Answers to some of the questions we think you might have and maybe some you didn t think of yet

Transcription

1 Answers to some of the questions we think you might have and maybe some you didn t think of yet

2 WE EXPECT YOU TO GO TO COLLEGE. WE EXPECT YOU TO ACT RESPONSIBLY. WE WILL SUPPORT YOU IN YOUR EFFORTS TO DO BOTH OF THESE THINGS! THE ARTS: The arts the reason why you are here! Students will have the opportunity to take classes in a dance, music, theater and visual arts. Each student has been admitted to a specific major in one of these areas. This major does not prohibit a student from exploring other classes or units, but rather guides a student through a cohesive set of classes designed to prepare the student for a college or career path in that art form. The units that compose each major are outlined at the back of this guide. The arts courses are all housed inside of our ANGEL Learning Platform which can be accessed at Parents can request a parent insight account, which allows them to view student progress within assigned courses. There are also opportunities for credit flexibility options in the arts. Students should approach their teachers if they have a plan for another educational option that will help them to either demonstrate their prior mastery of a topic or learn it in a different way. ACADEMICS: Students will complete their academic coursework in a variety of ways. The majority of courses will be taught by our on-site academic instructors in a blended delivery model. This means that some of the student work will be done independently online and other work will be done face-toface with the teacher in the classroom. What this model looks like will vary from class to class the courses offered in this manner are: Courses Typically for Juniors CP Algebra 2 CP Economics/Government Courses Typically for Seniors CP Statistics and Trigonometry or CP Pre-Calculus CP Psychology/CP Sociology CP English 11 CP English 12 CP Chemistry CP Anatomy and Physiology Other Courses with On-Site Instructors Health, Physical Education, Speech

3 These courses are all housed inside of our ANGEL Learning Platform which can be accessed at Parents can request a parent insight account, which allows them to view student progress within assigned courses. Credit recovery, special electives and foreign language courses will be offered solely online (without an on-site instructor) on a variety of platforms, including other courses on our ANGEL Learning Platform (still PLATO ( for credit recovery, and Rosetta Stone for foreign language ( It is particularly easy when working in an online or blended course to run in to confusion regarding cheating and plagiarism. In general, students can avoid trouble in this area by following two rules of thumb. 1) Don t copy and paste. Answer questions in your own words with your own thoughts. 2) You can work with classmates but don t use their work or let them use yours. Our students are all very bright students and should not sell themselves short by resorting to shortcuts do your work, show what you know. THE BASICS: We share the Fitton Center space with the public, with other arts classes, with groups who rent out the space for various meetings and occasions. Therefore, students are reminded that they should conduct themselves appropriately within a public, shared space. We have a relaxed dress code. Here is the basic rule clothes should not be distracting or dangerous. Everyone is at school to learn and to get better at what they do, not to fixate on clothes. Keep your body appropriately covered at all times and do not wear slogans or pictures that are not appropriate for school/the workplace. Students may work in any supervised space in the building. Everyone in the building should have a purpose and a focus. You always need to be working on your arts or your academics. ATTENDANCE: When working in the performing or visual arts, showing up is extremely important. It is likely that you will have others depending on you and if you do not show up, you are holding them back. That said, everyone gets sick from time to time. We DO NOT want you to show up to school sick. If you have a fever, you need to stay home. If you have recurring medical issues, or if you are sick for more than a day, please see a doctor. If you need information about low-cost medical insurance, please talk to Mrs. Daniels, Mrs. Howard or Ms. Schilling. When a student is going to be absent, it is his/her responsibility to notify any teacher with whom he /she has an appointment by sending an before the start of the day. The office must also hear from a parent or guardian regarding the absence. To report an absence, please call Mrs. Eversole at x If you reach her voic , please leave a message with the student s name, the date and the reason for his/her absence.

4 Excused absences include absence due to illness, death in the family or required court appearance. Please do not schedule routine doctors appointments during the school day. If a student cannot make it in to school, he/she should do his best to complete any work that can be completed online or independently. Each arts teacher will have an attendance policy for his/her arts courses and that policy will be communicated to students at the beginning of the school year. Students will be expected to make up the time and work that is missed. TIME MANAGEMENT: Juggling your time and making it to all of your appointments is a lot of responsibility. Check your calendar at least twice a day and keep careful track of where you are supposed to be! If you have conflicting appointments, those conflicts need to be resolved BEFORE the time of the appointment. SCHEDULING: Students will sign up for various arts courses during the first few weeks of school. There will be a series of placement auditions and information sessions designed to help the students and teachers determine the best courses to meet the interests and needs of each student. Students should expect to carry at least.75 arts credits per quarter, but most will earn more. GRADES: The grading scale for arts and academic courses is as follows: A B C D F 0 64 CREDIT FLEXIBILITY: Butler Tech has adopted a policy of credit flexibility that allows students opportunities to earn credits in ways other than the traditional seat time. Students may earn credit by demonstrating mastery of material or by pursuing various educational options, such as internships and mentorships with businesses and community organizations, service learning programs, online programs, guided independent study experiences and/or educational travel programs. Students interested in pursuing a credit flex option for one or more of their academic courses should speak to the counselor, Mrs. Howard. LUNCH: Lunch is served every day in the Vista Room (on the third floor of the Fitton Center) from 11-11:30am. Food will not be served after 11:20am. A menu for lunch will be available each month. Hot lunch costs $4. The Reduced Lunch price is $0.50. Lunches need to be ordered a week in advance.

5 Provided that the weather is nice, students may also eat lunch on the patio outside of the Vista Room. All trash must be cleaned up following the meal and students should stay on the patio. Students listening to music at lunch should do so with headphones in order to keep the noise level reasonable. Students may also choose to eat at off-campus locations. All students must conduct themselves according to school rules at all times during the school day. THE CAMPUS: The School of the Arts campus will include two buildings for the first semester. We will then all relocate to one building (228 Court Street) for the second semester! In the Fall, our offices, academic classes, theater and visual arts courses will be housed at the Fitton Center for Creative Arts (101 S. Monument Ave.) and dance and music courses will be held at 228 Court Street. Students may be required to travel between the two buildings during the school day. All pedestrian rules should be followed, as well as all school rules. Students should walk on the sidewalks along Court Street when traveling between buildings and obey all traffic signals. USE OF TOBACCO, ALCOHOL AND OTHER SUBSTANCES: Use of tobacco, alcohol and other substances by students will not be tolerated anywhere during the school day. Students who currently use tobacco outside of school who are looking for help in quitting should call the Quit Line at QUIT-NOW or speak to their advisor, counselor, or principal about available assistance. Students who have concerns about their own substance use or the substance use of others around them should speak to the counselor about available assistance. ADVISORY: Each student will be assigned to an advisor one of the teachers in his/her arts area. The advisor is a student s first point of contact when it comes to academics and the arts. A student will meet with his/her advisor on a weekly basis in order to discuss his/her progress at the school. Advisors will be the first link to home and will be in regular contact with parents regarding the student s progress. ALL SCHOOL MEETINGS: The entire school community will gather regularly for all-school meetings. Students will be sent appointments for these meetings well in advance. CTSO (CAREER TECHNICAL STUDENT ORGANIZATION) AND STUDENT GOVERNMENT: All students are members of a career technical student organization (Skills USA) and can participate in the organizational competitions. CTSO officers will also serve as student government officers. The student government will organize activities such as the prom, fundraisers, school parties, and the creation of the school yearbook.

6 TRANSPORTATION: Bus riders will ride a bus from their home high school to D Russel Lee (Butler Tech s main campus) and will then pick up a shuttle that will drop off at the Fitton Center or at the new building. The same will happen in reverse at the end of the day. Lakota bus #54 will go directly to the Fitton Center, Lakota bus #85 will go directly to the new building and the Hamilton bus (# TBA) will stop at both buildings. Information about bussing to the student s home high school can be obtained through his/her home district transportation office. The bus will drop students off at the school at approximately 8am and will pick them up at 1:40pm. Students are responsible for getting themselves on the bus at the end of the day. Bus riders should pay close attention to their regarding any early dismissals for their school. At times throughout the year, their home district may have an assembly or activity that requires the bus riders from that school to depart early. This information will be communicated to students via and students are responsible for being in the parking lot at the time communicated. Students who drive to school may park in the parking lot at the Fitton Center. This is a public parking lot. Students are responsible for filling out a parking permit form and getting a permit from the office. The initial permit is free. Lost permits can be replaced for a $10 fee. In the second half of the year, there will also be designated student parking the new building. This parking may not be available throughout the fall. If students wish to drive, they may park at the metered spots and feed the meters, but the best route is most likely to park at the Fitton Center and walk the two blocks to Second Street. Regardless of the mode of transportation, students are responsible for arriving to all appointments on time. If there is a delay with the shuttle, or with busses for a particular school, this information will be communicated to instructors. TECHNOLOGY: Technology is at the center of much of what we do as a school. Please be sure to follow the expectations outlined in the Acceptable Use Policy and the Student Laptop Handbook. Students are responsible for keeping their laptops in good condition and for using the computers and the internet appropriately. Students will ABSOLUTELY need to check their and calendar appointments at least two times a day in order to stay on top of their responsibilities. Technical malfunction is not an excuse for missing appointments if a student is having technical issues, he/she needs to seek out assistance. Student can be accessed using Microsoft Outlook on the student laptops, or on the web at Instructions for setting up Outlook, connecting to the wireless network and other technology tips will be distributed, along with the laptops, at the start of the school year and will also be posted in ANGEL so that students may access them throughout the year.

7 SNOW DAYS/WEATHER: In case of snow or natural disaster, various methods are used to communicate the closing or delay of school. On TV or radio, cancellation will be listed as Butler Tech or D Russel Lee. The district also has a text messaging system that can alert students/parents of cancellations. Text btalert to to be included in this service. Cancellations will also be posted on the Butler Tech website and on the School of the Arts (Butler Tech) Facebook page. If school is not posted as cancelled, The Arts is open for business. If a student s home district has cancelled school and he/she is not able to make it in to school safely, he/she is expected to work in his/her online courses. HOME SCHOOL INFO: Students will need to maintain contact with their home school counselors in order to receive information about special events, graduation, etc. Counselors will be given a list of student addresses at the beginning of the year, but students are encouraged to make contact if they have specific questions. A bulletin board with any information that we receive from home schools will be kept in the office. Students are encouraged to participate in events, extracurricular activities, etc. at their home schools. FINAL THOUGHTS: There is still plenty of information that is not covered in this guide that will be discovered over the first few weeks of school. Please do not hesitate to contact us regarding any questions. We are all looking forward to a great year! Erin Schilling, Principal schillinge@butlertech.org (c) x. 118 (o) Tammi Eversole, Secretary eversolet@butlertech.org x. 138 Erica Daniels, SBSW danielse@butlertech.org x. 138 Amanda Howard, Counselor howarda@butlertech.org x. 119 Scott Carlyle, Dance carlyles@butlertech.org Donna Clark, Mathematics clarkd@butlertech.org Shannon Duff, Health/PE duffs@butlertech.org Bernie Franks, Science franksb@butlertech.org Kathy Hall, English hallk@butlertech.org Barbie Higgins, Social Studies higginsb@butlertech.org Joe Jahnigen, Music jahnigenj@butlertech.org Anthony Mansfield, Visual Arts mansfielda@butlertech.org Mary Catherine Ruby, Visual Arts rubym@butlertech.org Coleen Sizelove, Theater sizelovec@butlertech.org Deb Stanze, Music stanzed@butlertech.org For updates, photos, etc. become our fan on Facebook! Just search for School of the Arts (Butler Tech).