The Oxford School District supports the philosophy that the instructional day is the vital part of formal education. Experience has shown that a high quality of work is virtually impossible with irregular attendance. Thus, students are expected to attend classes at all times when school is in session. All absences will be coded as excused or unexcused. Students must provide a note from the parent or guardian to assist the school in determining whether or not the absence is excused or unexcused. The school will accept parental notes for five days of absence per semester. Absences in excess of five (5) days require medical documentation from a licensed physician. Notes must be provided to the office no later than the end of school on the second day that the student returns to school. For notes to be considered as excused, a reason must be stated in the note, i.e. “My child was absent from school” is not sufficient to warrant an excused designation. After two (2) days, the absence will be considered unexcused regardless of the reason. Students that are checked out early must also report to the office for an admit slip the following day. An unexcused absence will result in the student receiving a zero in all work missed.

Certificates of Attendance for drivers license purposes WILL NOT be issued to students with ten (10) or more unexcused absences per semester.

Admit slips will be issued daily beginning at 7:30 A.M. in the attendance clerk's office. Students are expected to come to the attendance office as soon as they arrive at school to receive their admit slip. Failure to receive the admit slip by 7:50 A.M. will result in the student receiving a tardy.

Cell phones constitute a disruption to the instructional environment and as such are banned during the instructional day (7:00 AM – 3:05 PM). Cell phones that are seen or detected being used, especially text messaging, during the instructional day will be confiscated. After the first offense, confiscated cell phones will be returned only to the parent or guardian at the end of the school day. A second offense will result in the cell phone being retained in the office and not returned until the end of the semester.

The following procedures will be followed when it becomes necessary for a parent/guardian to check out a student out before the dismissal of school:

Parent/Guardian Signature
A student will be permitted to leave school when a parent comes to the school to check out the student. The parent must sign the checkout form and state the time of dismissal. Students must also receive an admit slip the following day.

Anytime a student leaves school, he/she must sign out in the office and sign in upon his/her return. A student who leaves school without permission and does not follow correct procedures to check out of school will be considered truant, and the penalties for an unexcused absence shall be applied.

No student will be allowed to check out after 2:45 P.M.

Senior dismissal is a privilege. All seniors must attend FIRST (1ST) THRU FIFTH (5TH) PERIOD. The Parent/Guardian of the senior must fill out a Senior Dismissal form to grant permission and to absolve the Oxford School District from any liability. The senior dismissal form must be on file. If there is a change in the student’s schedule it is the student’s responsibility to submit a new permission form. If problems arise, the principal may use his discretion to revoke senior dismissal and assign the student to additional classes.

Juniors and seniors are allowed three (3) and five (5) college days respectively during the school year for visitation to colleges. Students must make their request in writing to the principal two days prior to the scheduled visit. The students must submit a written statement from the college or university they have visited upon return to school. The written statement must be on the letter head of the college that they visited.

Awards and Honors: To graduate with Special Distinction, a graduating senior must have a 4.0 or better GPA for eight semesters. Averages will be rounded from the thousandth to the hundredth place only.

Graduating with Honors: Excluding "Special Distinction," a graduating senior who has achieved a GPA of 3.60 for eight semesters will graduate "with Honors." Averages will be rounded from the thousandth to the hundredth place only.

Residence: A transfer student will be allowed to graduate with distinction or honors upon completion of eight Carnegie units at Oxford High School.

Speakers: In addition to the president of the senior class and the president of the student body, the three graduating seniors with the highest GPA at the end of the 7th semester will be designated as commencement speakers. The building principal and/or the principal’s designee shall approve speakers and speeches.

Students make course selections early in the second semester of each year. As soon as the scheduling process is complete, students will receive a list of their class schedule for the following school year. Changes in the selection of courses will not occur unless a parent/guardian has given written permission for the change to take place. When school begins, the only changes made will be for those students who have failed a course and must repeat the course or for courses passed during summer school or by correspondence. After 10 school days, a student will be allowed to drop a course only under extenuating circumstances AND WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE PRINCIPAL. All failing courses dropped after 10 days will count toward GPA.

Students must attend the original class to which they were assigned until a counselor notifies the teacher of the class that the schedule change has been completed. A class is not officially added or dropped from a student's schedule until a counselor has completed the necessary paperwork and until all teachers have been properly notified.

Guidance personnel and the administration reserve the right to make adjustments to a student's course selection provided:

1. The course is not offered.
2. Course prerequisites have not been met.
3. A scheduling conflict exists.
4. Overcrowding occurs.

For extended policy click here.

Consequences for failure to follow the dress guidelines:

The administration and faculty/staff of each school will thoroughly communicate expectations of students to parents and enforce the policy in a fair, timely, and consistent manner. Offenders will be referred to an administrator for disciplinary action. Students should be given an opportunity to come into compliance with the dress code. Students who cannot come into compliance with the code may be sent to in-school suspension for the remainder of the day. Each case should be documented. Consequences can range from a conference/warning with parent contact for first time offenders to detention, in-school suspension or out-of-school suspension for repeat or habitual violators. An administrator may ban offenders from any and all extracurricular school activities. The phrase extracurricular activity means all student activities, including clubs, athletics, and student government.

With Principal/Teacher approval, a student may be exempt from the final exam in any course by meeting the following criteria:

• Earning a grade of 93 or above OR
• Earning school-wide, yearlong perfect attendance with a “C” or higher average.
• Perfect attendance is defined as no absences, no tardies, no suspensions of any kind, no check–in late, no early checkout, and no dismissals from school. Exceptions are school bus tardies and absences that are school-sponsored or administratively excused.
• All fines paid before the exam.
• All books and materials returned to the teacher.
• The student has taken an AP course and the AP Exam for that course.

In addition, students will only be allowed exemption from the number of exams as indicated below:

Senior.............All subjects (Meeting above requirements)
Junior.............Three (3) exemptions
Sophomore.......Two (2) exemptions
Freshman.........One (1) exemption

Students who have been given permission for early graduation are not exempt from exams. A student may choose to take any exam for the purpose of raising his/her grade.

Students who miss 20 days of class in a year long course or 10 days in a semester course will not be exempt for exams regardless of grade or other criteria.

For security/safety reasons all students enrolled in grades 9-12 are required to DISPLAY (visible on a lanyard around the neck) a Student Identification Badge at all times while they are on the OHS campus during the instructional day. Students will be issued a picture ID card each year. The ID badge will be used for voting in elections, checking out books at the OHS and UM libraries, being admitted to all school dances, picking up a yearbook during the summer, and attending other events.

If the ID badge is lost, replacement ID badges may be purchased at a cost of $3.00 for the badge and $1.00 for the lanyard. Replacement ID badges and lanyards may be purchased prior to the beginning of second (2nd) period only. Students may also receive a pink temporary ID that expires at the end of the school day. Any student that receives a temporary ID will be assigned an after-school detention. If a student is issued excessive temporary IDs (over 2/semester)they may face suspension. A student failing to display the proper ID badge (his/her own current school year badge) will face disciplinary consequences.

Unless requested otherwise, photographs of all students will be included in our school yearbook. Also, photographs of students will appear in our school newspaper, magazine, and other school publications. If at any time a student or parent of a student does not desire a picture to appear in a school publication, the parent should request in writing to the principal of the school not to publish a picture.

Punctuality is an essential skill for success in life. Prompt arrival at school and to class is expected of all students. Late arrival disrupts class and causes loss of instructional time. Any student who arrives at school after 7:50 AM is considered tardy to school and must sign in the office. Any student who arrives in class after the tardy bell begins to sound is considered tardy to class. A student with excessive tardies will face disciplinary consequences. Excessive tardiness is defined as more than three (3) tardies per semester.

Oxford School District has standardized procedures to ensure that:

1. all students are provided an opportunity to succeed in the regular education
   program; and,
2. all students receive a free and appropriate public education.

The Teacher Support Team (TST) is a vehicle through which assistance can be requested for any student who is “at risk” of not succeeding. The primary purpose of the Teacher Support Team is to assess students’ needs and design instructional interventions and strategies for those students who demonstrate learning and/or behavior problems that interfere with their success in the classroom and in the school environment. The team reviews and utilizes all of the possible resources within the school and/or district to meet the needs of the student. The team may also review the needs of “at risk” students on a school-wide and/or grade-level basis and develop instructional interventions and strategies to more effectively assist students and improve student achievement. The process will be utilized throughout the school year to resolve issues, problems, or concerns related to the performance of students as identified by teachers, parents, guardians, and administrators. The TST will meet at least once every nine weeks during the school year.

It is the policy of the Oxford School District that the referral of a student to the Local Survey Committee (LSC) to begin the State of Mississippi’s process for determining the eligibility of a student for special services under the provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) should only be considered after the appropriate instructional variations and interventions have 25 been implemented in the regular classroom and the student continues to be “at risk” or if the student is obviously disabled.

A visitor on the campus of Oxford High School shall report immediately to the main office and register. A visitor on official business will be issued a visitor’s pass that must be clearly visible on the visitor's clothing. The presence of an unauthorized visitor, person, or individual on the campus of Oxford High School will be reported to the main office.

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