AK General Information & Policies

Student Handbook

THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL

The first day of school for students is Monday, August 28. The school hours are from 7:15am – 2:15pm each day. It is imperative that students arrive at school on time every day and that students are present at school every day in order to get maximum instructional time. All students are to report directly to homeroom class upon arrival at school. We will begin in homeroom for the first 8 days of school. Upperclassmen with late arrival will still report to their homeroom class at 7:15am.

TRANSPORTATION/BUS INFORMATION

Bus information has been included in this mailing. There will be very few situations in which bus stop changes will be considered (i.e. safety issues) and these will need to be placed in writing to the transportation department via the CMS online Transportation link. For students who previously had alternate stops, parents will need to go online (CMS Transportation link) and request this service again for this school year. Students should be at the bus stop at least ten minutes before the scheduled time. In order to maintain the privilege of riding a bus to Ardrey Kell High School, students must exhibit excellent behavior on our buses from the first day of school. Violations of the expectations or guidelines may result in a student being suspended from school and/or the bus. Per CMS, students will not be permitted to switch buses to ride home with friends this year. If you receive no bus information in this mailing, you are to provide your own transportation to and from Ardrey Kell High School. You will need to contact dalea.adair@cms.k12.nc.us to request possible bus transportation. Until such time as this is approved, you will be responsible for your child’s transportation.

Please have your student write down his/her bus information (FOR BOTH AM AND PM ROUTES) and bring it to school. This procedure will ensure that your child knows how he/she is getting home that day.

**Please have your child bring his/her bus information on the first day so that he/she knows how to get home.

To provide for a smooth opening of school, and safety throughout the year, please stay off your cell phones during carpool and please follow the traffic pattern as designated by our orange cones and staff on duty. Car pool will return to the regular school year procedures with parents entering from the front entrance or the Society Lane bus lot entrance AFTER 6:55am. There are two lanes in carpool when you enter the front circle…please stay in your lane. Please do not drive over or around our cones or move the cones. We also ask that you not drop off your child on Ardrey Kell Road or pull into a surrounding neighborhood to drop off your child. The car pool line in the front circle can get lengthy. However, if we all follow the procedures set forth, it will go more quickly and help us maintain every child’s safety. If your child is assigned a bus, please feel free to take advantage of this as late arrivals on school buses are excused. Late arrival due to a long car pool line is not excused. No student will be permitted inside the building before 6:45am.

Students with a parking pass need to ensure that their pass is visible and that they are parked in their designated parking space. Students parking in the surrounding neighborhood or neighboring schools will be addressed by administration, SRO and may face disciplinary action.

In the event you need to pick up your child early or allow him/her to leave early, please send a note. We ask that your child bring that note to the main office first thing in the morning. We will provide your child with an early dismissal slip. Please be prompt so that instructional time for your child is not wasted. Thank you. We ask that no early dismissals occur after 1:30pm.

In order to help our kids focus their school day on academics, we will not allow cell phone usage during class. Phones that are seen during school hours will be confiscated and locked in our school safe. If a phone or electronic device is taken, the phone will be held for one day.

Students at Ardrey Kell High School are expected to establish a tradition of proper dress for school and school-related events. However, it is our belief that the dress code begins at home. Parents, we ask that you help us ensure your child looks appropriate at school. Listed below is the dress code:

In accordance with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, the following dress code for students at Ardrey Kell has been established:

Students are required to wear shoes at all times for health and safety reasons.
Students are required to wear shirts at all times.
Abusive, suggestive or profane language, symbols of illegal drugs, or any other words, symbols or slogans that disrupt the learning environment may not be worn on clothing or as jewelry.
All clothing must be worn in an appropriate and tasteful manner as originally intended by the designer.

The following will not be worn at AKHS:

Any article of clothing that exposes a private body part(s)
Undergarments should not be visible
Pajamas or sleepwear, bedroom shoes/slippers
Clothing that is excessively revealing is not to be worn
Any headgear/accessories that cover or can potentially cover the face or part of the face are not to be worn at school for safety purposes (Religious and cultural head coverings are welcomed). **This does not include CMS mandated masks**

Extreme styles in clothing and grooming may be detrimental to the maintenance of discipline and morale in school. If not properly dressed, students will be asked to change, call home for clothes, report to detention and/or be sent home. Exceptions for religious affiliation will be reviewed and permitted through Ms. Brooks.

In order for our school to create and maintain a safe and orderly environment, extreme and/or disruptive behavior will not be tolerated at Ardrey Kell High School. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Student Rights and Responsibilities handbook will be reviewed with each student. This handbook contains rules that all students in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System will abide by and can be accessed via the CMS website. These rules will be strictly enforced at Ardrey Kell School. Additionally, AKHS has a Zero Tolerance policy for racial and/or discriminatory language/acts of any kind. Situations involving discrimination will be handled by the principal and assistant principals. Concerns related to discrimination of any kind should be sent directly to the principal at jamie.brooks@cms.k12.nc.us. The handbook also includes bus and bus stop rules and expectations. I strongly encourage each family to review these rules together. The handbook can be found on the CMS website. During the first few days of school every student will receive a detailed orientation.

If you are interested in becoming a member of our School Leadership team that meets the last Monday of every month at 2:30pm, please email jamie.brooks@cms.k12.nc.us

The Ardrey Kell PTSO is highly involved in supporting all aspects of the school environment. It is extremely important to us for our PTSO to represent our entire school community. With that being said, we encourage all families to not only join our PTSO but also to become an active voice in the organization. Dues for PTSO are $15 and can be paid through pay4schoolstuff.com (select the PTSO link on the left side of the AK website, then select RESOURCES at the top). Dues guarantee your membership, your participation and your commitment to Ardrey Kell. Membership also qualifies all senior families for the potential PTSO College Scholarship. In these difficult Covid times your participation is more needed than ever. Our PTSO sponsors our Capital Campaign, which is the only school-wide fundraiser bringing in monies for AK. Our Capital Campaign is extremely important as this money is used to furnish classrooms with technology, provide webcams, allow for student celebrations and recognitions, and to assist with supporting teachers. We ask for your participation in PTSO and your donations to the Capital Campaign as you are able (both can be done through pay4schoolstuff.com on the PTSO link). You are the glue that holds this school together. Thank you!

Breakfast begins at 6:45am. Breakfast is free for all students. If your child forgets his/her lunch at home, you are welcome to bring it to him/her at school. Our procedures are for you to ring the front bell and be greeted by our Front Office Assistant, Mr. Murphy. Mr. Murphy will get your student’s information and make sure the lunch gets to him/her. Please label the lunch so that your child will know it is his/hers. Please note that we do not allow food delivery such as Door Dash or Uber Eats.

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All student fees are paid through the online payment system on the AKHS website. Select Online School Payments from bottom left section of home screen. If you are new, create an account. From here you can purchase a PE uniform, school fees (by homeroom teacher) which includes the agenda and other grade level fees, along with various other optional fees. If you bring your printed receipt to Open House, we will provide you with the agenda and PE uniform.