Parent Handbook Sections 1-2

Bring Identification and Sign In
Please remember that all parents and babysitters MUST have an ID and sign in at the School Safety desk to enter the building. This is DOE policy and it is strictly enforced to ensure the safety of all the children and adults in the building. After signing in at the School Safety desk, the School Safety Agent will direct visitors to the Anderson’s main office for a pass. We are in a big building with many entrances and exits. Everyone needs to help our School Safety Agents do their jobs by always cooperating with these procedures.

Use the Main Entrance Only
The main entrance to the school building is on West 77th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues under the sign that reads William J. O’Shea Campus. For security reasons, this is the only entrance and exit parents and visitors should use, unless otherwise directed.

Our Space
Anderson occupies two floors in the building. The first floor, which is accessed through the main entrance, houses the Kindergarten through 5th grade classrooms, music rooms, the library, administrative offices, nurse’s office, auditorium and PTA room. The ground floor houses the classrooms for the 6th through 8th graders, lockers for these students, science labs, fitness room, computer lab, art room, the Parent Coordinator and Community Coordinator's office, and the cafeteria. The gym is on the second floor, where the Dual Language Middle School is located. The third floor, which we do not use, houses the Computer School (MS 245). There are three entrances to the schoolyard, which occupies all of Columbus Avenue between 76th and 77th Streets. For security reasons, Anderson families use only the gate on 76th Street for afternoon pick-up. Please note: each school uses only the bathrooms on its own floors. Adults may only use restrooms designated for adult use - never student restrooms.

School Hours

8:20 A.M. - 2:40 P.M. for all students

Schedule of Classes

Homeroom: 8:20-8:25 AM
Period 1: 8:25-9:15 AM
Period 2: 9:17-10:05 AM
Period 3: 10:05-10:55 AM
Period 4: 10:55-11:45 PM (Lunch/Recess)
Period 5: 11:50-12:40 PM
Period 6: 12:40-1:35 PM
Period 7: 1:40-2:30 PM
Dismissal: 2:40 PM for all students

Morning Arrival and Drop-off

School begins at 8:20 a.m. for all students. Students not in the school building at 8:20 a.m. are late to school.

• Kindergarten Drop-off: Kindergartners enter through the main entrance from about 8:10-8:20 AM. Parents and caregivers say goodbye to their child right outside the main entrance to reduce the congestion inside. Our Safety Patrollers (Anderson School fifth graders) accompany the Kindergartners to their class areas in the auditorium; however, whenever a child feels ready during the school year, he or she is allowed to walk to the auditorium unaccompanied. There are always adult staff and Safety Patrollers in the lobby and the auditorium to help kids with anything they might need. At 8:20 AM each day, the teachers will escort their classes from the auditorium to the classroom. Any child not in the auditorium at 8:20 AM is late to school. A staff member will issue a late pass and escort the child to the classroom.
• Grades 1-4 Drop-off: Each morning, first – fourth graders enter the building through the single door on West 77th Street that is closest to Amsterdam Avenue. This door will open at 8:10 AM and close at 8:20 AM. Students sit with their class in the auditorium to wait for their teachers who arrive at 8:20 AM to escort the students to the classrooms. Any student arriving after that door closes is late to school and must enter through the main entrance on W. 77th St. and get a late pass.
• Grades 5-8 Arrival: Grades 6-8 students enter the school through our middle school entrance - the three green doors on W. 77th St. that are closer to Columbus Avenue than the main entrance. (The exception is 6th grade bus students, who must enter the building through the main entrance and wait in the auditorium. At 8:10, 6th grade bus students will be released to walk through the building to their lockers.) These doors open at 8:10 AM and close promptly at 8:18 AM. Any student arriving after these doors have closed is late to school and must enter through the main entrance on W. 77th St. and get a late pass. At 8:18 AM a warning bell will ring to alert students in the middle school hallway that they have only two minutes to get to their homerooms. At 8:20 AM, any student not in his or her homeroom will be marked late and must get a late pass.
• Morning Bus Arrival: Morning buses are met outside the main entrance by a staff member. All bus students (grades K-6) enter the building immediately through the main entrance. Under staff supervision, students may either sit in the auditorium or have breakfast in the cafeteria until 8:15. (Kindergarten bus students are escorted from the front door to the auditorium by the fifth grade Safety Patrol until they feel ready to walk by themselves.) (At 8:10, 6th grade bus students will be released to walk through the building to their lockers.) To eat a free breakfast, all any child needs to do is tell an adult in the auditorium that they would like breakfast, and they will be escorted to the cafeteria.

Inclement Weather: There is no change in arrival or dismissal procedures in the case of inclement weather.