should be arranged directly with the classroom teacher.

    WALKING TO AND FROM SCHOOL

    Children should be in at least third grade before walking to and from school unaccompanied. Parent permission is required for this. If you would like to give your child permission to walk, please come into the office to get a “walker pass”. This “walker pass” needs to be attached to the student backpack. If you have a unique request to allow a younger sibling to walk home with a fifth grade sibling, please contact the principal. Please note: The “walker pass” is to authorize the student to leave campus immediately following dismissal. It does not give permission for the student to hang out on campus unsupervised.