HONOR CODE

The Montessori Academy Honor Code is enacted to create a community of trust, concern, and personal integrity. 

I. The Honor Council: 

The Honor Council is a group of students nominated by their teachers and elected by the Honor Advisory Board whose primary and indispensable duty is to instill the concept and spirit of the Honor Code within the Montessori Academy community. The secondary function of this group is to sit as a hearing Council on all alleged violations of the code with the assistance of the Honor Advisory Board.

II. The Honor Code deals with refraining from lying, cheating, attempted cheating, stealing, while striving for personal integrity.

a. Lying encompasses the willful and knowledgeable telling of an untruth, any form of deceit, or fraud in an oral or written academic assignment.

b. Cheating encompasses the willful giving or receiving of unauthorized academic work. This includes theft, talking, signs, notes, copying, and all attempted cheating.

c. Stealing encompasses taking something without permission with the intent to keep.

d. Kindness refers to being concerned about the welfare of others and showing you care about anyone that crosses your path.

e. Peacefulness refers to being calm and fair in all situations, trusting that things will be all right, and giving up violence.

f. Tolerance refers to being flexible and accepting things that you wish were different. You accept differences and overlook faults with grace and courtesy.

III. Responsibility of the faculty.

a. It is the responsibility of all faculty members, to the best of their ability, to maintain the integrity of the learning process of all members of our community and to maximize conditions that foster academic and personal integrity.

b. To alleviate misunderstandings, each teacher is required to delineate at the beginning of each semester what constitutes a violation of the Honor Code in their class. These written guidelines must be filed with the Honor Advisory Council.

IV. Responsibility of the Students

a. It is the responsibility of the students to request an explanation of any part of the Honor Code that they do not understand. It is their responsibility to sign the Honor Code only when committed to it.

b. All students attending Montessori Academy have the duty as participating members of this community to report to a member of the Honor Council or Advisory Board any violations of the Honor Code.

V. Procedure for Reporting a Violation

a. All students and faculty witnessing or discovering a violation of the Honor Code shall enlist, whenever possible, one or more corroborating witnesses to the overt act. This notification must be with 10 school days of the alleged violation or realization of the act. The Honor Council will meet once a week to review all complaints. The Honor Council will within 5 school days notify the suspected party of an Honor Council Review date.

VI. The Honor Council Review

a.  With the guidance of the Honor Advisory Board, the Honor Council will follow the steps of peer mediation.

b. The Honor Council will recommend one of The following options:

I. Dismissal of violation

II. Oral Reprimand

III. Written Reprimand

IV. Referral to Honor Advisory Board for disciplinary action

VII. Honor Council Duties

a. The Honor Council will promote school spirit.

b. The Honor Council will promote the Honor Code and conduct reviews as needed.

c. The Honor Council may attend Charter Advisory Board Meetings to present the attribute of the month and Spirit Day plans.

d. The Honor Council will meet weekly for a term of 3 months.