Policies and Procedures

Arundel employs important policies and procedures in order to keep students safe and secure while on campus. Learn more about:

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Attendance

Attendance matters! Students must attend school unless they are ill. Ill students should not attend to prevent illness from spreading to others. Unsure about when to keep your child home or send to school? Here is some information to assist you. The San Carlos School District has strict policies regarding attendance. Please review the policy in full if you have concerns.

If your child is absent for any reason, call the school office verifying the absence that morning before instruction starts. The office has an answering machine to take messages during non-school hours. If we do not hear from you, the school secretary will call your primary phone number on file. All absences must be logged according to district policy.

When children arrive after the school start time assigned to their grade level, they are considered late and should go to the office to check in before going to their classroom. Please make every effort to arrive on time.

If you must take your child out of school during the day for any reason, notify the office in advance and come to the office to sign out. Office personnel will summon your child from the classroom.

Illness

California Department of Public Health Guidance for Common Signs and Symptoms

Unsure what to do when your child is showing signs of illness? See the new California Department of Public Health suggestions for when to keep your child home when they are not feeling well. See flyers in English | Spanish. For more information, please visit the CDPH guidance page.

School Visitors

Insurance requirements prohibit allowing unidentified visitors in the classrooms. All visitors to the school are asked to report to the office for a visitor’s badge. All adults on campus between 8:15 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. must sign in at the office.

Homework Policy

Homework is assigned for the following reasons:

To encourage the development of independent study habits, skills, and responsibilities
To reinforce, enrich, and extend learning, by providing additional educational opportunities outside the classroom

Arundel follows the homework policy set by the San Carlos School District. At the beginning of the school year, all teachers will share with parents the kinds and amounts of homework expected of students. They will also discuss any variations to accommodate individual students’ needs. We encourage developing a reading habit every day with books at your child's level as part of your homework routine.

Class Placement Change Request Policy:

There will be NO CHANGES made to class rosters during the first 10 days of school. Your child's former teacher, along with his/her colleagues, created the class lists after carefully considering what is best for your child as well as the needs of all Arundel students. If there is a concern about placement, please notify the office after the first 3 days of school via e-mail, voicemail, appointment, or letter including a statement about the reasons why this change is being requested.

If the problem is still not resolved, the following policy applies:

PARENT REQUESTS for PLACEMENT CHANGE:

STEP #1: Parents and teacher meet to discuss concerns. Parents must explain in writing how the current situation is not meeting their child’s needs and what they would need to see in order to reach a satisfactory outcome.

STEP #2: The teacher has 10 days to address the parents’ concerns.

STEP #3: If the parents remain unsatisfied after 10 school days, the teacher and parents will meet for an SST (Student Study Team) meeting.

STEP#4: The Student Study team will collaborate to resolve the issue.

Emergency Preparedness

Emergency preparedness is important at Arundel. In the case of an emergency, the following procedures will be put in place:

Be Safe Drills: Arundel School uses the Big Five Safety Protocols recommended by the Coalition for Safe Schools and Communities.
Releasing Students: In case of a declared emergency by the superintendent, all students are required to remain at school under the supervision of school personnel. Students will be released only to parents/guardians or to an adult whose name appears on the emergency release cards. Our reunification location will be shared with current families.
Communication via text message, phone, and email will share details as they emerge. Please keep your contact information current with the school so that you can be reached immediately.

It is important that adults picking up children during a declared emergency follow the procedure above, leave the campus immediately to reduce confusion, and clear access roads for response vehicles.

During weather and natural disaster events that impact our air quality, the guidelines below will be followed based on the most recent information found on Air Now.gov.

AIR QUALITY GUIDELINES

Drop Off / Pick Up and Parking Lot Procedures:

Yards open at 8:10a

We need your help to keep the school and your children safe. EVERY child’s safety is important to us. It remains our highest priority to ensure that students enter and exit cars in a safe and organized way. We ask everyone to correctly follow our pick-up and drop-off procedures. Failure to do so creates chaos, frustration and unsafe conditions. Please discuss proper drop-off and pick-up procedures with your children, nannies, and extended family members or friends who will be driving your children to school.

We encourage you to consider walking your children to school each day. We have NEW steps up to our upper yard from Phelps Rd. Walking will help alleviate our serious traffic problem, but it also encourages good exercise and a healthy lifestyle. Walking to school and carpooling are more important than ever!

BEST TIP: Park remotely, such as at Highlands Park, two blocks below Heather, and "walk to school". Save yourself the parking lot headache and start your child's day with fresh air and exercise.

Parking Lot Procedures

There is NO PARKING anywhere along the curb.

Lower Parking Lot:

This area is for TK/K only. Please walk your child through the gate for drop-off and pick-up times.

Arundel Cul-de-sac:

The curb is a quick loading zone only, parents must remain in the car. You need to pull all the way forward to the front of the office to load and unload your children within the coned area.

Please circle the perimeter of the parking lot until your child is ready to be picked up, or find a parking space in the parking lot, or on the street.
Staff will be on the curbside near the office to help get kids go to the corrrect yard and keep traffic moving
In the mornings say your goodbyes before entering the parking lot, and all students must exit on the curbside, never on the traffic side of the car.
If parents need to get out of their cars to assist their children, they need to PARK in a parking space and not the curb, otherwise allow your child to get out on their own.
Upper Parking Lot:
There is parking available for 1st-3rd grade families.
We have a car line along the fence for drop-off and pick.
The principal or other staff will be at the fence guiding students to the playground area.
Please turn off your engine if waiting for your child.

Buses have priority, please be careful when driving around them. The long bus cannot safely or properly execute the turn when cars are parked by the After School building. The result is: “the now waiting bus” blocks the cars trying to enter the parking lot and the line becomes backed up on Melendy. The bus needs to park alongside After School—keep this area clear and moving forward.