Handbook

As parents, you play an important role in our school. Please become familiar with the policies and procedures in this handbook. Additional notes and news items will be sent home to keep you informed. You are encouraged to offer your talents, suggestions, and comments, as well as provide the financial and moral support, which contribute to a quality program. Field trips and parties depend on parental involvement. There are two scheduled Parent/Teacher Conferences per year (beginning and end of year). Of course, both parents and teachers are encouraged to schedule other conferences as needed.

Understanding Your Child’s Growth & Development

The director will take the opportunity from time to time to share research or pertinent information through email or printed information with parents regarding the growth and development of young children.

Lunch & Snacks

Full day students need to bring a lunch from home every day. There is a microwave for reheating food. Please follow these guidelines when sending microwave-able food:

• Send food in microwave-able containers if it is to be heated.
• Send a plastic spoon/fork if it is needed.
• Send a napkin to cover the item in the microwave.
• Limit the number of times per week that microwave-able food is sent. Only teachers are allowed to operate the microwave, and most teachers also need to eat their own lunch during this time.

All items in the lunch should be ready-made and easy for your child to handle. Teachers are available to assist with lunches, but students should learn to open most containers independently. Send items that your child will eat, but keep your child’s health in mind. In order to keep your child’s food safe, please consider sending your child’s lunch in an insulated lunch kit along with a re-freezable ice pack to keep it cool.

There is an official snack time for all classes. Please include a small, simple-to-eat, healthy snack with your child’s lunch each day. Students will drink water with snack. Do not include a drink for snack time. Teachers will provide individual classroom instructions on this subject.

All students are encouraged to bring a water bottle to school. Please be sure that the bottle has a tight fitting, non-leaking lid or top.

Mondays will be “Pizza Day” at NCA! Students will have the opportunity to order one or two slices of pizza from an inspected restaurant along with a fruit/vegetable, and milk for a specific cost. More details to come.

In the case that a child does not have a snack, we will provide a healthy snack for your child. In the case of a forgotten lunch, we will do our best to contact you; however, if that attempt is unsuccessful, then we will create a healthy lunch from the supplies that we have on hand.

In creating your child’s lunch and snacks, please keep in mind that 1/3 or more of your child’s daily dietary intake will be consumed while in school. If you need ideas for healthy snack or lunch options, please feel free to talk to your child’s teacher or the director.

Breastfeeding

Our school welcomes and supports all parents, including breastfeeding mothers. Our school provides a private, quiet, and soothing room with comfortable seating for use when breastfeeding your child. Should you need, breastfeeding education and local community support resources are available in the office upon request.

Illness

Students who are ill belong at home. Please use the following guidelines to determine if your child is well enough to attend school:

• Your child has been free of fever for twenty-four hours.
• Your child does not have a green or yellow nasal discharge.
• Your child ha not had vomiting or diarrhea for twenty-four hours.
• Your child does not exhibit other behavior that might indicate illness.

If you send your child to school with any of these symptoms, we will call you to come and take your child back home. If your child becomes ill during the day, we will isolate him/her from the other children to the best of our ability and then notify you. Please keep the school office informed of changes in phone numbers or of changes in your daytime location so that our information will always be current. In the case of an extreme emergency or illness, we will immediately call 911.

Pest Management Policy – Structural and landscape pests and the pesticides used to control them can pose significant problems for people, property and the environment. NCA shall incorporate Integrated Pest Management (IPM) procedures for control of structural and landscape pests.

IPM focuses on preventing or suppressing pests using tactics that minimize the impact of control activities on the health of humans and other non-target organisms. The Director of NCA will serve as the IPM coordinator. Objectives of the IPM program will include:

1. Elimination of threats by pest to the health and safety of students, staff or the public.
2. Prevention of loss or damage by pests to school structures or property.
3. Protection of environmental quality inside and outside school buildings.
4. Enhancement of the quality of life for students, staff and the public.

Integrated Pest Management Procedures:

IPM procedures shall determine when to control pests and whether to use mechanical, physical, chemical, sanitation, horticultural or biological controls. IPM practitioners depend on current, comprehensive information about the pest, its environment and pest control methods.

The intended goal of IPM principles is control of unacceptable levels of pest activity and damage using the most economical means while creating the fewest possible hazards for people, property and the environment. Pesticides will be used only after determining that no other control option is acceptable or reasonable. This school will use IPM principles to manage pest populations, in every case consider the full range of alternatives including talking no action. IF pesticides must be used to meet pest management goals, NCA will choose the least toxic material available and will comply with all federal, state and local laws and regulations governing pesticide storage, transportation and use.

Notification:

NCA will notify the school staff and students of upcoming pesticide treatments by notices posted at the school and sent via e-mail to parents who wish to be informed in advance of pesticide applications.

NCA will maintain a Products Usage Record, Labels and MSDS Sheets on every pesticide used.

NCA staff is required to do an annual training on child abuse and neglect. Training includes methods for increasing employee and parent awareness of issues regarding child abuse and neglect, including the warning signs that a child may be a victim of abuse or neglect, and methods for increasing employee and parent awareness of prevention techniques for child abuse and neglect. Training also includes strategies for coordination between our school and the appropriate community organizations and what actions to encourage parents to take if a child who is a victim of abuse or neglect should need to obtain assistance and intervention.

Evacuation:

The first responsibility of staff in an emergency is to move the children to a designated safe area or alternate shelter known to all employees, caregivers, and volunteers.

The safe and alternate shelter is:

Nacogdoches First Church of the Nazarene
211 S. E. Stallings Drive
Nacogdoches, TX 75964
(936) 305-5351

Children will walk to the parking lot in the front of the church, or the upper parking lot located on the west side of the church, if NCA is uninhabitable.

Emergency evacuation and relocation diagrams are available in the office and are posted on the bulletin board in the main hallway.

Staff will take Emergency Cards with them, as well as a Class Roster. The Roll will be taken as the students are leaving the building and again when safely located at the evacuation center. Each teacher will be responsible to assure the attendance of the students entrusted to her. Emergency Contact Cards include parental emergency contact telephone numbers and authorization for emergency care, the child’s doctor’s name and telephone number and hospital preference.

Communication:

In the event of a relocation emergency the emergency number is (936) 585-3232 (Director’s mobile number)
The NCA emergency contact number is (936) 305-5351 (First Church of the Nazarene) or (936) 585-3232 (Melissa Hughes, Director’s cell number).

If available, cell phones or the school app will be used to contact parents, emergency personnel, health departments and Child Care Licensing.

Essential Documentation:

The parent and emergency contact numbers for each student will be documented on an Emergency Card that the teacher will take with her to the relocation shelter.

Emergency medical authorizations are included on the Emergency Card.

Holiday Celebrations

We celebrate many holidays with special parties. Parties are planned by room mothers and carried out according to the guidelines set by the teacher and the school. We ask that all parents sign up to help with one or more parties.

School Closings

Please be familiar with the dates on the Nacogdoches Christian Academy calendar. We do not always run concurrently with local school districts. However, in case of bad weather, please follow instructions given by NISD on local media stations for the first day. After the first day of school cancellation, listen for our school’s specific instructions. After the first day, you may also call the school’s phone number for more specific/detailed instructions on the answering machine. You can also view our calendar and check your e-mail for further updates and closings.

School Cancellation Procedure

The procedure for school cancellation due to weather is as follows:

• Listen to the local radio/tv stations for school closings (KSWP radio, KFOX 95 radio; KTRE TV, KETK TV, etc.)
• If NISD will close, our school will close too.
• If NISD will begin late, our school will begin late too.
• NCA Director will send a message through the school app informing you about the delay or closure.
• Check our website https://nacchristian.org for weather updates.

Field trips are planned during the year to stimulate awareness and to extend the classroom experiences. A note will be sent home and an announcement will be posted by the classroom door and on the front door to notify parents about trips. Parental participation is essential for excursions. Every student must have a signed parental permission slip and must wear a seat belt. If you volunteer, as a parent, to join the class on any field trip, please do not bring any other siblings on the field trip. As a parent volunteer, you have the very important role of helping to supervise the students in that class. Siblings are usually younger and sometimes distract the parent volunteer and the class. If your child cannot participate in a field trip, you will need to make other arrangements for your child during the time the class is away from school.

The Texas Department of Public Safety requires all children younger than 8 years of age unless taller than 4 feet 9 inches to be secured in the appropriate child safety seat system. It is the Parent’s responsibility to provide an appropriate child safety seat for all school field trips. If an appropriate seat is not provided, the student will not be allowed to ride in the designated field trip driver’s vehicle.

At Nacogdoches Christian Academy, we believe that discipline is something we do for a student, not a punishment administered to a student. We use a positive approach to achieve acceptable behavior by a student and to help him/her work well within a group. Our policy does not include spanking. If a student cannot cooperate within a group and follow the classroom rules, he/she will be removed from the group. He/she will be supervised by a staff member during this time. If that student continues to be uncooperative, a parent will be called to come to the school.

Each teacher has an individual classroom discipline plan filed in the office and approved by the director. These discipline plans are presented at Parent Orientation in each classroom and available upon request from the teacher or office staff.

When necessary, In-School Suspension may be assigned. ISS will be held in the small office in the workroom. The student will be isolated to the ISS room for the duration of the time deemed necessary by the Director. The student will be required to complete all work assigned in the classroom without the aide of the teacher. The Director will oversee this disciplinary measure.

The student will only be allowed to leave the ISS room for a drink or to go to the restroom when allowed. The student will eat their lunch there. The student and their parents should consider ISS a drastic attempt to change an unacceptable behavior. If In -School Suspension is not effective, or is not carried out, the result will be expulsion from Nacogdoches Christian Academy. Once a student is expelled, they will not be reconsidered for enrollment at any time in their academic career.

Parents are welcome to review and discuss with the Director any questions or concerns about the policies and procedures of the school. Parents will be notified of policy changes by e-mail and notes sent home. Most policy and procedure changes occur before the beginning of the school year and are documented in the Student Handbook and reviewed at the Parent Orientation meeting in August. Parents are welcome to contact the Director to make an appointment to review or discuss any questions or concerns about policy and procedures, to observe your child, to ask questions about NCA’s operation or program activities. Parents may come to observe their child or have lunch with their child at any time without prior approval. Parents must sign in on the Visitors’ Sign In Sheet which is just inside the office door. Parents are welcome to review our copy of the minimum standards and NCA’s most recent licensing inspection reports.

Birthdays

Parents should contact their child’s teacher before making any birthday plans concerning your child’s class. Birthday favors are not allowed. No private party invitations may be passed out at school. Balloons and flowers will be kept in the office until the end of the day.

Items From Home

Please do not allow your child to bring toys or electronic equipment to school without prior permission from the teacher. We reserve the right to search all backpacks, book bags, desks, and other personal items. Please understand that this policy is in place for the safety and protection of the entire student body.

Possession of Electronics

Students are not permitted to possess such items that include but are not limited to radios, CD players, tape recorders, camcorders, DVD players, MP3 players, i-pods, laser pointers, cameras, electronic devices or games at school, unless prior permission has been obtained from the teacher/director. Without such permission, teachers will collect the items and turn them in to the office to be retrieved by a parent. Repeated misuse of electronic devices may result in further disciplinary action. Nacogdoches Christian Academy will not be responsible for lost or stolen items or items left at school by the students.

Screen Time

There is minimal opportunity for screen time at NCA due to the curriculum and structure of the day. Teachers may show age appropriate movies or use the internet on occasion; however, this is done on an approval basis.

Outdoor Participation

Outdoor activities are a part of each day’s schedule unless it is raining or uncomfortably hot or cold. All students will participate in outdoor activity time unless we have a written note from you explaining why your child is to be kept indoors and for what length of time. Students excused from outdoor participation will need to stay in the office area where they can be supervised by staff.

We are licensed by the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services. All current licensing certificates, inspections and standards are available for inspection on a bulletin board in the main hallway of the school and in the office. If you have a concern regarding licensing policies, procedures, or standards, you may contact:

• Local Licensing Agent – 936-404-2489
• Abuse and Neglect Hotline – 1-800-252-5400
• Website – www.txchildsearch.org

Updating Parent Contact Information

It is, also, very important that the school has the most up-to-date contact information for you in the event that an issue arises or that there is an emergency where we need to contact you. The best way to update your information is to send an email or note to your child’s teacher or to the school office reporting the changes to be made. Information that may need to be updated would include cell phone number, home address or emergency contact name and number.