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School Information

SCHOOL HOURS

The school day for students begins at 7:50 a.m. and ends at 3:00 p.m.  The students should not arrive earlier than 7:35 nor stay longer than 3:00. Proper supervision of your child will be unavailable before 7:35 and after 3:15.  The bus students load at 2:45.

ATTENDANCE

It is the responsibility of the parents and the school to assist students to develop habits of attendance and punctuality.

On the day the student is absent, the parent must call the school before 8:00 a.m. to notify the office on the first day of the given absence.  If a call is not received, the school will make every attempt possible to contact the home.

The only excused absences are those due to illness of the pupil, death in the family, a doctor or dentist appointment, or whenever the principal considers that exemption from attendance is in the best interest of the pupil or the school.  All other cases of absences will be considered unexcused.

If a student has an excused absence, the school will provide an opportunity to make up the work.  All make up work must be submitted to the teacher as soon as possible, but no later than a week after the student returns to school.  Failure to comply will result in a lower grade.  Work that is not submitted on time will not be graded.   Parents are required to request make up work by calling the office before 10:00 a.m. Homework may be picked up in the office at the end of the school day or be sent home with another student. Teachers are not obligated to provide make up work or test work for unexcused absence. 

The school cannot be responsible for work missed by the child because of late entrance or vacation.  The school discourages non-attendance due to trips. If a child is absent during the school day, it is highly recommended that they do not attend after school social functions on that day.

 If a student has been absent more than ten (10) days of a report period due to unexcused absence, the school is justified in not assigning a mark for that period.  If a report card is not issued the final average will be the result of the other three quarters of work.  If a child misses ten (10) days of school in any one quarter, even if the absence is excused, the child will not receive a report card for that quarter until all of the classwork on those ten (10) days is made up and turned in to the respective teachers.  All work must be completed within one week of the students' return to school. 

We enforce this policy because we feel many students regard absence from school as a casual happening when, in fact, a student who misses 10 days in one quarter actually misses one-fourth of his classwork (which is more than written work) during a 43 to 49 day quarter.

EXCUSES

All student absences must be confirmed in writing by parent and/or guardian.  All written excuses are to state the times and dates and reason for each absence. 

Emergency permission to leave school during the day is not to be granted any student unless the parent or parent designate personally contacts the school office or calls for the student in person.

TARDINESS

When a student is late, he/she is to report to the office before entering the classroom.  An admittance slip will be given the child.

If the child arrives at school after 10:00 am, he/she is considered a half day absent.  If a child leaves before 1:30 pm, he/she is considered a half day absent.

RELEASING PUPILS

Dismissal from school for reasons of sickness or emergency must be taken care of through the office.  No child may be excused from school unless he/she is picked up in the office by a parent, guardian or parent designate.  Parents may not go to the classroom to pick up their child.  Parents must sign out their child in the office before a student will be released.

You will be notified if your child becomes ill during school.  If you are not available, the person designated on the child's emergency card will be called to assume responsibility for your child.

EMERGENCY SCHOOL CLOSING

St. Patrick School and/or the Walled Lake School District will notify radio and TV stations to publicly announce the closing of the schools in the district for the day.  St. Patrick School is included since bus transportation is provided for school dismissal. It is the policy to close school when weather conditions are extremely severe.  When an emergency arises at St. Patrick School which does not affect the Walled Lake School District, the principal makes the decision to cancel classes.  When making this announcement over the air, St. Patrick School is identified as WHITE LAKE CATHOLIC or ST. PATRICK SCHOOL, WHITE LAKE, or ST. PATRICK SCHOOL, OAKLAND COUNTY. Please monitor school closings on T.V. and radio.

It is essential that the school office has an up to date record concerning who you wish us to notify in case we are unable to contact you.  Please notify the school whenever a change should be made on the emergency card.

TORNADO WARNINGS

In case of tornado warnings, children are briefed by their teachers to take action prescribed by the Civil Defense.  If there is a "tornado watch", the children will be kept in school and dismissed at regular dismissal time.  If there is a "tornado warning" (tornado sighted in area), the children will be kept in specially designated areas until the all-clear signal is received.  We will not dismiss the school early because of a tornado watch or warning.  Parents, however, may call for their children in person at the school office to take them home.

VISITORS

All visitors entering the building must report to the office.  Parents should refrain from visiting with any of the teachers during school hours.

STUDENT PROGRESS

Report cards are important for evaluation of your child and for continuing communications between parents and staff, as well as for the coordinating attitudes and practices to aid in the child's intellectual and emotional growth. Report cards will be distributed quarterly in all grades.  In addition, progress reports will be distributed quarterly in grades 4-8.   Teachers in grades K-3 will keep parents informed of their child's progress.

Honor roll begins at grade 5. The criteria for honor roll are:

  • Only whole letter grades of “A” or “B” are considered for Honor Roll
  • An “A” counts as 4 points
  • A “B” counts as 3 points
  • No “plus” or “minus” grades are considered (an A+, A- will count as a 4 point, similarly, a B+, B- will count as a 3 point). Plus and minus indicators are for parent/student benefit, and not to be considered for averaging purposes.
  • The combined average of these A’s and B’s in the below listed subject areas MUST be a 3.5 GPA or better.
    • Religion
    • Reading
    • Mathematics
    • Social Studies
    • Science
    • Spelling/Vocabulary
    • English
    • Spanish (Gr. 7 & 8)
  • “B” average or better in conduct

HOMEWORK

To the extent that homework instills a sense of responsibility and enables the student to form desirable independent study habits, it is a useful adjunct to the curriculum.  Time spent on homework could vary according to student's ability and skill level.  If you see that your child is not doing homework, please check with the teacher so the student does not fall behind in his/her assignments.

Homework is assigned daily for the following reasons:

  • To enrich and reinforce what the pupil has learned.
  • To share with others something discovered, read, or created.
  • To improve basic skills. 
  • TESTING PROGRAM

Our testing program has for its aim to:

  • Assess the quality and effectiveness of the total instructional program in the school.
  • Obtain reliable information about the pattern of growth of individual students.
  • Aid teachers in diagnosis and prescription for individual students.
  • Aid guidance counselors in the placement of students into the 9th grade as well as into other grade/course placement.
  • The IOWA Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) is designed to provide a simplified but thorough information system in the basic skills area of Reading, Languages, Math, Science, and Social Studies.

Grades 1, 3, 5, & 7        ITBS                October
Students in Gr. 8 may take a high school placement test in November for admittance to a Catholic high school.

PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES

Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held following the first quarter marking period.  Dates for these conferences will be scheduled on the school calendar.

Additional conferences may be scheduled individually, as needed.

PROMOTION POLICY

Students must complete the prescribed academic program to be eligible for promotion.  The parent or guardian of any child who is having difficulty with the academic program will be notified.  The child, parents, classroom teacher and the principal will work together to resolve the situation in the best interest of the child. 

Parents or guardians who disagree with the recommendation of the professional staff for retention will be required to sign a release for the placement of a student from one grade to another.  After the first quarter (9 weeks), the placement will be assessed and if there is significant difficulty with the placement, the parents will be required to seek another educational setting for their child.

LUNCH TIME

All students must bring lunches.  The children eat lunch in their classrooms or the parish hall. They spend the rest of the lunch period outdoors.  We expect all children to go outside.  If for some important reason your child must remain indoors for a day, a note must be sent to the teacher.  When the child cannot go outdoors for a longer period of time, a written excuse from the doctor is necessary. 

Classroom and playground policies are:

  • Remain in seats while eating lunch.
  • No shouting or throwing food around. Throw bags and refuse in container.
  • Once outdoors, stay outdoors, unless an emergency arises.
  • All food should be eaten indoors.  No food should be taking to the lavatories, hallways or outside.
  • Remain in the playground area or on the blacktop.  No playing in or around the church.
  • There will be NO tackling, kicking, fighting, throwing unsafe objects, playing with hardballs, spitting or playing 'King of the Mountain" or any other activity deemed inappropriate by the principal or teachers on duty.  Respect and obey the lunch duty mothers and the lunch duty monitors. 
  • LUNCH TIME SUPERVISION

Hired parents and staff members supervise the lunch period.  They take care of the children indoors and on the playground.  The lunch period is from 11:05 - 11:43 or 11:52 to 12:30.  Outdoor recess is available daily except in cases of inclement weather.  To be excused from outdoor recess, a student must have a parent note and a physician slip. 

LOST & FOUND

A container for lost and found articles can be found in the hall.  The container is emptied twice a year with the contents sent to a charitable organization.  Notifications of the dates for donation are made in the weekly newsletter. 

SCHOOL PICTURES

All the children are photographed at the beginning of the school year.  We use the pre-paid plan.  You need not purchase the pictures.  We keep our records updated with the latest picture of each child.  Graduation pictures for eighth graders will be taken at a different time.  A school yearbook may be ordered also.