ACADEMIC HONESTY: Honesty is a big part of living with integrity. At South Hills, if your name appears on an individually assigned piece of work, that means you completed that work by following the teachers’ instructions. If any of the following conditions occurred during the completion of the assigned task, you will be in violation of behavioral expectations.
- Receiving or providing information during or for a test
- Using non-approved material on tests
- Violating testing rules and procedures
- Using someone else’s writing (word for word or almost word for word) and saying it is your own. This is plagiarism.
- Using someone else’s ideas as your own and not giving proper credit
- Using or copying another student’s assignment to turn in as your own
- Allowing other students to use your work with the exception of approved group, lab or collaborative projects
- Forgery
Violation of the behavioral expectation of academic honesty may result in the following consequence(s):
- Parent Contact
- Drop in citizenship grade to a U
- Drop in academic grade until proficiency or mastery is demonstrated
- Administrative Intervention
- Referral
Students in violation of the Academic Honesty expectation will receive a “0” for work that is the product of their dishonesty. Students will need to meet with their teacher to develop a plan for completing the work, demonstrating proficiency of the material, and recovering lost citizenship credit.
HOMEWORK REQUESTS: If a student has been absent for three or more days due to illness, or in the event of an emergency, a parent may request homework through the Counseling Center. The Counseling Center must be notified 24 hours prior to picking up the homework. It is recommended that each student write down phone numbers of friends who may pick up their homework for them.
REPORT CARDS and MIDTERM PROGRESS REPORTS: Grades are always available on Skyward. Report cards and mid-term reports will not be printed or mailed home. They can be found on Skyward. Official transcripts and report cards may be requested from the counseling center.
REQUIRED SUPPLIES: Students should bring their charged Chromebook every day.
SCHOOL-WIDE GRADING POLICY: We use standards-based mastery grading. Grades will be determined on achievement toward mastery of the standards. Student behaviors (effort, participation, adherence to class rules, etc.) will not be used to determine grades. This means that citizenship grades will carry more weight and will be used in a more defined and systematic way. Academic grades won’t take into consideration anything that isn’t directly related to the core curriculum and student demonstrations of mastery – or progress towards mastery – based on those standards. Performance classes such as physical education, art, music, dance, and theatre have performance goals in their core, thus their grades will also reflect performance and participation standards within their core curriculum. Students will receive mastery level points when they achieve mastery level performance.
- Teachers will provide students with sufficient time to complete assignments and will clearly inform students of assignment due dates.
- Any late assignments (if complete) will not be penalized and will receive the grade earned depending on the accuracy and quality of the work.
- The purpose of assigned work is to help students gain mastery of the content being taught so that students may demonstrate their knowledge on the unit’s assessment. There are times when it is beneficial to assign a late work deadline at the end of a unit to maximize the learning that will come from completing the assigned work. For this reason, individual teachers or departments may make the decision to cut off late work at the end of a unit.
SCHOOL-WIDE MAKE-UP WORK POLICY:
- It is the student’s responsibility to ask teachers for assignments missed due to an absence.
- Students may turn in late work without penalty during the course of a unit.
- Students may retake an assessment if they complete the eligibility requirements that will help them study appropriately for an assessment re-take.
SKYWARD: Both parents and students will receive a Skyward log-in ID and password in order to view current grades, missing assignments, attendance information, and additional information. Both IDs and passwords will be mailed home at the beginning of the school year. The website for Skyward is skystu.jordan.k12.ut.us.
Parents, please check Skyward regularly. Grades will be updated weekly. To access Skyward, go to southhills.jordandistrict.org and click on Gradebook or go to www.jordandistrict.org and click on Parents and Students, then Family Access (Skyward), and then choose your web browser access.
STANDARDS-BASED GRADING: South Hills Middle School has transitioned to a Standards-based Grading model. Students are assessed based upon mastery of a standard or objective being taught. A “4, 3, 2, 1” scale is used to identify the level of mastery a student has achieved on a particular standard or objective as follows:
| 4 Advanced | The student is proficient and demonstrates an advanced application of concepts, skills and/or processes of the standard(s). |
| 3 Proficient
(meets standard) |
The student consistently demonstrates an understanding of concepts, skills, and/or processes of the standard(s). |
| 2 Approaching | The student demonstrates some understanding of concepts, skills, and/or processes of the standard(s) but lacks proficiency in key areas. |
| 1 Beginning | The student does not yet demonstrate an understanding of concepts, skills, and/or processes of the standard(s), and requires support to complete key tasks. |
In the event a student does not demonstrate mastery of a concept via an assessment, the student is welcome to retake an assessment as long as the student completes assigned learning tasks designed to help them understand and develop proficiency on the learning objective for the standard. Assessments will make up 80% of an academic grade and will reflect the student’s level of mastery on particular standards and/or objectives. Academic practice will make up the remaining 20% of an academic grade.
Letter grades will be determined on the following basis:
A = 4-3.5 - Advanced
B = 3.49-2.8 – Proficient (meets standard)
C = 2.79-2 – Approaching
D = 1.99-1 - Beginning
F = .99-0 – No evidence of learning/mastery
History of Standards Based Grading at SHMS
TEACHER ADVISORY: Teacher Advisory (TA) is the first period of the day. TA provides students with a teacher advocate who mentors them academically and socially. TA also provides an opportunity to teach study skills, coping strategies, and provide guidance. Additionally, it allows students to listen to morning announcements and tend to other school business without disrupting students’ regular academic classes. Students will receive a pass or fail grade (60% and above is passing) based upon completion of advisory class requirements.
Students are expected to:
● Participate in all TA activities
● Attend class regularly and behave in an orderly manner
● Listen attentively to morning announcements
● Participate in reading days and come prepared with a book on reading days