September, 2008 Dear Parents: It is with great pride that we welcome you to the South Bronx Charter School for International Cultures and the Arts community. The upcoming school year promises to be an exciting one for us all, from students to teachers to administrators, and, we hope it will be for you as well. We are pleased to present you our 2007-2008 Parent Handbook. We hope this will be a useful guide as we begin a year of working and learning together. By way of introduction, the purpose of this parent handbook is to provide you with helpful information about day-to-day procedures at your child’s school, and to inform you about the core educational programs and philosophies. It is our hope that this information will explain how we provide your child with a world-class education. As you will see, our school is committed to providing a learning environment founded on cutting-edge research and exemplary methods of teaching and learning. The Parent Handbook provides information that explains how to measure your child’s progress, and what to expect from conferences and report cards throughout the school year. We describe some of our research based curriculum programs such as Core Knowledge, Everyday Mathematics, Impact Mathematics, Scott Foresman’s Literacy Program, and Dual Language Program reflect content and methods of teaching that form the basis of teaching and learning at our school. We have also shared techniques to assist your child with homework and test preparation. Being familiar with these concepts and material will help you develop a better understanding of schoolwork and homework as well as progress reports and report cards. In this handbook, you will also find the following: • Information about regulations regarding student records and parent access to these records; • The value of exemplary school attendance and the promotion policy; • Special education inclusion • Daily schedules • Measures for student safety and our uniform policy; • Information regarding transportation to and from school; and, • Important information regarding our PTO/PTA organization and meetings, as well as our Open House for Parent Conferences. You, the parents, play an important role in making this school great. We simply cannot achieve our goals without you. Please know that we encourage parent participation in all class programs and extracurricular activities. As specific questions arise over the course of the year, please refer to this Parent Handbook to address your questions or concerns. Please feel free to call the school office, or your child’s teacher with any additional questions you may have. We all share the highest expectations for the upcoming school year. We look forward to working together with you to make 2008 – 2009 a successful year. Sincerely, Evelyn Hey Principal