Have a concern?
At the IC, we work very hard to be proactive, set students and families up for success, and provide a positive educational experience. Throughout the course of a school year, concerns will still arise, and we will need to problem solve together. When this happens, please don't hesitate to reach out to staff. We are on the same team and want to find a solution that works for everyone.
Classroom Concern? - Contact your child's teacher
Lunch or Recess Concern? - Contact Megan Erickson
Social Emotional Concern? - Contact Buddy Sigmon
School Concern? - Contact Katie Hauge
Special Education Concern? - Contact special education teacher or Patrick Kumke
Bus Concern? - Contact the Bus Garage at 608-437-7106
Other Concerns? - Check out our Who to Contact directory
Bullying
Bullying, harassment, or intimidation in any fashion is unacceptable behavior and is prohibited at school. The Intermediate Center strives to create a school community where all people are welcome and students learn to be respectful, responsible, and ready when working with others. To learn more about our proactive efforts, please visit our Social Emotional Learning page.
Despite our best efforts, peer conflict will happen. When it does, it is important to know when it reaches the level of bullying. Our school counselor teaches all students how to recognize, report, and refuse bullying. Check out Mr. Buddy's lesson here.
According to stopbullying.gov, “Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include:
- An Imbalance of Power: Individuals who bully use their power—such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or social status—to control or harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and in different situations, even if they involve the same people.
- Repetition: Bullying behaviors happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.”
Bullying is not perceptions of rudeness, criticism, “not getting your way,” healthy peer conflict, isolated and unintentional physical contact, or lack of consideration. These are examples of conduct that is unlikely to constitute bullying, harassment, and/or intimidation.
Regardless if the problem is bullying or not, we want to know about it, so we can address it. Please notify the Dean of Students, Megan Erickson, if your student is struggling with a peer conflict.
If you believe the behavior does constitute bullying, you need to document your concern by completing this form and submit it to the Dean of Students or the Principal, Katie Hauge. When this form is submitted, an investigation into the issue will begin and will be completed within 10 school days.
To learn more about our Anti-Bullying/Harassment/Intimidation Procedures, read administrative regulations here to learn more.
How are negative behaviors addressed?
To learn more about how staff address problematic behaviors, please review our Responses to Negative Student Actions, Behaviors, and Language. This is a district-wide framework that guides how we handle harmful behaviors. While we can't discuss another student's consequences due to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), our goal with this framework is to be transparent about our process.
See something? Say something!
One of the best ways to improve school safety is for students, families, and staff to share concerning behavior with school administrators when they see it. If you have traveled by airplane, you are familiar with the regular announcements to report any suspicious activity to the Department of Homeland Security. “If you see something, say something” also applies at school.
When students hear of situations where someone might get hurt, or they see someone harming another person, they are taught to report the issue to the supervising adult. This could be the classroom teacher or the duty teacher at lunch or recess. If students hear something outside of school or on the bus, they can still come to the office to report the issue directly to Ms. Hauge, the IC principal, or share what they heard or saw to office staff.
Parents, guardians, and community members can also report issues of safety or concern to the school. This could be done:
- via phone at 437-7406
- via email to Ms. Hauge or another staff person
- stopping into the office in person
- through Speak Up, Speak Out (see below)
