Covington Pathways
Parent/Student Handbook
Welcome to Covington Pathways. You have been placed on a special school campus for the purpose of helping you learn to change your behavior. Perhaps you have had trouble controlling your temper and have been involved in frequent fights at the school you previously attended. Perhaps you acted out in class and prevented other students from learning. Perhaps you have had trouble following rules and treating teachers with respect. Whatever the reason, you will be attending our school until you have learned to change the behaviors which have caused you to have problems in the past. The length of your stay at Covington Pathways will depend upon your behavior. The faculty and staff will do everything in their power to help you learn to change your behavior, but without your cooperation and motivation to change, these efforts will not be successful.
If there is a single most important lesson that we want you to learn during your stay at our school, it is that YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN BEHAVIOR. Blaming others for your problems is a useless exercise that does not solve the problem. At Covington Pathways, you will be expected to accept responsibility for your own behavior at all times.
It is our belief that life presents each of us with choices and every choice we make leads to consequences. We can choose to follow rules and the result will be positive consequences. We can choose to ignore or violate rules and the result will be negative consequences. No one can force us to make good, healthy choices (after all, you are responsible for your own behavior). However, our goal is to help you learn to make good choices so that you can obtain the positive consequences that will result. Furthermore, it is our responsibility to maintain a safe learning environment for all students. For this reason, it should be noted that the Uniform Discipline Code of the
St. Tammany Parish School System would apply to all students who attend Covington Pathways.
It is also our belief that students prosper and grow when their parents take an active role in the student’s education. Parents of students at Covington Pathways are encouraged to communicate regularly with school personnel and will be provided with feedback about their child’s progress on a daily basis.
Each student entering Covington Pathways is asked to sign a student contract listing general and specific behavioral goals that the student will address while attending Covington Pathways.
The student contract was written and approved by a committee consisting of a group of parents, Covington Pathways faculty, and other professionals responsible for working with the students. A copy of the student contract is included in this handbook.
Counseling
All students who attend Covington Pathways will have the opportunity to participate, granted parent permission, in both individual and group counseling. Individual counseling focuses on the specific problems that each student has experienced both prior to and during his or her stay at our school. Group sessions will explore problems common to all students, such as anger management, conflict resolution, and self-esteem building.
Rules and Expectations
Every school has rules, and our school is no exception. Another way to think about rules is that they are expectations that others have for us. At Covington Pathways, students are expected to follow and adhere to the St. Tammany Parish School Board Handbook on Attendance, Discipline, and Student Records. Students are particularly reminded of the following:
1. Come to school on time every day.
2. Complete assigned work.
3. Follow directions.
4. Refrain from disrupting class.
5. Treat others with respect.
6. Get along with peers.
7. Dress appropriately.
Behavior Management Overview
Students enter into the Covington Pathways program to make long term changes in behavioral, emotional, social, and academic issues that will enable them to return to a regular campus. Student incentives, staff monitoring, self monitoring, and a daily review of target behavior and academic status are the mechanisms used to help students achieve a level of self-awareness and self-discipline to succeed educationally.
The learning environment is the most critical component of the educational process while at Covington Pathways. CHAMPS (Conversation, Help, Activity, Movement) is a proactive approach to classroom management which has been incorporated. CHAMPS is a modular series of materials used to develop effective classroom management plans. Teachers have received training in the modular series and ongoing technical assistance to incorporate a collection of practical materials designed to assist in creating productive, safe, and respectful learning environments. This approach will help the student to self-monitor his or her behavioral and social interactions throughout their stay at Covington Pathways.
Students are expected to develop self-awareness of the issues prohibiting a successful educational experience on a regular campus. They will incorporate tools and strategies to make the necessary changes to become more productive and successful. The use of a student portfolio in the programming process will help build on those skills needed. Additionally, establishing habits and behavior that reflect self-discipline is included in the portfolio and in the programming. The goal is to help students self-identify behavioral and emotional issues that are redirected by the student. The belief is that one may not be able to change events and people around him or her; however, one can direct and monitor his or her own reactions and interactions that occur because of events or others present in their environment.
Student Program
Students enrolled in the Covington Pathways program will participate in a comprehensive behavior monitoring and feedback system in order to improve and remediate behaviors which have hindered their success on a regular campus. Students, with the assistance of their teachers, will compile a student portfolio consisting of the following components:
Daily Behavior Summary indicating behaviors exhibited in a variety of areas throughout the day.
Weekly Goal Setting Sheets in which students set forth a weekly objective for behavioral improvement, make a plan for reaching this goal, and evaluate their own success.
Correspondence between parent-teacher and teacher-student regarding behavior.
Behavior Journals in which students may record their thoughts on a variety of teacher- and or student-generated topics.
Social Skills Rating Checklist which evaluates the student’s particular areas of strength and weakness.
Behavior Intervention Program that stipulates the student’s individual target behavior, behavior history, necessary interventions, and parental involvement.
Throughout this process, students are continually reminded to evaluate their own behavioral progress. They are provided the opportunity to receive feedback from others through private conferences with the teacher, class meetings, and discussions. Eventually, those students who are preparing to return to their regular campus are invited to participate in a student staff meeting which provides them the opportunity to discuss issues with the entire Covington Pathways faculty.
Attendance
Students are expected to be in attendance for all student activity days scheduled by the St. Tammany Parish School Board. Refer to the St. Tammany Parish School Board Discipline Handbook on Attendance for requirements.
Breakfast and Lunch
Forms providing the guidelines for free and reduced meals are sent home the first day of school for parents to complete. Students who were on the free or reduced meal program the previous year must complete a new application.
Breakfast: 50 cents for elementary, junior high, and high school students
Reduced breakfast: 30 cents for elementary, junior high, and high school students
Lunch: 70 cents for elementary students, 95 cents for junior high students, 95 cents for high school students
Reduced lunch: 40 cents for elementary, junior high, and high school students
Students are to eat school lunches and are asked not to bring any food or drink items to Covington Pathways. Students will be transported once a week to William Pitcher Junior High School or Pineview Middle School for lunch to provide inclusion opportunities on a regular campus.
Child Sexual Abuse Prevention
Education and Reporting Program
Students in grades K-8 will receive instruction on the topic of Child Abuse Sexual Abuse Prevention and Education and Reporting as mandated by the St. Tammany Parish School Board.
All materials used in the instruction of child abuse prevention and education and reporting may be previewed by contacting the school administration.
We encourage parents to talk with their children about this topic as well as other general safety issues.
Curriculum
Students at Covington Pathways follow the curriculum from their home-based schools as closely as possible in order to facilitate a successful transition back to a regular campus. Instruction is based on state content standards. Those students who were earning Carnegie Units toward a high school diploma are able to continue this coursework at Covington Pathways. All instruction is individualized to meet the needs of each student. Social Skills instruction is provided daily by each classroom teacher.
Computers with an Internet connection are available in all classrooms. Computerized curriculum programs and enrichment activities enhance the instruction program. In addition, Covington Pathways provides a computer lab and library.
Students receive physical education instruction daily from a certified adaptive physical education teacher. Itinerant teachers are provided to teach music, theatre, and art once a week.
Dismissal
Student dismissal is at 3:41 P.M. daily. Students may not leave the school grounds during school hours. Students who become ill or injured during a school day or who have a doctor’s appointment will be dismissed only after a parent, a legal guardian, or a person authorized by the parent or legal guardian comes to the school and signs the student out. A student cannot leave campus with any person other than those designated on the emergency card unless authorization is given by the parent or legal guardian in writing.
If a student is to leave school in a different manner than usual, a note signed by the student’s parent or legal guardian must be sent to the teacher explaining the date, time, and method by which the student will be leaving campus.
Dress Code
Covington Pathways students are required to follow all aspects of the student dress code as set forth in the St. Tammany Parish School Board Handbook on Attendance, Discipline, and Student Records.
Students are particularly reminded of the following:
1. Pants must be secured at the waist level with a belt and no undergarment or skin revealed.
2. All caps, hats, and bandannas are prohibited on school campuses during school hours.
3. Male students are prohibited from wearing beards or goatees.
4. The minimum length of walking shorts or dresses must be a fingertip or below when standing erect for the collar.
5. Tank shirts and undershirts are not to be worn as outer garments. See-through shirts are not allowed.
6. Articles of clothing with suggestive symbols or words are prohibited.
7. Excessive jewelry such as large chains and pendants are not allowed.
8. Cellular phones, beepers, and pagers are not allowed.
Students are to hang up their jackets upon entering the classroom. Book bags are not to be brought to Covington Pathways. Students may not bring toys, radios, or other objects not directly related to the learning process. Covington Pathways will not be responsible for these items.
Emergency Cards
Emergency cards are used to notify parents of illness or injury. Please write correct names and telephone numbers.
Field and Community Based Education Trips
Field and community based education trips are offered periodically throughout the year. In order to participate, students must exhibit appropriate behavior during the time period immediately preceding the trip and must have obtained parental permission.
Sexual Harassment
The St. Tammany Parish School Board is committed to providing a safe and stable climate free from sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is a violation of the law and School Board policy and will not be tolerated, condoned, or overlooked. Incident reports involving student to student harassment must be immediately reported to the Principal, the Mental Health Provider, or the School Resource Officer.
Tardiness
School begins at 8:30 A.M. each day. All students are expected to be on time to class. Students who arrive after this time will be counted tardy. If a student arrives after
8:30 A.M., a parent, a legal guardian, or a person authorized by the parent must come to the office and sign the student in before the student reports to class.
Transportation
Transportation to Covington Pathways is provided by the St. Tammany Parish School Board Department of Transportation. A request for bus transportation will be initiated at the IEP (Individualized Education Program) conference held to place your child into the Covington Pathways school program. Students at Covington Pathways are provided special education transportation as indicated in their Individualized Education Program.
Visitors
All visitors to the school must report to the office. Visitors must sign in and receive a visitor’s pass. This is for your child’s protection. Your child must be signed out in the office before leaving campus.
Other
Covington Pathways follows all policies and procedures of the St. Tammany Parish Public School System. Please refer to the St. Tammany Parish School Board Handbook on Attendance, Discipline, and Student Records for additional information.
|
