Student Rights and Responsibilities: Elementary Quick Guide
A brief overview of the Student Rights and Responsibilities (SR&R) for elementary students.
Your school is a community of people working and learning together. Everyone should be treated with respect and kindness. We need to take care of each other and get help if we see something dangerous. This booklet will help you to remember the important things that you need to do to build a strong, happy, and creative school community at your school.
This Quick Guide is intended for use as a brief overview for students. All student behavior is governed by the detailed information found in the current version of Regulation 2601 at www.fcps.edu/srr.
Rights and Responsibilities
Rights | Responsibilities |
|---|---|
| You have the right to learn. | You have a responsibility to work with your classmates, teachers, and the staff at your school to create a caring learning environment.
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| You have the right to feel safe while at school and on school property. | You have a responsibility to help keep your school safe.
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| You have the right to privacy and to receive reasonable non-stigmatizing accommodations, regardless of underlying reasons. | You have the responsibility to respect the privacy of everyone in your school community as well as all property of the school community.
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You have the right to feel respected and to be treated with respect at school, in the classroom, on the school bus, and on school trips. If you feel you have not been respected in any way while at school or at school events, you have the right to meet with a trusted adult in the school (i.e., principal, counselor, teacher, etc.) | You have the responsibility to respect everyone in your school community.
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| You have the right to use school facilities and equipment. | You have the responsibility to use the equipment and property of the school according to the school rules. All school property should be treated with care and respect.
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| You have the right to receive support to ensure the safe and equitable access to all school division facilities and activities, in accordance with Regulation 2603. | You have the responsibility to respect the privacy of all students.
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| You have the right to equitable access to the learning environment, educational materials, and extracurricular activities. | You have the responsibility to support students and staff as we work together to ensure educational equity.
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| You have the right to a school and classroom environment that affirms the identity of all students and is responsive, caring, and inclusive. | You have the responsibility to treat students and staff with dignity and respect.
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| You have the right to have your personally identifiable information and citizenship or immigration status protected from unauthorized sharing. | You have the responsibility to respect the privacy of everyone in your school community.
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Important Topics
Your school respects your right to express yourself through what you wear. It is important to also understand that your clothes should be appropriate for your school day. For example, on days that you have PE, you should wear comfortable clothes in which you can exercise. Another example would be that on days with outdoor recess, you wear comfortable shoes in which you can run and play.
When choosing your clothes each day, remember to be respectful of your classmates and the other students by choosing to wear clothes that do not have words or pictures on them that are offensive or vulgar, or support things that are not permitted at school, such as drugs, guns, and alcohol.
Your school attendance is very important to your academic success. Being “chronically absent” means that a student has missed 18 or more school days per year (including illness, family emergencies, suspensions, or unexcused absences).
- Studies show that regular attendance in elementary school improves the chances that students will read on grade level.
- Studies also show that students who attend school on a regular basis are more likely to graduate from high school on time.
Parents/guardians are encouraged to contact your child’s school if concerned about their child’s attendance record.
Follow the same rules that you follow at school and pay special attention to keeping safe.
- At the bus stop:
- Stay with your group.
- Stand on the sidewalk or in the grass - do not stand in the street.
- On the bus:
- Keep your hands inside the bus.
- Stay in your seat.
- Talk in a quiet voice.
- Do not bring anything dangerous on a field trip. For example, do not bring matches, lighters, tobacco, alcohol, drugs, or weapons.
All students are expected to contribute to the development and maintenance of healthy, safe school communities. If you witness harmful or unsafe behaviors, you are expected to seek out a staff member and/or trusted adult as soon as possible, alerting them of the concerns. You should not participate in behavior that may serve to escalate harmful or unsafe situations. Examples of such behaviors include the instigation of bullying behaviors and videotaping altercations such as fights and arguments.
Never tease or bully anyone because they are different, because you are mad at them, or because you want to make them do something. Hurting people, scaring them, or making fun of them is not allowed.
Please remember that people in our school are all different. They come from many countries and speak many languages. They are different sizes, shapes, and colors. They have different religions and they come from many types of families.
If you see someone being teased or bullied, either in person or online, say something. Tell the person who is acting like a bully to stop. Let the person who is being bullied know that you can be a friend and tell them to walk away with you. Tell a trusted adult if it does not stop.
If someone is bullying you, tell them to stop. If they do not stop, walk away. If they still do not stop, tell a trusted adult right away.
A Discrimination and Harassment Reporting system is available to allow you and your family to report incidents in which you feel you have experienced bias and/or discrimination. The tool is housed within the Let’s Talk Platform and can be accessed by (a) launching the application from Student desktops; or (b) a link on the FCPS Website.
Students have a responsibility to follow the cell phone rules to create a positive learning environment. Here’s what you need to know:
Phones must be silenced and kept in your backpacks all day.
Phone accessories like earbuds and headsets should also be away.
Smart watches may be worn, however, phone features like texting, internet and calls, must be off during school hours.
Students may not use phones, tablets, and other mobile devices in restrooms and locker rooms, unless there is an emergency.
During classes and school activities, keep your phone off and out of sight. This helps everyone stay focused.
