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What Every Parent Should Know About NDJS
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What Every Parent Should Know

At NDJS High School

Table of Contents:

Who to Know/Contact

Drop Off and Early Sign Out

Bus/Transportation

Attendance

Schedules

PowerSchool

GPA Calculation

When does the School Call Parents?

Drivers Education Classes

Dress Code

Tardy Policy

Cell Phone/AirPod Policy

After School Detention/Lunch Detention

Devices/Hot-Spots/Device Insurance

Middle School/High School NC Check-Ins

Middle School EOGs

High School Final Exams

High School Exam Exemptions

Promotion/Graduation Requirements

Who to Know/Contact

Name

Job Title

Responsibilities

Tony Jones

Principal

Educational Opportunities

Sara Bounds

Assistant Principal

7th-8th Discipline

MTSS Coordinator

Departments: EC/ESL, Math, Science, Fine Arts

Busing Information

Dominique Grady

Assistant Principal

9th-12th Discipline

MTSS Coordinator

Departments: English, Social Studies, Physical Education

Marybel Quintanilla

Main Desk

Immediate Assistance

Nathalie Vasquez

Bookkeeper

Absence Management/Payroll/Money

Loretta Edwards

Data Manager

Powerschool

Sandra Sasser

HS Guidance Counselor

Scheduling

HS Counseling

High School 504s

Tracy Cruse

MS Guidance Counselor

MS Counseling

MS 504s

Anglia Taylor

Guidance Counselor Secretary

New Enrollments

Kendall English

Social Worker

Attendance

Amber Ostheim

Career Development Coordinator

Laura Thornton

Media Coordinator

Technology

Amanda Anderson

Nurse

Medical Questions

Ricky Edwards

High School Athletic Director

High School Athletic Questions

Jeff Byrd

Middle School Athletic Director

Middle School Athletic Questions

Chris Dyer

School Resource Officer

Suspicious Activity

Drop Off and Early Sign Out

The drop off and pick up area is directly in front of the main entrance. At the beginning of the day, students are allowed to enter the building at 7:15 AM and report to the media center until the 1st bell at 7:30. All students that arrive after classes have begun, must check in on the computer in the front office and receive a late arrival slip.

Any person that comes to sign a student out, must be listed on that student’s PowerSchool contact list. Contact lists are sent out at the beginning of the school year for parents to verify and add/remove contacts. No student will be allowed to sign out after 2:30 PM. Handwritten early sign out notes must be turned into the front office before the first period begins. Front office staff will call the parent/guardian and confirm the early sign out note.

Bell Schedule

1st Period 7:50-9:30

2nd Period 9:34-11:16

3rd Period 11:20-1:20

MS Lunch 11:25-11:55

HS Lunch 12:50-1:20

4th Period 1:25-3:05

Bus/Transportation

All students that have ridden a bus in the previous school year are automatically assigned to a bus at North Duplin once they are in 9th grade. Bus assignments and scheduled pick-up/drop-off times can be found on one of the walls in the main lobby during Freshman Orientation and Open House. If a student’s name has been left off, you will need to contact our Assistant Principal, Mrs. Sara Bounds, through email at sbounds@duplinschools.net. It is important to note that it can take up to two weeks after the school year begins for the bus times to become consistent. We recommend that students are at their bus stop at least fifteen minutes before the stated time and expect to wait fifteen minutes after the stated time. At any point you have any questions or concerns regarding buses, please contact the main office at (919)658-3051. [Back to Table of Contents]

Attendance

Attendance at North Duplin Elementary is taken daily, one time. At North Duplin Jr/Sr High School, attendance is taken four times per day, once each period. At NDE, if you pick your student up after 11:30 A.M., your student is counted present that school day. At North Duplin Jr/Sr High School, if your student is picked up at 11:30 A.M., your student will be counted as absent for the last two periods.

Students can have no more than three unexcused absences per grading period. If your student accumulates more than 3 unexcused absences in a grading period, he or she could receive a grade reduction or failing grade for the grading period. This will only affect that one grading period and hopefully he or she will get everything back on track for the second grading period. Even if your student has earned a 90 for the class, if he or she has more than 3 absences, they are still held accountable for this policy. Make sure your student attends school every day possible. If they are unable to come, please ensure they bring a note upon their return. We will accept two parent notes per grading period. A note can cover two consecutive absences.   [Back to Table of Contents]

Schedules

Registration is completed by March of the preceding school year. This allows administration and student services ample time to see how many students have registered for each class, how many sections of each class are needed, determine who will teach what course, and begin the process of student placement. It is a very time-consuming process with many moving parts. Areas of the schedule that we place a large emphasis on typically involve overlapping classes that create situations in which students must make difficult decisions as to “do I want this class or that class?” Much effort is spent in trying to create a schedule that no one will have to make those difficult decisions. Unfortunately, no matter how much time and effort we put into this, we can’t make every schedule work out perfectly. Our goal is to give every student every class that they signed up for and maintain balanced classes across each period. Balancing classes is important as you would not want your child in an English class that has 34 students when another English class only has 15. The more students that go into a class make it more difficult for the teacher to meet everyone’s individual needs. This is why it’s important to try to balance all classes out the best that we can.

Because of all of the time and effort put into creating our final schedule, it can create a lot of issues when someone wants to change a class. For this reason, we only change schedules when one of the following issues are present:

1)         A class is out of sequence (such as English III is scheduled before    

English II),

2)         A senior needs a specific course for graduation,

3)         Less than four classes have been assigned, or

4)         A student is assigned to a class that they already have credit for.

If one of the above issues are not present in a request, it is very likely that the request will not be honored. All schedule change requests must be submitted to the guidance department. Guidance will meet with administration to determine if the request will be approved.    [Back to Table of Contents]          

PowerSchool

PowerSchool is a database that houses all student data for the state. From PowerSchool, a parent can see how their student is performing each day as well as keep track of their period attendance. Parents/guardians can have their own account in which they can monitor their students as they wish. We highly recommend that each parent has PowerSchool access to monitor grades and attendance. Please see or email Mrs. Loretta Edwards, NDJS Data Manager, to set up a PowerSchool parent/guardian account loedwards@duplinschools.net.

GPA Calculations

Your student’s GPA is a way of calculating their overall class average. It includes all classes that they take while in high school. GPAs are used by colleges to determine the likelihood of their acceptance, they are used to determine class rank, and they are used to determine eligibility in different classes. If these are important areas to you or your student, then it is important for your student to do their best to keep their GPA as high as possible. GPAs are calculated using simple math. *Middle School students do not have GPA calculations.

A  =  90 -100

B   = 80 - 89

C =  70 - 79

D =  60 - 69

F =    0 - 59

A = 4.0 for all regular classes

A = 4.5 for Honors

A = 5.0 for college/AP

B = 3.0 for all regular classes

B = 3.5 for Honors

B = 4.0 for college/AP

C = 2.0 for all regular classes

C= 2.5 for Honors

C = 3.0 for college/AP

D = 1.0 for all regular classes

D = 1.5 for Honors

D = 2.0 for college/AP

F = 0.0 for all regular, Honors, and college/AP courses

A student has the following classes and final grades for the 1st semester:

1st period Honors English

89 (B) which gives him a 3.5 for this class

2nd period Regular Math

91 (A) which gives him a 4.0 for this class

3rd period AP Biology

87 (B) which gives him a 4.0 for this class

4th period AP World Hist.

92 (A) which gives him a 5.0 for this class

3.5 + 4.0 + 4.0 + 5.0 = 16.5

16.5 ÷ 4 (total number of classes) = GPA of 4.125

At the end of the 2nd semester, that same student adds the following:

1st period Regular PE

99 (A) which gives him a 4.0 for this class

2nd period Honors Hort.

91 (A) which gives him a 4.5 for this class

3rd period Regular Spanish

85 (B) which gives him a 3.0 for this class

4th period College Class

84 (B) which gives him a 4.0 for this class

4.0 + 4.5 + 3.0 + 4.0 = 15.5

Both semesters ~ 16.5 + 15.5 = 32.0

32.0 ÷ 8 (total number of classes) = GPA of 4.0

 [Back to Table of Contents]

When does the School Call Parents?

There are times in which you will absolutely hear from us; if your student gets injured or sick, if he or she has been suspended, and/or if law enforcement comes out to question your student. Parents/guardians also get an automatic phone call each time that your student is absent. These are all of the reasons that you will absolutely be called. There

are many other situations, though, in which we will try to make contact with the home. Please keep in mind that, unlike the elementary school teachers, our teachers can work with up to 200 students a year. That’s a lot of kids to try to monitor and plan for. It is a lot easier for you, as the parent/guardian, to reach out to the teacher when you begin to have concerns or questions. However, please make sure that you have spoken with the teacher before going to administration. Remember that there are always two sides to every coin - typically parents hear from their student and their perspective first. Make sure that when there are concerns from what you’ve heard from your student, check with the teacher to see what their perspective is. Gather all available information before forming your opinion. Nine times out of ten, once parents and teachers have talked, concerns have been swept away!

 [Back to Table of Contents]

Bullying

If at any time you feel that your student is being bullied either at school or online, make sure that he or she has made an adult aware of the issue. We highly recommend that screenshots of messages, texts, or any posts be taken, saved, and shared with administration as quickly as possible. We take bullying seriously and deal with every situation that we are aware of. There are times where these situations can shift over from bullying (which is one-sided) to a more back-and-forth (which is two-sided). When this happens, it goes from one student being in the wrong to two students being in the wrong. This is why these situations need to be dealt with as quickly as possible. We even encourage students to use our See Something/Say Something anonymous reporting system.

 [Back to Table of Contents]              

Driver’s Education Classes

Classes are typically held in the fall, winter, and spring of the school year. ConnectED messages and Morning Announcements will be made concerning the classes. These classes are open to anyone 14 ½ years of age or older, whether they are North Duplin students, homeschooled, or attend a private school. Once a student signs up for classes, it is their responsibility to make sure they have all of the information necessary to begin classes on the first day that the class will be held. These classes are not directly affiliated with North Duplin Jr/Sr High School. We do provide assistance through providing classrooms for the instruction, providing times throughout the school year for them to be held, and signing students up for the classes. Any questions or concerns regarding Driver’s Ed should be directed to Mr. Byrd at jebyrd@duplinschools.net or Mr. Edwards at redwards@duplinschools.net.   [Back to Table of Contents]

Dress Code

Many people are confused when their student gets Dress Coded at school, yet the student looks fine; they are not dressed indecently and would fit in fine anywhere. At NDJS High School, we totally get that! However, our students have a dress code that they have to follow just like we, as adults, have a dress code that we have to follow. What I typically wear on the weekends or when I go off with my family or friends does not typically fit my work dress code. At work, I must wear a tie with a dress shirt and dress pants. This is not what I typically wear outside of work. Students must follow the same expectations. What they typically wear on the weekends or when they go off with their family or friends is not typically part of their work dress code. If they wear shorts that are above their fingertips and get Dress Coded, we are not saying that they are indecent; we are saying that they are not wearing what their work dress code specifies.

To eliminate 95% of dress code violations, you should make sure that your students are adhering to the following cheat notes for dress code:

        Pants, including shorts and skirts, should be up to a student’s waist,

be an appropriate length, and have no holes revealing pant pockets or skin above fingertips. Tops should completely cover the chest, midriff, and back

and the sleeves must be at least two inches wide at the shoulder.

 

Shirts/Tops/Blouses

Clothing shall not be excessively revealing and must be sufficient to conceal undergarments at all times. Crop tops, halter tops, low-cut tops, tube tops, see-through, and backless clothing are not permitted. Muscle shirts, undershirts, off the shoulder tops, and spaghetti straps are also prohibited. Sleeveless shirts and tank top straps must be at least 2-inches in width at the shoulder. Shirts must be worn at all times, including during physical education class.

Hats/Headgear

Hats and beanies are prohibited indoors on campus. Sweatshirts with hoods should be off the head at all times, including outdoors, unless weather permits. 

Shoes

No bedroom/house slippers.

Pants/Shorts/Skirts/Dresses

Pants/Shorts/Jeans must fit at the waist-size appropriate and not be excessively baggy or show undergarments. Cutouts or excessively ragged pants/clothing above the fingertip level are not permitted. No short shorts, miniskirts or short dresses. If a student stands with their arms at their sides with their fists closed, their shorts must be to the point at which their knuckles end; skirts and dresses to the point at which their fingertips end. Pajama pants are prohibited. Leggings/spandex pants must be reasonable and modest. Leggings/spandex pants must be worn only with an accompanying top that is the appropriate length (a student stands with their arms at their sides with their fists closed).

Please see the DC School Code of Conduct for a more detailed explanation of the student dress code.

Violations in the schools dress code will face the following consequences:

1st Offense- Warning, the student must acquire appropriate clothing before returning to class. If appropriate clothing cannot be acquired from the school or home, the student will have to be picked up by their guardian.

2nd Offense- Students will be assigned 1 day of Lunch Detention. Students must acquire the appropriate clothing from school or home.

3rd Offense- Students will be assigned 1 day of ASD. Students must acquire the appropriate clothing from school or home.

4th Offense- Students will be assigned 1 day of Out Of School Suspension.

5th Offense and more- Students will be assigned 2-10 days of Out Of School Suspension due to insubordination/multiple offenses. [Back to Table of Contents]

Tardy Policy

Tardy policy is designed by class period. Not cumulative. Tardies reset at the beginning of each semester.

1st- Teacher Warning

2nd- Teacher Warning - Parent Contact

3rd- One Day of ASD

4th- Two Days of ASD.

5th and so on- Suspension Pending Parent Conference  [Back to Table of Contents]

Cell Phone/AirPod Policy

Middle School - Students should not have their cell phone/AirPods/wireless devices out during the school day. The devices should be in their backpack or locker from 7:30-3:05. Cell phones should not be used as a reward system.

High School - Students are permitted to have cell phones during class change and in the cafeteria. Cell phones are not permitted during any class period throughout the day. If a child is using a cell phone/AirPod/wireless device, during instructional time, it will be confiscated and turned into the front office. This includes when students are walking in the hallway and going to the restroom during instructional time. Once the device has been taken, the parent/guardian will then have to come retrieve the item.

Cell phones and smartwatches have created a massive distraction to the school’s learning environment. Issues such as bullying one another, passing of inappropriate pictures/videos, videoing disruptive behaviors, cheating, communicating with other students during class, as well as many other distractive usages have been occurring.

If your child has a documented, health related reason in which he/she needs their cell phone, please reach out to administration so that we can come up with an appropriate plan.   [Back to Table of Contents]

After School Detention & Lunch Detention

After School Detention will be held on Tuesday and Thursday of each week from 3:15-4:00. No cell phones or completion of school work that requires a device of any kind. Students are not allowed to put their heads down.

 

On the day of After School Detention, the student will not be allowed to participate in any extracurricular activities until the detention is completed at 4:00. If a student has an after school detention scheduled on Tuesday, they can still attend after school or extracurricular activities on Monday.

Lunch Detention will be held each day during MS/HS lunch in the classroom of the teacher on duty for lunch detention. Students are not allowed to go to the cafeteria. MS students will report to the teachers classroom by 11:25 and HS will report to the classroom by 12:55. If students are late, they will serve that day and another day. A peanut butter and jelly to-go lunch will be provided by the cafeteria or students may bring their own lunch. A teacher on duty will deliver the lunches to the classroom.  [Back to Table of Contents]

Devices/Hot-Spots/Device Insurance

All students will be issued a Chromebook device to use with their daily school work. These devices are intended to be used with their school work from school as well as at home. If the internet is an issue at your home, the school can provide a free hotspot so that they can have full access to the internet and school assignments. If you wish for your student to take advantage of this, he or she will need to contact the Media Coordinator, Laura Thornton, lthornton@duplinschools.net. While these devices are assigned to your student, he or she will be responsible for them and their upkeep. Any lost, stolen, or damaged devices will be the responsibility of your student. Insurance is available to cover many issues. More information on this insurance and how it can be purchased can be found at the following link:

Student Device Insurance  [Back to Table of Contents]

Middle School/High School NC Check-Ins

NC Check-Ins are interim assessments developed by the NCDPI that are aligned to North Carolina grade-level content standards (for reading and mathematics) and North Carolina Essential Standards (for science). Students in 7th and 8th grade at NDJS High School will take three reading and three math check-ins throughout the year. In addition, 8th graders will take three science check-ins throughout the year. If a high school student is enrolled in English II, Math 1, Math 3, or Biology he/she will take two check-ins per course, per semester. We ask that students give their best effort each time they take a check-in because it provides valuable data for teachers. They can see what standards their students have mastered or what standards may need reteaching. The NC Check-Ins are aligned with the NC EOGs and EOCs, so each student has a projected percent correct that they are working toward when taking each check-in. [Back to Table of Contents]

Middle School EOGs

The North Carolina End-of-Grade (EOG) Tests are designed to measure student performance on the goals, objectives, and grade-level competencies specified in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. Our 7th grade students will take a reading and math EOG, and our 8th grade students will take a reading, math, and science EOG at the end of the school year in May. North Duplin Jr./Sr. High School is rated on how students perform on state tests.  Middle School student performance on EOGs will be considered when making student placements for high school courses.   [Back to Table of Contents]

High School Final Exams

Final exams will be given on the last four days of each semester. Exam grades are calculated as 20% of the students final grade. Due to this factor, it is important that students are well prepared for these assessments. The testing environment is critical to every student and their testing needs. We collect students' cell phones and smart watches during all test sessions. They will be returned after the entire school has finished the test session.  [Back to Table of Contents]

High School Exam Exemptions

Students with good grades and attendance may be exempt from their exams by meeting specific criteria. situations. No student is exempt from taking final exams in courses required by North Carolina End of Course (EOC) tests or Career and Technical Education Proofs of Learning (CTE State Assessment, Credentials, or Performance Based Measures). EOC Exams include Math 1, Math 3, English 2, and Biology. The following criteria is used to determine if a student can be exempted from their final exams.

Students may be exempt from an eligible final exam only if they meet the above criteria. If a student is exempt, there will be no grade recorded for the student, and their final grade will be made up of the average of the two grading periods. Excused absences are counted in the total number of absences when determining exemptions. Time out of class due to ISS or OSS will be counted as an absence with regard to final exam exemptions. Time out of class for any school-approved events will not count with regard to exemptions.  [Back to Table of Contents]

Promotion/Graduation Requirements

To be classified as a sophomore, a student must pass at least 6 classes. One class must be English I and one must be Math 1.

To be classified as a junior, a student must pass at least 13 classes within their first two years including English II.

To be classified as a senior, a student must pass at least 20 classes including English III.

To be promoted to:

 

10th Grade

English I, Math I, plus 4 credits = 6 credits

11th Grade

English II plus 12 credits = 13 credits

12th Grade

English III plus 19 credits = 20 credits

Graduate

English IV plus state required 21 credits = 22 credits *

* Note ~ Please check the Duplin County Handbook for all required credits for graduation. This table is intended as a simple reference for total credits needed to be promoted to the next level. Other requirements for graduation would include having the CPR marker on his/her transcript.[Back to Table of Contents]