School Policy Guide

Attendance and timeliness is important at Muir! Our school bell rings at 7:40. Students who arrive after the bell are considered tardy. If your child arrives after the 7:40 bell, please check them in at the office. Students will be given a card to give to their teacher to let her/him know their attendance was recorded.

If your child will not be at school for any reason you must call the SAFE ARRIVAL number, 608-663-8170 or enter the absence in Infinite Campus (IC) for each day he/she will be absent. If we do not hear from you each day, we need to make a safe arrival call. The office staff would greatly appreciate the communication with you for each absence that occurs. It is also helpful if you contact your child’s teacher in regards to appointments, late arrivals, early dismissals, or absences.

Muir’s doors open at 7:30 daily. Students are welcomed into their classrooms for breakfast and a smooth start to their day. 

Muir staff will be on the sidewalks of Inner Drive to greet your family and the school buses each morning. Students will then go directly to their assigned doors and enter their classrooms. You will receive specific information from your child’s teacher on the door their class will enter.

Muir’s four buses unload at 7:25 and will be greeted by a staff member in an orange or yellow vest to be able to exit the bus. Families who drop off their children are asked to wait until they see an adult in an orange or yellow vest prior to their child’s drop off. Parents are welcomed to drop their children off up until our 7:40 start time/bell. If you arrive after our 7:40 bell, your child will need to walk to our Main Door - #2 and check in the office.

At our 2:40 dismissal (1:15 on Mondays) all students are transitioned to the front of our school on Inner Drive by their classroom teachers. All students MUST be picked up in this location. Students are not allowed to go to our playground after school unless they are with a parent or supervising adult. Our staff in orange or yellow vests supervise students until our buses leave. At that time, if there are any students not picked up, staff will walk them to the office to phone their families.

Due to staffing shortages, The Wisconsin Youth Company has discontinued their partnership and we are working very hard to find new programming.

We are in communication with the Lussier Community Education Center on 55 S Gammon Rd. who currently also supports Muir students in after school programming. We are in the planning phase of having one program at Muir to serve our school community! More information will be forthcoming. You can reach out to Lussier at 608-833-4979 for more information.

Classroom visits are scheduled 24 hours in advance through the classroom teacher and office staff. We ask that upon arrival, please check in the main office to sign in and receive a visitor badge. You will be given information and specific guidelines so that your visit is successful for all involved. We welcome individuals to view our classrooms and impress upon our visitors that the class’s normal routine and flow is a priority. Classroom visitors silently observe and are welcomed to share their experiences afterward by setting up a meeting with the principal or teacher at a time outside of his/her day with our students.

To ensure the safety of your child, we require family members to come to our office window and sign out the student. We will then call the classroom to have the student sent down to the office to meet the family member. Please remember anyone picking up a student must be authorized and listed in Infinite Campus. Please park your vehicle on Inner Drive and take the time to walk to our main entrance (Door #2). ONLY STAFF, student cabs and visitors with DISABILITY STICKERS are allowed to drive into the Muir parking lot for drop off or pick up.

In the 2019-20 school year, we incorporated the Standard Response Protocol into our emergency procedures in line with guidance from the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Office of School Safety and national recommendations on school safety. It incorporates many of the concepts we already use but offers more clarity and consistency in terminology among schools and first responders across the country. Each school year, students will receive age-appropriate instruction on what to do in each of these scenarios through lesson plans, slide presentations, class discussions, videos, and more.

All Muir doors are closed and locked daily. The main entrance (Door #2) is the only door we use to welcome our community into the school. Staff utilize our pin pads during the day to move in and out from the playground, use of the garden or possible field trips. All visitors, including families, buzz the office and communicate through the office window about their visit with office staff. All volunteers working outside in our garden, flowerbeds, woods, etc... will be asked to wear an orange vest to identify themselves as school volunteers. We will welcome families to enter the building for school events.

Families play a key role in school safety. At muir.madison.k12.wi.us/families/safety-and-security, you can read about school-specific resources for helping keep students safe. You’ll find more information on district safety and security, including how we communicate with you in an emergency, at madison.k12.wi.us/safety.

Mondays 7:40 a.m. - 1:15 p.m. (Early release)

Tuesdays-Fridays 7:40 a.m. - 2:40 p.m.

Muir has a skilled Student Support and Intervention Team (SSIT) that is available to students, staff and families as a whole team or in their individual specialized roles. This team consists of the principal, instructional coach, social worker, psychologist, school counselor, family liaison, literacy interventionists, advanced learner program support teacher, special education student support teacher, nurse and speech/language clinician. As a group, the team meets weekly to support and extend resources for identified students, staff and/or families who have needs in the areas of academic, social, emotional and/or behavioral support. Their work is to collaborate with classroom teachers and families to improve specific aspects of a child’s school experience.

For more information about available support services, please talk to your child’s teacher.

Muir has a Traffic Safety Program that supports families to actively participate in walking, biking and scootering to school. While encouraging a healthy lifestyle, it also is the best way to decrease traffic congestion and improve student safety to and from school.

We want our families to know that drop off/pick up is NOT permitted in the Muir Staff Parking Lot for the safety of our school community. Our parking lot is only for staff, individuals with disability stickers, educational cabs and MMSD employees, along with special transportation vehicles for the students we serve.

Muir provides a curbside location on Inner Drive for families to drop off or pick up their children. Look for the yellow signs that support this convenience for families. This is NOT a place where drivers can park their car or leave it unattended, so remember to make a plan with your child for pick up if you are waiting in this area.

For the safety of our community, we ask all families to always use the crosswalks by Muir and to NOT cross Inner Drive mid-street. This is dangerous pedestrian behavior before and after school with the number of people present. School Zones also do not allow for U-Turns. Please do not make a U-Turn to gain a parking space or when leaving from dropping your child off. Let’s keep Inner Drive a safe place for our community!

We benefit from having adult volunteers at Muir! If you have an interest in any of the following areas, please contact the school.

• Tutor
• Reading Friend
• Lunch/Recess Supervision
• Mentor
• Clubs
• Special School Events
• Traffic Safety
• School Garden
• Classroom, Art, PE, or Music Helper
• LMC & Bookroom Support

All volunteers need to gain a background check through MMSD to be allowed to support our school, classrooms or go on fieldtrips. Our office staff can assist you with this process. Volunteers will be trained and shared important information on their role in the school environment. Thank you for your support!