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PHILOSOPHY & HONOR CODE

Our Academic Philosophy

East Mountain High School is a college preparatory school that seeks to engage, challenge and inspire each student to achieve excellence. This simple statement means we are committed to the following philosophical tenets:

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  • Each student’s academic growth is important and will be measured.

  • Each student is capable of attending college and will be prepared for a college of best fit for that student’s wants and needs.

  • Each student will receive an education that will prepare him or her for future success.

  • Each student will receive the support and encouragement needed to achieve at a high level.

Student Handbook

Below you will find the most updated version of the EMHS Student Handbook. Students and families should familiarize themselves with the policies and procedures included.

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To view the student handbook please click the button below: 

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  • Each teacher plays a role as a teacher, mentor, advocate, tutor and grader and is concerned that each student succeeds.

  • Each course in the curriculum is part of a coherent whole that provides a well-rounded education based on a student’s need to master a core curriculum and apply it to real problems using 21st century skills.

  • We help all students navigate their path to college, career, and beyond. We know that the future poses many complex challenges, but our faculty are committed to instilling a sense of creative problem solving in all students.

In Our Students’ Words

“My high school partners with a local college and offers dual credit that allows students to get a head start on their college classes. All the teachers are involved and will reach out to help all the students.”

Student, Class of 2018

Academic Honor Code

An essential part of education is developing a sense of honor, responsibility, and ethical principles that extend to all facets of life. Self-esteem and self-respect grow from meeting challenges with honesty and individual effort. Our students can earn respect for themselves and their academic work only through academic integrity and ethical conduct.

All EMHS students sign the following pledge at the beginning of the school year accepting full responsibility for upholding the Academic Honor Code and its importance:

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As a student citizen of East Mountain High School:

  • I will not lie, cheat, or steal in my academic work.

  • I will oppose all forms of academic dishonesty, including plagiarism.

  • I will give prompt notification to a faculty member or principal when I observe academic dishonesty in any situation.

  • I will give careful attention to crediting sources from books, periodicals, or the internet.

  • I will not use technology to represent work as my own when it is not.

  • I will not share information from a test, quiz, or essay with other students.

  • I will refuse to allow other students to copy my work.

  • I will support honesty and responsibility as the foundations of the EMHS tradition of excellence.

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If a student violates the Honor Code, the teacher will make an administrative referral. Additional penalties may include but are not limited to the following:

  • Loss of National Honor Society membership

  • Loss of eligibility for admission into National Honor Society

  • Loss of Student Government officer position and/or membership

  • Loss of Valedictorian or Salutatorian status and medal

  • Loss of other privileges, positions, or opportunities requiring trustworthiness and responsibility

Definition of Cheating

Cheating includes any attempt to defraud, deceive, or mislead a teacher in arriving at an accurate assessment of student achievement.

Cheating includes, but is not limited to, the following:

  1. Looking at a test, quiz, or exam of another student while taking an assessment

  2. Attempting to communicate information in any way during an in-class assessment

  3. Having cheat sheets, or information written on the body, phone, iPod, or other personal objects

  4. Using programmed calculators or other electronic devices unless expressly permitted by the teacher

  5. Looking at quiz, test, or exam materials prior to their administration

  6. Failing to give credit for the ideas, words, or works of others

  7. Giving or receiving information regarding an assessment, project or assignment to another student who is scheduled to take the same or similar evaluation

  8. Submitting work through the use of technology that is not created by the student, including but not limited to file sharing (submitting the same work (including work previously submitted by the same student but this time for a different class or assignment) with different header), copying files to and from disks and websites, translation websites, problem solving websites, or purchasing solutions or works from others

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Homework
Homework is assigned as a means of reinforcing classroom instruction and is often used as an indicator of student comprehension or progress.

Honor Code Violations of Homework:

  1. Copying or paraphrasing all or part of another’s homework

  2. Allowing another to copy or paraphrase your work

  3. Receiving help on assignments that have been identified by the teacher as work to be done solely by you, including reading

  4. Using Internet or purchased summaries of reading assignments instead of reading the assigned homework (Reading does not improve without reading.)

  5. Reusing assignments turned in for a previous teacher or class

  6. Using translation websites or problem solving websites or any or sources that perform work for the student

 

Tests
Obtaining help or giving help prior to or during a test or quiz is considered cheating.

Honor Code Violations of Tests:

  1. Passing test questions or answers to students in your class or in another class

  2. Receiving test questions or answers from students in your class or in another class

  3. Copying someone else’s answers

  4. Possessing or using “crib” or cheat sheets on the body or on personal objects

  5. Obtaining a copy of the test or quiz before it is administered (on paper or electronically)

  6. Attempting to gain an unfair advantage before or during a test, such as looking at another student’s work, turning around, leaving books or notes open; signaling; deliberately and repeatedly choosing to miss classes through unexcused absences, lateness to school, or early dismissal to avoid taking a test or handing in an assignment. There must be direct communication between the teacher, student, and the parent before a student can reschedule a test that was missed.

  7. Modifying electronic test materials so they will not score properly

 

Research Papers, Inquiry Projects, and Essays
Plagiarism is the act of stealing, using, and passing off another person’s ideas or words as your own writing or ideas. Properly document the sources of information used for your research paper and essays so that you will not be guilty of plagiarism. Cliff’s and Spark Notes and its look-alikes are not considered to be scholarly resources of significant merit and should not be quoted or paraphrased in essays or other written assignments. In addition, using materials from these sources (or any others) without proper citation constitutes plagiarism which is an Honor Code offense. If you need extra help in understanding or writing about a work of literature, please see your teacher.

Honor Code Violations of Research Papers, Inquiry Projects, and Essays:

  1. Copying phrases, sentences, or paragraphs without using quotation marks and without giving proper documentation of the source

  2. Paraphrasing or summarizing ideas without giving proper documentation of the source

  3. Asking someone or paying someone to write a research paper for you

  4. Selling or giving an assignment to students who submit it as their own

  5. Downloading from the Internet a research paper or article in its entirety or in part to submit as your own

  6. Submitting another student’s research paper as your own work

  7. Lab Reports

  8. While you may work in the lab with a partner and each of you will have the same data, the remaining sections of the lab report should be your own work. This includes any computations, graphs, diagrams, and conclusion questions.

 

Honor Code Violations of Lab Reports:

  1. Attempting to corrupt another student’s data

  2. Presenting another student’s work (computations, graphs, diagrams, answers to conclusion questions) as your own

  3. Misrepresenting laboratory data

 

Calculator Use
Calculators may be used in class only with the permission of the instructor.

  1. Honor Code Violations of Calculator Use

  2. Sharing a calculator during a test or quiz

  3. Using any calculator in class not approved by the teacher

  4. Storing test information in calculators

  5. Using test information (including formulas and equations) that has been stored in a calculator

 

Student Responsibilities to Avoid Cheating

  1. Ask permission to use a cover sheet during quizzes and tests.

  2. Ask teachers to specify if student work is to be done cooperatively or individually if there is any doubt.

  3. Remove all materials from desk top except for test materials.

  4. Zip book bags closed. Make sure all books are closed. Put away any loose papers.

  5. Take careful notes when doing research in order to avoid plagiarism. Don’t forget that any idea not your own must be properly documented, even if you are using paraphrased sentences rather than direct quotations.

  6. Respect yourself. Take pride in your work and your work ethic.

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