YOUTH ENRICHMENT PROGRAM/CAMP BEHAVIORAL GUIDELINES, POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Mounds View Community Education strives to make each program a fun and impactful experience. Our goal is to create an environment that is enjoyable, safe, inclusive, and supportive for all participants. Our staff and instructors accomplish this goal by cultivating an environment that promotes positive behavior intervention and support, physical safety, emotional well-being, educational opportunities, and fun.
We believe that everyone shares in the responsibility of creating a great experience; everyone plays a critical role by agreeing to respect others and the environment. We approach participants with empathetic, positive language and strive to help participants make developmentally appropriate choices. Sometimes, participants may make choices that are unsafe or create an unwelcoming environment for themselves or others.
Our staff and instructors manage most behavioral situations during the program, but there may be times when we need to involve the parent/guardian. Mounds View Community Education has instituted behavior expectations and guidelines to clearly communicate what is considered appropriate behavior at our programs.
We are able to provide some additional support to participants based on expressed participant needs. Participants receiving additional support are still required to follow the same behavioral guidelines and procedures as their fellow peers.
Please read the behavioral expectations and guidelines to ensure that both you and your participant understand what type of behavior is expected during a program and what the actions will be if a participant chooses to behave in a way that doesn’t meet our guidelines. We appreciate your trust and support, together we can make our programs a wonderful experience for all participants.
Behavioral Expectations:
All participants are expected to be engaged, respectful, responsible and safe while participating in Community Education activities, camps, classes. events, or other programs.
Participants will:
- Follow instructor/staff directions and instructions
- Be engaged, present and participating in the classroom/gym or field of their scheduled camp or program
- Follow classroom, gym, field and/or activity rules
- Use respectful and appropriate language and volume levels for classroom, gym, field or school space.
- Leave their work/project/activity area neat
- Keep their arms, legs, body parts and belongings to themselves, and resolve conflicts peacefully
- In the case that the activity or field trip is off school grounds, all students are expected to follow the rules and expectations of the location or place of business hosting the program or Community Education group.
Behavioral Procedures:
- First Instance: Learning moment: The staff member who witnesses the inappropriate behavior takes the opportunity to explain why the behavior is not appropriate for Community Education programs and redirects the participant to appropriate behaviors in the situation.
- Second Instance: Verbal warning: If the same or similar behavior happens again, the participant is then warned that their behavior is unacceptable and that they will need to take a break if the behavior persists.
- Third Instance: Take a break: If participant behavior persists after a verbal warning the participant will be required to take a break from the activity or until they are able to conduct themselves in a safe, non-disruptive way. Repeated behavioral issues will result in parent contact.
Behavioral issues may include, but are not limited to:
- Failure to follow directions from staff
- Class disruption where staff have to intervene and remove participant from class
- Inability to stay in the class area, participating in a scheduled camp/program.
- Physical fighting, biting, hitting, kicking, spitting or use of any object with intent to cause physical harm.
- Inappropriate or indecent use of language, body or technology
- Elopement from program spaces or group while on field trips
- Behavior that prevents the safe operation of a vehicle, e.g., inability to listen to directions on the bus, moving around while the vehicle is in motion, throwing of any objects, etc.
Major incidents may result in a participant's immediate suspension or termination at any time at the discretion of the Community Education staff. Examples of such incidents may include bullying, possession of a weapon, fighting, biting, physical escalation, vandalism, elopement, etc.
Parents/Guardian's may be contacted during a program, or at pickup time at the discretion of the Community Education program staff and/or instructor.
Discipline-related absences are not eligible for refunds.
