Student Handbook
The policies, routines, and expectations that shape a Lighthouse school day.
Download the full handbook
The complete Student and Parent Handbook for the 2025-2026 school year covers every policy in detail, from admissions and attendance to discipline, dress code, and financial obligations. Keep a copy handy for the year.
What Families Should Know
Our handbook exists to make school life predictable for students and clear for parents. Below is a summary of the sections families ask about most. The handbook itself is the official policy, so please read it in full, and call the front office any time something is not clear.
Ask about a policy
Type a question and get the answer straight from the handbook. If the handbook does not cover it, you will be pointed to the front office instead of getting a guess.
Answers come from the 2025-2026 handbook. The handbook itself is the official policy, and the front office is always happy to help at 228-447-4941.
Arrival and Dismissal
The building opens for students at 7:30 a.m. and the tardy bell rings at 7:46 a.m. First through fourth grade dismisses at 2:40 p.m., and fifth and sixth grade dismisses at 2:50 p.m. Families who need care before or after those hours often use the Ocean Springs YMCA, Smart Beginnings, or In The Zone.
Attendance
Because each therapy lesson builds directly on the one before it, regular attendance matters a great deal here. Please call the office when your child will be out, and send written notice by email on the day your child returns so the absence can be excused. Students are allowed ten excused absences per school year.
Tardies and Check Out
Students have four tardies per nine weeks without penalty. Five tardies in a nine week period counts as an unexcused absence and prompts a conference with administration. If you need to check your child out, send a note that morning or call the front desk, and please avoid checking out after 2:00 p.m. so dismissal stays orderly.
Dress Code
Students wear collared shirts in white, navy, or light blue with navy or khaki pants, shorts, skorts, or jumpers. Shoes are closed toe and solid colored with non-skid soles, and socks are white or navy. Lighthouse t-shirts may be worn on Fridays. Full details, including outerwear and grooming standards, are in the handbook.
Homework and Grading
Homework reinforces classroom learning and should take no more than about thirty minutes. If it consistently runs longer, please contact your child's teacher. Grades are weighted as forty percent assessments, forty five percent classwork and homework, and fifteen percent effort and perseverance.
Conferences and Communication
Formal parent teacher conference weeks are held in the fall and again at the end of the year, and you may request a conference at any other point. Teacher email addresses follow the pattern first initial, period, last name at lighthousedyslexia.org.
Technology
Students are issued an Apple iPad for instruction and assistive reading tools. Devices are filtered and monitored on and off campus, are checked out by serial number for the year, and are returned in the spring. Families are responsible for replacement costs if a device is lost or damaged.
Health and Safety
Every student must have a current Mississippi Certificate of Compliance, Form 121, on file before attending. Minor injuries and illness are treated on site and parents are notified when appropriate, and 911 is called in an emergency. Please report any change of address or phone number to the office right away.
Questions about a policy?
Every family situation is a little different, and we would rather talk it through than have you guess. Reach out and we will walk you through it.
Contact the Office