BICYCLES

Children should be in the third grade before riding a bicycle to and from school unaccompanied.Bicycle riders should wear approved safety helmets and have a sturdy lock.Upon reaching the school grounds, riders should dismount and walk their bicycles to the bicycle racks.Bicycles should be locked during the school day.Students who ride their bikes with parent permission to school will receive a “biker pass” to attach to their backpack. Please note: Scooters, rollerblades, skateboards, shoes with wheels, and other toy vehicles are not allowed.

COMMUNICABLE DISEASES

If your child has any communicable disease, such as H1N1 flu, fifth disease (slap-cheek), chicken pox, measles, etc., please notify the school office at once. A notice will be sent home to parents of other children in the class and/or grade level alerting them that their child has been exposed. When your child returns to school, it is necessary to send a note from your family physician that your child is no longer contagious.

HEAD LICE

The school must be notified if your child has head lice (or nits). A notification will be sent to parents of other children in the class/grade level alerting them that their child has been exposed. Please note: Students must be treated and checked in the office upon return to school to ensure students are LICE AND NIT free. If nits (dead or alive) are detected, the student will be sent back home to have the nits removed.

DISASTER PREPAREDNESS

The Hillsborough City School District has a disaster plan in effect for all four schools.This includes supplemental water, food, and first aid equipment. Each child has an emergency card on file that is generated from the PowerSchool registration that is done each summer. If you change your address, or phone number, or nanny, please call the office to make sure your emergency card is up to date. In the event of a major earthquake, children will evacuate to the field and they will remain there with their teacher until a parent or other authorized adult on the emergency card signs the child out.Please do not remove any child from the grounds without following this procedure.This has been established for everyone’s protection and peace of mind.

DOGS ON CAMPUS

Dogs are not permitted on the North campus (including the field) on school days from 8:00am-3:30pm. Dogs are only permitted at other times if they are on a leash. This is to ensure that everyone picks up after their dog and that our students do not run through dog feces during Physical Education or lunch recess. This is a town ordinance, so if you see anyone not following this, please inform the authorities. Service animals are permitted.

DRILLS

We have three kinds of emergency drills that we practice throughout the year: fire, earthquake, and lock down drills. Fire and earthquake drills are conducted with the assistance of the Central County Fire Department and lock down drills are conducted with the assistance of the Hillsborough Police Department, We practice fire drills once a month, and earthquake and lock down drills two times during the year. Lock-down drills are an important part of our safety preparedness plan. A lock down may be required if there is an intruder on campus, a wild animal, medical emergency, or a chemical spill.

IMMUNIZATIONS

The State of California requires that all school children have up-to-date inoculations in order to attend classes.Unless these requirements are met, a child will not be allowed to attend school.

MEDICATIONS

School personnel are not permitted to administer any medication to students without a written order from a doctor. If you indicate an allergy on your emergency card, your classroom teacher will contact you to find out the specifics and severity of the allergy. If you indicate that your child has asthma, we require at least one inhaler in the office. If your child has a risk for anaphylaxis, We require at least one Epi-pen at school and possibly more depending on the severity of the case. California Ed. Code does not permit students to carry ANY medicine (except an inhaler) in their backpack. Any other medicine MUST be located in the office. For long-term medication to be dispensed at school, a specific form, which is available in the office, must be filled out and signed by both the parent and the doctor.Prescription medications must be sent in their original containers and stored in the office.

STUDENT DROP-OFF

Families with students at North only must drop their children off in front of North. Every morning there are parent volunteers to assist with vehicle drop off. These people are volunteering their time to make sure that all North children are safe. Please be polite and follow their directions. Please note: There is no drop off in the roundabout near the MPR. If a North family has a child at Crocker and North, it is possible to drop the North child beside the 5^th grade portables (rooms 28 and 29) and then proceed in the Crocker traffic line to drop the Crocker child.

Drop-off Procedures

1.Pull all the way up in the North traffic circle.

2.Stay in your car and curbside volunteers will help get your child(ren) out of the car.

3.Please do not pull around other cars or back-up while in the traffic circle.

4.Drop off at yellow curb only. Do not drop off at the red curb.

5.Please have your child ready to get out of the car (kisses, lunches, backpacks).

6.If your children need extra time at drop off, arrive early at 8:10. There are fewer cars then.

7.Make sure your child exits the car on the curb side only.

STUDENT PICK-UP

When students are dismissed from their classes, they will walk to the lower playground to the “Student Pick-up Zone” to be seated and wait for someone to pick them up. Staff members and volunteers will be on duty to assist the students and families. If a staff member (or volunteer) has a megaphone in his/her hand, his/her primary duty is to assist with dismissal. Please respect that they are busy and working to ensure the safety of the North students.

Walking Pick-up Procedures

1.Please pick up your child on the playground side of the “Student Pick-up Zone”. Please use the gate near Kindergarten classrooms to enter the lower playground. If you arrive a few minutes before your student is dismissed from class, we ask that you wait for the students in the middle of the lower playground. Please stand back from the K and 1^st grade classrooms as it distracts the students.

2.There will be a staff member holding a megaphone at the entrance to the “Student Pick-up Zone”. Please tell this person who you would like to pick up and then stand back to make room for others. The staff member will call your child(ren) with a megaphone. Please note: We cannot have walking pick-ups on the curbside because we need to keep the area clear so we may safely and quickly load students into waiting cars.

3.If you see your child heading to the “Student Pick-up Zone” and you would like to take him/her before he/she goes in – great! Just have the child give the teacher a signal.

4.Please do not enter the “Student Pick-up Zone”.

5.Please tell anyone who is picking up your kids these procedures.

6.Once students leave the “Student Pick-up Zone”, we will consider them under your care and they will need to be supervised by you.

7.If it rains, students will be located in the library (if available). Please pick up your child(ren) at the library door near the stairs.

Vehicle Pick-up Procedures

1.Each family is given two placards with their children’s names on it at the beginning of the year. This placard should be attached (using rubber bands) to the visor of the vehicle(s) that will be used to pick up your child.Displaying the placard assists the staff and volunteers to identify your child(ren) faster and guide them to your vehicle for pick-up.

2.There is a designated “Student Pick-up Zone” located beside room 9 on the lower playground near the traffic circle. At dismissal time, all students waiting to be picked up will be seated and waiting there. The children will be supervised by staff for 15 minutes after their dismissal time and then they will be taken to the school office.

3.Pull your car forward and just as you reach the yellow curb area, stop your car, and tell the person with the megaphone who you are picking up.

4.The person with the megaphone will tell you and the students to go to one of the five numbered green balls

5.Once the students reach the designated ball, we will have staff members available to help to put students in cars.

6.As in previous years, there is no waiting or parking in the loop just before or during dismissal. If your child is not available for pick-up as you pass through the traffic circle, you will have to circle around again. Slowly circle around the island outside of North School, return to the parking lot entrance and re-enter the North School loop and again drive up to the traffic circle.

7.Please drive very slowly and cautiously. Please do not text, talk on your cell phone, or let anything else distract you. As always, children will only be allowed to enter your car on the curb side.

8.Please do not reverse or pull around other cars in the traffic circle. Please wait for the other cars to leave before you pull forward.

9.If you have children with different dismissal times, please come during the later dismissal time to pick up both. Your younger child will be supervised in the “Student Pick-up Zone” while waiting for you. If you pick up your younger child first, you may park your car and walk up to meet your older child, or exit the parking lot, slowly circle around the island, and re-enter the parking lot again.

10.For early start Kindergarten pick-up at 1:15pm on M, T, W, and F, please remain in your car if you would like your child to be loaded into your car. If you would like to park and walk up to greet your Kindergarten student, please use an official parking space. If your child is not out when you drive around the traffic circle, you will be asked to circle until he/she arrives for loading. This allows us to keep the traffic moving and prevents the North driveway from becoming blocked.

11.Crocker students are dismissed later and do not arrive down at North until 3:25pm. Please note: you need to pick up your North students first before 3:15pm on regular length days (i.e., M, T, W, & F). At 3:15pm, all remaining North students will be moved to the office and parents will be called.

12.If it rains, students we will follow the same procedure as above, but students will be located in the library (if available). Someone will greet your vehicle and call for the students by walkie talkie or cell phone. Then your child will be escorted to your car under an umbrella.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation and understanding. Thank you for your help in keeping our kids safe!