Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, we offer Early Morning Care from 7:00-7:30 am and After School Care from 3:15-5:30 pm for a per use fee. 

In the event your child is ill, please keep your child home. Call the school office at (256) 881-0553 no later than 8:30 am to inform us. Upon the child’s return, provide the school office with a written statement explaining the reason for the absence. For students who miss more than three consecutive days of school due to illness, a doctor’s note is required. 

Regular school attendance is an important key to your child’s success at school. The absence is “excused” if your child misses school due to illness, a death in the family, medical/dental appointments, or pre-excused absences for vacation or special family events. Excessive absences may lead to retention or summer school.

Students with excused absences are expected to make-up missed work immediately after their return. Work missed due to unexcused absences or tardies receive zeroes. Please see the Parent-Student Handbook for the full absence policy. 

School begins at 8:00 am and that is when we secure the outside doors. Students in PK through 8^th grade are tardy if they are not in their classrooms at 8:00 am. Parents of students arriving late must bring the child to the office to sign them in and receive a signed pass to class. Excessive tardies translate to absences. Please see the Parent-Student Handbook for the full tardy policy.

PK – 8^th: Please let the classroom teacher and the office know as soon as possible if your student needs to leave during the day for an appointment. Parents report to the office to sign their child out and the office will contact the classroom to send the student down. Parents must escort their child to the school office when they return to sign them back in.

Yes, we do offer a hot lunch program in the CDC and School. Our hot lunch program provides healthy food choices that meet or exceed federal and state guidelines for fit and healthy students. A monthly lunch menu is posted on RenWeb. Parents order their choice of lunches by the start of each week and add money to their child’s lunch account through RenWeb. Students may also purchase milk, water, juice, and ala carte items in the cafeteria. Lunches, beverages, and ala carte purchases are charged to your student’s pre-paid lunch account. 

In summary, Monday through Thursday, students wear polo shirts of any color and khaki-style uniform pants, shorts, and skirts in khaki, blue, black, grey, or white. Fridays students may wear jeans and a Grace logo t-shirt in addition to the regular dress code. All clothing worn must be neat, clean, and presentable, free from holes and of appropriate length. Please see the full dress code for additional information concerning dresses, sweaters, sweatshirts, and button down shirts. 

We do not claim to be completely peanut or nut free due to community use of our facilities; however, we do not serve any food products made with peanuts or nuts to our students. This restriction includes food items such as peanut butter, trail mixes, or candies made with nuts. Our cafeteria does not use peanut oil or nuts in food preparation for after-school snacks or for snacks sold at the snack store by the student council. Peanut and tree-nut tables are set aside in the cafeteria for students who bring those products in their lunch. For more information, please read about our peanut-free policy in our Parent and Student Handbook.

We do not permit students to carry any non-prescription or prescription drugs school, except for an asthma inhaler. If your child requires medication during the school day, a parent or guardian must bring the medication to the school office and complete the Medicine Authorization form. We will administer medications according to a doctor or parent’s written directions in the school office for children in grades PK-8.

We do not permit students to use their cell phones during the school day, including during before and after school care hours. Students may store their turned off cell phones in their locker. Phones out or used without the current teacher’s permission will be confiscated and given to the custody of the principal. The principal will only return a phone directly to a student’s parents. 

We will notify you of closures through our Parent Alert system by text and email, posts on our website, and via local media.  There is no need to call the school or the teacher, which may delay the message getting out. In the event inclement weather conditions force us to close when school is in session, we will not allow students to leave the building until a parent or an adult designated in RenWeb comes to the school to pick up the child. For the safety of our students and staff, please pick your child up as soon as possible.

In the event of a tornado watch, our school administration will notify the staff and closely monitor the weather service radio and local television broadcasts. All staff and students, including the office staff, will follow emergency procedures and shelter in protected areas in the centers of the buildings where we will remain until the National Weather Service officially lifts the warning. For the safety of all, we strongly urge parents to leave their children at school during these watches and warnings. 

CDC students are picked up at their classrooms. All PK – 8^th grade students are picked up at the main school building. Please see the Drop-Off/ Pick-Up map located in the Parent Resources section.