MIDDLE SCHOOL CODE OF CONDUCT

Parents and students are required to carefully review the following Code of Conduct, so that there is no confusion regarding the Middle School’s behavioral guidelines and expectations, as well as implications for students who disrespect school policies.

The Code of Conduct is in effect within the campus, on all school related student transportation (i.e., school busses home or airplanes for an athletic competition), and on every ACS Athens official activity off campus.

At the beginning of the school year, ALL Middle School Students and their Parents will be required to sign a statement indicating that they have read and discussed the Code of Conduct and that they understand the policies established in this Code and the Acceptable Use Policy for computers. Students and their parents accept the consequences for any misconduct.

Likewise, students are expected to honor ALL Middle School regulations, including those established for the bus, the classroom, the cafeteria, the learning commons, and all school computer facilities.

Principles behind the Code of Conduct

As members of the ACS Athens community, we honor our differences, while recognizing our responsibilities. These responsibilities – to ourselves, to each other and to the school are developed by students, faculty, counselors, and administrators and are periodically revised to reflect the vision and the mission of the school. The Code of Conduct is based on upholding and enforcing fundamental principles of respect. The Code should be a tool that will help all members of the Middle School community actively contribute to creating a school-wide culture of respect. The Middle School follows the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports tenets of “Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Ready’ and we teach students what each tenet ‘looks like’ in different situations.

In a school community defined by a culture of respect:

• We shall be curious about and understand peoples’ cultural differences, gender differences, age differences, learning differences, as well as their unique abilities and talents.

• We shall respect learning and the learning process.

• We shall practice good manners.

• We shall treat each other politely.

• We shall cultivate and exhibit self-discipline and self-respect.

• We shall respect personal and school property.

• We shall build relationships based upon open communication and mutual respect.

• We shall work to overcome stereotypical thinking, biases and prejudices and actively promote cross-cultural awareness and understanding.

• We shall ensure that everyone feels physically and emotionally safe.

• We shall respect, follow, and enforce the rules of the community.

• We shall respect each person’s uniqueness and individuality.

• We shall practice good citizenship in and out of the classroom.

• We shall promote the values of good sportsmanship.

• We shall commit ourselves to teaching the principles of respectful behavior and good citizenship in a focused and on-going manner.

Student Conduct

Standards are crucial in providing a respectful, orderly, safe, and sustainable environment for the serious pursuit of academic excellence. Likewise, all the members of a community benefit when the expectations and the corrective measures are clear to all constituencies.

The following guidelines are intended to achieve a balance between choice, respect to the environment and individuals as well as measures of repairing the inflicted damage in relationships. Students are expected to show responsibility, leadership, service and to lead by example. In particular, the older students are expected to serve as role models and mentors to younger students.

Listed in this section are potential disruptions to the respectful, safe, and orderly school life as well as the educational process. Administrative discretion will be applied for any other acts of inappropriate behavior not included. Acts of misconduct have been grouped according to their severity, along with the natural and logical consequences. The pedagogical measures that will be applied in each case shall always be consistent with the corrective options provided in this handbook as well as alternative options offered by administrators.

ACS Athens Student Profile

All ACS Athens graduates are expected to meet the student profile stated in the beginning of this handbook. The rules and consequences pertaining to inside and outside classroom conduct aim to guide, assist, and support all our students, to be the ACS Athens graduates we anticipate them to be.

ACS Athens students should aspire to be caring individuals and servant leaders by...

• … becoming active citizens of the ACS Athens Community by taking full advantage of the diversity of curricular and co-curricular opportunities offered by the school.

• … offering service freely to the school and the wider community as one of the duties of good citizenship.

Student conduct will be taught, guided, observed, and monitored within the ACS Athens Conscious Citizenship model, which combines academic, social, and personal growth. Specifically, it aims to align conscious citizenship with the UN sustainable development goals, social interest perspective, and personal citizenship development through a reflective reparations model.

The ACS Athens Conscious Citizenship Model

Our citizenship model aims to further develop through reflection and service many attributes of our ACS Learner profile. We expect our students to be inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open - minded, caring individuals, risk- takers, balanced, reflective and decision makers. To achieve this goal, positive discipline, reparations, and service projects will be applied aiming to align student learning and social behavior with the needs of the society and more so with the UN sustainable goals.

One of our roles as educators is to ensure that students and parents are all aware of what constitutes misconduct at ACS Athens as well as of all natural and logical consequences that apply in cases of misconduct. (*Natural consequences are inevitable results of a student’s own actions, for example if you are not dressed properly in the winter you catch a cold).

“Logical consequences do not naturally occur because of behavior but are intentionally planned by teachers and administrators. Logical consequences are like what would happen to an adult in a similar situation, therefore teaching students skills that they will need to be successful later in life. Logical consequences need to be related, respectful, and reasonable” (Nelson, 1985).

Student Rights and Responsibilities

Student Rights

All students in the Middle School have the right to the following:

• An environment that is safe, supportive, and conducive to learning.

• Be treated with courtesy and respect by all members of the community.

• An environment that provides opportunities for intellectual, emotional, physical, and social development.

• An environment that provides a diversity of curricular and co-curricular opportunities.

• The protection of due process.

• Express opinions and make their own decisions.

Student Responsibilities

All students in the Middle School have a responsibility to do the following:

• Contribute to creating an environment that is safe, supportive, and conducive to learning.

• Treat all members of the ACS Athens Community with courtesy and respect.

• Care for the physical environment of the ACS Athens campus.

• Understand that choices and actions have consequences and accept responsibility for their own actions.

Conduct Infractions & Consequences