Student Handbook

Please report all absences to the Main Office by 8:30 am to guarantee your student's attendance is accurate for the day. 

Tardy Policy

Students are expected to be in class on time. Consequences may be given out by administration for students who are frequently late to class. Teachers reserve the right to not issue passes during the first and last 10 minutes of class.

Truancy Policy

Attendance is a vital part of your student’s education per Board Policy 1461. The policy states “In compliance with requirements of the Kansas Compulsory School Attendance Law, reports shall be filled with appropriate authorities when a child is not enrolled in a public school or non-public school or when a child is enrolled in school and is inexcusably absent-TRUANT.”  Your child is considered inexcusably absent if they miss a substantial part of a school day for:

• 3 consecutive school days
• 5 days in a semester
• 7 school days in a school year

Your child’s attendance will be reported as required by the Kansas Compulsory School Attendance Law. In addition, a doctor’s note will be required to excuse students with more than 12 excused illness days or those absences will be marked unexcused.

We want your student to be at school every day.  Our school goal is 90% attendance for all students.  Meeting this goal or surpassing it will allow your student to participate in award activities each nine weeks.

Increased Attendance = Increased Knowledge for your student

The purpose of the USD 259 Student Dress Code Procedure is to maintain a positive school climate, uphold standards of respect and safety, and support effective teaching and learning.

Review Wichita Public Schools P1474-A Non-Standard Dress Codes | BOE Policy Details. 

Students must live 2.5 miles or more from their assigned school to qualify for transportation to that school.

For questions about WPS transportation and busing, call 316-973-2190.

The district does offer the FirstView app that helps familiies track their student's school bus. Families will need a security code from the school office to use the app.

Specific board approved guidelines are followed by the nurse for healthy and medication issues. Students should stay home from school if they are running fevers over 100.3, have an unidentified rash, a contagious illness, serious injury and/or vomiting excessively. Student should be fever free 24 hours (without the use of fever reducing medication) before returning to school. Any suspicious possible communicable disease such as rashes, pinkeye, etc. must be either cleared up or have a note from the doctor saying it is not contagious before returning. The nurse will use these guidelines when deciding to send a student home for the day. If a student bypasses the nurse and calls home on their own, the absence will not be excused.

Prescription and over the counter medications must always have documentation signed by both guardians and a doctor before bringing it to the nurse to administer during the school day. Medication should also be brought in a labeled prescription bottle or original container with child’s name and dosage amount. The nurse can fax forms to the doctor if they are signed by the parent.

Morning Hours

The building will be open for students who are not eating breakfast at 7:50 AM. Students will not be permitted inside to use the restroom, so they will need to take care of their needs before arriving at school.

Extreme Weather

During extreme cold and/or rainy conditions, students will be permitted inside the building at a designated location.

Breakfast Access

Students eating breakfast may enter the cafeteria at 7:30 AM on the South side of the building at Door 14.

The office telephone is a business line and should not be used by students except with permission from a staff member. Unauthorized use of a classroom phone by a students results in consequences. We will deliver messages to students in classrooms by calling the main office. In order to minimize disruptions to the classrooms, phone calls will not be forwarded.

Guardians are encouraged to use ParentVUE to email student’s teachers.

The safety of students, staff and parents is the Wichita Public Schools' greatest priority during the threat of dangerous conditions.

Emergency plans are in place should tornadoes, lightning, hail, snow or other dangerous circumstances present a safety concern. 

If schools are to be closed or activities cancelled or rescheduled due to weather conditions, the information will be posted on the Wichita Public Schools' website main page and displayed on all school websites.

It is the responsibility of the student to make up assignments. Teachers shall make reasonable efforts to encourage and assist the student to make up missed assignments, shall give credit for such work, and shall allow the students reasonable period of time to complete such missed assignments.

The purpose of homework is to provide opportunities for students to practice, review, and prepare for demonstrations of learning in class (such as tests, projects, etc.). Feedback will be provided by teachers in a time frame that allows the student to understand how they are progression on the assessed standard.

We provide breakfast for all students free of charge.

Lunch fees can depend on family income. Complete the Free and Reduced Meal Application annually to qualify for free lunch and adjustments to school fees. 

The district uses an app called School Cafe to allow families to see menus.

The district uses LINQ Connect to pay for meals.

For special dietary restrictions, please contact the school nurse. 

No food or drinks (except water) are allowed in the classroom or hallways.

Water must be in a clear waterbottle only.

Breakfast and Lunch served in the cafeteria must stay in the cafeteria area.

If food is allowed in classrooms by staff member’s discretion, it must stay in that classroom.

Energy drinks are not allowed.

Door Dash or foor delivery is nt allowed for students.

Lockers are assigned by administration. Locker combinations are kept secure. Students should not give their combination to anyone else nor share their locker with anyone else! If you allow another student to use your locker, you will be held responsible for all content in your assigned locker. The locker is rented to students each year and should be returned clean and in good conditions. Searches may be conducted per the Board of Education Policy 1469.

Students may only visit their locker before/after school and before/after lunch. They may NOT visit them during regular passing periods.

Field trips with our city and nearby sites of interest are scheduled by classroom teachers throughout the school year. These trips are designed to supplement different aspects of the classroom curriculum and intoduce students to resources within the community. Parents will be notified of the planned trip at least five days in advance and must sign a trip waiver for students to attend. If a student does not have a signed permission slip to attend the trip, they will not go. We will not accept verbal permission over the phone.

If there is a fee for the field trip, the money needs to be submitted at least three days prior to the scheduled trip. All field trips require the use of school buses. Parents are not able to transport students on field trips.

If a parent serves as a chaperone, they will need to complete the school district's volunteer process prior to the field trip

School board policy (BOE P1464) prohibits possession and/or use of tobacco or tobacco paraphernalia are not permitted in school buildings or on school campuses. The prohibition against smoking and the use of tobacco should be supported by programs emphasizing the hazards of smoking and tobacco use.

School board policy (BOE P1465) states that any student who intends to or is selling, manufacturing, or trafficking alcoholic beverages, drugs, drug paraphernalia, inhalants, and/or other controlled or uncontrolled substances, such as, but not limited to, over the counter medications or unauthorized prescription drugs, or any student who possesses such substances in an amount that exceeds the reasonable personal need of the average user of the substance possessed, at school, on school property, or at a school supervised activity shall be recommended for appropriate disciplinary action up to and including an expulsion from the Wichita Public Schools for 186 school days.  Any student who possesses, uses, or appears to be affected by or whose conduct appears to be altered by alcoholic beverages, drugs (except as medically prescribed), and/or other controlled substances, such as, but not limited to, unauthorized prescription drugs, or possesses drug paraphernalia at school, on school property, or at a school supervised activity will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action.   

The definition of bullying is an intentional action to hurt a student or staff member. Bullying is a choice. It is a hurtful action that happens repeatedly.

Bullying can be:

• Physical: harm to someone’s body or property such as hitting, kicking, pushing, or stealing.
• Verbal: harm to someone’s self-esteem or feelings of safety such as teasing, name calling, insulting, or threatening.
• Social: harm to someone’s group acceptance such as spreading lies or gossip about someone, making someone do something do not want to do, making mean face, or gesture towards others.
• Sexual: singling out a person because of gender and demonstrating unwanted sexual behavior such as sexual comments, abusive comments or unwanted physical contact.
• Racial: rejection or isolation of a person because of race or ethnicity such as racial slurs or taunts, name calling, making fun of customs/skin color/accent/food choices.
• Cyber-based: intentionally hurting, humiliating, embarrassing, or threatening someone using an electronic device.

Bullying of any kind will not be tolerated at Hamilton!

If someone is bullying you you can try to ignore them, tell them to stop, walk away, find friends to be with, tell a trusted adult, report it to the school office or other school staff, or report it anonymously to Speak Up.

Personal Electronic Devices (PED), such as cell phones, are NOT allowed during the school day (7:50AM - 3:10PM) per BOE policy 1464. This includes during passing periods, lunch, and recess. Any student caught violating this policy will have their PED confiscated. Repeat offenses will result in the item being confiscated and delivered to the office. On the first offense, students may get their electronic device back at the end of the day. For subsequent offenses, a guardian must come to the school during regular hours to retrieve the device.

The Wichita Public Schools require a Student Access Contract, signed at enrollment, for students to use computer. Regardless of any “technology protection measure” implemented by the District required by the Children’s Internet Protection Act, students are responsible for good behavior on computers, networks, the internet, or other online service. General school rules for behavior and communication apply. Network storage areas will be treated like school lockers. Network administrators, teachers, and other appropriate district staff may review student files and communication for time to time t prevent misuse and to ensure students are using the system responsibly and in compliance with laws and district policies. Communications on the network are often public in nature; students should not expect that files stored on the district server will be private. Access is a privilege, not a right, and inappropriate use will result in, among other disciplinary measures, the cancellation of those privileges.

Only 7th and 8th grade students may participate in competitive interscholastic sports. Boys and girls may participate in Cross Country (fall), Basketball (Winter), and Track (Spring). Volleyball (fall) is a a girls only sport in Kansas. Information about dates and times will be announced closer to the season. Participants must meet the following criteria:

• All students must obtain a physical signed by parents and physician and upload it to rankone.com prior to the first day of tryouts/practice.
• Detention, ISS, and OSS may result in removal from the team or loss of playing time. Consequences of that nature will be left to the discretion of the coach.
• Students must be passing five classes (Advocacy does not count towards the five).
• Students must attend the entire school day to attend practice and games.

The gymnasium for home games will open at 3:10 PM, spectators will not be allowed in prior to that time. Students attending home games will:

• Report to the gymnasium entrance by 3:20 PM
• Cost to enter the game: Students - $3, Adults - $5, Children younger than 3 and seniors over 55 years old are free.
• Students are expected to remain in dress code throughout the game.
• Only students are allowed to sit in the Student Section, adults will be asked to move. Students may sit with a guardian in the balcony.
• Once the games starts, students will only be allowed to leave the gym during halftime, between games, or with permission from a supervisor.
• If any spectators need help they should notify a supervisor.
• Students cannot use their electronic devices (such as a phone) in the gym.
• Students must leave the school grounds or be picked up by an adult no later than 15 minutes after the game ends. Students who are not picked up within 15 minutes of the game ending will not be allowed to attend future games without a parent or guardian.

The final school bell rings at 3:10 PM and all students need to be out of the building or in their supervised activity by 3:20 PM. Once a student has left the building, they will not be allowed to re-enter the building for any reason. All students must be off campus by 3:30 PM. Students must arrange for a ride prior to the school day ending as the office phones will only be used in emergency situations.