Starting Time: 8:45 AM  l Dismissal Time: 3:35 PM  l Students will dismiss one hour early every Wednesday during the school year.

Office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Attendance Line (24 hours): (847) 593-4388

Please call the school office before 9:15 a.m. any time your child will be absent. If your child is not in attendance, it is our policy to try to reach you if we have not heard from you. This policy helps protect our children. If a parent cannot be reached and we suspect possible truancy, local police may be contacted.

If your child is ill with a common contagious disease, please notify the nurse immediately. This allows us to notify other parents/guardians that the children were exposed.

When possible, please try to schedule vacations during summer break or over school holidays. If missing several days of school is unavoidable, please contact the office or your teacher as soon as possible to keep the school informed. Please be aware that teachers cannot prepare homework assignments in advance for students who are absent due to vacations. If a student is going to be absent for an extended period of time due to illness or medical reasons (more than two school days), parents/guardians may call to request assignments that may be picked up at the school office.

All visitors will be expected to enter through the main entrance on Wellington Avenue (Door #1). Upon entering, please ring the bell and the office staff will buzz you into the school. Please know that the office staff will inquire about your purpose and may ask who you are to ensure the safety of our students and staff. Visitors are also required to provide a driver’s license, which will then be scanned and used to provide you with an ID while you are in the building.

All kindergarten students enter the building through Door #1 (main entrance) and wait outside the front door until a patrol escorts them inside the building. They then proceed to wait outside their classroom until the 8:45 a.m. bell.

Students in grades 1-5 will wait for school to begin on the blacktop behind the school. A supervisor will be on duty every morning from 8:25 – 8:45 a.m. on the blacktop area. Students are asked not to arrive before 8:25 a.m. because there will be no supervision before that time. When the 8:35 a.m. bell rings, the students who are already lined up on the blacktop in their grade-level specified lines will be entering the building. The morning supervisor will allow students in grades 1-5 to enter the building through Door #10 and then the students will go to their lockers. Any student who arrives after 8:45 a.m. should enter through the main entrance.

Students who arrive on a bus can either enter through the main entrance to go to breakfast or head to the blacktop where they will follow the same procedures as the walkers. We have bus supervisors in place to assist with the entry/dismissal of students to and from the buses.

In cases of inclement weather, all students will enter the building through the main entrance or Door #10 (near blacktop) and proceed to their lockers and then sit on the floor outside their classroom.

Afternoon dismissal procedures will vary by grade level, and your child’s teacher will discuss this during on the first day Meet Your Teacher celebration. If you need further clarification on dismissal procedures, please contact your child’s teacher.

Should you need to change your child’s normal dismissal routine, please call the office before 3:15 p.m. so that we have enough time to contact your child’s teacher. If you have not notified the office by dismissal time and you are picking up your child instead of having them ride the bus, you must first check in with the office before leaving with your child.

• Pickup/Drop-off Map
• No Cell Phones in a School Zone Law

We ask visitors to comply with the following basic traffic safety rules:

• Do not enter the school parking lot between 8:20 – 9:00 a.m. and 3:30 – 4:00 p.m.
  • Students may be walking through the lot on their way to or from school buses during this time
• Use the designated “Kiss and Drive” only for dropping off students. This is not designated as an area for parking.
• There is no parking in this drop-off lane. In order to help traffic move smoothly, please be sure that your child is ready to exit the car and that he or she exits on the passenger side.
• Park vehicles in designated parking areas only.
• If you are parking in a designated area and your child will need to cross a street, please walk your child across the street to ensure their safety.

Students who ride their bikes to school are asked to make sure that they have a lock for their bikes. Bike racks are located along the blacktop, near Door #7. Students who walk to school should not arrive at school before 8:25 a.m. when there is no adult supervision outside.

Students will either be assigned a locker where they can store their backpacks, or there will be a designated space in their classroom for their personal items. Students should use them for transporting belongings to and from school and must be stored except for this purpose.

If it should be necessary for a student to be dismissed from school early, a request must be written by the parent/guardian stating the time and reason for the early dismissal. All requests must be presented to the student’s teacher who will then forward them to the office. Parents/guardians must come to the office to sign their children out of school before picking them up for departure. Students will not be dismissed from class until a parent or guardian has arrived to pick up the student.

To keep classroom interruptions to a minimum, students expecting items forgotten at home will not be called to the office. It is the student’s responsibility to check in the office to see if it has arrived after asking the teacher’s permission. Students who are expecting a lunch will be allowed to come to pick it up from the office after asking the lunch supervisor’s permission.

Parents/guardians and students are asked to make careful choices about clothing, footwear, and outerwear. When choosing clothing each day, keep in mind the appropriateness of clothing in terms of warmth, modesty, safety, and practicality for the school setting. Studentsʼ dress and grooming must not disrupt the educational process, interfere with the maintenance of a positive teaching and learning climate, or compromise reasonable standards of health, safety, and decency. We ask you to carefully follow the guideline below in order to maintain both safety and a focus on learning.

• Children need to have shoes that are appropriate for playing outside on the playground or field. Flip-flops and high-heeled sandals/boots/shoes are not safe for outdoor play. If a child wears any shoe that is considered unsafe, he or she will need to change into gym shoes before going outside for recess.
• Children need to have appropriate gym shoes available on gym days. These need to be non-marking soled gym shoes.
• The following items are prohibited at all times at Admiral Byrd: bare midriffs, short shorts, and short miniskirts. (Skirts should be no shorter than arm’s length when arms are resting at the sides.)

Dressing for Outdoor Recess

• Weather permitting; the students go outside for recess daily. On days when it is raining or when the wind chill temperature drops below 10 degrees, students will remain in their classrooms for recess. All other days require that the students be “dressed for the weather”.
• In addition, if students wish to play on the playground equipment or in the field when it is snowy, they must wear boots and snow pants. Students not dressed appropriately will need to remain on the blacktop.
• Please dress your child weather appropriate. They will go out to play in what they wore to school.

Admiral Byrd Elementary has two lunch periods:

• First: 11:45 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.
• Second: 12:10 – 12:35 p.m.

All prices and menu items can be found on the district School Nutrition page.

What if my child forgets his lunch or has no money left on his account?
Organic Life will continue to serve your child a complete lunch and notify you that your child has a negative balance in their account. When you deposit money in your child’s account, they will deduct the amount that you owe them.

What is “Fun Friday”?
Fun Friday is a reward the children receive when they have shown the supervisors that they can follow all of the lunch rules.

• Some of the activities we may be doing on a “Fun Friday” are as follows: snowball fights in the lunchroom (not real snowballs), dance contest, sitting with a new friend, sledding down Byrd hill, scavenger hunt, pajama day, crazy hair day, and any other special ideas the students may suggest. Remember to ask your child about it!

Cell phone use is not permitted in the school or on the school bus and students are discourages from bringing them to school. Phones are allowed in school under the condition that the phone will be kept in the locker and turned off. Loss or theft of cell phones is not the responsibility of the school.

Phone use can occur before or after school hours outside the school building. If a phone is found with the student during the school day, or the student operates the phone during the school day, the phone will be confiscated and a parent must come to school to retrieve their student’s phone.

Parents/guardians are asked to help us enforce this policy and are also asked to refrain from calling or texting their children during the school day while classes are in session. If a student needs to make a call during the school day, a teacher can give permission to use the classroom phone. Students can also use the office phone in some instances.

Students in several grade levels are issued hall lockers. It is important to remember:

• Lockers remain the property of the school and can be inspected at any time by teachers or administrators.
• Lockers are used only for storing books, clothing, and items necessary for school – money and other valuables should never be left in lockers.
• Lockers are to be kept clean and orderly, and students will be held responsible for any damage to lockers.

The district Student Health and Safety Information page contains all information regarding medical care at school.

Please refer to the school calendar for the most up to date information on end of grading periods and report card distribution.

Educational field trips are planned by teachers to meet specific instructional goals. Since these trips are an extension of the classroom learning experience, children should not be kept at home. Most field trips entail riding on a school bus, and parents/guardians might be asked to volunteer to act as chaperones on certain trips.

No child may leave the school grounds during the day unless escorted by their parent or guardian. If you need to pick up your child early, please send a note to the teacher that morning, and sign the child out at the office at the appropriate time.

The following should never be brought to school under any circumstances:

• weapons
• drugs or drug paraphernalia
• alcohol
• lighters

If your child is found to be in possession of any of these items at school, you and your child could possibly be called to appear before the Board of Education at a hearing facing expulsion (permanent or semi-permanent removal) from District 59 schools. Please be diligent about what your child brings to school, as we strive to provide all of our students with safe and secure learning environments.

There are a number of clubs or activities available to students throughout each year. Some examples of previous clubs that have been sponsored include Chimes, Chorus, and Technology Club. Information about the clubs will be provided before each session begins. Permission slips will go home with students who are interested in participating in the different clubs.

Research in the area of parent/guardian involvement shows that parent participation is one of the greatest indicators of student success. Admiral Byrd Elementary would like to partner with parents/guardians to help our students be successful and grow academically. We have many opportunities for parents to volunteer, so please consider volunteering for at least one activity at our school! Learn more about our PTO here.