Parent Resources

General Information for EWS Parents

Academic Integrity Attendance Excused Absences

Parental Decision Absences Unexcused Absences School Closings

Academic Integrity

The exchange of ideas is an essential part of education. We encourage students to do research and discuss their work with students and teachers, but remind them that if their education is to be meaningful and valuable, each student’s work must ultimately be her own.

Integrity in academic matters is the foundation of an academic community. Cheating and plagiarism, therefore, are strictly forbidden. For clarification of rules for citing sources, please refer to Write for College, a publication that is recommended to each student by her English teacher and available for purchase in the bookstore or through local school districts. It is the responsibility of the student to know and to work within the study guidelines prescribed by each teacher. If there is ever doubt as to what is appropriate, the student should consult her teacher. Each teacher will set her or his own guidelines about collaboration for each specific assignment. Cheating includes but is not limited to:

• Intentionally using or giving unauthorized aid on any work for which a grade is given; for example, tests, quizzes, exams, term papers, lab reports, or computer programs.
• Passing information, either general or specific, about a test or quiz to any student who has not yet taken it.
• Taking someone’s idea or words and presenting them as your own in a graded assignment.
• Copying the School’s software, using illegally copied software in computer rooms or the library, or copying an electronic file.Cheating and plagiarism are violations of the first Fundamental Rule, and will meet with a disciplinary as well as an academic response.

Attendance

Students are expected to attend all classes, study halls, and other academic commitments. Academic commitments include all scheduled classes (both before and after school), evening study hall, assemblies, and other required school events. Engaging in public discourse within a classroom is vital to the effectiveness of the learning process. Learning to express one’s opinion articulately is an essential part of the learning experience and is particularly important in the development of self-confidence in young women. Full learning requires being in class and participating.

Excused Absences

Absences will be excused in the case of student illness or serious illness in the student’s family, for an important religious holiday, or for a wedding or graduation of a family member, except during the exam weeks. All absences are handled in the following fashion:

Illness

Boarding students must be excused by the Health Center. Day students’ parents must call the school no later than 9:00 a.m. A doctor’s note may be required.

Doctors’ Appointments

For all students, doctors’ appointments are processed by the Health Center. Students are required to sign out with the nurse on duty in the Health Center when leaving campus for any medical appointment.

Serious Family Illness

Parents should notify the Academic Dean as soon as possible.

Religious Holidays

Each student who anticipates missing classes in order to observe an important religious holiday should have the Parental Permission Form for Religious Holidays on file in the Student Services office. Parents then need to notify Student Services of the upcoming religious observation. If a family has not completed the form, permission should be sought from the Academic Dean at least one week before the holiday.

Wedding/Graduation of a family member.

Permission to miss academic commitments for the wedding or graduation of a family member must be obtained from the Academic Dean at least one week prior to the proposed absence. Students will not be excused from final exams.

In all cases of excused absences, students are required to make up any missed work within 48 hours of their return.

Parental Decision Absences

Students will not be excused from academic commitments because of early departures to or late returns from vacations or weekends, or for family vacations that do not coincide with Emma Willard vacations. Should a family decide upon an early departure or a late return, the following guidelines and consequences should be kept in mind.

• Any in-class work that is missed may not be made up. This includes tests, quizzes, or other graded work that is completed in class.
• Assigned work that is due in any class must be handed in before the absence if it is to receive credit.
• The Academic Dean should be notified of the planned absence at least a week in advance.

Unexcused Absences

On those rare occasions when a student is absent from a commitment for reasons not mentioned above, her absence is responded to with appropriate severity. Please note that any in-class work that is missed due to an unexcused absence may not be made up for credit. This includes tests, quizzes, or other graded work that is completed in class.

Unexcused absences are tracked cumulatively by the Student Services office through each semester, as follows:

• First Unexcused Absence. The teacher, student, advisor, houseparent, and parents will be notified. The student is expected to report to her advisor within 24 hours of receiving the absence notice.
• Second Unexcused Absence. The teacher, student, advisor, houseparent, and parents will be notified that one more unexcused absence will result in immediate suspension for three academic days.
• Third Unexcused Absence. The student will be suspended for three academic days, either in school or at home. The purpose of the suspension is to encourage the student to reflect on her responsibility for meeting community expectations if she wishes to remain a member of the Emma Willard School community.
• Fourth Unexcused Absence. The student with a fourth unexcused absence in the same course will lose credit for that course. For any student with four unexcused absences in any combination, the first consideration by the administration will be expulsion.In addition, students who are absent without excuse from non-academic commitments (such as Morning Reports, Work Program, community events, class meetings, day student meetings) will also be subject to disciplinary measures.

 

 

In recent years Emma Willard has drawn students from Bermuda, Bosnia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, the Republic of Georgia, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Macedonia, Mexico, Pakistan, Poland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela, as well as Americans who live abroad.