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Board Policies & Information

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School Policies

2111 – PARENT AND FAMILY INVOLVEMENT

The Board of Directors recognizes and values parents and families as children’s first teachers and decision-makers in education.  The Board believes that student learning is more likely to occur when there is an effective partnership between the school and the students’ parents and family.  Such a partnership between the home and school and greater involvement of parents in the education of their children generally result in higher achievement in all arenas, improved student behavior, and reduced absenteeism.

In accordance with statute and the State Board of Education Parent and Family Involvement Policy, use of the term families  is used in order to include children’s primary caregivers, who are not their biological parents, such as foster caregivers, grandparents, and other family members.

In cultivating partnerships with families and communities, the Board of Directors is committed to the following:

Relationships with Families

  • cultivating at New Horizons Academy an atmosphere that is welcoming, supportive and student-centered
  • encouraging professional development for school staff that builds partnerships between families and New Horizons Academy
  • hosting family activities that relate to various cultures, languages, practices and customs to bridge the economic and cultural barriers
  • promoting coordination, technical support and other support to assist in planning and implementing family involvement activities

Effective Communication

  • providing information to families to support the proper health, safety, and well-being of their children
  • informing families about school policies, procedures, programs, and activities
  • promoting regular and open communication between New Horizons Academy administration and staff with student family members
  • communicating with families in a format and language that is understandable, to the extent practicable
  • informing and involving families in monitoring student progress
  • delivering to families timely and meaningful information regarding their children, as well as Ohio Academic Standards, required assessments and pertinent legal provisions as applicable
  • preparing families to be involved in meaningful discussions and meetings with New Horizons Academy and others
  • assisting families in ITR and IEP meetings and with grant/scholarship applications

Volunteer Opportunities

  • providing volunteer opportunities for families to support their children’s school activities

Learning at Home

  • offering training and resources to help families learn strategies and skills to support at-home learning and success
  • partnering with families to establish learning goals to help their children accomplish these goals
  • helping families to provide a home and school environment that encourages learning and extends learning into the home

Collaborating with the Community

  • building constructive partnerships and connecting families with community-based programs and other community resources
  • coordinating and integrating family involvement programs and activities with Sara’s Garden initiatives and community based programs that encourage and support families’ participation in their children’s education, growth, and development

Implementation

The CEO and/or principal will provide for a comprehensive plan to engage parents, families, and community members in a partnership in support of each child’s academic achievement and New Horizon Academy’s continuous improvement.  The plan will provide for annual evaluation, with the involvement of parents and families, of the plan’s effectiveness and identification of barriers to participation by parents and families.  Evaluation findings will be used in an annual review with the Board of Directors to improve the effectiveness of New Horizons Academy.


2350 – CHILD FIND

In accordance with Ohio Administrative Code 3301-51-03, Child Find is the process of identifying, locating, and evaluating children suspected of having a disability and who may be in need of special education and related services. New Horizons Academy provides special education services to any child who qualifies as having a disability according to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the Operating Standards for Ohio’s Schools Serving Children with Disabilities. Parents, relatives, public and private agency employees, childcare providers, physicians, and concerned citizens are encouraged to help New Horizons Academy find any child from birth through 21 years of age who may have a disability and is in need of special education and related services.

What is a disability?

  • For children ages birth to 3 – A physical or mental condition that may result in a developmental delay.
  • For children ages 3 through 5 – A documented deficit in one or more of the following developmental areas: communication, vision, hearing, motor skills, social emotional/ behavioral functioning, self-help skills, and/ or cognitive skills.
  • For children ages 5 through 21 – Identification of one or more of the following conditions: autism, deaf/ blindness, hearing impairment including deafness, mental retardation, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, emotional disturbance, specific learning disability, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, and/ or visual impairment including blindness.

Schools are required by Federal and State Laws to find children who may need special education services and related services.

What is the purpose of Child Find?

  • To enable eligible children to receive the special education and related services that are needed
  • To guarantee that schools find children who may have disabilities
  •  To promote public awareness of disabilities

If you suspect a child may have a disability, please contact:

New Horizons Academy Principal
P.O. Box 150
Wauseon, OH 43567
419-335-7272


2414 – CAREER ADVISING

This policy has been developed as prescribed in R.C. 3313.6020 and the State Board of Education’s Model Policy. This policy shall be updated at least once every two (2) years. The policy shall be made available to students, parents/guardians/custodians, and community members​; ​and it shall be posted on the school’s web site as prescribed by Ohio Revised Code​.​

Career advising is an integrated process that helps students understand how their personal interests, strengths and values might predict satisfaction and success in school and related career fields, as well as how to tie these interests and strengths to their academic and career goals. Students need to have access to comprehensive resources and support to prepare for their future success. Through relevant classroom instruction and career-related learning experiences, students can discover their interests and explore academic and career pathway options.

Career advising shall include:

A. Grade-level examples that link students’ schoolwork to one (1) or more career field.
B. Career advising to students in grades K-12, which includes age-appropriate activities and also includes creating and maintaining a Student Success Plan beginning in grade 6.
C. Additional interventions and career advising for students who are identified as at risk of dropping out of school.
D. Training for employees on how to advise students on career pathways, including training on advising students using the tools available in OhioMeansJobs K-12.
E. Multiple academic and career pathways through high school that students may choose to earn a high school diploma, including opportunities to earn industry-recognized credentials and postsecondary course credit.
F. Information on courses that can award students both traditional academic and career-technical credit.
G. Career advising provided to the student with information for the student’s parent, guardian or custodian.
H. The supports necessary for students to have successful transitions from high school to their postsecondary destinations, including interventions and services for students in need of remediation in mathematics and English language arts.

R.C. 3313.6020, Ohio Model Policy on Career Advising (ODE) (December 2014)


3121 – CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD CHECK

In accordance with state law, the Board requires a criminal background check of each applicant the CEO and/or the principal recommends for employment on the professional staff as well as for current employees on a periodic basis.  This requirement includes all substitutes and persons employed on a part-time basis.  In addition, all professional staff members with a license, certificate, or permit issued by the Ohio Department of Education must undergo a criminal background check as prescribed by law.

  • The CEO and/or principal shall establish administrative guidelines which will require a records check that complies with the law through the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI) and through Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records.
  • The guidelines established by the CEO and/or principal shall also direct that any information and records obtained from such inquiries are confidential and shall not be released or disseminated.
  • Should be necessary to employ a person to maintain continuity of the program, prior to receipt of the criminal history record, the CEO and/or principal may employ the person on a provisional basis until the report is received.

Effect of Guilty Plea and/or Conviction of Enumerated Crimes

Professional staff members determined by virtue of a criminal records check to have pled guilty to or to have been convicted of any offense such as listed below including a judicial finding for intervention in lieu of conviction and/or participation in a pre-trial diversion program relating to any of the offenses listed therein, or who are otherwise determined to have engaged in conduct unbecoming the teaching profession, are subject to mandatory state reporting requirements in addition to the initiation of an action by the Board to terminate their employment.

Suspension From Duties Involving Care, Custody or Control of a Child

In accordance with Policy 3138 and state law, the principal shall immediately suspend a licensed professional staff member from all duties that require the care, custody, or control of a child during any pending criminal action for which that staff member has been arrested, summoned and/or indicted for any crimes.

Offenses

No person is to be accepted or maintained as a volunteer if she/he has been convicted of any of the following offenses:

  • Aggravated murder, murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter
  • Failing to provide for a functionally impaired person
  • Aggravated menacing
  • Patient abuse or neglect
  • Kidnapping, abduction, child stealing, criminal child enticement
  • Rape, sexual battery, corruption of a minor, gross sexual imposition, sexual imposition, importuning, voyeurism, public indecency, felonious sexual penetration, compelling prostitution, promoting prostitution, procuring prostitution, disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, pandering obscenity, pandering obscenity involving a minor, pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor, illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance
  • Aggravated robbery, robbery
  • Abortion without informed consent
  • Endangering children
  • Contributing to the delinquency of children
  • Domestic violence
  • Carrying concealed weapons, having weapons while under disability, improperly discharging firearm at or into a habitation or school
  • Corruption of another with drugs
  • Trafficking in drugs
  • Illegal manufacture of drugs or cultivation of marijuana
  • Fund of drug or marijuana trafficking
  • Illegal administration or distribution of anabolic steroids
  • Placing harmful objects in or adulterating food or confection
  • Felony
  • An offense of violence
  • A theft offense
  • A drug offense that is not a minor misdemeanor

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