Student Life Manual

Mission

The mission of Nebraska Christian Schools is to assist the family and church by providing a Christ-centered education, equipping students with a Biblical world-view and encouraging a love relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Academics

Nebraska Christian Schools is a member of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) and is also an approved school as determined by the Nebraska Department of Education. Each graduate earns a valid high school diploma. Teachers are certified by the State of Nebraska. A sound curriculum is essential to Christian education. Curriculum which integrates subject matter and God's Word aids the teacher in accomplishing this. A knowledge of the Bible is the foundation of Christian education. We strive to train our students to know and to live the principles taught in the Holy Scriptures. The Bible curriculum includes memorization at each grade level. There are certain doctrines on which the school maintains a neutral stance, such as baptism, spiritual gifts, and the tribulation.

Classroom and Campus Rules

  1. Teachers will establish procedures for their classrooms. Students are responsible to know and follow these guidelines.
  2. Students and teachers should treat others with respect, dignity, and trust.
  3. Students and teachers should take pride in our school. Help keep it neat and clean. Use facilities and equipment properly.
  4. Off-campus students may visit in dorms only with permission of the dorm parent.
  5. All students report to the dining hall during lunch period. Unless permission to leave has been given by the dining hall monitor, students should remain in the dining hall until the bell rings. Senior high students can eat lunch in town a maximum of three times during the school year. To do this, a student needs a note from his parent (dorm parent) and a pass from the office.
  6. Candy is not allowed in the classroom. Water is the only drink allowed in the classroom. Teachers may approve the use of cough drops on a case-by-case basis. Gum may be chewed discretely. All wrappers and used gum need to be put into trash cans.
  7. Students must be properly signed out if they are outside their scheduled classroom. Properly being signed out includes the use of the student’s Planner. Any student outside the classroom without a Student Planner signed by a teacher may receive a detention.
  8. Cell phones, pagers, and all other electronic devices are not allowed in the classroom. If there is a violation of this policy, the staff/faculty person in charge will take the electronic device to the office, and the student can pick it up at the end of the school day. If a second violation occurs, the staff/faculty person will take the device to the office and one of the student’s parents must come to claim it. During the school day, cell phones can be used only at the end of the lunch period with the permission of the lunchroom supervisor.
  9. Students will be responsible to pay for any damage they may cause to school property and/or personal property.
  10. Desks should not be used as storage places for books. Students should use their lockers for their books. Bookbags are not to be taken into the classrooms.
  11. If a student is sleeping during class, the teacher will ask him to stand in the back of the classroom. If a student is struggling with drowsiness, he should take the initiative and gain respect by standing in the back of the room before he is told to do so.
  12. Students should never interrupt a class when teachers are lecturing, conducting a classroom activity, or monitoring a test or quiz.
  13. Never leave campus without the permission of an administrator. Discipline for a violation of this rule will include at least one detention. 

Attendance

Good attendance is a key to effective learning and is important to academic success. It is expected that parents will cooperate with the school in having each child in school whenever possible. A student who is absent will be held accountable to make up missed school work.

The minimum number of hours the school will be in session during the school year will be as follows:

  • Kindergarten—400 hours
  • Grades K-8—1032 hours
  • Grades 9-12—1080 hours.

Lunch period will not count toward meeting these requirements.

  1. Absences exceeding seven (7) days per semester in any class will constitute a student losing credit in that class. If for any reason a student has reached seven absences and feels it necessary to miss again, the following reason has been predetermined to be an exception: A student becomes too sick to attend school, verified by a doctor’s note that the student is too ill to attend school. (NOTE: This does not include regular check-ups, or doctor, dentist, orthodontist, and haircut appointments).
  2. All absences exceeding the seven-day rule will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. We recommend that you call and check with the office prior to a student’s absence beyond seven days so that you are well informed to make a decision, weighing the worth of an absence vs. the loss of credit in a class.
  3. All absences, excused or unexcused, will appear on a student's permanent record. Students will be excused for absences due to sickness, death in the family, severe weather conditions making traveling hazardous, medical appointments, or other crucial reasons. Parents should notify the office if their student will not be in school.
  4. Regular appointments for seeing the dentist, orthodontist, doctor, etc. or getting a haircut should be made for the day off during the school week.
  5. Pre-arranged absences will be approved if a parent requests that a student be excused from school for an acceptable reason. To be an excused absence, at least one parent of the student must accompany that student going to athletic/activity contests during the school day. Any school work for such contests must be completed before going to the event.
  6. An absence from class which occurs without an excuse from a parent or supervisor or which has not been properly cleared will be considered an unexcused absence. The Administration reserves the right to determine if an absence is excused or unexcused. Both excused and unexcused absences count toward the seven (7) day rule stated in #2. Detentions will be assigned for each unexcused absence equal to the number of class periods missed. Examples of unexcused absences include working on class assignments, sleeping in, haircut appointments, studying for a class, etc.
  7. A tardy is defined as being up to 15 minutes late to a class. After 15 minutes, it is an absence. The first two unexcused tardies in a calendar month will each result in 15 minutes of detention after school. Each succeeding unexcused tardy will result in a 30-minute detention.
  8. After an absence occurs, the student will be readmitted by following this procedure: The office will sign the student’s planner on the date they missed indicating to teachers the student’s absence and reason for being gone. In addition, the office will sign the absence counter for the day and hours missed. See instructions under Planner. As the student attends class, teachers will sign this slip when the missed work and due date has been clearly communicated. Students will be given two days for each day of excused absence due to illness and one day for each day of excused absence for other reasons, including pre-arranged absences. On an individual basis, teachers may advance or extend the due date for a particular assignment, quiz, or test. Study halls do not require signatures.
  9. Students involved in activities during the school day are responsible to make up all work missed to the satisfaction of the instructor.
  10. Students will be presented with an Activities slip (“green slip”) for all excused school activities in advance to the day of the activity. Students are required to make up all work for the day they will be missing as a result of the activity. Students must present the Activities slip to the office prior to their departure for the activity. A signed slip by each teacher in the student’s schedule indicates that all work for that day has been completed to the satisfaction of the instructor. Students with an incomplete Activities Slip will not be allowed to attend the activity.
  11. Students involved in extracurricular activities must be in attendance at school for the full day of that event. The only exception to this rule would be a medical appointment with an accompanying note from the doctor.
  12. If a student leaves early during semester tests, there will be a charge of $35 per semester test missed. These tests must be made up as soon as possible.
  13. Each year, college representatives visit the NC campus to recruit students and to provide information regarding their college. Guidelines for NC students who would like to visit with these representatives will be distributed to seniors at the beginning of the school year.
  14. Seniors who plan on visiting college campuses throughout the school year will be given a list of guidelines regarding these visits. This information will be distributed at the beginning of the school year.    

Fire and Tornado Plans

Fire Drill Procedure: Students will evacuate according to the drill plans for each room. Teachers should make sure windows and doors are closed and follow students out of the building.

Tornado Alert: Students in the Administration Building will seek protection in the hallways of the building. Students in the gymnasium complex or the classroom/athletic facility will seek protection in the locker rooms. Students in the dorms will seek protection in the hallways.    

Support

Tuition at Nebraska Christian Schools covers approximately 70% of the cost of educating the students. The school depends upon donations to cover the remaining cost.

Activities and Student Organizations

Athletics: Students are encouraged to try out for the various school athletic teams. The purpose is not only to have good teams, but also to demonstrate a clear testimony for the Lord.

Class fund raising: The project that is permitted yearly is the concessions and candy store by the junior class. All other fund-raising projects must be approved by the class sponsor and the administrator.

Music Organizations: Students who wish to become members of choir, musical ensembles or instrumental groups are selected by try-outs. Groups and soloists perform in churches and music contests each year.

Publications: Student staff are selected each year for the Reflector, the school yearbook.

Speech: Students are given opportunities to participate in speech contests during the winter speech season.

Student Council: Each class elects one representative to serve on the Student Council. Class presidents also serve as members. This group is responsible for planning various events such as Homecoming, the Christmas Banquet, etc.

Insurance

All students are urged to participate in the school's group hospitalization, medical-surgical plan unless they have adequate protection at the time of enrollment. The parents of those who do not participate must sign a form releasing the school from all liability.

Nebraska Christian Schools, Inc. assumes no responsibility for illness or accidents on or off campus, in or out of school activities. The use of the school facilities is at the student's own personal risk.

A parent or guardian of each student must sign a medical authorization form, giving the school permission to obtain emergency medical care for the student and authorizing the physician to perform necessary services.

Non-Discriminatory Policy

Nebraska Christian Schools has had a non-discriminatory policy since its inception in 1959. NCS admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to other qualified students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational and admissions policies, scholarship programs, athletic and other school-administered programs.

Changes to the Manual

The administration reserves the right to change any policy or procedure at any time in its sole discretion after reasonable notice to constituents.

Discipline

NCS will work through love to help each student exhibit appropriate behavior at school. Our aim is to help the student develop a strong sense of Christ-like self-discipline. In order to successfully meet our goals, we will employ such discipline as seems wise and necessary for each situation. Parents will be kept informed concerning their student's behavior. . In the infrequent case when there is probable cause of a violation of school policy or state law, the administration does have the right to search vehicles, lockers, or book bags. The student will be informed about the search.

Detention
A detention form explaining the nature of the offense will be sent to the student's parents. The student will also be notified of the detention.

  1. Detention will be held after school for a minimum of 30 minutes on the day after the detention is given. The time for the detention will be 4:10-4:40 p.m. Tardiness will result in extra time served. Students must bring homework or reading material to this detention time. No talking is allowed during time in detention.
  2. An unexcused absence from detention will result in serving two after-school detentions.
  3. The sequence of detentions during a one-month calendar period is as follows:
  • 1st and 2nd offense - 30 minutes
  • 3rd offense - morning detention
  • 4th offense - one-day suspension
  • 5th offense - two-day suspension
  • 6th offense - may lead to expulsion

4. Depending on the situation, a morning detention may be assigned at any point as a behavioral detention. There will be a $25 fine included in that detention.

5. A total of 15 behavioral detentions or a total of three suspensions per year may lead to expulsion.

6. Any student assigned a detention, with the exception of a detention issued for tardiness, will be given a reconciliation slip. What the student does with the slip is completely voluntary. If the student chooses to come forward and confess to the faculty member who issued the detention his/her involvement in inappropriate behavior, repent, and seek reconciliation, the teacher will sign the slip and the detention will be reduced from 30 minutes to 20 minutes. If a student chooses not to seek reconciliation, detentions will remain 30 minutes.

Morning Detention

  1. All students assigned to morning detention must pay a $25 fee.
  2. Morning detention will consist of the following, depending on whether or not the student lives in the dorm:

Dorm Students: Two consecutive morning detentions (on school days) from 7:20-7:50.

Non-Dorm Students: A one-hour study hall on the “off” day beginning at the same time as the dorm study hall.


Dismissal from Class
1. A student may be sent to the office for disruptive behavior.
2. Discipline will be administered. The discipline will automatically include at least one morning detention.
3. Parents will be notified.
4. To be reinstated, the student and parent(s) will have a conference with the administrator and teacher involved.


Suspension
1. Out-of-School
a. A student may be suspended for one to ten days.
b. Students may be suspended for repeated detentions.
c. Skipping school (absent from school without school and parental permission)
1st offense - one-day suspension
2nd offense - two-day suspension
3rd offense - may lead to expulsion
d. Dismissal from class
1st offense - parent notification and Saturday morning detention
2nd offense - one-day suspension
3rd offense - two-day suspension
4th offense - may lead to expulsion
e. All homework needs to be completed while serving the suspension and is due on the day following the suspension. Two points per day per class may be deducted from the quarter grade for each suspension.
2. Extra-curricular activities A student may be suspended from attendance or involvement in extra-curricular activities for any serious or habitual infraction of the rules and regulations of the school or for refusal to abide by coaches' and sponsors' requests concerning actions, appearance, or conduct.
3. In-school suspensions may be considered under special circumstances.
4. Suspensions longer than three days may occur in cases of serious infractions of school policy.


Probation
Probation is for the purpose of restoring a student's relationship with authority. It is a conditional enrollment during a specified period of time. During this time, weekly accountability conferences will be scheduled for the student. If a student does not adhere to probationary procedures, he will be expelled or asked to withdraw.

Faculty, staff, and administration all may be involved in the determination of probation for a student. Reasons for probation include academic issues, behavior, and/or attitudes. Students on probation cannot serve as class officers or be on the Student Council.


Reconciliation
When a student voluntarily chooses to come forward and confess to a faculty member his/her involvement in a misdemeanor or felony on or off campus, sexual immorality or use of alcohol or illegal drugs, the opportunity for reconciliation is available. Consequences (such as suspension, random drug testing, counseling and accountability) can be expected with offenses of this nature, but as fruits of repentance are evident, students who have confessed and repented may be allowed to continue their enrollment at NCS upon evaluation by the administration. Students who commit offenses which endanger others on campus (such as verbal threats, possessing weapons, firearms, alcohol or illegal drugs) are not offered continued enrollment.


Expulsion
Students may be subject to expulsion for conduct in violation of the policies of the board, rules and regulations of the administration, and for refusal to obey direction of administration and staff.

We will treat each situation individually, looking at the heart and past and present attitudes of the student. The final decision regarding expulsion will be made by the Superintendent. Any appeal of the Superintendent's decision may be made to the board in writing with a copy to the Superintendent.


Readmission
A student who has been expelled or who has withdrawn for disciplinary reasons may be considered for readmission after a minimum of one quarter from the date of expulsion upon approval of the Superintendent.