Policies

Ideal School has an open enrollment policy. Any student may enroll at any part of the school year. The only requirement is that the student’s parent(s) submit their previous school’s transcript or report card so that Ideal School may use the student’s previously completed coursework to determine grade level placement in Ideal School. A student will not receive a report card from Ideal School until the student’s parent(s) submit the child’s previous school’s report card or transcript. Additionally, it is a requirement for every new student in Ideal School engage in our language proficiency exam prior to beginning his or her classes. The purpose of the language proficiency exam is two-fold. Firstly, it gives Ideal School an understanding of the language (English and Spanish) proficiency level of the child, and secondly, it gives the child’s prospective teacher an understanding of who the child is and the teacher and school’s director has an opportunity to meet the student’s parent(s) during the post-evaluation conference.

Ideal School has a maximum number of students per grade level and it is based on our digital platform so that students can be grouped in even, small group breakout rooms. We believe that the following numbers of students are the prime numbers for our teachers to manage effectively so that students can work in teams and it promotes an exchange of ideas. Kinder has the smallest number of allowed students. The maximum number of students for kinder is 12 because breakout rooms and peer collaboration Is much harder to manage with younger students. We use digital white boards, live class work monitoring. We believe in utilizing instructional time effectively to minimize work outside of the school students do. Having small class sizes is necessary to ensure that students understand concepts taught, and to be able to listen and receive feedback, and for teachers and students to have more time for interaction and participation. 1^st and 2^nd grade classrooms have a maximum of 14 students per grade level. Grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 have a maximum of 16 students per grade level. Additionally, we administer monthly language proficiency monitoring, and larger class sizes would not allow for this important monthly language progress monitoring and parental feedback.

Ideal School maintains the following components as our written policy for instructional coursework…

• Required time for instructional engagement

• Kindergarten instructional classes will be thirty (30) minutes in length. The students will have the following classes: math, science, social studies, English language arts, and Spanish language arts. After the first semester of school, five (5) additional minutes may be added to each class’ instructional time depending on overall progress of the class. Kindergarten students will be given 15-minute breaks between each class. After the first semester of school, the break time may be reduced to 10 minutes in order to add 5 additional minutes toward instructional time per class.
• 1^st and 2^nd grade students will have 45-minute classes. The students will have the following classes: math, science, social studies, English language arts, and Spanish language arts. After the first semester of school, five (5) additional minutes may be added to each class’ instructional time depending on overall progress of the class. 1^st and 2^nd grade students will be given 15-minute breaks between each class. After the first semester of school, the break time may be reduced to 10 minutes in order to add 5 additional minutes toward instructional time per class. There will be a 45-minute lunch for 1^st and 2^nd grade class schedules.
• 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th grade students will have 55-minute classes. The students will have the following classes: math, science, social studies, English language arts, and Spanish language arts. 3^rd to 6^th grade students will be given 10-minute breaks between each class. 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th grade students will have a 45-minute lunch as part of their schedule.
• All grade levels will follow a year-round calendar that begins in September and ends in August. The mid-year mark will be February 5, 2021. The school year will be divided into 9 “sessions”. Each session consists of five (5) weeks. Each session will consist of five weeks of classes and one week off. Synchronous classes will be Mondays thru Thursdays for each session. Fridays are asynchronous time for students to complete projects, homework, and do testing, including monthly language proficiency exams, and monthly parent-teacher conferences.

• Student progress
  • Monthly language proficiency exams
  • 3 times annually Houghton Mifflin Harcourt progress in ELA, SLA, and math
  • Teacher formative assessments in the classroom
• Course Completion
  • Students must…
    • “meet” Common Core Standards
    • have a minimum of 80% attendance
    • have a minimum of 50% completion of homework
    • have 75% of class project completion
  • Eligibility for accessing next grade
    • Meet course completion requirements
    • Language proficiency level (as determined by diagnostic test)
    • A student will not receive a report card from Ideal School until the student’s parent(s) submit the child’s previous school’s report card or transcript.
    • Age level
      • Kinder = 5 -6 years old
      • 1^st grade = 6-7 years old
      • 2^nd grade = 7-8 years old
      • 3^rd grade = 8-9 years old
      • 4^th grade = 9-10 years old
      • 5^th grade = 10-11 years old
      • 6^th grade = 11-12 years old

• Documents of student work
  • Mid-year report card
  • End-of-year report card
  • Monthly language proficiency exam data
  • Math, ELA, and SLA progress monitoring scores on Houghton Mifflin Harcourt student platform

Student work authenticity is critical at Ideal School. Ideal School has a zero tolerance for plagiarism and cheating. We take these offenses quite seriously and have committed to making sure that all students understand and acknowledge the importance of maintaining academic integrity at all times.  Students’ work should be their own and not that of their parents, siblings or of other people.

What is student work authenticity? Information or ideas that are in the students’ own words. “To be authentic, we must cultivate the courage to be imperfect — and vulnerable.” Bren é Brown

Why is student work authenticity important? Because it shows the progress the students are making, and helps the school to know the areas that the students need help in.

What is plagiarism? Plagiarism means using ideas, opinions, factual information, or language from someone without giving that person appropriate credit. Plagiarism is cheating. Student writers are sometimes confused as to what should be cited. In addition to direct quotations, paraphrases and summaries of opinions of factual information not formerly known to the writer must also be cited. The exception to this rule is information termed “general knowledge”. This is information that is widely known and stated in a number of sources. The American flag has stars as symbols of the 50 states. This is an example “general knowledge”.

How can I avoid plagiarism? If you are writing a report or essay and you want to use the work of somebody else, you need to give credit to that person or website or source. If you are not sure how to do this, ask your teacher.

Student Consequences for Failure to Adhere to Policy: For the first incident, the teacher will remind the student of this policy and inform the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s). For the second incident, the school administration will have a conference with the parent(s)/guardian(s).