Lawton Student & Family Handbook 2024-25

Attendance

If your child will be absent or has an alternate end-of-day plan, please send an email to lawton@seattleschools.org and your student’s teacher. Please remember to report student absences and late arrivals before the start of school and report any end of day plan changes by 11 a.m.

Arrival & Dismissal

• Arrival. Students may arrive on campus starting at 7:40 a.m. to queue in line for their designated entrance (see map below).
  • 7:50 a.m. Bell rings and students enter building through assigned door
  • 7:55 a.m. Class begins
• Only students may enter the building. Parents and caregivers will say goodbye to students at the door. Staff will be on hand to assist from there.
• No people or animals in the parking lot please. Students in grades K-2 line up on the sidewalk by the 1st floor doors, but they must get there by way of the sidewalks and stairs at the Main Entrance. Families may wait with their student, but no animals are allowed on campus and animals need to stay on the sidewalks around the school with their owner.
• Dismissal. School dismisses at 2:25 p.m. every day except Wednesdays. Wednesdays are early release days and end at 1:10 p.m.
  • Students are dismissed by their teacher on the playground to a pre-arranged pick up person, or their bus lines. Please communicate how your student will get home with your student’s teacher.
• 2:30 p.m. buses depart. Students without supervision brought to office for call home.

Please Consider Walking or Biking to School 

Walking, biking, and rolling (i.e., wheelchair, scooting, and skating) to school is not only fun, but it also improves air quality around schools, reduces traffic congestion, creates community, and helps students start the day more alert and ready to learn. About a 1/3 of SPS students walk or bike to school. If you haven’t done it before, we encourage you to try it out!  Look up a route using these maps and test it out ahead of time. 

Drop Off Procedures for Drivers 

We want every student to arrive safely and on time to school. If you drive your student to school, please remember to:

• Drive slow and safe
• Watch for pedestrians
• Stay off your phone
• Avoid stopping in the circle
• Use 27th for quick unloading only

There is absolutely no parking in the circle or loading zone. Drivers may not leave their vehicles. If you need to come on campus for any reason, please leave yourself time to find parking in neighborhood.  

Communication

Principal Newsletter – sent every 2 weeks by email

PTA newsletter – sent alternating weeks from the Principal Newsletter. Please join the PTA and sign up for their newsletter by visiting their website!

Teacher Communication – Lawton teachers regularly send classroom newsletters by email and also communicate with individual parents about both compliments and concerns via email, Talking Points texts, or phone calls. Please reach out to your child’s teacher by email as the first line of communication. Parents can expect all staff to read their emails daily and to respond to emails from parents within 48 business hours unless a staff member is on vacation or on leave.

District Supported Communication – Families should visit the SPS website for links to the Source (Student Database), See-Saw, Clever, and School Pay. Lawton staff also use the Talking Points texting app; families also have the option to download the mobile application or use the online application to communicate with teachers or school staff.  

School Climate

Lawton is a warm and welcoming neighborhood school, and it is important to us that all of our students have the opportunity to grow and learn in a supportive environment. Our school mascot is the Dolphin, and we are an inclusive school community. Our school’s positive behavior expectations – called the WAVE – help reinforce the following behaviors in our classrooms, assemblies, in the lunchroom, in bathrooms and hallways, and on the playground: Welcome Everyone, Act Responsibly, Value Learning, and Encourage Each Other

Each Wednesday we start the school day with an all-school Wednesday WAVE Winner Assembly, where we honor students from each classroom who have been role models for WAVE expectations, as well as emphasizing our WAVE expectations with student performances, presentations, activities, or other demonstrations of knowledge that support a strong sense of belonging and school pride.

In line with our welcoming environment and SPS Board Policy, Lawton also uses Restorative Practices to address student discipline needs. We believe student behavior is a strong form of communication and we strive to identify underlying causes of student code of conduct violations (see the “Safety and Wellness” tab for more information on SPS student code of conduct expectations).

Playground and Recess Safety

During school we want students to use our playground safely, so we don’t allow running on the green turf, we only go down the slides feet first, we don’t play tag (but running and chasing are OK), and we don’t play games that require special equipment or referees (no football, soccer, baseball, etc.) – BUT, we do climb, run, play with balls (kickball is popular with large ball), play pretend with friends, and we do exercise and enjoy the weather.  Please make sure your child has outdoor clothing for the season, and we’d love if families would support our school play expectations when you use our playground outside school hours.   

Progress Reports and Assessments

Student academic achievement is reported three times a year, using a standards-based student progress report (which can be found online at The Source). Parent-teacher conferences are held in the fall.

The Seattle School District has developed specific and detailed academic standards for
all grades. The following standardized tests are used by the school and district to evaluate student performance:

• Grades K: MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) ELA and Math – Winter and Spring
• Grades K: DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) – Winter and Spring
• Grades 1-5: MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) ELA and Math – Fall and Spring
• Grades 1-2: DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) – Fall, Winter and Spring
• Grades 3-5: Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBAC) / ELA and Math – Spring
• Grades 5: Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science (WCAS) – Spring
  Parents of students 3-5: Please make every effort to avoid appointments and travel plans during the SBA testing period. Scheduling make-up sessions is difficult as we need to rearrange many different schedules to accommodate the make-ups.

Snacks, Celebrations and Field Trips

Snacks and classroom food – There is no set schedule for morning or afternoon snacks, and provision of a snack break is at the discretion of each teacher. Many teachers invite families to contribute bulk snacks for their class where possible.

In-class parties – Each classroom will decide how they want to celebrate birthdays. It could be a special game or other event, but we know that it is fun for kids to be special on “their” day. If your family would like to bring a treat for the celebration, please deliver it to the Main Office and we will take it to the classroom in the afternoon, after lunch.

Field trips – Field trips provide a fun way to enrich and enhance classroom learning. Parents must sign a release form before a child can attend any field trip. Where field trips involve a cost, scholarships will be made available for students. Any family member or guardian wishing to chaperone field trips must be an approved volunteer with SPS prior to the trip date.

Online Payments

All students will have supplies ready and waiting for them on the first day of school. In lieu of purchasing individual supplies, we will send instructions home in the first day packets for paying the $40 supply fee through SchoolPay using your student’s district ID number.

Families can pay for Field Trips and other fees on SchoolPay; this is the preferred method of payment, but please reach out to our Main Office if you need to pay a different way or would like to request financial assistance.

Lost and Found

Please label the items (clothing, lunch box, water bottle, etc.) that you send to school with your student. We can easily return labelled items left on the playground or other locations around the school to students, but unlabeled items end up in our Lost and Found. The Lost and Found is located on metal rolling carts in the upstairs hallway by the Commons and Gym, so come and check it out any time; unclaimed items are donated a couple times a year – we’ll always warn you when this is set to occur!

Safety Drills

In compliance with district and Seattle Fire Department regulations, Lawton conducts whole school drills every month. Drills include fire, earthquake, and shelter-in-place/lockdown. Shelter-in-place is for when there is a potential threat in the neighborhood, but learning happens as usual while we keep everyone inside and continue classes. A lockdown implies a direct threat to the building, and all classroom doors are locked, lights are turned off, and students are kept away from windows.

Teachers describe these drills to students in developmentally appropriate ways, balancing the need for students to take them seriously with a desire also not to frighten them unnecessarily.