When students are absent or late, they miss important learning, and they often feel behind when they return to the classroom. When teachers stop instruction to help a student who is tardy, all other students lose precious learning time as well. PLEASE HELP YOUR CHILD BE AT SCHOOL ON TIME EVERYDAY.  Students can arrive starting at 7:35 AM. Students are tardy after 7:55 AM.

If you know that your child will be absent or late, please report this as soon as possible to the 24 hour attendance line 303-734-5600.  We will be following established state and district guidelines regarding unexcused and excessive absences and tardies. Minutes accumulated beyond 24 hours of unexcused absences and tardies are considered excessive

Attendance Policy

• School starts at 7:50 AM and all students should be in their classroom. School is dismissed at 2:45 PM.
• Tardies: Student arriving after 7:55 AM. and before 8:55 AM. will be counted tardy.
• Excused Tardy: Doctor and dentist appointments. Unexcused Tardy: Anything else.
• Absences: Absences are recorded on a half-day system, AM and PM.  Students arriving after 8:55 AM are marked absent for the morning; students leaving before 1:28 PM are marked absent for the afternoon.
• Lenski employs an automatic call out attendance message at 10 AM if the office has not received information explaining the absence or tardy
• If your student misses 5 days (not necessarily consecutive) of school, there will be a call from the school to make sure you are aware that your student has missed a full week of school.  If your student misses 8 days of school, we will ask that any remaining days missed have a doctors’ note.  If your student misses 10 days of school we will have a solution-finding meeting to develop an attendance plan.  LPS has many resources available to help families with attendance.

Please note the following for morning drop off procedures. These procedures apply to ALL students regardless of transportation mode

MORNING ARRIVAL

We will have a soft start to our school day.

• All students will enter the building directly upon their arrival. 
• Doors open at 7:35am and students will head directly to their classrooms.
• Students will be expected to be in the building by 7:50am or will be marked tardy. 
• There will be no playground supervision in the mornings.

Students do not need to enter through a specific building door. They may enter through the front doors (Door #1), primary playground door (Door #2), or intermediate playground door (Door #4). Doors 3 and 5 will not be open for arrivals.  All doors will be closed at 7:50am. Students arriving late will enter through the front door.

For morning drop off, please note the following:

BUSES will drop off students in front of the school on Fairfax.

• There is NO PARKING OR DROP OFF allowed in the bus lane.
• A Lenski staff member will assist students as they exit the bus to ensure they get to the appropriate building entrance.

PARKING

• There is parking available in front of the school on Fairfax, Eudora, and Dexter. There is also an available parking lot/drop off area behind the school on Fair Drive in the Heritage Village neighborhood. Students may cross the bridge and walk into school from there.  
• Please do not drop off in the parking lot.
• You must have a visible disability parking permit to access those parking spots at all times.

CAR DROP OFF will be SINGLE LANE in the circle drive on the east side of the school by the main entrance.

• There is NO PARKING in this area before school begins. 
• The drop off lane will be monitored by Lenski Staff beginning at 7:35am to ensure that students safely exit their vehicle and parents safely exit the circular drive in front of the school. 
• Please pull all the way forward in line (up to the stop sign)
• Please be sure your student is ready to exit the car as this will be a continuously moving line of cars. 
• Have shoes, backpack, coat, etc ready to go with your student.
• Please have your student exit on the sidewalk side of the car.
• Parents are expected to remain in their vehicles in the circle drive in order to keep the line moving in an efficient manner.
• The left lane of the circle drive is closed during drop off in the morning. Please do not pull out of line or pass any other car. Follow the car in front of you.
• There will be NO LEFT TURNS out of the circle drive.

U-turns are not only unsafe, but illegal. Please take the small amount of extra time it takes to exit the school area in a manner which is safe for students crossing the street.

Representatives from the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Department, LPS Department of Transportation, and LPS Security may assist during the school year. Kindly cooperate with any of these representatives and all Lenski staff.

Students and parents may not bring animals onto school or district premises unless authorized by the site administrator. (Board Policy Code IMG) 

Because of concern for student safety, the Board of Education approved the following district policy, "Animals in Schools and District Facilities."

At Lenski, no student or parent will be allowed to bring dogs, cats, turtles, birds, snakes, and other pets onto school property or into classrooms with the following exceptions:

*"The use of service (assistance) animals is protected by law and is not covered by the rules in the Board policy."  The term "assistance animal" is defined as an animal that has been or is being specially trained by a person who is qualified as a trainer of assistance animals to aid a disabled student and includes guide dogs for the visually impaired, hearing dogs for the hearing-impaired, and service animals for the physically disabled."

*"Animals are allowed to be housed in a classroom or district facility for a specific and appropriate educational purpose for the time necessary to achieve the educational goal."

This policy will impact families who walk their dogs to and from school and bring them to the field to run before and after school when many children are present.  We ask that all families support the importance of safety for our children and refrain from bringing pets to school. Please share this article with your friends and family.

With so many students with food allergies and intolerances or other medical conditions, we ask parents to please refrain from sending food items to celebrate birthdays or school events.  Please talk with your classroom teacher to find alternatives to food treats.

Student behavior on the bus is monitored and incidents are reported to the principal for follow up.  Please remind your student that the bus is an extension of the school and cell phones should remain in backpacks or pockets.

If your child does not get off of the bus when you expect him/her to, call the school office and the secretary will help you.  If you do not discover that your child is missing until after 3:30 PM or cannot reach anyone at school, please call the transportation department at 303-347-4775 for assistance.  As always, if it is an emergency, call your police department. If your child leaves something on the bus, you can call the transportation department to see if it will be on the bus or the lost and found box at the transportation office.

Parent input is welcomed on the best learning environment for your child. However, we do not take requests for placement with a specific teacher.

The Littleton Public School District Code of Conduct will be enforced by Lenski staff and the principal. There will be no tolerance for bullying, weapons, drugs or fighting.

All students should dress appropriately for school, keeping in mind the activities for the day, the weather, and the health and safety of the individual.  Student dress should not distract or disrupt the orderly process of education. Any concerns regarding school dress and appearance will be referred to the principal.  Shorts may be worn at the child's discretion, keeping in mind the playground area is gravel. (Short-shorts and skimpy tops are not allowed. Wearing of sandals is discouraged because of gravel and sand on playground.)

Additionally for student safety, we ask students to wear shoes that will not interfere with activities such as running, jumping and/or climbing. Students wearing flip flops, slippers, and sandal type shoes often experience falls, sprains and injuries to feet/toes.

School administrators may establish additional specific standards for their individual schools within LPS guidelines. Teachers may establish additional specific standards for their individual classrooms within LPS dress guidelines. Disciplinary action for violation of dress standards may include requiring the student to remove or change the grooming/apparel, referral to counselor or administration, parental conference, and suspension and/or expulsion.

Lost & found is located in the hallway near the multipurpose room. Small items are in the front office.
Every year we donate hundreds of items that are left behind at school. We encourage you to label your child’s coats, hoodies, boots, gloves/mittens, hats, scarves and lunchboxes so that we can return them to you. The lost and found area is cleared out at the end of each month. Any items remaining at the end of the day on the last Friday of the month will be donated. 

Formal parent-teacher conferences will be scheduled in the fall (October) and the spring (March) of each year. If at any time you wish to conference with a teacher, please schedule an appointment.

Children should not bring any items of great value. We will not be responsible for lost or stolen items. Toys, iPods, iDevices, eBook readers, MP3 players, Pokemon cards, hand held games, etc. are not allowed in class without the teacher's approval. Accessing school wi-fi without approval is also prohibited.

Parents have told us that they like their children to carry cell phones as a safety measure.  If you choose to send your child to school with a cell phone, please help us by reminding your student that cell phones are to be silenced and in their backpack during the school day.  Teachers will work with students so that they know recess, field trips, the bus and School Age Child Care are all part of school and thus cell phones are to remain in a backpack or pocket.

We are aware there is technology in the form of of wrist phones used by elementary students to communicate with emergency contacts. Please do not encourage your child to communicate directly with you via cell phone or wrist phone technology in the event of an illness or safety concern.  For their safety, it is expected that students communicate with their teacher and the office in these situations. Students will be allowed to contact parents from the classroom or office.

When parents call in messages for their child, the office staff tries very hard to get these messages to the child before school is dismissed at 2:45 PM.  Problems sometimes arise in delivering messages, so we are asking for your help. Please discuss special circumstances that will be different from the normal dismissal process with your child before they leave for school and send an email to the teacher and Lenski office staff (ldaugherty[at]lps.k12.co[dot]us and tnolting[at]lps.k12.co[dot]us). If something comes up during the day, please try to call the school before 2:00 PM.  We will try our best to deliver messages received after 2:00, but due to the volume of calls and visitors in the office, we cannot guarantee the child will receive it.  

• Be kind, respectful, and safe.

• Do not jump off the swings.

• Do not throw any rocks.

• When waiting for a turn, let the person know that you are counting to 60 and then start counting.

• Line up in your classroom line when the bell rings.  Please sit/stand in one line and wait for your teacher to take you back to your classroom.

• If a ball goes into the parking lot, please get a recess teacher to help you.

• Please stay off the running path by the creek.

• If a ball goes into the creek, DO NOT get it.  Please ask a recess teacher for help.

• Speak to students and staff in a respectful manner using kind and appropriate words.

• Wear clothing and shoes appropriate for the weather and activity. Snow/all weather boots are required for walking/playing in the snow.

LPS has a visitor/volunteer screening system at all schools. This system is for all visitors to use and includes a full background check for all volunteers.  

The visitor check-in will be completed by all visitors as they enter Lenski building. This check researches national sex offender databases based on a person's ID.

Additionally, this system will do a more complete background check for anyone who will be volunteering to work directly with children.  This background check will look at national sex offender databases and will look for any felony convictions on volunteers. The visitor check is free and the volunteer check is $10.00.

Visitors:

• All visitors will stop in the office, enter their names in a new computer

• An adhesive badge will be printed

• When finished with visit, stop in the office to check out

Volunteers:

• Volunteers will need to complete an online registration before they can go to the classroom to volunteer.

• Volunteer at LPS Connect:  https://lps.ezcommunicator.net/edu/lps/login_form.aspx?app=0)

• A background check will be performed on the registration

• When they come in to volunteer the first time, enter name in computer, office checks the volunteers clearance and their ID an a permanent badge is provided.

• Badges are stored in the office and to be used each time the volunteer enters the building and checks in on the compute

Safety and security remain the most important parts of providing a great place for students to learn and grow at Lenski. We need your help in the following ways:

• Enter the office, sign in, and wear a badge EVERYTIME you are going beyond the front lobby.  Report all adults not wearing a badge to the office immediately.
• If you need to assist your child to any part of the building other than the office, please enter the office, sign in, and wear a badge before proceeding. 
• Report any suspicious persons or unsafe situations you observe immediately to the office. Be our eyes and ears as you approach and enter the school grounds.
• Report any animal seen on the school grounds.
• Do not beckon students to talk to you through the perimeter/playground fencing. If you need to speak to your child, please come to the front office.
• Please do not be offended if we stop you regarding the above items. Your child’s safety is our #1 concern.