Field trips are a wonderful way of enhancing learning and exploring the neighborhood, the city and other social environments. During the year, classes go on walking or bus field trips in the city which tie into the curriculum.
Students have parents’ permission to take part in all activities on or off the campus, including field trips, and to ride in vehicles chartered by Avenues unless written notice to the contrary is sent to registrar-sz@avenueschina.cn and confirmed in writing by Avenues. It is a parent responsibility to ensure that his/her child is covered by current and comprehensive insurance. Parents release Avenues, its faculty, staff, and parents from liability, other than for gross negligence, for any injury to the person or property of their child by reason of participating in such activities or transportation in such vehicles.
For some of these trips, parents are asked to help supervise. If you are asked to supervise please see the field trip guidelines below:
We realize that a field trip will be a good opportunity to visit with other parents. However, you will be responsible for supervising your own child and possibly another during the trip, and it is important for you to monitor and keep them safe. If a child in your group is too challenging for you to supervise, tell the teacher immediately, and the teacher will take charge of that child. Please refrain from using cell phones during the trip.
Siblings are not permitted on field trips as this may be a distraction for you when supervising students.
Follow travel plans/directions carefully as given by the classroom teacher and please follow any special instructions. Do not deviate from the plan that has been pre-arranged by the teachers.
Please do not stop at any unplanned destinations such as restaurants, stores, etc. when you are on a field trip. It is your responsibility to keep your group together and keep up with the whole group. If the trip includes a parent for every child and children will be dismissed from the end of the trip, you must notify the teacher when you are leaving.
Please arrive on time to the departure place and please be sure to accompany students until the very end of the field trip and back to the destination.
As many of our children have allergies and we have a nut-free policy, please do not offer the children any drinks or snacks unless teachers have requested them.
Since our founding, Avenues: The World School has maintained a commitment not to engage in annual or capital fundraising, nor seek charitable support for core academic programs or operations. Avenues seeks to create a community that is self-sustaining and in which the playing field is level for every child regardless of their family’s finances. In our view, traditional independent school fundraising practices not only occupy a great deal of staff time but may also be detrimental to this community vision.
Avenues does believe, however, that fundraising experiences can provide important educational, social and moral lessons. This culture of responsible citizenship and helping others anchors the Avenues mission. In this vein, the school will accept applications for fundraising proposals that are initiated by students with approval from a faculty sponsor.
Our fundraising philosophy may be broken down into several enduring components:
Avenues will allow student-directed fundraising as a part of a community engagement program
Avenues will permit limited fundraising that supports approved school clubs or activities or is clearly tied to the school’s curriculum or mission
Avenues will not allow fundraising in which any member of the community feels pressured into giving; all giving must be optional
Avenues will not seek charitable support for core academic programs or operations, an annual fund or capital campaign
Students who wish to initiate a fundraiser should contact their associate division head
Avenues asks that parents not purchase gifts for any individual faculty, staff or administrators as they cannot be accepted. Instead, the Avenues Parent Association may lead group-giving efforts to groups as a whole, as long as those contributions are done confidentially. Appreciation through a gift can only be done directly if the gift is handmade by a child or through a detailed note from parents or a student expressing their thanks.
All colleagues and parents are expected to wear their lanyard and ID at all times while on campus. Secondary Division students and colleagues are expected to badge into the building every time upon entry.
If your badge is misplaced or lost, please notify security as soon as possible. If there has been a change in your household, and someone has been unauthorized for access, please collect their badge and return it to campus.
Anyone without a badge will not be allowed to enter campus directly. If an authorized person has forgotten their badge, security will confirm their authorization on parent portal and provide a temporary badge. For the safety and security of our campus community, it is imperative that you do not use your badge to provide access to unauthorized guests.
At Avenues, we believe the education of children occurs both in and out of school. Communication between home and school is the cornerstone of our relationship and enables us to focus on the best interests of each student. The school seeks a partnership with each family based on mutual trust, respect and open communication.
We ask that parents share with their child’s teacher, associate division head or dean information that may have an impact on the child’s life at school or that is important for the teacher to know. In turn, we will contact you via email or telephone in a timely manner if there is a question about a child’s academic or social progress. For this to happen, please note that we expect parents and guardians to keep their contact information in your household profile, as well as any changes to the custodial status of their child.
Throughout the course of the academic year, Avenues will communicate important information to parents through WeChat school notifications, emails and/or text message (in emergency situations only). Parents can expect to receive a weekly divisional bulletin each Friday and a monthly head of school communication. Parent grade-level discussions, gatherings, education events, back-to-school events and other events are planned for parents throughout the course of the year.
As a core value, Avenues is both student-centered and responsive to parents. Email and WeChat school notifications are the official methods of communication. Emails, notes or phone calls from parents are acknowledged within 24 hours while school is in session (Monday – Friday and non-holidays). Teachers check their email before and after school but not when the children are present. Therefore, if you need to communicate something time sensitive, it is best to contact the associate division head and operations manager at the division office.
Class/Grade WeChat Group
Teachers will share messages about the class/grade, such as key learning experience, home learning resources, reminders/highlights for the special activities and other related information via class WeChat group. Parents are strongly advised to read this information. Parents are expected to strictly adhere to the above regulations.
Guidelines for Parent Emails
Avenues teachers’ primary focus is on their students and their classrooms, and we ask you to be respectful of their time. We value good parent-teacher communication. When an email is necessary, please try to follow these guidelines:
Keep emails brief. More extensive information is better conveyed in a telephone call or in-person conversation. These conversations should be scheduled via email.
Allow 24 hours to receive a response.
Parent Meetings
We encourage phone calls, video calls or in-person meetings to communicate more complicated or nuanced information.
Please directly contact the faculty member you'd like to meet with via email to schedule an appointment.
Whenever possible, allow 48 hours to schedule a meeting.
In order to have the most effective meeting possible, please ensure the faculty member understands the purpose of the meeting.
Home learning is an essential part of the learning experience that takes place after school hours. Home learning is not isolated but should be closely connected to classroom learning. Teachers will design it to achieve goals below:
To better prepare students for activities at school (preparation)
To help students internalize skills and knowledge through independent practice (practice)
Home learning tasks will vary by grade, with the amount of time needed to complete assignments increasing as students age.
One of our goals is for students to learn how to complete work on time and in a way that represents the best they are able to do. Teachers, associate division heads and deans will maintain communication with you about work that is late or of concern, while also encouraging students to develop self-directed organization and independence.
Recognizing the value of student collaboration, teachers will give guidelines as to the extent of acceptable collaboration on a particular assignment. Feedback will be given in a timely, kind, specific, and helpful manner. It can be given by the teacher, a peer or done by the student themself, depending on the assignment. Teachers and Tech Integrators will guide students in acceptable use of AI tools.
Providing academic help to students is a fundamental part of the job of Avenues teachers. Students should be able to meet the demands of the academic program with help if needed from Avenues’ faculty and support systems. If this support is not sufficient, the teacher and dean will explore other options. Tutoring may be recommended after all other options have been explored.
Faculty members may not tutor any Avenues student privately for additional compensation. In addition, faculty members may not make recommendations about or referrals for tutors. Should outside support or assessment be warranted, the Academic Team can suggest resources in the community to the family. Tutoring sessions should be scheduled before or after school and outside tutors are not allowed to hold sessions on the Avenues campus. No school commitments may be missed without the approval of the associate division head, and those cases will be the exception. Communication between tutors and the Academic Team is essential.
Some students with learning differences may need accommodations to achieve success in meeting the demands and requirements of Avenues’ curriculum.
Eligibility for some of these accommodations such as extended time on tests or a separate setting for tests is considered on a case-by-case basis. This process begins with a formal request to the Associate Division Head by a student’s parents or teacher and may be followed by a recommendation for conducting a psycho-educational or neuropsychological diagnostic assessment and report.
As documentation of specific learning or thinking differences, Avenues requires the following:
Full documentation stating the specific disability as currently diagnosed (that is, completed within the past three years) and that also provides relevant educational, developmental and medical history
The comprehensive testing and techniques used to arrive at the diagnosis
Description of the functional limitations and current impact on classroom and testing performances as supported by the assessment data
Rationale for each of the specific accommodations requested
Professional credentials of the uator
Please note that we do not accept documentation from healthcare professional parents for their own child. Accommodations are based on students' IEPs and/or external uations.
Standardized Testing Accommodations
High school student eligibility for accommodations on standardized tests such as the PSAT, SAT, AP or ACT is determined by the College Board and ACT. Both the College Board and ACT require that documentation for such a request meet specific criteria for students to be granted accommodations on these standardized tests.
The determination of the student’s eligibility to receive accommodation(s) on standardized tests is made by the College Board and/or ACT and not by Avenues. It is, therefore, possible that a student may be approved for testing accommodations at Avenues but not for external standardized testing. It is also possible that a student may be approved for accommodations on one standardized test but not another. As noted on the College Board website, “The mere presence of a disability does not necessarily mean that the student requires accommodations on College Board tests. The disability must impact the student’s ability to participate in standardized tests.” For more information on each organization’s specific services for students with disabilities, eligibility, documentation guidelines, forms, review processes, and test dates and application submission deadlines, please see the website of the specific test.
Some programs and schools require recommendations from a student’s current school. Avenues will only provide these recommendations directly to the program or school. Avenues faculty may not provide recommendations letters directly to students or families.