schools
november1
2018
9
Schools Update: Noon Platoon
By Rachel Wilcoxen
Vernonia K-12 Vice-Principal
As the first quarter is wrap-
ping up, it seems like a good time to go
over some systems we have at Vernonia
Schools to assist your student in learn-
ing responsibility for their own actions;
in this case being on time and in class.
If you have heard the words Noon Pla-
toon (NP) then your student may have
earned a lunch detention for being tardy
to class. Here is how the process works.
First tardy to class, middle
school/high school students receive a
warning from their teacher. The sec-
ond tardy, students earn Noon Platoon.
Any tardies after will earn a Noon Pla-
toon. Four in a quarter will earn an Af-
ter School Detention or ASD; regardless
of serving their Noon Platoons. So you
may be asking, “What happens if a stu-
dent does not attend Noon Platoon or
After School Detention?” For skipping
Noon Platoon, the student is assigned
ASD. For Skipping ASD, they are re-
assigned ASD and can earn a referral.
At times, students are not able to serve
for legitimate reasons. The Opportunity
Room (OR) staff are available to work
with students if they come and discuss
before the assigned NP or ASD. To help
student’s remember, slips with assigned
date are passed out to students. Any time
a student is assigned ASD, parents are
notified so they will know their child is
staying after school. Parents are also no-
tified if their student does not show for
ASD. The OR staff will also work with
families if it is a hardship to have stu-
dents stay after school due to responsi-
bilities at home with younger siblings or
transportation issues. Typically the stu-
dent will then do a few Noon Platoons to
equate.
We also work with students to
account for skipping class through as-
signing Noon Platoons and After School
Detentions. If a student skips a class, as
evidenced by being present to school
for most classes on a particular day then
showing up missing for just one period,
a NP is assigned. In other words if a ran-
dom unexcused appears in the daily at-
tendance then an unexcused absence is
assumed. Students are given the oppor-
tunity to clear up the unexcused. If un-
able to do so, they are assigned a Noon
Platoon. Same process is used if a stu-
dent chooses to skip this Noon Platoon.
Please note that if a student is unexcused
for half the day or the entire day, we rely
on the automatic phone system to notify
families that their student was absent. If
this is the case, please call and excuse or
discuss the issue with attendance.
In some cases, we have students
that are chronically late to class and
Noon Platoons are not effective. Other
consequences have been used where stu-
dents are assigned In School Suspension
(ISS). Students have access to classwork
as provided by teachers during ISS and
parents will be notified that their student
is in a partial or full day ISS.
NP, ISS, and ASD are all
served in the Opportunity Room. ASD
is offered Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and
Thursdays; from 3:15 to 4:15. Students
can also use ASD hours to fulfill Study
Tables as assigned by their coaches in
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to the coach or Athletic Director to al-
low an assigned ASD to count towards
Study Tables or not. The OR staff will
not notify parents in the case of Study
Tables, that is the student’s responsibil-
ity, but they can sign off on the time if
the student was following OR rules dur-
ing their Study Table time.
No matter what reason a student
is assigned to the Opportunity Room, the
OR has established rules that need to be
abided by for the time spent there to be
considered successful, the least of which
being to follow OR staff directions, ar-
rive on time, be prepared with work, and
work quietly.
These systems are put in place to
help your student develop the school-to-
career readiness skill of being on time as
they move up through the grades and out
the door as a Vernonia Schools graduate.
Please feel free to contact me with any
questions, comments, or concerns and
let me know how I can help your student
be a success; or at least get to class on
time.
Vernonia School Board Meetings are usually held on the
second Thursday of each month. The next School
Board Meeting is scheduled for November 15
(third Thursday) at 6:00 pm in the Schools Library.
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