Privacy Policy

Children First Academy (CFA) strongly protects the privacy rights of its students and only collects personal data that families choose to supply to the school.  CFA abides by the regulations set forth in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act  Under this act, the following individuals have access to student records: (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99).

• School officials with legitimate educational interest
• Other schools to or from which a student is transferring
• Specified officials for auditing or evaluation purposes
• Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student
• Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school
• Accrediting organizations
• Individuals with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena
• State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law
• Military recruiters, post-secondary educational institutions, and prospective employers as specified.

Children First Academy staff is not authorized to disclose student information to any other individuals or institutions without written permission from the student’s parent or legal guardian or the student him/herself, if over 18.

Children First Academy also upholds the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 98), which governs the administration to students of a survey, analysis, or evaluation that concerns one or more of eight protected areas. This amendment requires parental notification and/or written consent in advance of the administration of such surveys.

Code of Conduct

To maintain a safe and positive learning environment, Children First Academy  requires that student conduct meet the three expectations listed below.  Students should read this information carefully because students will be held accountable for the standards outlined.

Expectation #1:  Students will respect and obey the law.

Any illegal activity occurring while participating in a school activity, when with other students, or involving school property will be met with zero tolerance and may result in police involvement and immediate suspension or expulsion.  These activities include but are not limited to: possession or use of tobacco or alcohol; activities related in any way to the purchase, use, or possession of drugs; gang-related activities; possession of weapons; or abuse.  Theft, vandalism, or other mistreatments of property belonging to others (including the school) will result in consequences ranging from an informal conference to mandatory withdrawal, and may include restitution of stolen or damaged items or police involvement.

Expectation #2:  Students will respect the ideas, beliefs, cultures, and individual differences of others.

Students engaging in verbal or written abuse, intimidation, harassment, discrimination, disrespect of authority, fighting, profanity, obscene behavior, extortion, gang-related activities, or other such behaviors will receive consequences ranging from an informal conference to mandatory withdrawal based on student attitude, severity, and prior history.

Expectation #3: Students will respect the privilege of education and behave with academic integrity.

Plagiarism, dishonesty, cheating, open disrespect of school staff, insubordination, public displays of affection (when on campus and/or participating with others in school activities), or any form of academic misconduct will result in consequences ranging from an informal conference to mandatory withdrawal based on student attitude, severity, and prior history.

Homeless Policy

Admission of Homeless Students

In compliance with the Arizona State Laws and Arizona Administrative Code and the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act of 2001, Edkey, Inc. - Children First Academy of Tempe recognizes a homeless child or unaccompanied youth as an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. Children First Academy of Tempe must immediately enroll any homeless student, regardless of whether the student lives with the homeless parents or has been temporarily placed elsewhere.  Homeless children and youth will not be stigmatized or segregated on the basis of their status of homelessness.  Enrollment may not be denied or delayed due to the lack of any document normally required for enrollment, including;

• Proof of residency

• Transcripts/school records

• Immunization or immunization/health/medical records

• Proof of guardianship

• Birth certificate

Children First Academy of Tempe will contact the student’s previous school to obtain school records.  Initial placement of students whose records are not immediately available can be made based on the student’s age and information gathered from the student, parent, and previous schools. If the student needs to obtain immunizations or medical records, Children First Academy of Tempe shall refer the parent or guardian of the student to the liaison for homeless children and unaccompanied youth, who shall assist in obtaining necessary immunizations or medical records.

Children First Academy of Tempe will provide transportation to and from the “school of origin”.

Liaison

Children First Academy of Tempe’s Principal will designate an appropriate staff person as liaison for homeless students who will carry out duties as assigned.  Among those duties will be the responsibility to coordinate activities and programs in the best interest of the homeless students which may include but not be limited to keeping a homeless student in the school of origin (to the extent feasible) except when doing so is contrary to the wishes of the student’s parents or guardian or the unaccompanied youth (a youth not in the custody of a parent or guardian).

In the case of an admission dispute:

• The student shall be immediately admitted to the Children First Academy of Tempe pending resolution of the dispute.

• The parent or guardian of the student shall be provided with a written explanation of the Children First Academy of Tempe's decision regarding school selection or enrollment, including the rights of the parent, guardian, or student to appeal the decision.

• The student, parent, or guardian shall be referred to the liaison for homeless students, who shall carry out the dispute resolution process in accordance with the procedure found in the Arizona State Plan

• In the case of an unaccompanied youth, the liaison for homeless students shall ensure that the student is immediately enrolled in school pending resolution of the dispute.

• Parents may appeal directly to the State Department of Education if in disagreement with school’s ruling.

Homeless students are automatically eligible for Title I, Part A services.

Notices:

Homeless Notice in English

Homeless Notice in Espanol

Computer Usage and Internet Policy

Sequoia Schools (designated as School) has established a policy effective November 17, 2009 with regard to access of the Internet and the School’s private Intranet.

Certain employees may be provided with access to the Internet to assist them in performing their jobs. The Internet can be a valuable source of information and research. Use of the Internet, however, must be tempered with common sense and good judgment. The School’s Intranet is a private information system of the School and its intended use is strictly for business purposes.

Any individuals using either system expressly consent to monitoring of their activities. Anyone using either system in violation of the School’s Internet usage policy may be subject to disciplinary action, including possible discharge. Furthermore, employees could be exposed to civil and criminal liability. The School reserves the right to amend or modify this policy at any time as may be required.

1. The School is not responsible for material viewed or downloaded by users from the Internet. The Internet is a worldwide network of computers that contains millions of pages of information. Users are cautioned that many of these pages include offensive, sexually explicit, and inappropriate material. Even innocuous search requests may lead to sites with highly offensive content.

2. Employees must not deliberately perform acts unrelated to legitimate business interests that waste computer resources. These acts include, but are not limited to, sending mass mailings or chain letters, spending excessive amounts of time on the Internet unrelated to business, playing games, engaging in online chat groups, listening to streaming audio (radio, music, etc.) or streaming video (News casts, TV, Movie Trailers, etc.),or otherwise creating unnecessary network traffic. Because audio, video and picture files require significant storage space, files of this, or any other sort, shall not be downloaded unless they are business-related.

3. The computers and computer accounts provided to employees are to assist them in the performance of their jobs. Employees should not have an expectation of privacy or ownership in anything they create, store, send, or receive on the computer system. The computer system belongs to the School, and may only be used for business purposes. The School has the right, but not the duty, to monitor any and all of the aspects of its computer system, including, but not limited to: monitoring sites visited by employees on the Internet, email traffic, any document created or stored on the computer system, and installed software applications.

4. The School may use software to identify inappropriate Internet sites, including but not limited to sexually explicit sites. Such sites may be blocked from access by the School’s network. In the event you nonetheless encounter inappropriate material while browsing on the Internet, immediately disconnect from the site, regardless of whether the site is subject to the School’s blocking software.

5. Material that is unlawful (including, but not limited to, illegal copies of software, music files, movie files or malware {malicious software}, such as computer virus, Trojan horse, spyware, keyloggers, etc.), harassing, embarrassing, sexually explicit, profane, obscene, intimidating, defamatory, or otherwise offensive (including offensive material concerning sex, race, color national origin, religion, age, disability, or other characteristic protected by law), or in violation of the School’s equal employment opportunity policy and its policies against sexual or other harassment may not be loaded, downloaded from the Internet, displayed or stored on the School’s computers. Employees encountering or receiving this kind of material should immediately report the incident to Administration. The School’s equal employment opportunity policy and its policies against sexual or other harassment apply fully to the use of the Internet and any violation of those policies is grounds for discipline up to and including discharge.

6. Employees may not illegally copy material protected under copyright law or make that material available to others for copying. You are responsible for complying with copyright law and applicable licenses that may apply to software, music files (.mp3, .wma, .rm, .ra, etc.), movie files (ripped copies of movies/videos to .avi, .mpg, .wmv, .mov, etc.), graphics, documents, messages and other material you wish to download or copy. You may not agree to a license or download any material for which a registration fee is charged without first obtaining the express written permission of the School.

7. To ensure security and to avoid the spread of viruses, employees connecting to our network from a computer not supplied by the School, must have up-to-date virus protection, a secure VPN connection, and use a hardware-based router or software firewall. The School will provide, upon request, VPN (Virtual Private Network) client software for installation on your personal computer. However, all other security software is the responsibility of the end user.

8. Files obtained from sources outside the School, including disks brought from home; files downloaded from the Internet, bulletin boards, or other online services; files attached to e-mail and files provided by clients or vendors may contain dangerous computer viruses that may damage the School’s computer network. If you suspect that a virus has been introduced into the School’s network, notify the IS Dept. immediately.

9. Information posted on the School’s Intranet is property of the School. Any copying, or unauthorized use, of such information is strictly prohibited without expressed written consent of the School.

10. All employees must acknowledge that they have read and understood the above computer and internet usage policy.