2. Ms. Pekarsky’s Class Doral Academy Open House 2017- 2018

3. Doral Academy Staff Principal - Ms. Cuesta
Assistant Principal - Ms. Simon
Lead Teacher - Ms. Perez
Receptionist - Ms. Carolina Gomez
Registrar - Ms. Trino

4. Morning Arrival
Doors open at 8:10 in the morning. All students who arrive prior to 8:10 must wait outside in front of our classroom.
Students arriving prior to 8:00 in the morning must be placed in the before care program. If child is left unattended, you will be charged $1.00 per every minute.
Students should arrive prepared to learn.
Students must put away their belongings and begin working on their morning assignments.
Instruction begins at 8:30 promptly.

5. Attendance Policy
Doral Academy and JAM awards Perfect Attendance to students with zero absences and zero tardies. Please note that the DAC/JAM policy is different from the standard MDCPS policy for awarding perfect attendance.
To ensure students make their best effort to be present at school every day, referrals will be issued for the following:
10 tardies = 1 referral
5 unexcused absences = 1 referral
10 early releases = 1 referral

6. Students will be allowed ten (10) excused absences in an annual course
Students will be allowed ten (10) excused absences in an annual course. Absences of more than five consecutive days must be excused by written documentation from a licensed/certified health practitioner. A referral will be issued to a student who accumulates five (5) unexcused absences or ten (10) tardies in an annual course.
By the third referral, the student will lose re-enrollment for the following school year.
It is your responsibility to send in a note within 48 hours of your child’s absence. Notes to excuse an absence will be sent to the main office for approval. Only 10 parent written notes (no s!) may be accepted in the school year. Parent notes are subject to approval by administration. After 10 written notes you must provide a doctor’s note.

7. Early Dismissal Policy
No students shall be released the final thirty minutes of the school day unless authorized by administration (i.e. emergency, sickness).
Students who wish to be dismissed early are required to provide proof of a medical/dental appointment within 48 hours of such appointment. Notes submitted more than 48 hours after an early dismissal will not be accepted, and the early dismissal will be deemed unexcused. After 5 unexcused early dismissals, the student will be issued a referral form that will be placed in the student’s permanent record.

8. Lunch
Teacher Assistants will be watching over our students during lunch time.
Cafeteria Lunch: $3.25
You may now apply for free or reduced lunch online. Last year’s application needs to be renewed.
Classrooms will not be interrupted for forgotten lunchboxes. Lunchboxes will be delivered to a table in the cafeteria.
Students who forget their lunchboxes have the option to eat ham and cheese sandwiches, cereal and milk or what is being served in the cafeteria.
Birthday’s may be celebrated in the cafeteria during lunch time.

9. Classroom Management Class Dojo! Please sign up www.classdojo.com
Home Learning must be complete and in your child’s home learning folder by the end of the week in order to receive an appropriate effort grade.
Super-Kid

10. Super-kid Fridays! Every Friday we will have Super Kid.
Your child must bring a snack.
Movies must be approved by the teacher/administration
Super Kid is used as a behavior incentive, if your child’s behavior does not warrant super kid, he/she will not participate.

11. Afternoon Dismissal
Students are dismissed by the front lobby from 2:00-2:15. Any student not picked up by 2:15 will be taken to Media Center and you will be billed $1.00 per minute thereafter. Please write your preferred contact number inside your child’s home learning folder.
If you are going to change the method in which your child is being dismissed, it is required to notify the school in writing or call the main office at
Students will not be sent to aftercare unless they are pre-registered. If they are pre-registered they will be sent to the Media Center and will be charged $1.00 thereafter.
Children under 18 are not allowed to pick up students.

12. Afternoon Dismissal Map

13. Homework
Homework is very important. It reinforces skills that are being learned.
Please do not go ahead.
Home learning is given Monday-Thursday. Home Learning will be posted on my school page each Friday Afternoon. You will need to print them out and they need to be completed and turned in by Friday.
School website

14. Weekly Grades
Grades and attendance may be verified on the Electronic Grade Book through the Parent Portal.
You may setup automatic notification in the Parent Portal
Students will receive one grade per week in each subject area.

15. First Grade Grading Policy Percent Letter 90% - 100% A 80 - 89% B
I will send home copies of D’s and F’s
so that you may review them with your
child.

16. Communication
Parent communication is vital in order for us to have a successful school year.
Please check your child’s home learning folder daily for any correspondence. Please send your correspondence/monies inside your child’s home learning folder.
Phone messages will be used to keep you informed of current events as they unfold. Please update any changes in phone numbers with the main office.
I am available in the mornings from 7:45 - 8:10 or in the afternoon from 2:15 - 3:00.I will return calls within 24 hours.
The school calendar and the cafeteria calendar is available on the school website.

17. Uniforms and After-Care
All students must wear the proper uniform daily.
Hair should be cut neatly.
Sweaters should have the Doral Academy logo or be
a solid navy blue color.
Student shoes must be all black.
Students will be allowed to wear jeans and their blue dragon
T-Shirt on Friday for a $1.00 donation.
After School Care
For information, see Pre-Kinder Department.

18. Field Trips Students will participate in 3 fieldtrips this year.
It is of utmost importance that you adhere to the assigned deadlines. We are required to submit all field trip paper work one week prior to the scheduled field trip.
Chaperones will be selected through a lottery.
You must register through the student/parent portal and receive Level 1 clearance.
Please see the receptionist for assistance.
Check the office to verify your clearance.

19. Volunteer Hours
30 volunteer hours must be completed as per school policy.
Hours are divided amongst siblings including those enrolled in J.A.M.S.
Siblings in the Doral Middle School and High school are not included.
Step-by-step instructions on how to become a cleared School Volunteer can be found on our School Website: How to Become a School Volunteer
School wide volunteer opportunities can be found on our School Website via Volunteer Spot
For other volunteer opportunities, please notify your child’s teacher.

20. Programs and Assessments
You will soon receive a newsletter explaining each of the assessments and programs mentioned below.
STAR
Accelerated Reader!
Reflex Math
I-Ready Testing
SAT Testing

21. Summer Reading
Summer Reading work will be graded and is due by Friday, August 25th .
New students to our school can turn in the work assigned by their previous school or they may log on to our school website and view the assigned summer reading activities for incoming first graders under News and Announcements.

22. Classroom expectations:
Come to school prepared and on time.
Complete class work and home learning assignments.
Respect peers and teachers.
Ask questions.
Do your best.

23. Honor Roll
1st, 2nd, and 3rd quarter Honor Roll will be held inside classrooms with students only. This allows:
Immediate feedback to students for a job well done
Inclusive classroom environment for peers to congratulate and encourage each other
More time for classroom instruction
4th Quarter and Year Round Honor Roll will be held in the cafeteria followed by the Book Fair and an outdoor celebration. Parents will be invited to partake in these activities.

24. Our school’s website:

25. Online Store Tutorial:
1. Log on to our school website and select school (DAC or JAM)
2. On the HOME PAGE, click on the tab STORE
3. In the ONLINE STORE WEBSITE select a school (DAC or JAM).
4. After selecting the school, you will see all options available (Agenda, Jean Day, Field Trips …).
5. After selecting the item/event, click ADD items to CART.
6. Then LOGIN or CREATE a NEW ACCOUNT.
7. After logging in you can see the items in your cart and proceed with the purchase (here you MUST SELECT A STUDENT)
8. If creating a new account, go to “items in your cart” and proceed with the purchase, but you will be prompted to add a student profile (FULL NAME & STUDENT ID) .Every item/event purchased must be linked to a student (Parents can have one account with more than one student profile.)
*** The Online Store will NOT store your credit card information for security purposes.***

26. How to communicate with
Ms. Pekarsky
Send an to:
(preferred)
Write me a message via Class Dojo!
Phone the school –
-Calls will be returned within 24 hours.

27. For Monday!
You should:
Have purchased the home learning folder and Friday school t-shirt online!
Completed and signed any paperwork in your child’s open house folder.

28. Questions???
At this time if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to ask!
You are your child’s first teacher,
so I will look to you for help and
insights that will help me
Understand your child and
Therefore help them reach their
full potential!

29. Welcome to a great year in Ms. Pekarsky’s class!