November 9, 2026
Giant Nation: Let's Lighten the Load!
A Message to Parents and Students
Dear Giant Nation,
As we continue working to improve our morning entry procedures, we are asking students and families to help us make the process smoother, faster, and more efficient. One way we can accomplish this is by reducing the number of unnecessary items students bring through our weapons detection systems each morning.
We are encouraging students to get a locker and USE IT!
We are going to try something new! We want students to have some choice in selecting a locker that is convenient for them and their daily schedules.
Here's How to Request Your Locker:
Walk through the building and identify three locker numbers you would prefer. Consider locations that are convenient to your classes.
Complete the Locker Request Form using the link below and enter your three preferred locker numbers.
We will do our best to assign you one of your preferred lockers based on availability.
You will receive an email confirming your assigned locker number and combination.
Once assigned, begin using your locker during the five-minute passing periods to exchange books and supplies.
Locker Request Form:
https://forms.gle/aX9yU5dU8VRi1Vgk7
Let's Rethink What's in Our Backpacks!
We are asking students and parents to consider a few simple changes:
Leave three-ring binders at school. Large metal rings can trigger our weapons detection systems and slow down morning entry.
Use a take-home folder. Rather than carrying multiple large binders back and forth, use a lightweight folder for homework and papers that need to go home.
Consider composition notebooks. These are excellent alternatives to large three-ring binders.
Consider lightweight plastic binders or folders. These may help reduce the amount of metal students carry through the detectors.
Leave unnecessary items in your locker. Only carry what you need for your next classes.
Plan ahead. Use passing time wisely to exchange materials and prepare for your next class.
Why Does This Matter?
Every item that triggers our weapons detection systems requires additional attention and potentially another screening. When hundreds of students enter the building each morning, these delays add up and can affect students' ability to arrive in their first-hour classes on time.
Our priority remains the same: Keeping our students and staff safe while protecting valuable instructional time.
We recognize that adjusting routines takes time, but we also know that small changes can make a significant difference. We need our students to take ownership of their morning routines and our families to help reinforce these expectations at home.
Students, your locker is a resource use it! You do not need to carry your entire school day on your back.
Let's work together to lighten the load, shorten the lines, and get our Maroon Giants into classrooms ready to learn!
Thank you for your continued partnership and support.
Mrs. Boggan, Principal
Let Your Footprints Resonate with Excellence!
STUDENT ID BADGE
Caring for our students and maintaining a safe and secure school environment are primary responsibilities at Kalamazoo Central. Every student is provided a student identification badge to help staff quickly identify members of our school community and individuals who may not belong on campus.
Students must wear their school-issued ID badge to enter the building without interruption and must keep it on and visible throughout the entire school day.
Student ID badges must be worn around the neck, above the waist, on a lanyard. Students are expected to have their ID badge visible at all times while on campus.
Students must wear their ID badge to:
Enter the school building without interruption.
Receive lunch in the lunch line.
Leave the classroom on a pass.
Participate in school and campus activities.
Remain on campus after school.
Attend or participate in school-related functions as required.
School safety is non-negotiable. Wearing an ID badge allows staff to identify our students quickly and helps distinguish students from unauthorized individuals or trespassers.
The cost of a replacement ID badge is $5.00.
Important: Students who arrive without their ID badge may experience a delay entering the building and will be required to follow the school's ID replacement process. Refusing to show an ID badge or refusing to identify oneself when asked by a staff member will result in a disciplinary referral to building administration.
Kalamazoo Central Dress Code Expectations
At Kalamazoo Central, we want every student to feel comfortable, respected, and ready to learn. We recognize that students have different styles, cultures, preferences, body types, and ways of expressing themselves. Our dress code is not intended to shame students, police their bodies, or discourage appropriate self-expression.
At the same time, school is a learning environment with standards and expectations. Clothing that may be appropriate for other settings, activities, or occasions may not be appropriate during the school day.
We appreciate our families partnering with us to ensure students arrive at school dressed appropriately and ready to learn.
The Kalamazoo Central dress code is a non-negotiable expectation and will be enforced fairly, consistently, and respectfully for all students.
Clothing Coverage
Students are expected to wear clothing that provides appropriate coverage throughout the school day.
Skirts, dresses, and shorts must be Level 2 (mini/mid-thigh) or longer, as shown on our visual reference. Level 1 (micro length) is not appropriate for school.
Pants and other bottoms must be worn at the waist with undergarments covered.
Clothing must provide appropriate coverage of the chest, buttocks, and private areas with opaque fabric.
Undergarments and areas traditionally covered by undergarments must remain covered.
Clothing must maintain appropriate coverage during normal movement throughout the school day.
Adjusting or pulling down an item after being addressed does not make the item acceptable if appropriate coverage cannot be maintained.
Our expectations are about the clothing, not the student's body. Students will not be judged or shamed because of body type, size, gender, race, culture, or personal style.
School Attire vs. Activity Attire
Clothing appropriate for another setting or activity may not meet the expectations of the regular school day. This includes school-issued or school-approved athletic, team, club, performance, or activity uniforms.
A uniform or garment approved for competition, practice, performance, or another school-sponsored activity is not automatically approved for wear during the instructional day.
For example, team shorts or uniforms that are appropriate on the court, field, stage, or during competition may not provide the coverage required in the classroom.
Head & Face Coverings
Head coverings worn for religious observance are permitted.
Hats and fashion headwear are not permitted during the school day. This includes baseball caps, tams, Kangol-style hats, bucket hats, and other headwear worn primarily as a fashion or style choice.
We understand that hair-related situations happen. Our priority is to keep students in class and learning whenever there is a reasonable way to do so.
When a student has a hair-related concern that might otherwise prevent them from attending class, a simple head covering such as a skull cap, nylon durag, scarf, or bonnet may be worn as a temporary alternative. This option is intended to address an immediate need and prevent the loss of instructional time. It is not intended to become everyday fashion attire or a substitute for meeting the regular dress-code expectation.
Face Coverings
Ski masks, balaclavas, and other coverings that conceal a student's identity are not permitted at any time.
Disposable or cloth face masks may not be worn as a fashion accessory or simply to conceal a student's face.
Medical Face Mask Exceptions
A face mask required for a documented medical or health-related reason must be approved by the building principal or one of the assistant principals. No other staff member may authorize an exception.
Students experiencing symptoms of a contagious illness or who are too ill to participate fully in the school day should remain home and follow district health and attendance guidance rather than relying on a face mask to attend school.
FACE MASKS ARE NOT PERMITTED AT AFTER-SCHOOL OR EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES OR EVENTS. Permission to wear a face mask at these activities or events will not be granted as an extension of a school-day mask exception.
If a student has been granted permission to wear a face mask during the school day for a medical or health-related reason, that permission applies to the instructional school day only and does not extend to after-school or extracurricular activities or events. If the student continues to require the face mask, the student should not attend or participate in the after-school or extracurricular activity that day. This includes athletic practices and competitions, clubs, performances, dances, and other school-sponsored activities or events.
We respect students' individuality and personal expression. However, not every style choice that is appropriate outside of school is appropriate within the school environment. Our goal is to correct the concern, preserve the expectation, and keep students learning whenever it is safe and appropriate to do so.
Clothing, Images & Messages
Students may express themselves through their clothing, but clothing worn at school must support a safe, respectful, and learning-focused environment.
Clothing may not display:
Explicit, obscene, or inappropriate language or images
Images, symbols, or messages depicting or promoting violence or weapons
Threatening, discriminatory, hateful, or intimidating language, images, or messages
References to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, vaping, or other substances prohibited for students
Signs, graphics, or messages that create a hostile or substantially disruptive school environment
A message, image, or article of clothing that may be acceptable outside of school may not be appropriate within the school environment.
When a Student Does Not Meet the Dress Code
When a student is asked to change an item of clothing, we are addressing the clothing choice, not the character of the student.
Being asked to change does not mean a student is bad, disrespectful, or in trouble as a person. It simply means that a particular item does not meet the expectations for our school environment and cannot be worn during the school day.
Whenever possible, dress-code concerns will be addressed privately, respectfully, and without unnecessarily removing students from instruction. Students who do not meet the expectation will be given an opportunity to change or correct the concern.
Refusal to comply with a reasonable request to correct a dress-code concern becomes a matter of following school expectations and may result in additional school consequences.
One Standard. Every Student.
Our goal is to apply the dress code fairly, consistently, and respectfully to every student. Enforcement will not target or disproportionately affect students because of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, body type, size, or personal style.
Students are responsible for meeting school dress-code expectations. At the same time, all members of our school community are responsible for managing their own personal distractions. A student's body should never be treated as the problem.
We can respect individuality and self-expression while maintaining standards appropriate for school. Those ideas do not have to compete with one another. Our goal is simple: protect student dignity, preserve clear expectations, and keep students learning.
Thank you to our students and families for partnering with us to maintain a respectful, safe, appropriate, and learning-focused environment throughout Giant Nation.
ARRIVAL, DISMISSAL & EARLY PICK-UP EXPECTATIONS
The safety of our students and the protection of instructional time are priorities at Kalamazoo Central. We ask all families to carefully review and follow the expectations below.
ARRIVAL
Please drop students off in the front of the building, not in the back.
Our buses operate on a very tight schedule. They must drop off students and continue their routes to transport students to our elementary schools. Please allow buses to enter and exit freely and do not cut in front of or block buses.
If you are dropping your student off at the curb, please allow your student to exit safely and then pull away from the curb.
If you plan to wait with your student until the doors open, please pull into a parking space. Waiting along the curb creates unnecessary traffic congestion and can make it unsafe for students walking into the building.
Please use caution at all times. Students may be walking between vehicles, crossing driveways, or approaching the building.
EARLY PICK-UP DURING THE SCHOOL DAY
We understand that there will be times when students must leave school early for appointments or other necessary reasons. However, we must also protect our students' instructional time.
If your student needs to be picked up early, please notify the Main Office before 12:30 p.m. whenever possible.
Beginning at 1:30 p.m., the Main Office will no longer accept phone calls requesting that students be pulled from class for early dismissal. Students will not be called out of class for routine early pick-ups after 1:30 p.m.
If your student has a doctor's appointment or another scheduled obligation that requires an early dismissal, please contact the office well in advance so arrangements can be made.
We recognize that occasional appointments are necessary. However, repeated or routine early dismissals—particularly when they establish a consistent pattern—may be reviewed and addressed by administration.
This expectation is not intended to inconvenience families. It is designed to protect the last hour of the instructional day. When students are routinely removed from school early, they miss valuable instruction, assignments, assessments, teacher support, and important end-of-day information.
Every minute of instruction matters.
DISMISSAL
To ensure a safe and efficient dismissal process:
Please pick up students in the front of the building.
Do not cut in front of buses or block bus traffic.
Please remain mindful of students walking through the parking and pick-up areas.
If you are picking up your student after 2:45 p.m., you may use the back of the building.
SAFETY MATTERS
Students walking or darting between buses and vehicles can create an extremely unsafe situation. A few extra minutes of patience can make a significant difference.
The attached image provides a visual of the traffic pattern we are asking families to follow.
YELLOW ARROWS: Follow the arrows to move through the designated drop-off route. Please proceed slowly and with caution.
RED AREA: This is the designated area for students to exit vehicles. Please have students ready to exit safely so traffic can continue moving.
Once your student has safely exited your vehicle, please continue through the designated traffic pattern rather than stopping or waiting along the curb.
Thank you, Giant Nation, for partnering with us to keep our students safe, our traffic moving, and our students in classrooms learning until the end of the school day.
Let your footprints resonate with excellence.
