Traut Core Knowledge School

Study Hall Policy

Approved on February 5, 1998

Sponsor: Art Dillon

Study Hall

The purpose of TCKS’ study hall is to provide a supervised place after school where our students

can complete their assignments and get additional help as needed from the study hall

tutor/monitor. It supports the pillar of “Student Responsibility for Learning” and allows our

students to be held accountable for their work while providing a way for them to be successful in

completing it.

Our student responsibility pillar states that our students are key partners in our goals of

educational excellence and fairness, and that they will obtain the desired success as they recognize

and accept their responsibility for their own learning. We emphasize that there is a cost for our

students to attend TCKS, and that is the requirement to behave, and to work, both in the

classroom during work times as well as at home in completing their homework assignments.

Students who are falling short in accepting this standard are candidates for mandatory assignment

to one or more study hall periods as needed.

The study hall is open from 3:05 – 4:00 p.m. Monday – Thursday when school is in session on

those days, and is monitored by an adult who serves as both tutor and monitor. When students

are assigned to study hall, they are to remain for the entire time, even if their missing assignments

are completed before study hall is over. The students will remain with the adult tutor/monitor

until released to their parents at the study hall door, at the curb outside school , or to the Boys

and Girls club if authorized by their parents.

The standard operating procedures for the study hall include:

1. Teachers may assign students to study hall with a one-day notice to parents, using a school

study hall pass. As students are assigned to study hall, teachers should also record their

names on the study hall monitor’s notebook to alert the monitor to watch for the students the

next day. As part of our partnership, parents and students may choose to use study hall as a

proactive means of insuring the students fulfill their responsibility for completing their

assignments. When this option is used, the parents, students, and teachers need to

communicate the time and expectations for study hall usage.

2. Students are expected to bring their notice of assignment to study hall as their “ticket” into

study hall, and are to bring their materials needed to complete the missing assignments. The

sending teacher can help by checking the student’s materials before sending him/her to study

hall. The study hall tutor/monitor will keep a supply of paper, pens/pencils, rulers, coloring

pencils or markers, erasers, and other commonly needed materials which can be “rented” by

the students with a deposit of one left shoe.

3. As the students enter the study hall, they will be checked in by name by the study hall

tutor/monitor, and assigned a work area. The study hall tutor/monitor will check with each

student for materials and to prioritize homework assignments after all of the students have

been checked in.

4. Since the study hall is intended to be a distraction-free work environment, students will work

quietly, and will be responsible for staying on task for the full study hall time. Students

assigned to study hall will remain in study hall for the full hour, and may read or work ahead

after completing their missing assignments.

5. Study hall is not intended to be used as a convenient arrangement for day care for students

who need to be supervised until their parents or carpool arrives – this is the purpose for after

school programs such as Base Camp or the Boys’ and Girls’ Club.

6. Study hall is less appropriate for students in K-2, and should normally only be used by

primary students if their teachers have assigned them to study hall.

Detention Policy

There are occasions when a detention, or keeping a student in during recess, is an appropriate

consequence for misbehavior. When this is the appropriate consequence, the teacher or individual

assigning the detention usually assumes the responsibility for supervising the student during that

recess. If the detention is coordinated with the lunchroom coordinator or playground supervisor,

it may be served in the lunchroom or helping out on the playground as appropriate.

The study hall is for students who are missing assignments, and is not to be used as a detention

for misbehavior.

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Study Hall Policy