Bullying Policy

BULLYING POLICY / REPORTING

Use the Contact Form Below to Contact the Director if needed.
Download PDFs Here:
1. Bullying and Harassment Policy
2. St. Mary’s Bullying Report Form

BULLYING AND HARASSMENT

We recognize that bullying and harassment are major distractions from learning, harmful to individual students and the entire school community.

Bullying in the school building, on school grounds, on the bus or school sanctioned transportation or at school sponsored functions will not be tolerated and will be grounds for disciplinary action up to and including suspension and expulsion. St. Mary’s administration will promptly and reasonably investigate the allegations of harassment, including bullying.

St Mary’s School uses Second Step Program, a proactive approach to bullying and harassment. We teach children and adults positive social skills, how to respond to negative behavior, how to support each other and how to get help. The program component STEPS TO RESPECT works on four levels: the individual, relationships, schoolwide implementation, and integration into the curriculum.

The curriculum teaches the 5Rs of Bullying. Students learn to:

Recognize – Know what is bullying (and what is not).
Refuse – If you feel safe, stick up for yourself or peer.
Report – Bullying is about power and needs adult help to stop it from occurring. Reporting is not the same as tattling.
Record – It is necessary to document or save any evidence in cyber bullying.
Receive – Staff and parents/guardians need to listen and respond effectively to reports of of bullying.

To learn more about Steps to Respect: http://www.cfchildren.org/bullying-prevention

Teachers learn to:

Recognize – Know what is bullying and what is just conflict, and know the differences.
Respond – Learn to effectively communicate and respond to suspicious cases of bullying.
Report – Report to administrators and make a plan of action for the child who is bullying and who is being bullied.