Community Day School
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We strive to create an environment that promotes self-esteem, develops a sense of responsibility, and nurtures respect for others, thereby providing the basis for participation in a democratic society.

What are they talking about? This page is designed to help you understand the language of education.

Community Day School: A community day school is a special school designed to work with students who are not finding success in a mainstream public school. The State of California recognizes that there are students who do not seem to be fitting in to a typical school. Community day schools are not all equal. Districts can run a community day school which are the type I have focused on so far. These community day schools are where students are sent who may have displayed any one or more of the following symptoms of being an at-risk youth. These schools have an additional 30 minutes added to each day in recognition that the learning environment will most likely be disrupted during their day.

• Continuous Classroom Disruption (Making inappropriate noises, mocking teacher, clowning around making other students laugh, shouting out in class, etc...)
• Expulsion - possession of alcohol/drugs/knife on campus. An expulsion hearing is held where a student is evaluated and the expulsion panel decides if they believe the student is hardened enough to go to the more restrictive level - a community day school run by the local County Office of Education. Sometimes a student is expelled for something but it seems to be a first offense or possibly a huge bad decision. These students might be properly placed in a district run community day school.. These students behave nicely when in a school with less students and an aide, a school where a daily note is sent to their parents indicating academics and behavior. 
  
• Here are two examples of students placed in the community day school system. I hope these give you a feel for the type of students who attend a district run community day school A sixth grade student hides a black machine gun style squirt gun in the bushes at his bus stop. After the bus drops him off at the school bus he jumps into the bush and lifts his "machine gun", aiming it at the school bus and firing water. The law requires this to be an expulsion. This child is placed at a district run community day school.***A student brings in a note to the principal's office from Smitty that says, "We will meet under the bridge on the trail at 3:00 for you to pick up the "product". Remember do not call me at home when you need more and do NOT come to my home. My home has dogs to watch and they will rip you apart. All transactions need to be given two days notice. Upon investigating this note you find a young man who is dealing drugs on your school campus. This child would be placed at the more restrictive level, and placed on probation. This kind of hard behavior requires police presence, counseling and a school designed to work with encourrigible behavior. You might consider these students as pre-criminal. 
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School District Mission Statement: The School District enables students to be life-long learners and productive citizens by developing partnerships and by promoting excellence, tolerance and self-worth.

Community Day School Mission Statement: Our purpose is to develop life-long learners by providing quality standards based education through a caring staff, supportive families, and an involved community. We strive to create an environment that promotes self-esteem, develops a sense of responsibility, and nurtures respect for others, thereby providing the basis for participation in a democratic society.

Introduction: School District Community Day School affords an alternative educational option for elementary students experiencing excessive behavior problems, absenteeism, and/or academic failure. Students enter through the Eastside School Student Attendance Review Board (S.A.R.B.).          

The State of California is currently developing policies to regulate Community Day Schools. This handbook is a living document subject to change and revision in order to meet both local and state requirements.  

This is what new families ask most often.       

In most cases schools take a long time before taking students to the SARB board to ask for a change in placement. Students who are placed in Community Day School programs for a single outlandish behavior can sometimes turn their attitude and behavior around sooner than those who are habitually disruptive to the learning environment. Honestly, students most commonly take the better part of a school year to heal and improve their behavior so that their actions and commitment to learning is cemented into their lifestyle. 

The criteria for exiting the School District Community Day School Program will be determined for each student on an individual basis established at the time of placement. The Community Day School staff, in cooperation with the child’s parent, will decide when each student has met their placement goals in order to exit the program. The student must demonstrate cooperative, socially acceptable behavior, as well as a willingness to learn, to be considered for re-enrollment to their home school. Most Community Day Schools have a level system and daily behavior notices. These are important in helping a student and their family to understand the behaviors that need to be corrected.

It is very important that each student be entirely ready to transition to the general education program. Students may take different amounts of time to ready themselves for the return to their home schools. The amount of time a student takes to progress through the program depends on the individual choices the student makes. It is important for each student to identify the behaviors that they usually have hidden from their families. These behaviors must be owned by the student and then the student takes steps to make things right. Primarily most students need to tell their parents the truth and allow their parents to forgive them. This is the one identifier to who succeeds and who continues to struggle in life. Some families continue to think of their children as victims and feel sorry for them. Other families seem to be able to follow the "Love and Logic" parenting ideal that their child will figure out their life if they stop talking and talking and just allow their kids to figure out things and love them into adulthood.

I hope that anyone reading this website is indeed interested in helping a child succeed.

Sally Cain