General Faculty Policies - Table of Contents
Educational Philosophy
Vision of a Landmark Student
Educational Goals
The core goals of a Landmark education are that students will become people who:
Love God and Love Others
Think and Communicate Well
Discipline Their Habits
Embody Servant-Leadership
Are Prepared for What’s Next
In this way, when their time at Landmark is complete, they will be like a tree firmly planted (Psalm 1:3).
Approach to Education
We seek to provide an education that is rich, relevant, and rewarding.
A rich education is one that is deep and meaningful. It is holistic in nature, taking seriously the assertion that all truth comes from God. It is flavorful, cultivating a love of truth, goodness, and beauty within students. It provides depth of thought, moving students toward becoming confident problem-solvers and innovators. It allows students to think deeply about their own thinking while engaging the diversity of thought that comes through collaboration and being part of a vibrant learning community.
A relevant education is one that is useful to students moving forward in life. It entails learning practical skill sets that are transferable to broad domains. It provides students with memorable and engaging experiences, within which they develop agency and ownership regarding their education. It is an education through which they can take pride in their investment of time and energy towards creating real, tangible products as learning artifacts. It is learning for life, through which students identify, refine, and become better equipped to steward their gifts and talents with excellence, pursuing the calling for which God has created them.
A rewarding education draws the learner towards Christ. While preparing students for continuing education and future careers, it constantly keeps the larger perspective in view. It desires the greater reward of the kingdom beyond grades and accolades. It chooses character over comfort. It recognizes that the greatest gain is through giving, the greatest honor is through humility, and the greatest success is through service.
Principles of Learning
Learning is central to human formation.
A biblical worldview is foundational to our approach to instruction. In particular, we believe that Ephesians 2:10 is true when it describes each person as a purposefully designed masterpiece. As a result, we believe that each student is capable of excellence, with excellence being defined as the stewardship one’s gifts to the glory of God. The act of stewardship that we call learning entails the formation of the habits of the mind, and it is marked by purposeful effort that leads to delight in God’s creation and an understanding of one’s place in it. These habits of mind are most fully formed when they are rooted in a biblical worldview.
Learning affects how students impact the world.
Ultimately, students should be able to do something with their learning, building towards service and leadership. Accordingly, learning exists in the context of community, and it entails the ability to communicate one’s beliefs and to engage the beliefs of others with humility.
Learning entails the revelation of truth and the construction of understanding.
Learning is a lifelong journey in which new information is continually assimilated and contextualized to build meaning. It is the exploration of ideas and their relationships. Learning builds from novice levels of discrete, procedural, or domain knowledge towards increasing expertise, evidenced by the contextualized application of disciplinary thinking and ultimately the development of durable and transferable mindsets and skills. This process lasts a lifetime and exists in concert with one’s community.
Assessment is part of the learning process.
At the core, students should think about their learning. While there are many ways to teach and learn, the learning process generally entails patterns of encounter, practice, revision, and feedback. Each of these activities is an opportunity for students to think about their thinking. Accordingly, assessment as part of the learning process implies a formative approach and an invitation for metacognative self-reflection. As such, assessment strategies should prioritize giving students opportunities to demonstrate what they know, as opposed to prioritizing the capture of what they don’t know as proxy measurement for the purposes of recording a grade.
Learning is an active process.
In the learning process, the learner is the agent; the teacher is the guide. At the cognitive level, there is no such thing as passive learning; it’s not neutral. Learning is active and engaged. Accordingly, students are expected to be actively engaged in order to maximize their learning process. As a guide, the teacher will show the path, point out footholds, and mitigate obstacles, but it is the student who must undertake the effort of the journey.
Classroom Observations
Principals and their designees (Assistant principals, Department heads, etc.) will observe classroom instruction regularly to ensure mission delivery and professional growth for each teacher.
Observations will focus on ensuring that students are engaged in worthy work, that they are forming high-quality habits, and that the classroom atmosphere reflects Christ and promotes learning. Feedback from these observations will help administrators and teachers set individual goals, select areas for professional development, and identify resources for support.
Classroom Maintenance
It is the teacher’s responsibility to monitor the upkeep of his/her classroom. Maintenance and custodial needs are to be requested online at:
https://www.myschoolbuilding.com/myschoolbuilding/myrequest.asp
IT/computer problems should be sent to the following email address for the quickest response: [email protected]
Report maintenance and custodial needs through the Landmark Portal. Go to Resources, Click on SchoolDude to submit and check the status of maintenance and custodial requests.
Scheduling Trips
Schedule transportation for class trips through School Dude using the same process described above. Submit a Field Trip Process form to your Principal. These forms are available under the Faculty Resources Page on the Landmark Portal.
Parent/Teacher Relationships and Communication
The parents of the students are a vital part of the Landmark Christian School community. The staff and parents form a team to educate the children of the school to their maximum potential.
Parents are welcome to arrange visits to the classrooms, join their children for lunch, or talk with their children’s teachers as available. All staff members are expected to treat the children’s parents with courtesy, respect, and discretion.
Effective communication is the key to the parent-teacher relationship. Teachers are expected to communicate regularly with parents concerning the instructional program in their classrooms, the progress of the students, and any needs or concerns relating to the individual student, particularly those students with grades falling below 76. Conferences should be scheduled for these times of communication. Classroom time should never be forfeited for impromptu conferences.
Communication between parents and teachers should always be handled in a timely manner.
Telephone and email messages from a parent to a teacher must be returned within 24 hours, with the exception of weekends or holidays, and the preferred method of communication is a phone call.
Campus Visitation
Parents and other visitors are to report to the office upon entering the building. All visitors to the building should be wearing a visitor’s badge for identification. If a staff member observes a guest without a name badge, he/she should refer the visitor to the office immediately. Teachers are to remind visitors of this policy. Under no circumstances should a teacher release a child to his/her parent during the school day before the parent checks the child out in the office. The child is only to be released when he/she is called to the office or has a note that indicates an appointment or a need for dismissal.
Challenged Materials Policy
The American Library Association (ALA) defines a challenge to literature as an attempt by a person or group of people to have materials, such as books, removed from a library or school curriculum, or otherwise restricted.
The resources acquired by Landmark Christian School are selected to meet the teaching, research, and service missions of the school. The appearance of any resource does not mean that the school advocates or endorses the ideas found in that resource. Indeed, at times it is beneficial for students to grapple with conflicting views, especially when considering topics of eternal significance. Access to sources of this nature is intended to edify the student and strengthen the fulfillment of our core mission.
Resources used in classes and in the media center may be challenged by students, parents, faculty and staff by a written request for removal addressed to a school principal or to the head of school. Upon receipt of said request, the request will be brought before the school’s academic leadership for consideration. A challenge to a resource must be based on the failure of that resource to fall within the scope of the school’s mission and values. When challenging an item, the constituent may request that the school take one of two actions: (1) removal of an item because it is inappropriate, or (2) the addition of a source to balance the collection by providing alternative views. The school may agree to take either action or no action at all.
Student Health Issues
Faculty must never administer any medication to students.
When a student feels ill, the teacher should assess whether or not the illness warrants having the student sent to the nurse for further evaluation. In the case of a minor accident, the student should be sent to the clinic for first aid to be administered. If appropriate, another student should accompany the injured student.
In the case of a serious accident, the faculty member should remain with the injured student, and the office should be notified of the situation. Do not move or try to give aid to the student. Keep other students away from the injured child. Head or eye injuries are to be treated seriously. Complete an accident report after the student has been cared for.
Heat Advisory Precautions
Guidelines for non-athletic daily activities
A heat index reading should be obtained immediately prior to participation in outside activities. This may be done by accessing www.weather.com. In times of extreme heat, our school nurse will access this daily as it gives accurate heat index predictions for the day as early as 8:30 each morning.
General Guidelines:
Heat index of 95+ degrees – No outside activities
Heat index of 90-94 degrees – Limited outside activities
- Maintain clear focus on supervising students and looking for signs of over-heating • Mandatory water breaks every 30 minutes
- Mandatory breaks from activities after the water break for 5 to 10 minutes in duration.
- Monitor heat index every 30 minutes
Heat index of 89 degrees or below – standard protocol
In times of extreme heat, students with outdoor activities should be hydrated often throughout the day.
HIPAA
The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act provides data privacy and security provisions for safeguarding medical information. Please make sure student health information is only shared with appropriate staff and legal guardians of the child in regard to the health matter.
General reference to room mothers to make them aware of food allergies for parties is permitted with consent from the legal guardian. If you have any specific questions regarding student health concerns, please contact the school nurse for guidance.
Student Activities and Field Trips
Faculty must have all student activities or field trips approved by the administration before proceeding with any planning or communication. It is the responsibility of the faculty sponsor of an activity or event to complete the required forms and to communicate adequately with appropriate staff members. This includes submitting any needs for location or setup through SchoolDude as well as any transportation needs. Transportation needs must be communicated to the Director of Transportation two weeks in advance.
Student Supervision
One of the primary roles of a faculty member is that of supervising students. LCS faculty are to remember that they serve as professional, adult Christian role models for the students. Faculty members should be on time to class to supervise incoming students. As much as possible, personal matters should be done during planning or lunch periods. If you need to leave your classroom at any other time while students are in the room, please notify your neighboring teacher. Children should not be left unsupervised. At times, this will require faculty members to participate in supervision duties that fall outside of their teaching role (lunch, morning/afternoon, events). When you are on campus or engaged in a school-related off-campus activity, you are in a supervisory role. Relationships between faculty members and students are to be friendly, professional, and courteous.
Discipline Philosophy
The goal of Landmark’s discipline policy is to create an orderly and safe environment where teachers and students may focus on teaching and learning. Teachers are to discipline students from the motivation of a love for and delight in them. Faculty members must successfully communicate to students throughout the discipline process that the faculty are acting in the best interest of the students and out of a caring concern for their welfare and growth. Successful discipline depends on consistency by the faculty member. Inconsistency in the enforcement of school rules or in administering discipline to students destroys trust in and respect for faculty and undermines the entire discipline process.
The faculty are to model respect for authority and peers and exemplify obedience to school rules. It is the teacher’s responsibility to communicate clearly to students any behavioral expectations that are not spelled out in the student handbook. It is vital that a faculty member communicates appropriately and expeditiously with a student’s parents concerning any discipline process.
Written Communication
Please review all communications to parents and students via the Landmark Portal and email for proper spelling and grammar before sending. All school-wide communication should be reviewed by someone in MARCOM before sending.