Covington School is dedicated to helping all students become responsible and respectful citizens of our school community. Common agreement by students, parents and staff on basic rules will make everyone's experience at Covington positive and productive.

Policies and Procedures

Attendance

Excused absences are granted for medical or dental appointments, sickness, bereavement, and religious holidays only by state law. Absences and late arrivals are to be reported to the school by a parent or guardian before 9am by calling the Attendance Line at 650-947-1101 or by emailing CovingtonAttendance@lasdschools.org.  Covington School has an attendance assurance program. Any child marked absent for the day and whose parents have not informed the school  will be contacted by 10am to confirm the absence. Children who arrive after the school day begins or who are picked up for an appointment during school hours must go to the office to sign in or out.

When to keep your child home from school

The following guidelines are suggested to help control the spread of illnesses. Please keep your child home when he/she has any of the following symptoms:

• Fever of  99.6 degrees F or higher*
• Vomiting or diarrhea*
• Nausea*
• Chills*
• Coughing*
• Sneezing and/or runny nose
• Headache*
• Wheezing or trouble breathing*
• Sore throat or trouble swallowing*
• Rash or unusual sores or spots
• Generalized muscle aches and pains*
• Unusually red, crusted or burning eyes
• Head Lice

It is required to keep your child home until they are fever free without medication for 24 hours.

If more than one episode of vomiting and/or diarrhea occurs, then students may not return until free of vomiting and/or diarrhea for 48 hours.

*COVID testing, with a home test,  is recommended if experiencing COVID symptoms.  Positive results must be reported to the school office.

Lunch Hour

Children are expected to eat at Covington and remain on the premises during the entire lunch period. If you must bring a forgotten lunch to school, please drop it off at the office and office staff will deliver it to the classroom to minimize class disruptions.

Medication

Medication at school requires prior authorization from District Nurses.  You can find additional details on our district website here.

Visitors To School

Before entering the school campus, all visitors and volunteers, including parents, must stop by the office to sign in and obtain a visitor ID to wear while on campus. Before leaving, visitors and volunteers need to sign out. This procedure is in place to assure the security and safety of everyone, especially in the event of an emergency.

Visits To The Classroom

We welcome parent visits to Covington School when class activities permit. Simply make an appointment with your child's teacher or with the principal before academic observation visits.

Wellness Policy

As part of the state and national effort to curb childhood obesity, improve children’s health and enhance student learning, the state  has created strong standards for food and beverages sold or provided at school. Please read the Los Altos School District Wellness Policy for details.

Behavior and Safety Standard: The Coyote Way

At Covington School, we follow the Coyote Way.  The Coyote Way was developed by staff, parents and students to set expectations of the positive culture at Covington.  Covington students deserve a safe and secure environment in which to learn, work, and play. All members of the community are entitled to respect and support.   It is the intent of the Coyote Way to support and encourage each student's academic, personal, and social growth, and to assist students in becoming responsible members of the school community. Our behavior standards are based on building a school culture that displays respect for learning, people and property.

The Coyote Way is broken into 4 fundamental buckets- each being a guide for behavior at Covington.  Those 4 buckets are: responsibility, respect, kind mind, and empathy. For good citizenship, students are recognized and rewarded. EACH STUDENT IS: individually and fully responsible for knowing the rules, and living up to the agreements. EACH STAFF MEMBER IS: individually and fully responsible for knowing the rules, explaining the rules to his/her students, and enforcing and living up to the agreements. EACH PARENT IS: individually and fully responsible for knowing the rules, reviewing the rules with his/her child, and supporting his/her child and the school in living up to the agreements.

Be Responsible

• Be at the right place at the right time.
• Tell the truth.
• Do your best.
• Get to school on time
• Taking care of your belongings and work space

Respectful

• Be kind to others on the inside & out.
• Use polite words.
• Take care of our school.
• Respect everyone's right to learn.
• Keeping one’s “hands to self”, respecting other’s personal space and property.

Kind Mind

• Assuming best intentions of others.
• Being supportive of all.
• Celebrating everyone's "wins."
• Being kind to self; understanding that learning is sometimes hard and that mistakes are okay and something to learn from.

Empathy

• Working to understand the feelings of others.
• Empathy includes taking action to help others, including just “being there” for someone having a bad day. 
• Empathy includes understanding the feelings of others outside our community; in our city, state, country and world. 

Safety Rules - These things are not allowed:

• Tag on the blacktop/ tag on play structures.
• Running on the ramps.
• Playing in restrooms/ hallways.
• Playing behind fences, buildings, and bushes- students must be in sight at all times.
• Rough and dangerous games.
• Throwing objects that might hurt others.
• Food on blacktop and play structures
• Chewing gum.
• Toys, personal sports equipment and/or electronics.
• Any objects that could be used as a weapon or mimic a weapon
• Cell phone use during school hours without staff permission.
• Riding bikes, scooters, skateboards, rollerblades etc. on campus.
• Leaving the lunch area without permission.
• Fighting or using physical aggression. 

Playground Rules

• I will listen to adult supervisors.
• I will tell a yard duty if someone is hurt, has a problem, needs help, or thinks something is unfair.
• I will use all playground equipment correctly.
• I will include anyone from any game or activity.
• I will play ball games only in painted courts.
• I will follow the rules to organized games.
• I will walk in the hallways and to and from recess.
• School-Wide Consequences – for not following safety/playground rules:
  • Warning/Student will be talked to.
  • Student will be benched or removed from an activity to refocus.
  • The yard duty will inform classroom teacher of student's behavior.
  • Principal Conference and/or phone call home.
  • Suspension. 

Coming and Going from School

• Be on time!
  • Line up and be ready for school by 8:30 A.M.
  • Students (grades 1-6) may not enter school grounds before 8:10 A.M. (Parents should make arrangements with the office for students to arrive earlier.)
  • Leave school when dismissed. Students must be supervised after school.  Unless participating in an organized after school activity, all students should be off campus by 3:10pm.
  • Recess is the time to use the restroom and get drinks. When the 1st bell rings, stop playing and line up.
  • Use school telephones only with permission from your teacher.
• Safety Reminders
  • Students walking to school need to use the crosswalks and obey the crossing guards at all times.
  • Students riding their bikes to school must walk their bikes while crossing the street and while on the school campus.
  • Students need to leave the school campus or wait with their parent in front of the school upon dismissal. Primary students are not allowed to play on the playground after dismissal at 2:20 without direct supervision by patent/care taker (direct supervision = close proximity + watching children)
  • While waiting for their parents after school, students are not allowed to play ball, swing backpacks or run around in front of the school.
  • Parents who take their children to the playground after the last dismissal bell at 2:40, must supervise their children at all times.
  • Students not picked up after dismissal time will be brought to the office to wait for their parents.
  • The Kindergarten playground is off limits until the last Kindergarten students are dismissed at 3:05. At that time, parents who wish to accompany their children for after school play, must supervise their children at all times.

Thank you for your support in ensuring that Covington remains a safe and fantastic place to learn.  Thank you for living the Coyote Way!

Dress Code

Covington School follows the Los Altos School District Dress Code Policy 5132 and Regulation 5132. 

Allowable for dress and grooming:

1. Students must wear clothing including both a shirt with pants, shorts or skirt, or the equivalent, and shoes.
2. Shirts and dresses (tops) must have fabric in the front, back and on the sides.
3. Clothing must cover undergarments, waistbands and bra straps excluded.
4. Fabric covering all private parts must not be see-through.
5. Hats and other headwear must allow the face to be visible and not interfere with the line of sight to any student or staff.
6. Clothing must be suitable for all scheduled classroom activities, including physical education, science labs and other activities where unique hazards exist.

Non-allowable for dress and grooming:

1. Clothing may not depict, advertise or advocate the use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana or other controlled substances.
2. Clothing may not depict pornography, nudity or sexual acts.
3. Clothing may not use or depict hate speech targeting groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identify, religious affiliation or any other protected groups.
4. Clothing, including gang identifiers, must not threaten the health or safety of any other student or staff.

Cell Phone Policy

While the decision regarding a child having a cell phone at school rests with the parents, the responsibility of acceptable use during school hours is the student's. If a student has a cell phone, the following rules MUST be followed:

• The phone must be turned off during the school day.
• The phone must be placed in a backpack and not taken out during the day without permission of a staff member. 
• Phones are NOT to be used during the school day - this includes calls as well as text messaging- unless with permission of a staff member. 
• After the school day ends, phone calls may be made outside of classrooms.
• If a student needs to make a call during the school day, they need to ask permission of their teacher or the office, and they may make those phone calls from the classroom or office.
• Smartwatches, with ability to text or call, fall under the same policies.  While the smartwatch can be worn, the text/call feature must not be used unless permission is given by a staff member.

We appreciate your reviewing this policy with your child, as appropriate. We will be strictly enforcing this policy so that cell phones do not interfere with the learning environment at Covington School. Repeated violations of these policies will result in the cell phone/smartwatch being confiscated from the student along with a parent contact.  Thank you in advance for your cooperation. If you have any questions or need clarification of this policy, please feel free to contact me in the school office.