• Carmel Unified School District Communication Guidelines for Parents

    Parent/Teacher communication is one of the most critical factors to insure student success at school. In this era of ever-present communication, it is helpful to have clear expectations to help parents and teachers manage their communications effectively. With that in mind, the Carmel Unified School district has established these guidelines.

    General

    • Parents should be aware that teachers are instructing during the school day and often have before-school and after-school meetings. Teachers may have over 100 students and parents with whom they need to communicate. Therefore, it may be 24 to 48 hours before a teacher can respond to a phone call or an email.

    • In times of heavy volume, teachers may not be able to meet these timelines, but will make an effort to acknowledge receipt of your communication. They will let you know if they need time to develop a thorough response.

    • To make sure your teacher receives time-sensitive information, it is helpful to place both a phone call and an email. Please indicate your sense of urgency in your message. In an email, it is a good idea to write “Time sensitive” at the start of the subject line.

    • For truly urgent items, it is best to call the office, where staff can direct your call appropriately. This is important because teachers do not always have a chance to check phone messages or emails during the course of the school day.

    • If your concern is not urgent, please indicate whether you need a detailed response or whether the communication is for information only.

    • At Back-to-School Night, teachers will indicate whether they have a preferred mode of communication (phone or email). Please understand that this is just a preference; as a parent, you are encouraged to use the method that makes the most sense to you. If their preferred mode is not convenient for you, be aware that teachers are committed to respond to your communication, no matter how it is sent.

    Email

    • Occasionally, an email may be blocked by our filter. If you are concerned that may be the case, it is a good idea to contact the teacher by phone. You can also request to be unblocked by sending an email to cusdunblock@gmail.com

     

    Grades - Secondary

    • Before calling or emailing the teacher, check the ABI website (http://aeries.carmelunified/abi) or MySchool (http://moodle.carmelunified.org).

    • Be aware that teachers are allowed up to two weeks to enter grades after an assignment is due. A good rule of thumb: the longer the students have to work on an assignment, the longer a teacher may need to grade it. If homework is turned in late, it may not be posted for up to two weeks after it is received.

    • If you need help with a password, you may call your school attendance secretary, Help for ABI Gradebook is also available online at [Paul will insert link here] and MySchool at http://moodle.carmelunified.org.