STUDENT HANDBOOK

2016-17 SCHOOL YEAR

5218 NORTH BROAD STREET

PHILADELPHIA, PA 19141

215-219-3943

Message From The Dean of Students

Congratulations and welcome to Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School! It is my honor to present to you our Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School Student Handbook for the 2016-2017 school year.

As we approach this school year keep in mind the word “change”. Life at Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School is constantly changing as we move forward into our fifth year as a school community. Life is ever changing. We must step out of our comfort zone and embrace change in order to reach success. Change is not comfortable at times, nor do we always see the immediate benefits of change in our lives. However, one thing is certain. Change is necessary and inevitable in all of our lives.

At Cristo Rey Philadelphia, we hold our students to high expectations for behavior, character, and habits of study. As the Dean of Students, my goal is to guide our students toward becoming responsible young men and women for others by holding them accountable for their actions as well as recognizing their achievements. My office is dedicated to the development of our students both inside and outside the classroom.

To ensure a positive experience, all students, and their parents/guardians are expected to read, understand, and comply with all policies of this handbook. A copy of the Statement of Agreement is distributed to the students and parents/guardians. It is required that the students and parents/guardians sign this statement. These signatures indicate that the handbook has been read, is understood, and that the students and parents/guardians agree to abide by the rules, regulations, and policies outlined in this handbook.

I look forward to a school year filled with hard work, education, character building, and positive change. I look forward to working with you!

Respectfully Yours,

Troy L. Sams

Dean of Students

1

MISSION

Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School is an independent, Catholic, college preparatory school for young men and women of all faiths. Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School nurtures and challenges young women and men to recognize and realize their full potential as they grow to love God, respect others, and serve their community.

Cristo Rey Philadelphia is endorsed by the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales and the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The school utilizes a longer school day and year, structured academic assistance, and counseling support to prepare students for college. All students enrolled in the school participate in a unique Corporate Work-Study Program through which they develop important skills and finance the majority of the cost of their education. The Cristo Rey corporate work-study program gives students the opportunity to build core skills that will help them succeed in college and the modern workplace.

Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School is based on a proven model of success and will join a network of Cristo Reyschools around the country that empower young students to achieve their full potential.Cristo Rey Schools offer a unique curriculum that combines academics, extra-curricular programs, and corporate work experience to prepare students for success in college and beyond. This model works, with over 99% of graduates being accepted into college.

NON-DISCRIMINATION STATEMENT

Cristo Rey Philadelphia does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or national or ethnic origin in its student admission process; faculty and staff hiring practices; educational policies; scholarships; athletics; or other school-administered programs.

Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School’s Family ContributionPolicy:

Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School is the school that works because of its unique partnership of educators, Philadelphia businesses, generous supporters and the families of our students. Each partner’s financial role is essential for preparing Cristo Rey students for success in college as well as ensuring the school’s long-term financial sustainability.

The school promises to work with each family to determine a fair and reasonable Family Contribution that is consistent with the family’s ability to contribute to our partnership. Furthermore, we promise to adjust the amount of your Family Contribution if your family’s ability to contribute changes over your student’s 4 years at Cristo Rey. In the event your family’s financial situation does change, even temporarily, families are encouraged to the come to business office with documentation of the change any Wednesday between 1:00 to 4:00PM to discuss adjustments to their Family Contribution. Alternative meeting days and times can also be made upon requests.

Once the school year begins, we ask families to continue to make their monthly family contributions. Inthe event that a family’s account becomes 3 months or more in arrears, the school will continue its commitment to educate your student and the student will continue with the Work Study internship; however, the student will no longer be able to participate in any extra curricular activities including sports, clubs, dances, student government, prom, senior week festivities, walking at graduation, etc.

If the school does not receive any payments during the course of a school year or there is a significant outstanding balance, the student may not return to Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School the following year. It is unreasonable and unfair to allow a family that does not pay any of their Family Contribution to remain in the school while other families do their best to pay their Family Contribution even, sometimes, under difficult circumstances.

Financial reason should never be the reason a student leaves Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School. We will work with all families.

ACADEMIC PROGRAM AND EXPECTATIONS

CULTURE OF HIGH EXPECTATIONS

Cristo Rey Philadelphia has high expectations for behavior, character, and habits of study. Every student at Cristo Rey Philadelphia has the right to an excellent education. We are establishing an environment that will foster maximum learning and mutual respect while staying free of distractions and negative influences. Students are expected to be respectful of the educational process and to take responsibility for their own learning.

At Cristo Rey Philadelphia, we believe that consistently strong effort, professional demeanor, and distinguished academic performance lead to success in college and beyond. This is why we will recognize students who:

  • Achieve Honor Roll status;
  • Attain perfect attendance;
  • Demonstrates good character

Cristo Rey Philadelphia will recognize studentswhen they make good choices and act in accordance with the spirit and mission of Cristo Rey Philadelphia.

Classroom Behavior and Requirements

R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Students are expected to follow the classroom expectations and respect the educational process in the classroom. Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School students commit themselves to:

R- READY to LEARN when I enter the classroom.

  • Students take their seats when they enter room.
  • Students take out needed materials for class.
  • Students review white board for instructions.
  • Students begin DO NOW activity.
  • Students work silently when the bell rings.

E- ENGAGED and ACTIVE during the lesson.

  • Students ask questions.
  • Students participate while working in groups.
  • Students actively listen and contribute to classroom discussion with positive input.
  • Students volunteer to answer questions.

S- SILENT and ATTENTIVE when a speaker is talking.

  • Students sit up quietly in their seats when someone (video, tape recording, etc.) is speaking.
  • Students listen and make eye contact with the speaker.
  • Absolutely no side conversation during a presentation. One person speaks at a time.

P- PROPERLY DRESSED in school uniform.

  • Students must be in full uniform when entering classroom.

E- EMBRACE REDIRECTION with a positive attitude.

  • Students receive redirection (correcting misbehavior) when needed. Teachers and students work together to build positive relationships.
  • Students should not talk about redirections with teachers during class-time.
  • Students should listen and continue with class assignment. Meet with teacher after class, school or during break.

C- COME ON-TIME to class.

  • Students are in their assigned classrooms when the school bell rings.

T- TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for my actions and learning.

  • Students complete and turn in assignments given by teachers.
  • Students take pride in the work they do.
  • Students take initiative to seek out teachers for missed assignments in a timely fashion when absent.
  • Students take initiative to ask for extra help in subjects when needed.
  • Students leave the classroom in an orderly fashion.

If a student is dismissed (remainder of period) from class, he/she will be sent directly to the Dean of Student’s office with a pass. Classroom dismissals will result in disciplinary actions up to and including expulsion.

Homework/Study Time

Homework is given so students have the daily opportunity to review, reinforce, and increase their ability in a certain subject or skill. All students will receive homework assignments from their teachers throughout the school year. Students are expected to complete all assignments by the due dateassigned.Students will be held accountable for missed homework. Students failing to complete homework assignments may receive homework detention or other consequences administered by their teachers.

Students are expected to complete their homework every night including the nights before and after work. In addition to written work, homework may include reading, reviewing class notes, studying for tests and quizzes, etc. Students are expected to use all available resources to enhance their education, including their teachers, teacher assistants, tutors,and school library/media center.While students will ultimately be their own judge of how much homework time is appropriate, a good starting point would be approximately two hours per night.

Failure Policy/Summer School

In order to continue at Cristo Rey Philadelphia the following year, students must pass all courses with a grade of 70% or better. Students that fail any subject during the course of the academic year MUST attend summer school for credit recovery. Failure of more than two courses during the academic year may result in dismissal from Cristo Rey Philadelphia.

Course Requirements for Graduation

Students looking to graduate Cristo Rey Philadelphia must complete:

  • English (4 years)
  • Mathematics (4 years)
  • Theology (4 years)
  • Science (4 years)
  • Health and Fitness (4 years)
  • World History (3 years)
  • Latin (3 years)
  • Business Literacy (4 years)

Grade Scale

A)94-100% A-) 90-93% B+) 87-89%B) 83-86% B-) 80-82%

C+)77-79% C) 73-76% D) 70-72%

F)0-69%

Grade Point Averages

The GPA is calculated as follows:

A) 4.0A-) 3.67 B+) 3.33 B) 3.0 B-) 2.67C+) 2.33 C) 2.0 D) 1.5

Honor Roll (Per Trimester)

Honorable Mention: 3.0-3.32 GPA

Second Honors: 3.33-3.66 GPA

First Honors: 3.67-4.0 GPA

ACADEMIC HONESTY

Cristo Rey Philadelphia is committed to every student understanding the values of honesty and integrity in their academic pursuits. No grade, test, or paper is worth compromising one’s integrity. Each student has the responsibility to submit work that is uniquely his/her own. All work must be done in accordance with established principles of academic integrity.

Infractions/Violations

Cristo Rey Philadelphia considers cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information in examinations, tests, quizzes, reports, papers or projects as a violation of academic honesty.

Some examples of theses violations include:

  • Leaving books or notebooks open during a test;
  • Writing answers on desktops, hands, legs, arms or any part of the body;
  • Looking at another student’s test or quiz;
  • Talking with another student during a test period;
  • Copying answers from another student when test are being handed in;
  • Talking with students from previous class periods in order to give/receive test information;
  • Copying answers verbatim when working on a project together;
  • Copying another students homework;
  • Giving and/or receiving answers during examinations, tests or quizzes using unauthorized technology including cell phones and programmable calculators;
  • Leaving the classroom during exams, tests, or quizzes to gain or provide answers.

There are clearly dishonest actions on written/creative assignments such as:

  • Turning in a paper/project which has been composed/created by another student;
  • Submitting a paper or assignment in Latin class that has been translated by another person or any electronic device (internet websites, pocket translators, etc.);
  • Handing in a paper/project for credit that has already been graded in another class, without the approval of both teachers.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a violation of academic honesty at Cristo Rey Philadelphia. It is intentional or unintentional appropriation of information, ideas, or the languages of other persons or writers as the submission of one’s own.

Such instances of plagiarism include:

  • Papers or passages of papers that are copied verbatim from primary and/or secondary sources
  • Papers that are copies of a fellow or former student’s work

Both the complete documentation (a bibliography of sources) and the specific documentation (citation/footnote) are essential to avoid plagiarism.

If a student quotes a source word-for-word, he/she must attribute the quote to its source by identifying the author, work, publisher, date, and location of the quote through documentation (e.g. in-text citation, footnote).

To clarify, Cristo Rey Philadelphia defines plagiarism as the use of words, ideas, or information of another without informing the reader/listener of the source of these words, ideas, or information. He/she must document all sources used in composing a paper, report, or presentation and within that paper, report or presentation acknowledge when a particular idea stems from another source.

Stealing a copy of a quiz, test, or exam without the teacher’s knowledge of permission is a serious offense. It will automatically be considered a second infraction.

Consequences of Academic Dishonesty

In cases of academic dishonesty, the student will be referred to the Assistant Principal. Cristo Rey Philadelphia wants to support the student and help him/her learn from the experience while still holding him/her accountable to the seriousness of cheating. The consequences of the infractions are:

First Infraction

Academic: The student will receive a zero for the assignment, quiz, test or examination.

Disciplinary: Depending on the severity of the situation determined by the Assistant Principal, the student’s disciplinary consequence will include up to three days of out-of-school suspension.

Counseling: The Assistant Principal will meet with the student and his parents/guardians and attempt to learn the cause of the dishonesty and set up a plan to try to ensure that the infraction does not happen again via tutoring, extra help from teacher, etc. The student will meet his/her counselor to continue the reflection on the experience.

Second Infraction

Academic: The student will receive a zero for the assignment, quiz, test or examination

Disciplinary: After consulting with the Assistant Principal, the Principal will decide, depending on the severity of the two infractions, whether or not the student should remain at Cristo Rey Philadelphia. If the student is allowed to remain as a member of the Cristo Rey Philadelphia community, he or she will face serious disciplinary consequences that may include multiple day out-of-school suspension and additional suspension from all extra-curricular activities.

Counseling: If the student remains at Cristo Rey Philadelphia, the Assistant Principal will work with the student and his parents and try again to learn the cause of the dishonesty and set up a plan to try to ensure that the infraction does not happen again via tutoring, extra help from the teacher, etc. The student will meet with his/her counselor to continue the reflection on the experience.

WORK-STUDY PROGRAM

Morning Check In

All Cristo Rey Philadelphia Students are required to work at their assigned job in order to continue enrollment at Cristo Rey. Daily, on time attendance is crucial for both student success at work and the success of the Work-Study Program (WSP). On his/her assigned work day each student should report to the Social Hall with his /her school I.D. as well as any access cards or identification cards provided by the Job Partner. The first step to any successful employment relationship is showing up to work on time. Students may begin to check into the Social Hall at 7:30 a.m. and must be in the Social Hall in school uniform no later than 7:45 a.m. If general dress or appearance is deemed inappropriate for work, the student will be kept at school and will have to make up the work day. Students are not permitted to leave the Social Hall once they check in so they should be mindful of showing up in appropriate uniform prior to check-in. Any student who is not in the Social Hall in proper uniform by 7:45 will be marked late and receive a detention.

Transportation

Students will be dismissed from the Social Hall and travel to work via subway or school van with chaperones. Students are expected to conduct themselves in a mature manner consistent with Cristo Rey Philadelphia’s Code of Conduct while in transit. This includes treating the drivers, chaperones, vehicles and any and all passengers with respect. All subway riders must remain in the presence of their chaperones until dismissed by their chaperone downtown. Proper behavior while in transit is essential to the safety of our community and consequences including but not limited to detention, suspension from school or termination of employment will be administered for unprofessional behavior.

If a student arrives to school after students have been dismissed for work, that student shall work at Cristo Rey for the day and make up the work day with the Job Partner at a time designated by the Work Study office. Students will not move on to the next grade level until any missed work days have been made up. At the end of the workday, students will return to the appointed meeting place to join their transportation chaperone for the return trip to school.