Beyond the BHS Guidebook, the English Department wishes for you to be aware of the following:
Plagiarism: We as a department have a zero-tolerance policy on plagiarism. While many think of plagiarism as purely a wholesale theft of another person’s essay, often from an online source, lifting an essay is not the only possible act of plagiarism. Others include:
- Stealing selected paragraphs, or even sentences from another site. A paper that has plagiarized 10% of its content is 100% guilty.
- Using quotes compiled by another source. Even if you explain them yourself, you are taking somebody else’s idea of what lines are important and how to interpret them.
- Paraphrasing an existing essay does not make it original
- Self-plagiarism – using the same essay for more than one class – is still plagiarism
Be advised that committing plagiarism in any form on an English paper carries the following consequences:
- The paper receives a zero
- A plagiarized essay in American Literature or British & World Literature does not complete the course’s requirement of a satisfactory term paper; the assignment will still have to be completed to the teacher’s satisfaction, despite the zero.
- The incident must be reported to the department head
- A first offense may be submitted to administration
- Any second offense, even if in two different classes, will be turned in to administration
- The student will not be allowed on National Honor Society
- All other punishments are at the discretion of the classroom teacher.
Twitter / Facebook Acceptable Use: Be advised that the English Department is mandated to report the following behavior from any publicly accessible social media site, such as Twitter or Facebook:
- Personal threats against any faculty member or BHS student
- Anything that would be classified as hate speech (racism, homophobia, misogyny, misandry)
- Any vulgarity written about or directed at a faculty member or student
The department wishes to remind students that any inappropriate behavior committed during school hours or done with school property (BHS computers or iPads) is in direct violation of the student handbook, and that indiscretions that occur outside of those restrictions ARE NOT ALWAYS covered by freedom of speech rights. A good rule of thumb: if you would not say something in one of your classrooms, don’t express it publicly online.
Any incidents of social media malfeasance may result in a revocation of a college letter of recommendation, removal from National Honor Society, disciplinary action from the administration including out-of-school supsension or removal from a class. If your page is public, you would be wise to control what you say.
Summer School Eligibility: Students receiving a score of 56 or lower in a core English class will not be given the opportunity to complete the course during summer school.
Departmental Absences Policy: Our student handbook states that any student who misses more than 6 days in a quarter (excluding: Absences with a physician’s note, field trips, legal appearances, religious holidays, a death in the family or out-of-school suspension) might not receive credit for the quarter. The English Departmental policy is that ALL students who miss more than eight days in a single quarter, following the same list of exceptions listed above, will not receive course credit for that quarter, regardless of that student’s grade. Absences excused by a parent, without any of the reasons stated above, will count toward the eight-absence limit. Students with seven or eight absences may still also cause a failing grade, as is stated in the student handbook; this choice is at the discretion of the individual teacher.
Aspen Grading: Please understand that the grades that the teachers post on Aspen (or any other online grading system) are not expected to be 100% accurate at all times.
