Policies and Procedures for Safety, Conduct and Discipline

Safe Environments

Holy Spirit Family Faith Formation is committed to ensuring respect for the

human dignity of all students, parents, volunteers and staff members. Family

Faith Formation is possible only in an environment that embodies that respect.

Accordingly, Holy Spirit parish participates in the VIRTUS - Protecting God’s

Children program, which helps churches and religious organizations refine their

roles as safe havens for children and empowers them with new tools to help

them protect children. The program is comprehensive and multidimensional –

incorporating the best-proven standards and practices to prevent child abuse and make the parish safe for all people - especially children.

All adult volunteers (18 years or older) in the Family Faith Formation Program

must be VIRTUS certified. They also must have passed a background check, in

compliance with the guidelines of the Diocese of Bridgeport’s Safe Environments

Program and Guidelines. Information about the VIRTUS program can be found at

www.virtus.org

Arrival and Dismissal

The safety and security of all students, parents and designated adults is our first priority.

To this end, we are implementing the following mandatory arrival and dismissal

procedures. We anticipate your cooperation in following them and ask that you do

not request personal exceptions from catechists. We are sorry for any inconvenience, but

our paramount goal is to assure that all students and their families come and go in a

safe, orderly manner

All families will arrive at Holy Spirit NO LATER than 9:00 AM

• Children in grades Pre-K through 4 will go to Holy Family Hall for their class
• Children in grades 5 and up, and parents will be seated in the church for the adult class

At 9:25 the children will join the adults upstairs and all will attend mass together.

At all times, children must be under the supervision of a parent, legal guardian, or the adult designated in writing as set out below.

For Tuesday Evening Classes

• Drop-off

Parents may pull into the driveway immediately in front of the school

building to drop off their children. Students should exit the car only

from the passenger side and not in the traffic lane. Students must not

exit the car until the vehicle has reached the sidewalk in front of the

school. Alternatively, parents may park their cars in the main parking

lot and walk with their children to the drop off point in front of the school building.

The school building will be open for drop offs beginning at 6:20PM

• Pick Up

We know parents prefer curbside pick up so we will have pick up at the same location as drop off. It will be dark for much of the school term at pick up time. Therefore strict adherence to the guidelines are required to ensure everyone's safety. No child is to be released to an adult other than a parent without previously arranging to do so with the Director. Therefore the adult supervising dismissal must be able to see who is driving the car. Which means students will not be permitted to enter a car if it is too far away to be seen.

Cars are to pull up SINGLE FILE ONLY to the curb. And only the first car in line will be permitted to take their child(ren) and pull out.

Do not park and expect your child to walk to your car in the lot.  Children will only be dismissed to the first car in line.

General Reminders for Children's Safety

• Parents or the designated responsible adults must accompany their children of any age at all times in the parking lot. No minors are ever permitted to traverse the parking lot unaccompanied by an adult.
• Students may not be picked up at any location off church property.
• Out of courtesy and consideration for the catechists, as well as the safety and well being of your children, please make every effort to drop children off and pick them up at the scheduled times:
• If for any reason you must drop your children off late or pick them up early, please park in the lot and accompany your children into or out of the building.
• If you will be unavoidably late picking up your child and you know in advance that this will be the case, please inform the Director who will make arrangements for an adult to remain with your child. Beginning ten minutes after the expected dismissal time, for families that are late more than twice a semester, Holy Spirit may, in its discretion, charge a fee of $1 per child per minute until the children have been picked up by a parent or properly designated adult.

Building Access

Access to the building will be controlled only by Director, catechists and hall monitors. Parents and children are not to open any doors to allow a person to enter the building, unless requested to do so by the Director, a catechist or hall monitor.

Parents and children will enter and exit the building only through the main front

doors and never through any side doors, except in case of an emergency requiring

immediate exit from the building.

During arrival or dismissal, hall monitors will open the main front doors to facilitate entry or exit.

During times other than arrival or dismissal, hall monitors will watch the doors and allow a parent or designated adult in upon arrival. There is a doorbell to ring to let us know you have arrived. Please ring and wait for someone to open the door for you. Hall monitors may request names and picture identification to allow entry.

Classrooms, Hallways and Restrooms

Upon arrival, students shall report to their classrooms and remain in them for the

duration of class, unless a catechist escorts the entire class to another location on

campus. Students will not loiter in the hallways. Students should use the restroom,

as necessary, before entering class to avoid leaving during class. Parents will be

notified and will be expected to speak to their child if the child frequently requests to

use the bathroom in a manner that disrupts class.

Food and Drink

Students may not bring food or drink (besides water) at any time into the classrooms or school building. The school building is a nut-free environment. Students, who require food for medical reasons, as noted by their parents on the student’s Medical Release Form, may bring nut-free snacks.

Electronic Devices and Cell Phones

Electronic devices should not be brought to class. If a catechist or member of the Family Faith Formation Staff determines that a student has such an electronic device and is accessing it during class, the catechist or staff member may remove the device from the student for the duration of the class. The device will be returned after class is complete.

During class, cell phones must remain off or set to “silent” mode and put away. No

child may text or use the internet for personal browsing.

At their discretion, catechists may require students to place cell phones in a bin upon

entering the classroom, to be returned to the students at the end of class, or may

take a phone away from a particular student for the duration of a class as

necessary for class management or another appropriate reason.

Please be certain that all cell phones brought to class are marked, labeled or otherwise readily

identified as belonging to your child.

Prohibited Items

While at the Holy Spirit Campus, students may not possess, use or distribute any

items, materials or substances (referred to together as “Items”) that potentially

could cause serious physical or moral harm to themselves or to others, could cause significant damage to property, or that students are legally prohibited from possessing. This includes fireworks, weapons of any kind, alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, pornography, traditional or e-cigarettes, controlled substances, illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia, or medications prescribed to persons other than the student.

If a catechist or member of the Family Faith Formation Staff determines that a

student possesses any of these Items, the catechist or staff member may, in their discretion:

• Remove the Item from the student for the duration of the class. The Item will be returned after class is complete, only to the parent or designated adult; or
• If the Item poses an imminent risk of harm to anyone, remove the student from the classroom, and call the parent or designated adult or, if they cannot be reached the emergency contact listed on the medical form. The parent or adult who is contacted will be expected immediately to pick up the student and remove him or her from the campus. The student will not be allowed to return to the Family Faith Formation campus or class until the student and parents have met separately with the Director of Faith Formation to reach an agreed resolution of the matter. If warranted to maintain safety or security or to address an imminent risk, a catechist or staff member may immediately call local law enforcement for assistance.

Safety Procedures

The Holy Spirit Family Faith Formation Program follows all necessary Safety Procedures and Protocols. The catechists have been instructed of safety procedures in the event of a fire or lockdown, should there be a need to use them in an emergency.

Conduct and Discipline

At all times, volunteers, students, parents and families are expected to display

Christian attitudes of honesty, mutual respect, responsibility, consideration and love

for oneself, clergy, catechists, fellow students, and school building and parish property.

If a student’s behavior becomes a distraction for other children before, during, or after

class, parents will be notified by phone, in writing, or in person. We will work

together to reach a mutually agreed solution, up to and including requesting the

parent’s presence in the classroom as a one-on-one aide for your child. There is a

discipline policy in place and every catechist will be following the same procedures.

Students disrupting class may be removed from the classroom. Persistent disruptive

behavior will result in a child being removed from the Program for the remainder of

the year if a solution cannot be found.

In addition, students who engage in the following behavior on the Holy Spirit campus

will be subject to appropriate and immediate disciplinary action, which may include

public service, short- or long-term removal from the classroom, removal from the

Program for remainder of the year, or restitution:

• Using Inappropriate Language. Volunteers and students shall refrain from using vulgar or obscene language, language that taunts, bullies, or teases another person, or language that disparages persons based on gender, race or national origin, religious beliefs, or other personal characteristics.
• Fighting, physically assaulting another person or any inappropriate touching of another person.
• Stealing, damaging or destroying the property of another person, including students, parents or volunteers of the Family Faith Formation Program, school building, or the parish generally. Found items should be delivered to a catechist, volunteer, or Family Faith Formation staff member.

Grievance/Complaint

If a child experiences difficulty during class, please directly contact the Director as soon as the difficulty arises, either in person or in writing and we will work with you to achieve a mutually agreed solution. All conflict resolutions should focus on the healing Spirit of Christ.