AND FURTHER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN the Greater Amsterdam School District is issuing a public notice informing parents/guardians or eligible students of their right to refuse the release of student directory information by the District. “Directory Information” includes but is not limited to, student’s name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards and dates of attendance. Parents/guardians and eligible students not wishing to have their directory information released are advised to contact the school that your child attends and to request that the school not disclose directory information about them. (GASD Policy #7242 Student Directory Information)

Greater Amsterdam School District
40 Saratoga Ave.
Amsterdam, NY 12010
Phone: 518-843-3180
Fax (518) 842-0012

• William H. Barkley Microsociety Magnet School

  • Nancy Rad

  • 66 Destefano Street, Amsterdam, NY 12010 

  • Phone: 518-843-3180 x3000

  • Fax: 518-843-6183

• Marie Curie Institute for Engineering and Communication

  • Principal: Meaghan Butterfield

  • 9 Brice Street, Amsterdam, NY 12010

  • Phone: 518-843-3180 x6000

  • Fax: 518-843-6290

• RJ McNulty Academy for International Studies and Literacy Magnet School 

  • Principal: Tina O'Brien

  • 60 Brandt Place, Amsterdam, NY 12010

  • Phone: 518-843-3180 x4000

  • Fax: 518-843-5475

• William B. Tecler Arts in Education Magnet School 

  • Principal: John Miller

  • 210 Northern Boulevard, Amsterdam, NY 12010

  • Phone: 518-843-3180 x5001

  • Fax: 518-843-6184

School Hours

Prekindergarten to Grade 5: 8:40 a.m. to 3:10 p.m.

Half Day Dismissal Time

Dismissal at 11:40 a.m.

The school day at the elementary schools begins at 8:40 a.m. Students should not be dropped off prior to the 8:30 a.m. supervised arrival time. Only bus students will be allowed through the front door prior to 8:30 a.m. For building security, school doors will be locked at 8:40 a.m. Any child arriving after 8:40 a.m. will need to be signed in at the Main Office by a parent or guardian. When there is a delay in the start of the school day, NO BREAKFAST will be served.

Traffic Policy

Busers will be dismissed in the order the buses arrive. This process usually begins at 3:00 p.m. and ends by 3:30 p.m.

Student Release Designation Card

On file in the Main Office is a Student Release Designation Card. The information contained on this card is extremely important. Every student must have one on file. The card authorizes someone other than yourself to pick up your child during normal school hours. If you need to add or delete a person’s name or would like to see who is on your child’s card, please stop by the Main Office.

If at any time during the course of the school year your address, home number, or work numbers changes please notify the office at once. Should your child become ill, injured or we need to speak you regarding your child we need to have accurate up-to-date information available.

Important Numbers

• To report an absence:

  • Curie: 518-843-2871

  • McNulty: 518-843-4773

  • Tecler: 518-843-4805

  • Barkley: 518-843-6180

• Transportation (GASD): 518-843-3186

• Transportation (Brown’s): 518-842-0092

• Reminder: If your phone number, address, or emergency information changes, PLEASE notify us.

According to New York State Regulations, we are required to monitor student attendance and to report these results to the District and to the State. At the beginning of the school year, all families are given a copy of this extensive policy, which we are required to file with the State. Parents are responsible for following this written policy.

Please remember that any absence that is not due to illness or a reasonable need to be out of school is considered an unexcused absence. Homework and issued work shall be provided only for excused absences. Also, please remember to send in a written excuse when your child returns to school after being absent. We are required to follow up on excessive absences for all children. Excessive absences may result in the student needing to stay after school to make up work.

Attendance is important for academic success. When your child is going to be absent, please call school between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Parents who forget to call will be contacted by school personnel to determine the reason for a student’s absence. Written excuses must be sent to school when a student returns.

All students are expected to give proper attention to personal cleanliness and to dress appropriately for school and school functions. Students and their parents have the primary responsibility for acceptable student dress and appearance. Teachers and all other district personnel should exemplify and reinforce acceptable student dress.

• A student’s dress, grooming, and appearance, including hair style/color, jewelry, make-up, and nails, shall:

• Be safe, appropriate and not disrupt or interfere with the educational process.

• Recognize that extremely brief garments such as tube tops, net tops; halter-tops, spaghetti straps, plunging necklines (front and/or back), and see-through garments are not appropriate. “Lasagna” straps (width of three fingers) are okay.

• Ensure that underwear is completely covered with other clothing.

• Include proper footwear at all times. Footwear that is a safety hazard will not be allowed. Example: flip flops/high heels.

• No wearing of head covering is permitted in the school building except for religious or medical reasons. Hair or cosmetics used to alter hair; face or body that disrupts the education process is not allowed.

• Not include any items that are vulgar, obscene, libelous, or denigrate others on account of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation or disability.

• Not promote and/or endorse the use of alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs and/or encourage other illegal or violent activities.

• The length of a skirt/dress/shorts must extend past the fingertips when the student’s hand is fully extended down the side of the student’s leg.

• Students who violate the student dress code shall be required to modify their appearance by covering or removing the offending item, and if necessary or practical, replacing it with an acceptable item. Any student who refuses to do so may be subject to discipline, up to an including in-school suspension for the day.

Bullying

The Greater Amsterdam School District will not tolerate any form of bullying. Bullying is defined as a repeated and systematic harassment or attack on others. This includes aggressive and repeated hitting, kicking, name-calling, insults, intimidation, and teasing. Behavioral consequences will be applied as outlined in the Code of Conduct.

Student Rights

Every student in the Greater Amsterdam School District has the right to come to school to learn, to work, and to play in a safe and healthy environment. Guidelines are set up to ensure that each student’s rights and the school environment are protected.

Students may have other rights that include: riding assigned buses; eating in the cafeteria; playing with others on the playground, and attending school assemblies and special events. However, with these rights come responsibilities. It is expected that students will follow the rules and responsibilities listed in this guide.

• It is the student’s right: To attend school in the district in which one’s parent or legal guardian resides.

  • It is the student’s responsibility: To attend school daily, regularly and on time, perform assignments, and strive to do the highest quality work possible and be granted the opportunity to receive a good education.

• It is the student’s right: To expect that school will be a safe, orderly and purposeful place for all students to gain an education and to be treated fairly.

  • It is the student’s responsibility: To be aware of all rules and expectations regulating student’s behavior and conduct oneself in accordance with these guidelines.

• It is the student’s right: To be respected as an individual.

  • It is the student’s responsibility: To respect one another and to treat others in the manner that one would want to be treated.

• It is the student’s right: To express one’s opinions verbally or in writing.

  • It is the student’s responsibility: To express opinions and ideas in a respectful manner so as not to offend, slander, or restrict, the rights and privileges of others.

• It is the student’s right: To dress in such a way as to express one’s personality.

  • It is the student’s responsibility:  To dress appropriately in accordance with the dress code, so as not to endanger physical health, safety, limit participation in school activities or be unduly distracting.

• It is the student’s right: To be afforded equal and appropriate educational opportunities.

  • It is the student’s responsibility:  To be aware of available educational programs in order to use and develop one’s capabilities to their maximum.

• It is the student’s right: To take part in all school activities on an equal basis regardless of race, color creed, religion, religious practice, sex, sexual orientation, gender, national origin, ethnic group, political affiliation, age, marital status, or disability.

  • It is the student’s responsibility: To work to the best of one’s ability in all academic and extracurricular activities, as well as being fair and supportive of others.

• It is the student’s right: To have access to relevant and objective information concerning drug and alcohol abuse, as well as access to individuals or agencies capable of providing direct assistance to students with serious personal problems.

  • It is the student’s responsibility: To be aware of the information and services available and to seek assistance in dealing with personal problems, when appropriate.

• It is the student’s right: To be protected from intimidation, harassment, or discrimination based on actual or perceived race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, or religious practice, sex, gender/gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability, by employees or students on school property or at a school-sponsored event, function or activity.

  • It is the student’s responsibility: To respect one another and treat others fairly in accordance with the District Code of Conduct and the provisions of the Dignity Act. To conduct themselves in a manner that fosters an environment that is free from intimidation, harassment, or discrimination. To report and encourage others, to report any incidents of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

In accordance with the Dignity for All Students Act, School District policy and practice must ensure that no student is subject to discrimination or harassment, based on a person’s actual or perceived race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation, gender/gender identity or sex by school employees or students on school property, on a school bus, or at a school function.

• School Property means in or within any building, structure, athletic playing field, playground, parking lot, or land contained within the real property boundary line of a public elementary or secondary school; or in or on a school bus (Education Law Section 11[1]).

• School Bus means every motor vehicle owned and operated for the transportation of pupils, children of pupils, teachers and other persons acting in a supervisory capacity, to or from school or school activities, or, privately owned and operated for compensation for the transportation of pupils, children of pupils, teachers and other persons acting in a supervisory capacity to or from school or school activities (Education Law Section 11[1] and Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 142).

• School Function means a school sponsored extracurricular event or activity (Education Law Section 11[2]).

• Disability means (a) a physical, mental or medical impairment resulting from anatomical, physiological, genetic or neurological conditions which prevents the exercise of a normal bodily function or is demonstrable by medically accepted clinical or laboratory diagnostic techniques or (b) a record of such an impairment or (c) a condition regarded by others as such an impairment, provided, however, that in all provisions of this article dealing with employment, the term must be limited to disabilities which, upon the provision of reasonable accommodations, do not prevent the complainant from performing in a reasonable manner the activities involved in the job or occupation sought or held (Education Law Section 11[4] and Executive Law Section 292[21]).

• Employee means any person receiving compensation from a school district or employee of a contracted service provider or worker placed within the school under a public assistance employment program, pursuant to title nine B of article five of the Social Services Law, and consistent with the provisions of such title for the provision of services to such district, its students or employees, directly or through contract, whereby such services performed by such person involve direct student contact (Education Law Section s11[4] and 1125[3]).

• Sexual Orientation means actual or perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality (Education Law Section 11[5]).

• Gender means actual or perceived sex and includes a person’s gender identity or expression (Education Law Section 11[6]).

• Harassment means the creation of a hostile environment by conduct or by verbal threats, intimidation or abuse that has or would have the effect of unreasonably and substantially interfering with a student’s educational performance, opportunities or benefits, or mental, emotional or physical wellbeing; or conduct, verbal threats, intimidation or abuse that reasonably causes or would reasonably be expected to cause a student to fear for his or her physical safety; such conduct, verbal threats, intimidation or abuse includes but is not limited to conduct, verbal threats, intimidation or abuse based on a person’s actual or perceived race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation, gender or sex (Education Law Section 11[7]).

• Race means any traits which are historically associated with race, including but not limited to hair texture and protective hairstyles (Education Law Section 11[9]). For purposes of enumeration the U.S. Census Bureau uses terms such as: “White/Caucasian”, “Black/African American/African-descent, “Asian”, “Bi-racial”, “Hispanics/Latinos” etc. to describe and classify the inhabitants of the United States.

• Protective Hairstyles shall include but is not limited to, hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists (Education Law §11[10]).

• Color means the term refers to the apparent pigmentation of the skin, especially as an indication or possible indication of race.

• Weight means aside from the obvious meaning in the physical sciences, the word is used in reference to a person’s “size”.

• National Origin means a person’s country of birth or ancestor’s country of birth.

• Ethnic Group means a group of people who identify with each other through a common heritage including language, culture, and often a shared or common religion and or ideology that stresses ancestry.

• Religion means specific fundamental beliefs and practices generally agreed to by large numbers of the group or a body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices.

• Religious Practice means a term including practices and observances such as attending worship services, wearing religious garb or symbols, praying at prescribed times, displaying religious objects, adhering to certain dietary rules, refraining from certain activities, proselytizing, etc.

• Sex means the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women. (MALE and FEMALE denote “sex”.)

• Gender means the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women. (MASCULINE and FEMININE denote “gender”.)

• Sexual orientation means the sex to which a person is sexually attracted. Someone attracted primarily or exclusively to members of the opposite sex is characterized as straight or heterosexual. Someone attracted primarily or exclusively to members of the same sex is characterized as homosexual. A person with a strong or viable attraction to both genders is characterized as bisexual or pansexual.

• Transgender means an adjective describing a person whose gender identity does not correspond to their assigned sex at birth.

• Disability means any restriction or lack (due to any impairment) of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered typical.

The use of camera phones, cameras, recorders, or other electronic devices, by students, that violates the privacy rights of students and/or school staff or are used to commit academic fraud will result in appropriate consequences. Such conduct may be subject to consequences, whether the action occurs on or off school grounds.

Behavior Expectations shall apply to all students at all times, including:

• in school buildings

• on school grounds

• on all school vehicles

• at all school, school related, or Board-sponsored activities, including, but not limited to school field trips and school sporting events

As with any incident of student behavior, school administrators must exercise informed judgment as to whether a student’s actions constitute an infraction of policy. Principals, teachers and staff may use varying levels of disciplinary consequences according to the level of misconduct and interpretation of related district policy.

Consequences should have the following characteristics:

• Relevant = Meaningful to the student

• Reliably Enforced = Provided in a consistent way

• Related = Have direct connection to the misconduct

• Respectful = Helpful, but not a “put down” to the student

Consequences will be determined by the building principal using the guideline of “developmentally appropriate.”

In order to maintain a safe and healthy environment, guidelines have been established for everyone’s benefit. It is hoped that each student at Marie Curie will remember the rules and keep them. Breaking of the rules will result in consequences. A school-wide behavior referral system has been established in order to enforce the school rules outlined in the student guide.

• Proper behavior is discussed with the students at the beginning of school in September.

• A Code of Conduct is sent home for parents and students to read together. Parents are asked to sign the form on the last page of the Code of Conduct. Signatures indicate that the parents and students are aware of the appropriate behavior. The signed form should be returned to the classroom teacher as soon as possible.

• All referrals will be sent home for a parent signature, so that parents are aware of the referral. After each referral, there will be a phone call discussion between the principal and the parent.

• Depending on the seriousness of the situation and number of referrals, there will be a meeting with the child, parent, principal, and all appropriate staff members.

• There may be occasions when children will lose privileges immediately. If the situation is severe, a school suspension will be involved as outlined in the school board policy.