• Dear Parents,        Please read, sign, and return by August 31, 20 1110


    In order to encourage responsibility in our eighth graders, the Patriots have continued two incentive programs for this school year.  They are the Dress for Success program and the Patriot Club.  We believe that performance is based on more than grades, so we are focusing these programs on organization and behavior.  Our goals are to reward those students who are consistently performing well in our classes and to include the parents as we reinforce the issue of responsibility.
    Mr. Albertin started the “Dress for Success” program to promote positive behavior in our block.  Studies show that students who dress nicer tend to behave and perform better in classes.   The program encourages students to wear nice clothes to school every Wednesday.  The students who choose to participate are given extra credit points in Math, Science, Social Studies and Language Arts.   We are encouraging students to follow these basic guidelines: nice shirt, blouse, polo or sweater, dress pants, skirt or dress.  Clothes should not contain written words or screen print, no jeans, t-shirts, or gym shoes.    

    The Patriot Club is a behavior/responsibility program.  For this program the four core teachers will keep a checklist of infractions including disruptions, forgetting materials, and neglecting homework in their classroom.  Those students who accumulate three infractions in their core classes will be given an alert to take home explaining why he/she is having trouble.  This way parents will know that a child is making mistakes before there is a major problem.  This alert needs to be signed by you and returned to school on the next school day.  

    Students who accumulate four infractions in a week will be required to serve a detention.  The detentions will be held every Wednesday from 2:40 to 3:10.  During the detentions the students will be completing tasks that reinforce responsibility such as finishing work, cleaning, or writing apologies.  If the student does not complete the task in the time allotted, they will be held for a longer time.  Students who accumulate five infractions will get an office referral. Further strikes will be dealt with on an individual basis.

    Every week, the block teachers will review their checklists. Students who have acquired no marks will be rewarded with small but valuable privileges. Students who do not receive a strike for an entire week will receive “Brickie Bucks” which can be used to purchase valuable privileges.  Students who do not receive a strike for an entire grading period will be invited to a special lunch during their lunch hour.  Finally, those students who go through the entire year without a strike will receive a special reward at the end of the year.

    We believe a student’s positive behavior should be acknowledged.  We hope that the Patriot Club helps all of our students achieve their full potential.


    Sincerely,


                                    Mr. Albertin, Mrs. Buha, Mrs. Clemmons, Mr. Wells