Policies & Procedures

After School Care

Youth Center

Scholars in grades 6th through 8th grade may participate in the Youth Center. The Youth Center is open Monday-Friday from 2:00PM – 5:30PM. Registration for the program is $50.00. Families will get billed for another $150.00 during the school year in $50.00 increments for a total of $200.00 for the school year.

Patriot Club

Patriot Club runs weekly from 2:00 pm – 5:30 pm and includes a snack This opportunity is free to all NAZ enrolled families. Ascension scholars who do not participate in the Out-of-School Time NAZ programming, but participate in our regular k-2 or 3-5 Patriot Club program will need to register for Patriot Club as space is available and there is a fee of $140/month.

Bus Transportation

The Minneapolis Public School District provides bus transportation to the scholars of Ascension Catholic School who live within our attendance area of North Minneapolis. Remember, this is a service to our scholars. The parents and the scholars have a responsibility to be at the pick-up point on time. The scholar is responsible for his/her conduct on the bus. A scholar’s bus privileges can be revoked if the scholar’s conduct and/or attitude creates problems for the driver or the other scholars riding the bus. Parents will be notified if the bus service is denied to their child. Parents will be given the reason and will be responsible for their child’s daily transportation to and from school.

Family Participation Hours

Parent Work Hours are required for every Ascension Catholic School Family. Parents or family members who are 18 years or older may participate. Each family keeps track of their hours worked throughout the school year on the verification form provided by the school. The Family Participation Hours Tracking Form must be turned in to Ascension’s main office by May 1st. For each hour not completed, a fee of $5.00 per hour will be added to the family’s account. The 20 family participation hours per year requirement applies to all Ascension families. Please use the family participation hours tracking form to track your total number of hours completed. We would suggest three times a year that you turn in your family participation hours verification form… the end of 1st trimester, the end of 2nd trimester, and on May 1st. Please call the front office if you have any questions. 612-521-3609.

Traditional in-person family participation ideas:
● Chaperone field trips
● Read to your scholar’s class (K-2)
● Tutor (math and/or reading)
● Front office assistance (make copies, prepare mailings, etc.)
● Classroom support in your scholar’s class (make copies, special project help, etc.)
● Attend parent/teacher conferences
● Attend the annual Christmas Program
● Coach Ascension sports teams

Alternative ways to earn credit for the required annual family participation hours:
● Donate Juice boxes for Kiddie Karnival = 1 hour per pack
● Donate Hostess Cupcakes for Kiddie Karnival… 1 box = 1 hour
● Donate pop for Kiddie Karnival… a 12 pack = 2 hours
● Sell extra Raffle Tickets for Kiddie Karnival… 1 extra ticket = 1 hour
● Turn in clean used uniforms… each piece = 1 hour
● Donate items for the Peso Store (school store for scholars)

Safety Procedures

Emergency Contact Forms

Registration Forms are filled out online by a parent or guardian when the child is enrolled in school. If changes occur, it is the responsibility of the parent or guardian to notify the school in writing immediately. This safeguards the child if an emergency arises. Always update the school if your phone number changes. This is critical.

Visitors Entering the School

Parents are welcome to visit Ascension Catholic School during the day. Please ring the bell to the left of the back middle door and someone from the front office will buzz you into the school. All parents and visitors must stop into the school office to sign in and receive a visitor’s pass before heading to any area in the school building (unless you’re arriving at the end of the day for
parent pick-up). If a parent wants to speak with a teacher or help in the classroom, a meeting must be set with the teacher in advance. No teacher can step away from classroom duties to confer with a parent during school hours. If a substitute teacher is in the classroom, we will inform parents and ask that they visit when the regular classroom teacher is present.

Cold Weather Guidelines

Unless the weather is extremely severe, all children are expected to go outside at scheduled times. Requests for exceptions are difficult to honor because teachers, by law, are entitled to duty-free periods. Please check to see that your child’s clothing is sufficient for weather conditions. Boots or overshoes, or changes of shoes are to be available everyday during the
winter months and rainy days.

Rules for when we send children outside on cold days:
1. If it is 0 degrees or below (including wind-chill), scholars will remain inside.
2. If it is above 0 degrees (including wind-chill), scholars will go outside.

PARKING LOT SAFETY

Extreme caution is required when driving in the school parking lot. Please observe all signs and cone restrictions when entering and leaving the parking lot. Never drive up close to the school building! Also, when children are present and cone restrictions are in place, children should be picked up and dropped off at the curb on the same side of the street as the school to eliminate a need to cross the street. Cars may only enter the parking lot from the south entrance (17th Avenue) and leave only out of the north entrance (18th Avenue).

To help facilitate a smooth transition of cars and scholars during morning drop-off, parking in the lot will be unavailable in the morning (EXCEPT IN DESIGNATED HANDICAP PARKING SPACES FOR THOSE WITH STATE ISSUED HANDICAP LICENSE PLATES OR PARKING PASSES). The parking spaces will be blocked off creating a drop-off only lane. If you want to accompany your scholar into the school you will need to park on Bryant Avenue, or on one of the surrounding side streets (do not park in school bus zones on Dupont or 18th). During afternoon pick-up, parking in the lot will be available, please use extreme caution when you enter, park, and exit the parking lot.

Playground Safety

Our playground rules:

• Show respect for others, equipment, and follow the instructions given by the playground supervisors.
• Always stay on school grounds (the playground area and/or the blacktop only, stay away from the gardens, sidewalk, and cars in the parking lot).
• Use equipment safely, sensibly and appropriately. (Do not play with the traffic cones.)
• The school provides balls. No balls should be brought from home.
• Balls are to be bounced only on the blacktop, not against the building or other scholars.
• Only one person on the slides at a time; it’s one-way only, slide down, do not walk/run up the slides.
• No climbing/standing/walking on, or jumping off the top of the monkey bars.
• Only one person on each swing and up to three persons on the tire swing at a time.
• Real or pretend fighting and rough play involving pushing, pulling, or tackling are not allowed.
• When the whistle blows, stop what you are doing immediately, go to your line and prepare to enter the building quietly.
• Leave rocks, sticks, mulch, snow, and other objects on the ground. There should be no throwing of objects of any kind, other than balls.
• Bring all playground equipment to the “ball box” at the end of your recess.
• Bathroom breaks are given before going to recess, ask one of the playground supervisors to use the bathroom only in an emergency.
• No food or drinks are allowed on the playground.

Fire Drills

In accordance with the rules and regulations of the Minneapolis Fire Department, fire drills will be carried out on a routine basis throughout the school year.

Crisis Lockdown

In the event of a school danger crisis, the entire school will follow lockdown procedures. Parents will receive a letter on the day of a school lockdown.

Wellness policy

Purpose

The purpose of this wellness policy is to maintain the Ascension Catholic School environment as one that protects and promotes scholars’ health and well-being, thereby supporting the scholars’ ability to learn through healthy eating, safety precautions and physical activity.

1. Foods and Beverages

Done Right Foods is the caterer of all the Ascension Catholic School scholar meals. The meals are consistent with the current USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

• Each scholar is given all the food components on the meal tray for both breakfast and lunch.
• Scholars are required to take a milk choice which consists only of chocolate skim or 1% white milk.
• All food safety guidelines are followed by personnel of Done Right Foods, Servers, and the Food Protection Manager.
• All scholars have access to hand sanitizer from a dispenser next to the meal check-in location. There are also bathrooms connected to the cafeteria, where scholars may choose to wash their hands with soap and water before eating. There is a water fountain in the cafeteria as well.
• Ascension Catholic School has one breakfast period in the morning before school, which feeds about 50 percent of the scholars. Others choose to eat breakfast at home.
• Ascension Catholic School has three half-hour lunch sessions beginning at 11:00 a.m. and ending at 12:30 p.m. The scholar body is divided into thirds to ensure that every child has adequate space for eating their meal without having to be in a crowd.
• No activities other than eating take place during the mealtimes.

2. Ascension Catholic School Food Service Program/Personnel

Done Right Foods caters all the scholar meals for Ascension Catholic School.

The responsible person for the Meal Program is the principal of the school, Benito Matias. He works closely with Michael DePass, Food Safety Manager/School Secretary, and Done Right Foods Director in the guidelines and selection of meals served to the scholars.

Done Right Foods and Ascension Catholic School provide on-going professional training for their food service personnel.

3. Nutrition Education and Promotion

Ascension Catholic School deems itself to be a “No Sugar Zone.” The school does not serve any sugar-laden items (cakes, candies, cookies, etc.) to scholars. This policy is followed consistently in the cafeteria with the Done Right Foods meals and in the classrooms with birthday parties and other celebrations. We do encourage parents that want to send a “treat” to send a non-food item or fruit roll-ups, popcorn, goldfish crackers, and other such healthier “treat” options.

Scholars are encouraged and given the opportunity to drink water at every bathroom break.

Instead of rewarding scholars with candy, Ascension Catholic School rewards scholars “Patriot Pesos”, which are used to redeem prizes, End-of-the-Month Celebrations, and Non-uniform days.

4. Physical Activity

Each scholar in grades K-8 has a 20-minute recess period daily.

All scholars have Physical Education class from 45 minutes (Kindergarten) to one hour (1^st-8th grades) weekly.

Scholars in grades 3-8 are strongly encouraged and are given the opportunity to play sports or join after-school clubs. Once a year, the faculty and 8th grade compete in a volleyball tournament.

Our field trips often require walking at venues such as the Minnesota Zoo, the Audubon Center of the North Woods, Como Zoo and Conservatory, Fort Snelling and so forth.

5. Communications with Parents

Parents/guardians are emailed Ascension Catholic School weekly updates, which include the monthly Done Right Foods menu, upcoming activities and events.  Academic and attendance reports are always accessible to parents/guardians through Powerschool, a program that provides the necessary information for the academic success and well-being of their children. Some classrooms have a classroom newsletter that is emailed home weekly as well.

6. Wellness Procedures When a Child Is Sick

Scholars must stay home for at least 24 hours after an antibiotic is given or after a scholar has an above-normal temperature or some other indication of illness.

Scholars waiting to be picked up from school go into isolation to keep others from getting contaminated.

Illness notices are sent to parents of scholars in the sick child’s classroom.

Health Needs

Health services are provided by school personnel working under the direction of the Minneapolis Public School District and in conjunction with health services provided through the Minnesota Law of 1975. Each year, scholars attending Ascension Catholic School receive vision and hearing screenings. Scoliosis screening is done on an annual basis for scholars in grades 6-8. Minor injuries, which usually occur on the playground, are first reported to the school office personnel. In a severe emergency situation, an attempt will be made to notify the parents and when necessary; 911 will also be called. We aim to keep our scholars safe in the event of critical situations. Accident reports are written for all injuries and kept on file in the main office. If the child has contracted a contagious disease, such as strep throat, a body rash, ringworm, etc., please notify the school office. If detected at school, the child will be sent home and asked to return with a written doctor’s statement confirming it’s okay for them to return to school. The parents/guardians of the other children may then be cautioned so that early detection of the disease may prevent spreading. It is the policy of Ascension Catholic School that scholars with a communicable disease not be excluded from attending school in their regular classrooms so long as their attendance does not create an unreasonable risk of the transmission of illness to children or employees of the school.

Who to Call

If you can’t find the answer to your question, here is who you can call. Our main number is 612 521-3609.

Call Mrs. Major (x112) for concerns about:
● Curriculum
● Title Programs

Call Mr. DePass (x110) for concerns about:
● Tuition, Patriot Club, and Youth Center Billing/Financial Aid
● Transportation/Busing
● Breakfast/Lunch Fees and Free/Reduced meals.

Call Ms. Kemp (x115) or Mr. Johnson (x114) for concerns about:
● Discipline Policy
● Scholar Wellness

Call Mrs. Carpenter (x113) to connect about:
● Scheduling with Mr. Matias
● Scheduling a New Family Tour
● Scholar Records

Call Mr. Matias (x111) for concerns about:
● School Policies and Procedures
● Personnel: Teachers, Administrators, Staff
● Any other concerns you may have