Classes begin at 7:40 AM and end at 3:10 PM.  Supervising teachers are on duty from 7:20 to 3:30 at parent drive, in the cafeteria and main hallways and out in front of the school. Students are expected to enter the building and gather in the main hallway. Students are not allowed to leave the premises or "hang out" or play in the courtyard before school.

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Students must attend school every day.  According to state law, students may only be absent from school for the following reasons:

Personal illness , Sickness in the family , Counseling , Court appearance , Quarantine , Weather conditions , Religious holidays , and Doctor appointments

Students may not get credit if they attend less 90% of the school year (excused or unexcused).  Unavoidable extended absences must be cleared through the Director’s office in advance.

If students must be absent from school, parents are to call the school (713-365-5766) after 7:20 A.M.  When the student returns to school, he/she must bring a signed and dated note from the parent to the ADA Specialist in the main office before school.  The note must state the reason the student was absent and the dates he/she was absent.  The student has two days to bring the note after an absence for the absence to b e considered excused. If the student fails to bring a note within 2 days, the absence will be considered unexcused. If students will be absent more than three (3) days, parents may get assignments by calling the office. Twenty-four hour notice is necessary to obtain the assignments.

If a student is absent for five (5) consecutive days a note from a health care provider must be provided.

If a student is absent ten (10) days or parts of days in a six-month period, school personnel are required by law to notify the Spring Branch ISD Police Department T.R.I.A.T.

After an absence, students are responsible for getting an admit to class.  Admits must be obtained before school. The student is responsible for presenting the admit to each teacher for his/her initials and then turning it in to the office at the end of the day.

Students arriving after 7:40 a.m. should bring a note, signed by a parent, stating the specific reason for being late and report directly to the office for an admit to enter class.  Students may be assigned a detention for being tardy depending on their reason for being late.

If students are absent without the knowledge of their parents, they are considered truant.

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The school cafeteria provides hot lunches for the convenience of students.  Students must bring their lunch money or their lunch.  The office does not have a lunch fund for students who lose or forget their lunch money.  The Food Service Department will provide, on a limited basis, a sandwich and milk with the understanding that the money will be paid another day.  The cafeteria is a clean place to eat and relax and it is important that the students keep it this way.  Students will follow the guidelines listed below:

• Report to the cafeteria in an orderly manner and be seated or go to the end of the serving line.

• Assume responsibility for picking up trash/trays and keeping the table and surrounding areas clean.

• Purchase items (drinks and snacks) from the vending machines before 7:40 a.m. Food snacks can also be purchased during lunch. Visits to the vending machines between classes will result in loss of items purchsed.

All students are required to eat at school, and must not leave campus during lunch.  Students may eat at any available table or out in the courtyard. Students may also participate in "wall ball" or may occasionally participate in other "gentle sports" activities (tossing a football, lightly kicking a soccer ball) as determined by the lunch monitors. When raining, students are expected to stay in the cafeteria or under the permitted covered areas.

Students are expected to pick up their own trash and deposit it into the trash cans. Cougar Pride! Failure to adhere to these rules may result in a detention or cleanup duty.

Middle School Daily Menu

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All prescription and non-prescription medication must be kept in the clinic, appropriately labeled and in its original container.  Dosage instructions must be signed by the physician and the parent. 

Non Prescription Medication Form

Prescription Medication Form

Parents must sign out with the main office when taking students home from the clinic.

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The Student Council sponsors 4 dances during the year (6^th grade welcome during school hours, fall, winter and luau).  Only students enrolled at Cornerstone Academy are permitted to attend except for the luau, at which dance all Cornerstone alumni are also invited to attend. Once inside the dance, a student is not allowed to leave. Parents are responsible for transportation to and from dances and are encouraged to be prompt in picking up their child. Students who are not picked up within a reasonable period of time will not be permitted to attend future after-school activities and parents may be assessed a fee. Attendance at dances and other extracurricular activities is considered a privilege and may be restricted due to inappropriate behavior.

Regular school dress code is to be followed at all dances unless the dance has a specific theme.  Even at theme dances clothes must be appropriate for a school function (no low rise pants, midriff tops or tank tops).

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Students may incur a lunch, after-school or Saturday detention as a result of committing a Level I or II offense as listed in the district handbook.  The student will be expected to serve the detention as quickly as possible. Lunch detentions are served Tuesday through Friday.  Students with repeated Level 1 or II offenses or higher level offenses may be suspended from school for up to 3 days.

Offenses of behavior expectations may result in the loss of privileges such as vending machine usage, technology usage, participation in field trips, etc.

Refer to the district handbook for all-disciplinary policies and procedures.

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·         No head coverings of any type may be worn inside the campus buildings.  Head coverings will be confiscated and returned at the discretion of the campus administration. Caps are not permitted except on campus spirit days as noted on the school calendar.

·         Any clothing, jewelry, or other paraphernalia which may indicate gang affiliation as determined by the Spring Branch Police Gang Task Force and SBISD is prohibited.

·         Being barefoot (or without shoes) on campus is not acceptable at any time.  Flip-flops and shower shoes are not permitted except on campus spirit days as noted on the school calendar. Backless shoes such as clogs and Birkenstocks are permitted. However, students who are enrolled in a Health Fitness class or a sports CESIT class must bring a pair of athletic shoes to participate in class. Students without an appropriate change of shoes will receive a zero for participation. Three days without participation results in a detention.

·         Clothing with suggestive or inappropriate language is not permissible.

·         Pants and jeans that are tattered, frayed or have holes above the fingertips are not permitted.

·         Revised for 2008-2009! Shorts must have at least a 5” inseam.

·         Skirts must meet the fingertip rule. Stand straight with arms at side, hands and fingers extended. If the skirt is shorter than the tips of your fingers, then it is too short to wear to school. Wearing leggings underneath a skirt that is too short does not meet dress code.

·         Pants and shorts must be worn above the hipbone. Therefore, “low-rise” pants or jeans are not permissible.

·         All sleeveless and off the shoulder tops including crop top, tank tops, halters, midriffs, or see-through tops are not permitted.

·         Clothing deemed to be immodest is not acceptable. Basically, we have a “No crack in the front or back” policy. Exposure of backsides, stomachs and cleavage is not appropriate for school. Undergarments should not be visible (this includes bra straps).

·         Shirts must cover the top of the pants when arms are raised above the head.

·         Lycra and spandex (tight fitted clothing) shorts may not be worn.

·         Boys are permitted to wear stud earrings but may not wear dangle earrings. Boys must be clean shaven. No facial hair is permitted (as stated in the SBISD secondary school policy).

As fads change, the school administration reserves the right to adjust dress code standards in order to maintain a school appropriate appearance.

Students who choose not to abide by the dress code will be given appropriate clothing by the school administration to wear for the remainder of the school day and the inappropriate clothing will be held in the CSA office until the appropriate clothing is cleaned and returned. The parent will be notified that the student arrived to school not in accordance with the dress code. Repeat offenders will receive a detention and the parent will be required to bring a change of clothes to the student for the remainder of the day.

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Radios, tape players, CD players and MP3 players may be brought to school and used during certain CESIT classes (as specified by the teacher). The use of all music players is not allowed anytime in the common areas of the building after 7:40 AM and anywhere on campus after 10 AM. Students who are seen with these devices and/or headphones in the hallways or classrooms after that time will have the devices confiscated and will received consequences as stated in the district handbook.  These items may be returned to a parent or to the student at a time determined by the campus administration.

Cell phones are not allowed to be active or turned on anytime between the hours of 7:35 AM and 3:10 PM. Any cell phone that is seen and turned on between these hours will result in confiscation of the cell phone. The cell phone will be given to the SBISD Police Department and the student and/or parent may pick it up from the police dept. after receiving a postcard and paying $15.

 The bringing of any items of value to school is discouraged.  The school is not responsible for any items the student brings to school. 

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Report cards are issued at the end of each six week reporting period.  Progress reports are issued every three weeks in the form of a computer printout of grades in each core class.  Progress may be noted by referring to the student agenda on a daily basis.  Please refer to the Cornerstone website for specific campus grading policies including homework.

Academic Grades:

Conduct Grades:

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Additionally, students must complete 6 physically active CESITS during their 7th and 8th grade years in order to meet state guidelines.

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The Spring Branch Education Center Library’s hours are from 7:10 AM through 3:30 PM.  Cornerstone students may visit the library before and after school every day and during lunchtime several days of the week. A wide variety of materials such as books, magazines and audio books are available for use and check out.  Most items are due back in two weeks. No fines are charged for late items, however students may not check out additional library items if they have any overdue materials. Also available to the students are fifteen computers.  From these district networked computers, students may conduct school research, create multimedia projects, print or save their work to the server.  All students must abide by the Technology Honor Code of Conduct.

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Each student is assigned a locker and a combination lock during the first week of school. Students have full responsibility for the security of their lockers and should make certain they are locked and that the combination is not given to others. In order to prevent theft, it is essential that students use the lockers assigned to them. Students who persist in leaving clothing and/or materials in unlocked lockers can expect mischief to occur. Students who give their locker combinations to their friends or who “rig” their locks are also inviting possible losses. The school is not responsible for property placed in lockers. We encourage students not to bring valuables to school. If a lock is lost, a replacement lock (one that can be opened with our key) must be purchased from the school for $7.00.

Lockers are assigned to individual students. Lockers remain under the jurisdiction of the school. Searches of lockers may be conducted at any time there is reasonable cause to do so, whether or not students are present.

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• Campus Improvement Team

• CESIT Coordinator

• Resource Finder

• Lunch Monitor

• Gifted/Talented Advisory Board

• Community Relations Advisory Board

• PTA Member

• PTA Committee Chairperson

• PTA Volunteer

• Field Trip Volunteer

• Campus Beautification

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Your backpack and the items in it are your responsibility. You need to keep your backpack with you or in your locker at all times. Do not assume that someone else will monitor your backpack for you while you go to the cafeteria, go to the bathroom, attend an outdoor CESIT or go visit with a group of friends. Never leave it unattended!

Lockers are the property of SBISD. Students are issued one Master lock from the school. Make sure you lock your lock each time. Never leave an unlocked lock on your locker. If this lock disappears or has to be cut off, a new lock must be purchased from the school for $7.00. These locks have a master key in case of emergency that is maintained by the Assistant Director. Students should not bring their own locks to school. Non-sanctioned locks will be cut off of lockers.

 Skateboards, roller blades, roller shoes are not permitted at school.

For safety reasons, roller shoes and skateboards are not allowed at Cornerstone. Skateboards may be a way for students to arrive at campus. If used as transportation to school, once on campus, the skateboard must be stored in the Cornerstone office or in a classroom for the entire school day. If a student chooses to ride the skateboard while on campus, the skateboard will be confiscated and kept by the Cornerstone administration. We strongly encourage that skateboards not be brought to campus.

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Check the Cornerstone calendar on-line at http://csa.springbranchisd.com for special "events" throughout the year.

Mad Cap Mondays - Students and staff are allowed to wear caps!

Flip Flop Fridays - Students and staff are allowed to wear flip flops!

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• Student Government

• Honor Society

• Intramurals

• Leadership

Passing grades in all subjects each 6 weeks and good discipline records must be maintained in order to participate in extracurricular activities.  Dances may be attended only by students presently enrolled at Cornerstone Academy.  Once a student leaves an event, he/she may not return.

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Technology and civic responsibility are important aspects of Cornerstone’s instructional program.  All of the technology at Cornerstone Academy must be handled properly.  Inappropriate use of hardware and/or software will result in the loss of privileges as determined by the school administration.  Listed are the technology rules:

• The parent or guardian of a student is financially responsible for any and all intentional damage done to equipment by the student.

• Teacher permission must be given before accessing remote sites or services.

• The control panel and the system folder are not to be accessed.

• Personal disks should be left at home.

• Teacher’s permission must be given to use the laser printer.

• Only teachers may create folders.

• Folders should not be moved or changed in any way.

• Copyrighted software as well as free-ware and share-ware cannot be kept in your folder.

• Your password should be used only by you.

• Profanity in your folder or on the network is not allowed.

• Extra care should be taken with all technology equipment and any vandalism or theft reported immediately.

• Only school related work should be stored on your folder.

• E-mail is to be used for school-related purposes only as defined by district regulations for e-mail (located on the district web-site).

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Bus-route numbers are on signs in bus windows and are not to be confused with numbers painted on the bodies of the buses.  Students are to ride their assigned buses only.

Proper behavior is expected on the bus as well as the bus stop.  Failure to comply with directions from the driver or district rules may result in loss of bus privileges.

Parent drop-off and pick-up is located on the east side of the building.  When exiting the drop-off/pick-up area, parents may pull out directly on to Westview.  

Parents must not use the bus circle due to congestion and the potential for accidents.

Our Parent Drop-off/Pick up lane is in the safest area of the campus but remember, it still runs through an employee/visitor parking lot.  Many vehicles move through the area daily, and often at exactly the time we are loading/unloading students. If we become careless or chose to ignore some well tested rules then we run the risk of injuring a precious student or becoming involved in an accident ourselves.

In the morning at drop-off time:

New for 2008-2009!  Enter the Parent Drive lane from the north (near the stadium) and pull up along the curb closest to the gym - a line will form and ‘snake’ out through the parking lot by the stadium.  Just pull up at the end of the line taking care not to block access to vehicles which may be parked in the striped area of the parking lots.

Move slowly up until you are one of the first two cars in line. Do not allow your child to exit the car until it is your turn.

Note: The tardy bell rings at 7:40. Most students will have a lengthy walk to get to class in the A Hall. Please plan to arrive early so your child will be on time.

In the afternoon at pick-up time:

Enter the Parent Drive lane from the north (near the stadium) and pull up along the curb closest to the gym - a line will form and ‘snake’ out through the parking lot by the stadium.  Just pull up at the end of the line taking care not to block access to vehicles which may be parked in the striped area of the parking lots.

As students begin to file outside the line will begin to move. Your child MAY NOT load into your vehicle until you have reached the concrete walkway near the front of the line.    This is for your child’s safety; many of our vehicles are much bigger than our students making visibility difficult.  When you prepare to exit the line, please take extra care to see if any vehicles are moving in the lot - or if anyone behind you is pulling away from the curb.

DO NOT leave the line because you see your child on the sidewalk and drive to the front of the line -when you ask a student  to leave the curb they must walk between cars and you’ve created the  potential for danger.

If you have an appointment or another reason for not choosing to use the Parent Drive line there is an option.  You may park in any of the striped parking spaces OUTSIDE of the loading/unloading zone, walk to the overhang area and then escort your child to your vehicle.  DO NOT PARK ALONG THE CHAIN LINK FENCE TO WAIT FOR YOUR CHILD.   Not only is this a Fire Zone, it creates a huge visibility problem for drivers exiting the loading/unloading area; it is an accident waiting to happen.   Parking along the fence nearest to the tennis courts is okay – you won’t create a visibility problem but you must escort your child from the sidewalk to your vehicle.

During the school year there are many events on our campus - from teacher training to sporting events in the stadium and in the gym. Many, many cars and school buses move through the parking area at the east side of the campus- usually at the time we are picking up our children. We must remain careful, considerate and most of all, patient.  The pick up line moves pretty quickly and is very safe for our students when everyone respects the rules. 

Not following the rules may save you five minutes, but are those five minutes really worth it if a child gets hurt? Every child at Cornerstone is precious; is it up to us - the grownups -  to protect them. 

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Vending machines are available before school and during lunch. Students are not allowed to use the vending machines between classes or after school. Abuse of vending machine privileges will result in the loss of purchased items and may result in a classroom or campus consequence. The school is not responsible for money lost in the machines.

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