Health & Safety

HEALTH RULES
1. Each child entering the school must have a complete health examination each year. Medical forms with up to date immunization records and medical recommendations are kept in the school office and must be submitted prior to the start of school.
2. Please do not send your child to school if he/she shows SYMPTOMS OF ILLNESS. Children with showing symptoms of illness such as runny noses, coughs, diarrhea and fever WILL be sent home.
3. Children who have experienced vomiting and/or diarrhea should be kept home from school for 24 hours from the last signs of illness. Children who experience these symptoms in school WILL be sent home.
4. Please inform the school if your child has contracted or been exposed to a contagious disease so that proper notification may be made to other families in our school.
5. A doctor’s note is required for all children returning to school after a communicable disease: e.g. Chicken Pox, Fifth’s Disease, Strep, Coxsackie virus and Conjunctivitis.
6. It is important to advise us if your child has an upsetting experience outside of school so that we may better understand and deal with his/her behavior.
7. The school should be notified whenever parents will be away and the child is to be cared for by another adult.

If emergency medical attention is necessary and the parents cannot be reached, your family physician or other indicated caretaker will be notified. In September, an extensive Emergency Contact Form will be mailed home to each family. Completion of this form is mandatory and must be returned on the date stated at time of receipt.

Please be sure that you have:
1. Signed and returned an Emergency Treatment Form.
2. Contact Information Forms including both parent’s current work numbers, cellular phone numbers and current email addresses, along with emergency contacts.

If your child is on a special diet or has an allergy, you must have your child physician complete a Health Plan Form so that we can plan for your child’s needs in advance.

Medications should be administered at home whenever possible. Great Neck Community School staff will not administer any medications other than an EPI Pen, Benadryl, and Tylenol (as prescribed by the child’s doctor). Some of the GNCS have been through MAT (Medication Administration Training).

For the protection of our children and staff, Great Neck Community School has a coded security system both at the front gate and at the front door to the school. Each family is assigned a four digit personal code which permits access to the school grounds through the gate. A separate three-digit code unlocks the front door to the school. Please do not share your code information unnecessarily. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU MEMORIZE YOUR CODES and use them to enter the school.

The system allows full access to parents and caregivers who need to enter the school at times other than arrival or dismissal. We ask that all visitors ensure that the front gate is closed behind them when entering or exiting the premises. All visitors must come to the office and sign in Log Book. The Director and/or Office Manager escort them to their designated classroom. All visitors are scheduled by appointment.

Our Visitor’s policy is necessary to provide for the protection, health, safety and welfare of the children in our care. Visitors are defined as non-parents or authorized family members, Special Education Teachers (SEITs), Speech Pathologists, and authorized observers.

The Great Neck Community School as a Parent cooperative school welcomes our student’s parents and families as participants and values their contributions to our program. However, parents must arrange for classroom visits with the teachers.

Visitors on a tour of the school MUST ALWAYS be accompanied by the Director or the Business Administrator. Tours are by appointment only. Personal information of the Touring Visitor(s) is requested by the Administration when a tour appointment is arranged. All visitors to the Great Neck Community School must sign in upon entry to the premises. These visitors must indicate in writing the date of the visit and the time of entry to the school. Visitors must clearly state in writing the purpose of the visit. Visitors must sign out upon departure from the school and indicate in writing the time of departure.

Children may only be released to adults other than their parents who are specified on the registration information form or when Great Neck Community School has received written permission to release the child to the specified adult. Permission is kept on file in the school office or given by a note sent to school on the day in question. Individuals not known to the school who will be picking up your child will be asked to provide identification. This is for the protection of your child.

ACCIDENTS AND INJURIES
We make every effort at Great Neck Community School to insure that your child will be safe. We take all appropriate measures for proper supervision. We are fully insured and properly staffed.

However, accidents can happen, and parents are informed of any scratch or bruise that occurred during the day. One parent is telephoned immediately for any injuries or when the child is not feeling well. Children who become ill during the day are expected to be picked up as soon as a parent is notified. If a parent is not reachable, the school will call the person listed under emergency contact. Please inform your “emergency contact” of this possibility.

Fire drills are held regularly, once a month. The Nassau County Fire Marshall inspects our premises annually.

Code of Conduct for the Great Neck Community School

This Code of Conduct is to provide a mutual understanding to all parents/guardians and staff at our School about conduct expectations. Failure to adhere to the Code of Conduct may result in the dismissal from the School.

The Great Neck Community School is committed to maintaining and promoting a respectful and professional environment within which its parents and staff treat each other with dignity and respect. Parents and staff will not discriminate against, bully or harass others based on cultural and role difference, including (but not exclusively) those involving sex, age, disability, education, ethnicity, gender identity, language, national origin, political beliefs, race, religion, sexual orientation, marital or family status and socio-economic status.
This being a cooperative school, providing constructive feedback and suggestions are welcome towards the continued successful operation of the school. This being said, forms of defamation are unacceptable. The Great Neck Community School recognizes as defamation, any defamatory, offensive or derogatory comments regarding the school, parents, and/or staff of school made publicly to others.

The Great Neck Community School recognizes as bullying, behavior that may be characterized as offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting, or an abuse or misuse of power through means intended to undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient. Bullying does not need to be deliberate; someone may demonstrate bullying behavior without intending to. Whichever form it takes, it is unwarranted and unwelcome to the individual and will often cause embarrassment, fear, humiliation or distress to an individual or group of individuals. Bullying often results from a misuse of individual power derived from status/position, physical strength or force of personality. It can also arise from collective power arising out of strength of numbers.

The Great Neck Community School recognizes as harassment, any unwelcome verbal or physical behavior, including sexual advances, when the unwanted conduct has the purpose or effect of either violating another person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that person. Harassment does not need to be deliberate; someone may harass another person without intending to. In some situations where the unwanted conduct is serious, a single incident may constitute harassment. In other situations, conduct may become harassment if it is repeated or sustained.

The following list provides examples of the types of behavior which can amount to harassment, although the list is by no means exhaustive:
* Unwelcome physical contact or physical interaction.
* Unwelcome verbal conduct.
* Unwelcome written or visual interaction.
* Harassment, bullying and victimization by electronic methods. Sending emails (with or without attachments) which breach the terms of this code.
* Repeatedly sending unwanted messages, even if the content of each individual message would not constitute harassment, bullying, or victimization.
* Inappropriate copying of emails and/or screenshotting to parties not seen as relevant to the discussion, as a way of intimidating or inappropriately gaining leverage over other parents, guests, volunteers, or staff.