Good evening all. I want to thank everyone who helped make today a great first day of school @ McCord Middle School. Students had the opportunity to listen to a great guest speaker & attend a shortened version of their classes today. We are looking forward to a more "normal" version of classes tomorrow.

Please be patient with out transportation department as we begin to get into a groove with our new bus routes & times.

A reminder for those parents who transport their student to school, the doors open for students @ 8:50.

Please take time tonight to review the two policies below regarding use of cell phones & our dress code for our secondary schools in Worthington.

Great first day, see you tomorrow for day #2!

Mr. Kuri

Cell phones have become a major distraction to the learning process in recent years. In order to make sure students and staff can focus their time and energies on the important learning happening in the building, we are requiring students who bring their cell phones to school to keep them in their lockers during the school day.

We will use the following protocol for students who have cell phones out during school hours.

• First time: Staff warning and reminder to go put in locker.
• Second time: Teacher will call home and with possible teacher given consequence.
• Third time: Office referral with potential consequence as well as student/family being asked to either leave cell phone at home or drop it off at the office each morning for a collaboratively determined length of time. The office has a locked cell phone box to store phones in for security.
• Fourth or more: Student will be required to leave their phone at home or in the office for the remainder of the quarter.

Families who have unique circumstances that may impact this should reach out to the Principal or Assistant Principal to set up a meeting and plan for your student's cell phone at school.

Safety of students is our first priority. With that in mind it is important that student dress does not conceal a student’s identity. The final decision regarding the acceptability of all student dress rests with the school administration. Our philosophy behind our student dress guidelines is to do no harm, provide students with equitable access to education, and to not reinforce gender stereotypes. We believe that students should dress comfortably for school in a way that helps them be ready to learn in the school environment. Students need to manage their own personal "distractions" without regulating individual students' clothing/self expression. Our goal is that dress guidelines do not create unintended barriers to school
attendance and that they minimize conflict and inconsistent discipline. Our hope is that our teachers should be able to focus on teaching without the additional burden of dress code enforcement. When needed, disciplinary concerns regarding dress guidelines should be referred to the building administration.

Our Goals:

• A safe learning environment.
  
• Student choice.
• Ability to express identified gender.
• Religious attire is allowed.
• NO offensive images or language, including profanity, hate speech, and pornography.
• NO images or language depicting or advocating violence or the use of alcohol or drugs.
• All are treated equitably regardless of gender/gender identification, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, body type/size, religion, personal style.

For all students at all times certain body parts must be covered. Genitals, buttocks, and nipples must be covered with opaque material. Daily, students must wear:

• Shirt: must cover the majority of the midriff.
• Bottom: pants/sweatpants/shorts/skirt/dress/leggings.
• Shoes: activity-specific shoe requirements are permitted (for example for sports, recess, gym class).

Students May NOT Wear:

• Violent language or images.
• Images or language depicting drugs or alcohol (or any illegal item or activity).
• Hate speech, profanity, pornography.
• Language or images that create a hostile or intimidating environment based on any protected class.
• Visible underwear. (Please note that inadvertently visible undergarment straps or waistbands are not considered a violation.)
• Sunglasses inside of the building.
• Bathing Suits.
• Hats/headwear that conceal the student’s identity.