In recognition that students can become overloaded with assignments, the following guidelines apply:
Most courses will require some out of class work (generally increasing by Grade Level), however no subject will require more than two hours* per ten-day cycle.
Students making effective use of Honor passes and SLA classes for academic tasks should have very little homework (work done at home).
If work is given for students to do out of class it will always be clearly linked to the learning goals and benchmarks of the course and regarded as integral to the aims of the course. It should never be seen as low value/time filling. "Busy work" is never acceptable at JIS.
The nature of out of class work will vary by course and would normally be tasks such as pre-reading/research, skill practice, short retrieval practice activities such as self quizzing,, personal reflection and review, assignment drafting/completion or online collaboration.
When out of class work is due/needed for the next class meeting, the task should be no longer than 30 min* in length if the class meets on the next weekday (eg task given on Day C, Monday, class meets again on Day D, Tuesday). If the next class meeting is in two or more days' time then 1 hour is permissible.
Students should not be required to attend classes, beyond the designated class time, to take summative assessments, with the exception of “makeups” (which can be given after school or in honor passes or SLA classes).
No in-class assessment should cause a student to be be late for their next class, nor should it impinge on passing/break time.
JIS recognizes the value of breaks in the school year, when we can take time away from school and work and focus on other things; it allows us to maintain good physical, mental and emotional health. Appropriate tasks (such as reading) are permitted with this philosophy in mind.
We do not allow assignments required to be completed over the June/July holiday break. We want our students to take a break at this time and it is difficult to ensure that students new to JIS will not be disadvantaged by required assignments over June and July.
No summative assessments or IB assessment components will be required or due for any student during the first two days immediately following main breaks (five or more school days in length).
Further to the above: any tasks which require substantial production on the part of the student such as but not limited to essays, labs, projects, editing or other similar tasks should not be due until at least two days after the return from break.
Any out-of-class academic (home) work deadlines must be set within the school day - that is between 7:30 am and 3:00 pm Monday to Friday..
*This is an estimate based on the notion of the “typical student” who is fully focused on the task at hand.