Community High School Student Handbook

Morning class runs from 8:30 to 11:30 am. Community Time 11:15-12:00 Lunch is from 12:00 to 12:30. Afternoon class runs from 12:30 to 3:00 pm. You can only leave campus at lunch.

• If you are here from 8:30 to 3:00 each day, you will not have any issues.
• If you are late for school or leave early, you are making a choice, and it will have consequences.
• You cannot punch out early of your morning class or Community Time, except for appointments.

ALL cell phones are placed in the caddy in the classroom. No exceptions.

Student phone times are 9:30 to 9:45; 12:00 to 12:30; and 1:30 to 1:40. Expecting an emergency call? Call the office at 356-2008 and we will get a hold of you. Any violation will result in a strike.

Options for lunch include 1. Eat here (hot or cold) in the cafeteria or 2. Eat off-campus.

• If you are on Strike 2 or 3 you have closed campus and cannot leave the building for lunch! If you do, you move one Strike to the right. Not good!
• Snacks are allowed in class (at the teacher’s discretion), not meals! Do not eat food in the hallways!

Study halls have changed to Golden Fridays. Instead of afterschool study hall for students to make up time, we are rewarding the students that do not own time. If you do not owe time, you MAY punch out at 2:30. Students that owe 30 minutes or less, stay in class until 3:00.

• To attend study hall, you must punch into your afternoon class by 2:00. No exceptions. If you cannot attend class, you cannot attend study hall.
• Students that are 31 minutes over on their timecard earn one strike.

Earning a strike because you missed your deadline or going over your timecard is YOUR responsibility. Get off Strike as soon as possible. Do not mess around with Strikes. Students who are withdrawn rarely graduate. Students on Strike 2 have CLOSED lunch hour. Do not leave the building.

To get OFF one strike, you must pass a class you did NOT earn the strike in. Ask the office for info.

Your timecard is a very important document.  You should always check your timecard to be sure the time punched is readable. Be careful not to punch directly over a previous punch. Be sure the timecard is pushed all the way to the back before punching; otherwise, the numbers will be off the card. If your timecard cannot be read accurately, you may lose time!  Check your timecard daily to be sure the time deducted, and the balance is correct.  If there are errors, bring it to the attention of a staff person right away. An example of time clock fraud is having another student punch you in and out when you are not in school.  In a case such as this, both students may be suspended and be subject to severe timecard penalties. A lost timecard or a timecard that leaves the building, or altered, will result in “one Strike”. When you punch out you need to leave the building.

Punch out or ask permission from the office. Any student that leaves the building without permission will have minutes taken off timecard or punched out for the remainder of the class.

If you are punched in, you are in class. If you punch out, using flex time, pink pass, or health days, you MUST leave the building immediately. You are not allowed to loiter in the building.

The school district provides FREE bus transportation to every student in the district outside of the 1.5-mile walking range. If you CHOOSE not to take the bus, you are responsible for your own transportation to school. Car problems, snow, etc. are counted against your timecard.

Can and will result in taking time off your timecard or being punched out of class for the day or suspension.

• You MUST and WILL be responsible for your words and your actions.

Please call the office at 356-2008 in the morning and let us know that you won’t be coming in or when you plan to arrive. This will save us a phone call home.

• Students are provided two health days per month. Do not use them unless you are sick!
• Two or more consecutive days (surgery, car accident, mono, etc.) can receive an Ill-Waiver if the ill-waiver form is completed by a medical provider and turned in to the office. This “MAY” extend your deadline based on the medical days approved. Two ill waivers per year are allowed.
• We are not mind readers. We can only work with the information we know. If you have issues, chronic health conditions, etc. that you are dealing with it might be helpful for you to tell us. If not, we will treat you like every other student.
• TWO DAY REQUIREMENT - families have two days to report an absence, or it will be listed as unexcused, and a strike(s) will be given. Once a strike is given, it will not be retracted, even with a parent/guardian excuse AFTER the two-day notification requirement.

These absences need to be pre-approved (two days before - as none of these events are scheduled for the last minute). None of these absences extends your deadline.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE GONE, TELL DARCI IN THE OFFICE FIRST!

Students who fail to be productive or “appear” to be sleeping in class may have time subtracted from their timecard or will be asked to punch out.

For some students, homework is necessary for them to complete the work and pass the class. Get your work done BEFORE you leave the building if you can.

You will get out of Community High what you put in. If you do nothing, you will learn nothing and earn nothing. Graduation requires effort! Procrastinating only wastes your time and the teacher’s time.

 

Students can park in the parking lot at the north end of the building. Also, please help keep our campus clean and litter free. Please pick up and toss any garbage in the garbage can near main door. Drive safely in, out, and around the parking lot. No racing or revving of engines. Be a good neighbor.

ALL students attending CHS with a need to visit another school (except for taking a class or participating in an extra-curricular activity) must check in with the office upon entering the building.

Academic Honesty

A high sense of personal honesty and integrity is expected of all learners in the completion of all courses taken at Community High, regardless of the source of the course (CHS. Edgenuity, Jeffco, NDCDE, etc.). Course work is intended to be completed without cheating, plagiarizing, unauthorized assistance, or knowingly giving false information.

Cheating

To help learners, parents, and staff understand, WFCHS defines cheating as:

• Allowing another learner to copy your work.
• Copying from another learner's test, exam, or assignment or using a cheat sheet.
• Having someone else complete your assignment.
• Giving information or answers to another learner for a test, exam, or assignment.
• Using unauthorized materials, information, notes, study aids, etc. for a test or assignment.
• Uses AI or artificial intelligence or other electronic method to do learner’s work.

Plagiarism

To help learners, parents, and staff understand, a learner commits plagiarism when he or she:

• copies text “as is” from a source without quotation marks or a proper citation.
• reorders the elements of a source text without citation.
• copies pieces (sentences, key phrases) of the source text without citation.
• paraphrases without citation.
• reproduces information that is not common knowledge without citation.
• uses his or her own past coursework without the previous and current teacher’s approval.
• uses another learner’s material without citation or has another person do his or her work.

CONSEQUENCES FOR ACADEMIC DISHONESTY:

• First offense: Make amends. Redo the work (under teacher supervision).
• Second offense: 30 minutes off timecard in that class.
• Third offense: Earn strike.
• Fourth offense: Withdrawn from Community High to the end of the year.
• ## These consequences are cumulative over a learner’s career at WFCHS.

Turnitin’s Write Check and NDCDE were used as a reference in creating the Academic Honesty Policy for West Fargo Community High School.

04/26/24

Students must earn 22 credits to graduate. These 22 credits must include: 

• 4 credits of English
• 4 credits of Social Studies
• 3 credits of Science
• 3 credits of Math
• 1 credit of Physical Education/Health
• 7 elective credits 

Credits you earned at another high school or through the North Dakota Center for Distance Education will count toward your 22-credit graduation requirement.

Additional information on curriculum and instruction

First and foremost, attendance is the STUDENT’S responsibility.The ultimate goal for CHS students is to earn a minimum of six credits during a school year. If you are not here you, it will be difficult to earn credits to graduate!

Attendance:

Timecards will be used to track “seat time” in each class. All students will punch in and out of class as usual. Time missed due to leaving early or arriving late at school will be documented through weekly meetings with teachers when creating the student’s calendar. Only medical excuses (ill waivers), school-driven absences, and special circumstances, approved by the principal will extend class end dates. Your class deadline will not be extended for non-school driven absences (hunting, court, sick, vacation, etc.). TWO DAY REQUIREMENT – families have two days to report an absence, or it will be listed as unexcused, and a strike(s) will be given.

Medical excuses for two days or more are not counted as absences if an Ill Waiver Form (available in the office) is completed by the doctor’s office and approved by the principal. All ill waivers are subject to the principal for determination of acceptance. No more than two ill waivers will be accepted during one school year.

List of school supplies

If I go to CHS, can I be in activities at West Fargo, Horace, or Sheyenne High School?

Yes.  Community High School students are eligible to participate in co-curricular activities at WFHS, HHS, or SHS as long as they meet eligibility requirements.  For more information contact the Activities Director at the high school or the coach or advisor of the program you are interested in participating.  See the Community High principal if you are interested in going out for a sport. You can also go to Homecoming activities and the Prom if enrolled at CHS and meet West Fargo, Horace, or Sheyenne High School criteria for attending these events.

District Policy FFE-AP, Extra Curriculars

District Policy FFF-AP, Field Trips

ACADEMIC ELIGIBILITY

While participating in co-curricular activities or other school-related events students must be doing passing work in both the morning and the afternoon classes. Students that miss the ½ or end of course deadline are “Incomplete” and as such ineligible until they successfully complete the course. Students can only fail a class at Community High School by earning less than 60% of their course work. Students who are on a 30-day withdrawal are ineligible. Students who violate the NDSHSL rules and policies are ineligible. For any questions about eligibility, contact the principal or the high school athletic director.

No student in grades 9-12 shall participate in any trips, performances, or competitions associated with co-curricular activities or other school related events if such student shall at the same time have any unsatisfactory record of scholarship. 

NOTE:  Students who are in violation of this policy will not be suspended from public appearances, such as music concerts, when it is a course requirement where academic credit is given.  They will, however, be suspended from participation in interscholastic contests or activities.

District Activities

District Policy KAAA-AP, School Visitors

District Policy ACAA-AP, Weather Emergencies

District Policy FFH-AP, Dress Code

District Policy ACEA-AP, Bullying

District Policy AAC-AP, Discrimination & Harassment

District Policy FCC-AP, Physical Crisis Intervention

District Policy FFK-AP, Suspension & Expulsion

District Policy FFD-AP, Weapons

West Fargo Public Schools employs 20 nurses for its 23 schools, and assigns those nurses based on the medical needs of the learners at each site. If a nurse is unavailable due to scheduling, each building has a staff member designated as the backup. Therefore, in many instances where “nurse” is used within district protocols, another designated staff member may be working with a learner and their parents/guardians in the absence of a nurse.

Our nurses are responsible for handling allergies, chronic health conditions, immunizations, illnesses, and medications. Per the ND Board of Nursing, nurses are not authorized to diagnose medical conditions.

When learners become sick at school, they are taken to the nurse's office, and parents/guardians will be notified to pick up their child if deemed necessary. West Fargo Public Schools follows the Childcare and School Infectious Disease Exclusion Guidance from the ND Department of Health, with two exceptions:

• Fever Threshold: West Fargo Public Schools will exclude learners with a temperature of 100.4 or greater.
• Head Lice: West Fargo Public Schools has a no nits practice. Learners with nits or head lice will be removed from other children. The child's parent/guardian will be required to remove the child from school immediately and will be given written information on the proper treatment of head lice. Learners will be readmitted to school only if there are not nits and the school nurse has judged the treatment effective. Routine classroom screening will not be done, and notification letters will only be sent as appropriate. 

District Policy IB-AP, Food Service

District Policy ABCC-AP, School Nutrition

Requirements for Immunizations

District Policy ACBD-AP, Medication Administration

District Policy FFA-AP, Alcohol & Other Drug Use

District Policy ACBC-AP, Animals in School

District Policy FCAD-AP, Learner Accidents

District Policy IE-AP, Transportation

Additional information on bus zones, routes, and stops

District Regulation ACDA-AR, Responsible Use

District Policy ACDA-AP, Use of the District's Network

District Policy ACDB-AP, Video Surveillance

Additional tech support