School handbook
School Hours
| Regular Days | Minimum Days* | |||
| Grades | Arrival Time | Dismissal Time | Arrival Time | Dismissal Time |
| Kindergarten | 8:30 a.m. | 2:30 p .m. | 8:30 a.m. | 12:30 a.m. |
| First - Eighth | 8:30 a.m. | 3:00 p.m. | 8:30 a.m. | 12:30 p.m. |
*Minimum Days are Wednesdays and a few additional days assigned by OUSD. Please see the bell schedule for specific dates, or check the current OUSD calendar (PDF format).
Office Hours are 8:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Arrivals
Students should not arrive on the school grounds before 8:20 a.m. unless they are:
- Enrolled in Adventure Time
- Have been requested by teacher to come in early
Rainy Days: Students should not come to school earlier than necessary. If they are early, they are allowed to wait in the breezeways until the bell rings. There is no supervision prior to 8:20 a.m.
Quiet Please! School is in Session: Teaching and learning are happening at Hillcrest, so after you drop off or before you pick up your child, please keep the hallways quiet, hold conversations outside and wait for your child outside of the building. Pre-arrange a meeting place with your child and meet him/her there. Please do not call your student at school; if you need to drop off lunch, bring it to the office, not the classroom.
Drop-off/Parking Procedures
Morning Drop-off: The yellow loading zone in front of the school on Marguerite will be a special drop-off zone from 8:15 – 8:30 a.m. every morning. This will be the only car drop-off place. Do not drop your children off at either of the playground gates during this 20-minute period. Volunteer parents and safety patrol students will be at the front of the school to assist the children in exiting the cars and sending them onto the playground past the Adventure Time side entrance for Morning Ceremonies. If your children attend Adventure Time, they can enter via the side entrance and check-in with an Adventure Time person.
Parents who wish to personally escort their child(ren) into Adventure Time or the schoolyard should park in the green time-limit zone in front of the school or on Hermosa Avenue.
During this morning drop-off time, please make every effort to drive only in the westbound (downhill) direction on Marguerite Drive.
The
parking slots on the Mandalay St. side of the school have been reserved
for faculty parking only from 8:00 – 4:00 on school
days. We ask that you respect this special privilege that we extend
to our teachers.
Parking Do's
- DO park only in those spots designated for parking
- DO respect the time limit parking in the green zone
- DO respect the children on safety patrol. They take their responsibilities very seriously.
Parking Don'ts
- DO NOT double park.
- DO NOT park in the faculty reserved spaces on Mandalay Road.
- DO NOT block the cross walks.
Attendance
If your child is going to be absent from school, please call the school office during the school day after 9 a.m. (879-1270). Please send a note explaining absences upon a child’s return to school or fill out a "verification of absence" form available in the office. You may also verify your child's absence by e-mail. Send the verification to Joan Cannon at joan.cannon@ousd.k12.ca.us. The state administrator requires schools to contact absent students within 24 hours of missing school.
Parents are requested to schedule medical or dental appointments after school or on weekends whenever possible. If you know in advance that your child will be leaving school, please send a note to your child’s teacher. Students need to be signed out from the School Office. Your child will only be released to a parent, guardian or designee listed on your child's emergency card.
The school district is reimbursed by the state only for the days that your child actually attends school. If your child cannot attend school for the entire day, have them attend for part of the day. If your child needs to be absent for five or more days, contact the school in advance to arrange an independent study plan.
Tardiness: Students who arrive on campus after morning ceremony must go the office for an admit slip.
Health
Emergency forms are sent home for completion at the beginning of the school year. In the case of an injury or illness, school personnel will care for the student temporarily and will render first aid treatment only. Parents or their designated emergency contacts will be asked to pick up sick or injured children. Students can be released only to their parents or to persons authorized on the emergency forms.
It is critical that the school has up-to-date information on every student. Please notify the school immediately of any changes in your child’s address, home, work or emergency telephone numbers or medical status or people authorized to pick up your child.
Medications: Students are not to carry medication at school. Medications must be brought to the office by the parent/guardian with a school form completed by a physician and kept in the school office. Forms are available in the office.
To Send or Not to Send: Please use good judgment in determining whether or not your child is well enough to attend school, remembering that above normal temperatures, runny noses and persistent coughs are often indications that your child is not well and may be contagious. Rule of Thumb: A child should have a normal (unassisted) temperature for 24 hours before sending to school.
Fall is usually LICE season: Being watchful will help us all to manage these pests. Remember that everyone can get them regardless of how squeaky clean we might be. Remind your children to take precautions, being mindful not to play with each other's hats or hair. Your cooperation and your partnership will help to keep the cases at Hillcrest to a minimum. Information is available in the office.
TB Screening for
Volunteers: All classroom volunteers need to be screened for TB.
Check at the beginning of the year
for PTA-sponsored
TB screening.
Expected Behaviors
Discipline Guidelines: All students are subject to disciplinary action when involved in violating the expected behaviors policy, while the student is on school grounds or at a school activity, during lunch time, or while the student is going to or coming from school or a school activity. In looking at a student's past behavior, facts of an incident, and age, the principal may assign a different consequence from the guidelines below. The principal has the final decision for disciplinary action. A full list of Hillcrest's discipline guidelines is available online.
Playground Guidelines: Your hands and feet are to yourself. No Put-Downs: Do not use words, actions, and/or body language to degrade, humiliate, or dishonor others. A full list of playground guidelines, including rules for games and playground equipment, is available online.
Adventure Time
Adventure Time runs child care in the school multi-purpose room Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 6 p.m. Please contact the Adventure Time business office (658-7412) to make arrangements for child care. Adventure Time’s telephone number at Hillcrest is 652-4242.
Dress Code
Although the Oakland School Board has a policy requiring a school uniform, it is not enforced at Hillcrest. However, we do require that certain standards be maintained: no foul language on clothing, no tank tops on boys, no “spaghetti” straps on girls, and no bare midriffs. Shoes should be closed toed with backs to facilitate safe running and climbing. The Principal will also use judgment for other questionable attire.
Lost and Found
Mark all personal belongings with the full name to aid in return if lost. Check the lost and found. Small or valuable items should be turned into the school office and will be returned when identified by the owner. Articles not claimed at the end of the month will be donated to charitable organizations.
Lunch Program
Students may bring lunch from home or buy lunch at school. A lunch menu is sent home each month. School lunches cost $1.25 and include milk (pizza lunch excluding milk costs $2.00). Milk is also sold separately for 30 cents. Lunches can be purchased daily or pre-paid for 10 lunches at a time. Checks should be made out to ‘Hillcrest School Cafeteria’ and all monies paid to the cafeteria person on duty. A free or reduced-cost lunch program is available for families who qualify. Forms are available in the school office.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Parent-Teacher conferences are scheduled once in the fall and additionally as requested by parent or teacher.
Safety
Emergency Preparedness: Hillcrest has an emergency plan and drills are conducted monthly. In the event of an emergency, students will be supervised until picked up by those authorized on the Student Emergency Form. The school has minimal supplies to care for students for three days. In the event the school is deemed unsafe, signs will be left (on the main doors and the playground gates) to indicate where the children have gone. Options include St. Theresa’s, Claremont Country Club golf course and the Red Cross Shelter at Oakland Technical High School.
Cancellation of School: School is cancelled only during extraordinary circumstances such as extreme weather, equipment failure or public crisis. Announcements will be released to radio, television and to newspapers. In the unusual event that school must be cancelled during the school day, parents or people authorized on the emergency form will be notified.
Library
Parents are welcome to check out books in the library. The Hillcrest Library's catalog, plus other research and homework resources from OUSD, are available online. Library hours are published within the first two weeks of school and posted outside the library doors. Wednesday open period in the afternoon provides a chance for parents and children to go to the Library and check out books together. A fee is charged for damaged and lost books. The library always welcomes volunteers. Friends of Hillcrest Library raises funds for library book purchases. By contributing $15, a donor can select a book title and have a bookplate placed in the book honoring the donor and the honoree. The high quality of our library reflects the hard work of our PTA-sponsored library aide and the library committee and the high level of community support.
School Directory
The PTA publishes the Hillcrest School Directory in both a hard copy and a password-protected online format. The directory lists all the students in each class and parents’ names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail information as provided by the parents. Parents are asked to fill in a form to specify the information they wish to have provided in the directory. Please remember the directory and its information is designated for use by, and distributed to Hillcrest families.
Yellow Pages
Look for news from the school in the Yellow Pages sent home each Tuesday with your child. It provides a calendar of upcoming events, messages from the Principal and PTA President, and articles and notices from other members of the Hillcrest community. Yellow Pages are also available online and via e-mail; you can sign up for e-mail delivery on the Hillcrest PTA website.
There is also an "information board" with key upcoming dates on the grass outside of the kindergarten classroom (Marguerite Drive).
School Site Council
The School Site Council (SSC) is composed of five parents and five teachers/staff members. Members of the council are elected by their peers and serve for two years. Each year the council finds out the needs of students, develops and reviews a school site plan, decides on the School Improvement Plan (SIP) budget and plans a way to measure program effectiveness. The school receives approximately $13,000 annually in SIP funds. All meetings are open, and parents are invited to attend.
Parent Teacher Association
The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) promotes communication and cooperation between the home and the school. The PTA provides funds and sponsors many programs outlined below. All Hillcrest parents, teachers, and friends are encouraged to join and participate in the PTA. The website is www.hillcrestpta.org.
A membership drive is held in the fall, but parents may join any time during the year. Meetings are held the second Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in the school multi-purpose room; the date of the meeting may vary for family programs and special events.
After several years of discussion, study and evaluation, the Hillcrest PTA concluded that one of the best ways to enrich our children’s education was to provide assistants and specialists to work with the Hillcrest staff in particular areas. This is done in close coordination with the Hillcrest Principal. These roles include a curriculum aide, a library aide, art and music teachers, computer instructors, and teachers to achieve class-size reduction.
The PTA funds these programs mainly through an annual auction, the walkathon, a donation letter, escrip and paper scrip. Your support for these fundraising efforts directly benefits the children of Hillcrest School.
The PTA encourages every family to participate in the PTA. Become actively involved by serving on a committee such as: Community Relations, Emergency Preparedness, Facilities, and Playground, Membership, Programming, Ways and Means (Fundraising), Communications, Fine Arts and Computers.
The Hillcrest Mission
The Hillcrest School Community will be engaged in continuous inquiry and self-reflection to provide a nurturing environment and engaging and powerful learning for each and every child. Read more about Hillcrest's mission, philosophy and goals.