English4: Class Procedures Contract

Mrs. Tracey Bly/ Email:

Phone: (310) 378-8471 x623 Room 323

Please review the class procedures for Mrs. Bly’s English 4 course.

PARENTS & STUDENTS: Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with this document and SIGN & return to me ONLY the last page by Sept. 7th / Sept. 8th. An e-copy will be accessible all year on my website.

Your student will receive classwork points for returning this sheet signed.

Overview:

I. Class Rules

II. Class Procedures

III. Grading Policy

IV. Attendance School Policies

V. Chronic Absentee Policies

VI. Academic Honesty

I. Class Rules

A. Good Citizenship

1. Be an active, polite participant and a good listener.

2. Respect others and the classroom. Appreciate diversity.

3. Use your time wisely by following classroom procedures.

4. Bring supplies and books to class everyday.

5. Attend class.

6. Follow all school rules

B. Arrive Prepared. Bring the following items to class DAILY:

  1. Journal
  2. 3 ring binder with tabs
  3. Lined paper
  4. Pencil & pen
  5. Assigned novel
  6. Outside reading novel/book

II. Class Procedures

A. Cell Phone Procedures

1. Upon entering the classroom, students will turn in their cell phones to the secure Phone Caddy*

2. Students will not be allowed to access their phones until our break halfway through class.

3. Please simply contact me if there is an unusual circumstance that requires your student to keep his/her phone on a particular day.

*Feel free to call my classroom phone in an emergency: 310-378-8471 x623

B. Mrs. Bly’s Website

1. ALL classroom documents are posted daily on Mrs. Bly’s website located on PVHS’s home page

2. Students (and parents) are responsible to access Mrs. Bly’s website, as needed, to print out missing worksheets, classwork, handouts, etc.

C. Participation points= 5% of overall grade

1. Students will be able to gain or lose participation points, depending on their daily behavior and participation in class

a. Comprehensive list of how students gain/lose participation points is posted on-line titled: Participation Points Explained

2. Participation grades are posted weekly on Aeries. Students may receive up to 5 points per week.

III. Grading Policy

A. Mrs. Bly uses a weighted grading scale:

Writing25%

Exams30%

Quizzes20%

Classwork/Homework25%

Participation 5%

B. Aeries is updated weekly (usually on Friday)

1. PLEASE check your student’s Aeries account often! It’s a good idea to sign

up for weekly updates on Aeries

IV. Attendance-School Policies: Absences & Truancies & Tardies

A. Excused Absences

1. Mrs. Bly follows PVHS policy guidelines:

What is an excused absence?Even 18 year olds must follow this policy!

Title V Section 420 provides that, when verified within three (3) school days, the following absences may be entered as excused absences:

•Illness or injury

•Quarantine by a heath officer

•Medical, dental, chiropractic or optometric service appointments

•Attending funeral services for a member of the immediate family

•Section 49205 also excuses the absence of a pupil who is the custodial parent of a child who is ill or has a medical appointment during school hours

•Other absences deemed justifiable by the school administration

Parents and guardians have up to three (3) days to provide the school with documentation for a student’s absence.After three days, all unverified absences will be changed to unexcused.

Note: students who forge parent signatures will be subject to disciplinary actions.

ANY OTHER SITUATION NOT COVERED ABOVE IS CONSIDERED UNEXCUSED.

B. Make-Up Work from Excused Absences:

a. The student will receive extra days to turn in assignment based on how many days he/she has an excused absence.

EXAMPLE: if a student is absent one day, he/she has one A/B extra day to make up the work; if a student is absent two days, he/she has two extra days to make up the work, etc. (I only count the days the student is in my class; therefore block schedule actually provides 4 days to turn in work for one absence).

EXAMPLE:

-Student has Eng 4 for P1 (A day) and is absent on Monday.

-Student will NOT be required to turn in the work on Wed (the next A day)

-Student MUST turn in the work by Friday (A day) OR it will be considered late.

C. Make-Up Tests & Quizzes from Excused Absences

a. Whenever possible, students should return to class after an excused absence prepared with any missing

work and be prepared to take any missed tests/quizzes. These are posted ahead of time!

b. IF a student FAILS to make-up a test/quiz in a timely fashion (depending on how long he/she was

absent), the student will take a midterm exam and THAT grade will count for any missing tests/quizzes.

c. EXCEPTION TO THIS RULE: If a MAJOR assignment is due that we have been working on for weeks (like

an essay), the student must EMAIL me the assignment OR give it to a friend to turn it in on the due date

because it is a long-term assignment.A major assignment includes anything with a Table of Contents (essay, project, completed literature unit, vocabulary, etc.)

d. Late Major Assignments. Students will drop an entire letter grade (- 10%) for each day it is late. I do

count off A/B days. If an assignment is late, students must turn it in the next A or B day.

1. TESTS/ QUIZZES: based on the number of excused absence days, students will have a finite amount of time to take the test/quiz. If procedure is not followed, themidterm will count as the missing grade

2. WRITING: 1 day= minus 10%; 2 days= minus 20%; 3 days= minus

30%; 4 days= minus 50%; 5 days=no credit/zero on assignment

V. Chronic Absenteeism & Unexcused Absences Policies

Number of Unexcused absences (individual periods and whole day) / Action taken
5 / Warning sent home to parents and student
10 / SART Meeting
15 / SART Meeting and Contract
20 / SARB Referral Process followed. SARB Referral is made. Possible SARB Hearing

A.Unexcused Absences/Truancy Policy

Definition of a Truant per Board policy is a student with three or more truancies:

Any pupil subject to compulsory full-time education or to compulsory continuation education who is absent from school without valid excuse three full days in one school year or tardy or absent for more than any 30 – minute period during the school day without a valid excuse on three occasions in one school year, or any combination thereof, is a truant and shall be reported to the attendance supervisor or to the superintendent of the school district. EC 48260

Number of Truancies
(Per semester) / Action taken
1-2 / Saturday school
3 / SART Meeting and SART Contract
4 / SARB Referral is made
5 / SART Contract Reviewed and SARB Referral Process followed. Possible SARB Hearing
6+ / SARB Process Followed and possible Alternative Education Referral

B. Truancy Mediation Program

A student who is deemed habitually truant may be required to follow a SART Contract that maintains that the student will be ineligible for athletic or extra-curricular activities for a set duration of time or be required to conduct community served during the times of athletic or extra-curricular activity to recover the lost time due to truancy/tardiness.

C. Tardy Policy

A parent must be contacted (email or phone call) prior to any referral to the office for tardies.

Number of Tardies
(per class/per semester) / Action Taken
1 & 2 / Student warned by teacher.
3 / Student warned and parent notified by teacher.
4 / Teacher submits referral to administration and notifies parent. Attendance administration conferences with student. Student issued
lunch time paper pick-up.
5 & 6 / Teacher submits referral to administration. Attendance administration conferences with student and notifies parent/guardian. Saturday School issued to student.
7 / Teacher submits referral to administration. Attendance administration conferences with student and notifies parent/guardian. Student will be issued Saturday School and possible SARB referral. Students may lose privileges.

D. Cumulative Tardies:

Number of Tardies
(Cumulative total for all classes) / Action Taken
10 / Student warned by administration. Parent notified. Student issued lunch time paper pick up.
20 / Student receives referral. Attendance administration conferences with student and notifies parent/guardian. Saturday School issued to student. Tardy contract signed and implemented.
30 / Student receives referral. Attendance administration conferences with student and notifies parent/guardian. Student will be issued Saturday School and possible SARB referral. Students may lose privileges.

VI. Academic Honesty Policy:

All students, teachers, and parents are expected to review and be familiar with the Palos Verdes High School Academic Integrity Policy. Consequences for cheating incidents are cumulative at PVHS and can also affect a student’s eligibility for honors societies and leadership positions.

Common Forms of Academic Dishonesty:

The following examples of academic dishonesty will include any testing situation (quizzes included) and term papers.

Plagiarism

  • Submitting material authored by another and represented as the student’s own work.
  • Acquiring work from any source and presenting it as the student’s own work.
  • Copying work or ideas in verbatim or near verbatim form and not correctly referencing the source.

Cheating

  • Use of unauthorized assistance (calculator, cell phone, etc.).
  • Allowing another student to copy work.
  • Resubmitting the same work that was produced for another assignment without the knowledge and permission of the teacher.
  • Possessing notes or other materials not explicitly allowed by the teacher during a test.
  • Talking with fellow students during tests.
  • Looking at another student’s exam.
  • Taking a test for someone else or permitting someone else to take a test for you.

Unauthorized Collaboration

  • Working with others unless expressly permitted by the teacher.
  • Providing a copy of an exam or answer key to others.

Forgery

  • Attempting to change, alter, or being an accessory to changing a grade in a grade book, work submitted on a test or final project, or other school records.
  • Misrepresentation of official records including: academic transcripts, exam papers and letters of recommendation

Consequences for Academic Dishonesty:

1st Offense:

  1. Teacher referral to the proper administrator with a detailed explanation of the incident.
  2. Teacher will make a phone call home. Student will receive a 0 on the assignment.
  3. An interim will be sent home if incident results in an “F” or “U” on the report card.
  4. An “F” on the assignment and possible “U” in citizenship for the first incident.

2nd offense:

  1. Teacher referral to the proper administrator with a detailed explanation of the incident.
  2. Administrators will make a phone call home. Students will receive a 0 on the assignment.
  3. An interim will be sent home if incident results in an “F” or “U” on the report card.
  4. An “F” on the assignment and possible “U” in citizenship.

English 4: Class Procedures Contract

Mrs. Tracey Bly

I have read and understand all theclass procedures listed on this paper document AND I realize that an e-copy is posted on Mrs. Bly’s school-sponsored website.

______

Student’s signatureParent/guardian’s signature

______

print nameprint name

Please provide the BEST method of communication to reach you:

Home phone:______

Student cell phone:______Parent/guardian cell phone:______

Student email: ______Parent email:______

Thank you!

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at

or call (310) 378-8471 X623

Mrs. Bly

PARENT/GUARDIAN CONTACT LOG

DATE / REASON FOR CONTACT / PERSON CONTACTED / RESULT / NOTES