Parent Resources
General Information for EWS Parents
Academic Integrity
The exchange of ideas is an essential part of education. We encourage students to do research and discuss their work with students and teachers, but remind them that if their education is to be meaningful and valuable, each student’s work must ultimately be her own.
Integrity in academic matters is the foundation of an academic community. Cheating and plagiarism, therefore, are strictly forbidden. For clarification of rules for citing sources, please refer to Write for College, a publication that is recommended to each student by her English teacher and available for purchase in the bookstore or through local school districts. It is the responsibility of the student to know and to work within the study guidelines prescribed by each teacher. If there is ever doubt as to what is appropriate, the student should consult her teacher. Each teacher will set her or his own guidelines about collaboration for each specific assignment. Cheating includes but is not limited to:
- Intentionally using or giving unauthorized aid on any work for which a grade is given; for example, tests, quizzes, exams, term papers, lab reports, or computer programs.
- Passing information, either general or specific, about a test or quiz to any student who has not yet taken it.
- Taking someone’s idea or words and presenting them as your own in a graded assignment.
- Copying the School’s software, using illegally copied software in computer rooms or the library, or copying an electronic file.Cheating and plagiarism are violations of the first Fundamental Rule, and will meet with a disciplinary as well as an academic response.
Academic Support
Study Skills. Our experience suggests that study skills are learned rather than innate, and that not all students have acquired the necessary skills for effective study or for efficient time management. The freshman seminar program helps students develop the habits and strategies that will allow them to maximize their study time.
Study Hall. Study times are held in the dormitories during the evening to provide a quiet and structured environment for study.
Proctored Evening Study Hall. In the fall semester, all freshmen, new sophomores, new juniors, and students on academic review are assigned to proctored evening study hall to assist them in developing study skills. Students who have been assigned to proctored evening study hall will be re-evaluated periodically during the first semester and thereafter, as necessary. Students may be placed in proctored evening study hall at any time, based upon teacher or advisor input.
Evening. Evening quiet study runs from 7:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m., Sunday through Thursday. (See page 14 for a description of evening quiet study.) Rooms and corridors must be quiet from 7:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. No showers or baths are allowed during this time.
Academic Review. Academic review is a structure that alerts the student, her family, and the faculty to a student’s academic needs and may involve assignment to proctored evening quiet study hours, or the Math Learning Center; a weekly meeting with her advisor; and/or a review of her academic status. These support systems are designed to help a student improve her academic work.
A student who receives one No Credit or two Ds as semester or mid-semester grades is automatically placed on academic review. In addition, a student with any grade of C- or lower at the quarter or semester may be placed on academic review. Copies of the official letter of notification will be sent to the student and to her parents, advisor, houseparent, and the dean of students.
A student who is placed on academic review at the end of the fall semester or during the spring semester will not be invited to return for the following year until the faculty has reviewed her progress and performance at their end-of-year meetings.
A student’s advisor may recommend to the director of academic services that a student be removed from academic review because of significant improvement in her work. Usually this is done after mid-semester or semester grades have been reported. The director of academic services will officially notify the student and her parents that she is no longer on review.
Managing Assessments. At some point during the year, most students will find themselves with three or more major evaluations due on the same day. A major evaluation is a quiz or test requiring review and lasting 20 minutes or more, a paper of more than one typewritten page, a lab report, a presentation, or a project.
In such cases a student should not engage in all three evaluations on the same day. Instead, she should ask the teacher assigning the third or last evaluation for a postponement of one or two days. She should request this postponement when the third evaluation is first announced. The teacher is obligated to grant the postponement after the student explains her situation and should do so graciously.
This policy is intended to support students in doing their best work, in balancing their workloads, and in managing their levels of perceived stress. It is also an opportunity for them to learn to advocate for themselves.
