Agenda Book Policy

 

          The Agenda Book Policy was instituted for the first time at Block Junior High School during the 2002-03 school year as part of its state mandated P.L. 221 action plan.  Its implementation was directed at two distinct and yet closely related goals:  increasing homework completion rates while at the same time increasing home/school communication.

 

          The use of the agenda books can be summarized in the following 10 Steps to Success:

·        Students bring their agenda books to advisory.

·        Advisory teacher verifies on a daily basis that each student has his or her agenda book.

·        Students enter homework assignments into their agenda books

·        Students take their agenda books home daily.

·        Students complete the homework assignment.

·        Students show the completed assignment to their parents.

·        Parents initial the agenda books.

·        Students return to school the next day with the agenda book and the completed homework.

 

Care of Agenda Books:

          It is each individual student’s responsibility to maintain his or her agenda book in an orderly fashion.  The following will not be permitted:

·        Removing pages from the agenda book.

·        Whiting out or scribbling over or in any way removing information. entered into the agenda book.

·        Entering gang signs or graffiti into the agenda book.

·        Folding over the edges of the pages of the agenda book.

·        Subjecting the agenda book to any misuse that makes it unusable.

 

Replacement of Lost Agenda Book:

          The first copy of the agenda book is free.  However, students will be assessed a $10.00 fee to replace a lost agenda book for the first occurrence. This amount will increase by $10.00 for all subsequent losses.  Please refer to the following chart to determine replacement costs.

          1^st Copy  = Free

          2^nd Copy = $10.00

          3^rd Copy = $20.00

          4^th Copy = $30.00

          5^th Copy = $40.00

 

          Data for the two previous years indicate that the overwhelming majority of students are able to retain their original copies for the entire year.  An extremely small number of students either lost their agenda books or had them confiscated because of gang graffiti entered into them.  We were also able to determine that several students intentionally discarded their agenda books to avoid showing their parents stamps they may have received for non completion of homework.

          Block Junior High School students are encouraged to retain their original copies not only to avoid the additional costs associated with replacing them, but also because the original copy will contain information that will be vitally important to students who elect to seek a waiver of the promotion/retention policy.  The Waiver Committee will use a student’s agenda book to verify information such as homework completion, the number of referrals, number of tardies, and attendance at tutoring.

          Students who lose their agenda books will have their names submitted to the office by their advisory teachers.

 

Failure to Bring Agenda Book to School:

          Students who fail to bring their agenda book to advisory will be given a single sheet agenda book by their advisory teacher to be used for one day only.  They will be permitted to do this twice.  Upon the third time that a student forgets to bring his or her agenda book to advisory, the advisory teacher will submit a referral to the principal.

          Students who fail to bring their agenda books to individual classroom teachers will be allowed to use a single sheet agenda book twice.  Upon the third time that a student forgets to bring his or her agenda book to an individual classroom teacher, that teacher will submit a referral to the principal.

 

Parent Messages:

          Parents are encouraged to enter messages or questions that they may have of individual classroom teachers or other school personnel.  Parents entering messages should direct their children to inform the teacher about the message.

          The faculty and staff of Block Junior School believe that the agenda book program can assist each and every student in their quest for academic success.  With that in mind, we wish you a very successful 2006-07 school year!

 

 

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