School Policy Guide

• Woods Hollow Children’s Day Care at 5470 Research Park (By Promega) 608-273-4433 *
• LaPetite Academy at 5574 Lacy Road, 608-277-8388 *
• Early Childhood Learning Center at 833 Hughes Place – 608-251-8172 **
• Dane County Boys & Girls Club – 608-257-2606 *

In the 2019-20 school year, we incorporated the Standard Response Protocol into our emergency procedures in line with guidance from the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Office of School Safety and national recommendations on school safety. It incorporates many of the concepts we already use but offers more clarity and consistency in terminology among schools and first responders across the country. Each school year, students will receive age-appropriate instruction on what to do in each of these scenarios through lesson plans, slide presentations, class discussions, videos, and more.

We believe optimal student achievement, both academically and behaviorally, can be achieved by taking a positive and proactive approach for creating and maintaining a safe and effective learning environment. We use the Proactive Behavior Support (PBS) practices to both teach students about expectations and recognize when they are “caught doing good.” Every classroom teacher also uses Second Step, a social-emotional learning curriculum to help students meet our district social-emotional learning standards (SELS). Along with this curriculum, teachers integrate the SELS throughout the academic day and also utilize the Zones of Regulation, which provides students easy language to be metacognitive about their feelings and many strategies for keeping themselves “in the green.”

As a Community School, partnership with families is one of the keys to our success! We are in the process of developing a Leopold Steering Committee made up of families, community partners and staff in the upcoming school year. Leopold also has a growing number of family groups including Black Parents for Progress and Latinx Family Group which meets several times a year.  Leopold’s very active Parent-Faculty Organization supports many improvement projects and community events. General monthly gatherings focus on community building, sharing information and supportive events such as clothing exchanges and more!

There are many ways that Leopold families are engaged in our school community. We have many special events throughout the year where families and community members can volunteer; monthly Community Nights, Black History Celebration, Multicultural Night, the Fall Fiesta, and the Timberwolf Trample. Additional volunteers help around the school, such as in the library, assisting at lunchtime and recess, organizing our Little Libraries, and prepping teacher materials. We love working with our families and consider them our closest partners to supporting our children’s learning & happiness.

Families play a key role in school safety.  We believe that it is beneficial for families and the community to engage in our students’ education. We also want to provide a safe and comfortable environment for our students to learn. If you plan to visit, please pre-arrange your visit with the classroom teacher. The teacher will communicate with the office about your visit. You’ll find more information on district safety and security, including how we communicate with you in an emergency, at mmsd.org/safety. Thank you for your partnership in creating a safe and positive school environment. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me for any reason.

To help us preserve the academic environment, and to avoid possible problems, please ensure that your child leaves items unrelated to learning at home, including all toys. We ask that students leave cell phones at home. In the case of an emergency, students are allowed to use the phone in the main office. If your student needs to bring a cell phone to school, the device must be “Off and Away” at all times during the school day. As a result, cell phones should remain out of sight (i.e.- kept in lockers or backpacks) and powered off during the school day.

As a technology forward school, we want to teach and promote appropriate digital citizenship, as well as help students stay more present and engaged in their learning. The intent of this policy is to support students in their academic success by removing a major distraction and promoting face to face social interactions and connections.

Students who “forget” the “Off and Away” policy will be warned the first time. The second time we collect the phone, the student will need to pick it up from the main office at the end of the day and a parent will be notified. The third offense and beyond, a parent has to pick it up from the main office. Thank you for supporting the cell phone policy and our children’s engagement in the learning and face to face connections with people around them.

Parking maps are available in the school office. Student drop off/pick up is in the circle drive (drop and go). The school parking lots are reserved for staff only except for the short-term visitor parking located in the upper parking lot which is marked for this purpose. When you drop-off your students across from the school, it is critical that you remind them to cross and the crosswalk, which has lights and an adult school crossing guard. Our student Safety Patrol also offers guided crossing on the north side of Post Road.

To ensure the safety of your child, please send a note in advance to your child’s teacher or the office. We require parents to come to our Welcome Desk or Office to sign out the student. We will call the classroom to have the student sent down to the office to meet the parents. Please remember anyone picking up a student must be authorized and listed in Infinite Campus. Once school is in session, no non-school staff (including parents) will be allowed to go to a classroom unaccompanied and pick up a child.

If your child will be absent from school due to illness or is arriving late, please be sure to call our school’s safe arrival phone line to inform us. You can leave a message with your child’s name, grade, homeroom teacher, and reason for the absence or tardiness. The safe arrival phone number is 608-204-4042.

Attendance at school is important and a key contribution to students’ success as a learner. When a student is absent frequently, they miss out on important learning happening. The maximum number of school days a student can miss is only ten days in a semester. Tardies also add up to absences.

If you need assistance in getting your child to school, please reach out to us. Our school social worker is here to assist you.

Our teachers plan field trips that enrich the educational experience we provide, as well as ones that help to build community and celebrate our successes. Parent volunteers/chaperones are very much appreciated!

Our children enter our building and go to their classrooms between 7:35 a.m. and 7:50 a.m. when the bell rings for instruction to begin.  Breakfast service begins at 7:35 for students to pick up and bring to their classrooms. For those students who walk to school or ride with parents, we ask that they arrive at school no earlier than 7:35 a.m.

Our number one priority at Leopold is the safety of your child/ren. Outside of drop-off and pick-up hours, you will need to use the intercom to let the office know you are coming into school. To ensure that we have a secure building, we require every visitor to sign in at the Welcome Center or office. You will be asked to come to the Welcome Center or office and sign in, after which you will get a visitor’s badge. If the teacher is expecting you, you will be allowed to go to the classroom without an escort. Please be sure to follow this protocol since it keeps our entire Leopold community safe. Thank you in advance for working with our team to focus on safety.