November 30, 2009
Dear Sankofa Academy Parents & Students,
Greetings! We would like to first extend our best wishes to your family this holiday season! As we move further into our school year it has become quite evident to us that as our academic goals are constantly being achieved, we must continuously set anew. And as our academic goals grow so must our discipline and our climate as a school.
The document following this letter is to inform you of our new demerit system we will incorporate as of December 1, 2009. This system is being set into motion so we don’t have to spare any more time correcting behaviors. Many of our children have been in our care now for more than a school year and they know our expectations are high. As we move further and further into our achievements as a community, we must not become satisfied with behaviors unbecoming of our promising future ahead. It’s time for our students to take another step closer to achieving a level of greatness many of us have not yet seen.
Asante Sana… (Thank you!)
Sincerely,
Mallam Robert Woolbright,
Site Administrator
SANKOFA ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL
“Lighting the Path to Every Child’s Future!”
446 W. Gay Street Phone: 610-696-0333
West Chester, PA 19380 Fax: 610-696-0620
S.A.C.S. Demerit System
Talking out of turn in a distractive manor-5demerits
Chewing gum, drinking or eating while in class-5demerits
Coming unprepared to class, sleeping in class, -5demerits
Sleeping during time of instruction-10demerits
Sitting on classroom furniture other than student chairs-5demerits
Horseplay (Inappropriate touching)-15demerits
Coming to class tardy without an excused absence-10demerits
Inappropriate Internet use (logging on to MySpace, FaceBook, etc.)-20 demerits
Disrespect of an elder, educator, administrator-15demerits
Dress Code Violation-10demerits
Leaving class without permission before dismissal-10demerits
Throwing trash or other projectiles around the room-10demerits
Having a cell-phone or other electronic devices during instruction-10demerits
Fighting in school, -25demerits (recommendation for suspension and appear in mandatory hearing)
Using profanity-10demerits
Saying “shut up,” or calling a student something other than their name-5demerits
Directly defying an educator, or administrator-15demerits
Inappropriate conversation in the classroom (sexual, violent, or otherwise inappropriate conversation)-15 demerits
Stealing from others-20 demerits
ASSIGNMENT OF DEMERIT POINTS:
STUDENT CONDUCT DEMERIT SYSTEM
At 10 demerits - a letter is mailed to the parents (two (2) weeks of community service is to be served in between class hours)
At 20 demerits - three (3) day suspension, letter mailed to parents, referral to site administrator, parents conference either in school or via phone (night school possible)
At 30 demerits - five (5) day (out) suspension, letter mailed to parents, referral to site administrator, parent conference (parent call for an appointment)
At 40 demerits – five (5) day (out) suspension, letter is mailed to parents, this is a serious number of demerits and parents must become very involved in correcting inappropriate behavior (parents can sit in on classes, student can attend night school upon return)
At 45 demerits - ten (10) day suspension, letter to parents, pre-expulsion hearing conducted by the CEO and available board members
At 60 demerits - possible ten (10) day out-of-school suspension and recommendation to the CEO for immediate expulsion or alternate education plan
S.A.C.S. Demerit System
Educators, as we begin using this demerit system, we must be mindful that we are the people giving out the demerits to students for their behaviors. You can still use discretion as the educator as to what and what is not demerit worthy in your classroom. Some students are instantly concerned about the use of this system and they should be, for many of our students have continuously tested the boundaries of our school for far too long now. In any case, we still need to be certain to use compassion when assigning demerits and engaging our students. The act of giving a demerit should never be in malice.
This school year I see no point in holding this system in place for our 5th and 6th grade students. Our 7th thru 11th graders are in the largest need and our 5th/6th graders are the newest to our community. They need to know about the system to come, they will be introduced to it in the 7th grade.
Demerit Code:
1.Talking out of turn in a distractive manor-5demerits
2.Chewing gum, drinking or eating while in class-5demerits
3.Coming unprepared to class, sleeping in class, -5demerits
4.Sleeping during time of instruction-10demerits
5.Sitting on classroom furniture other than student chairs-5demerits
6.Horseplay (Inappropriate touching)-15demerits
7.Coming to class tardy without an excused absence-10demerits
8.Inappropriate Internet use (logging on to MySpace, FaceBook, etc.)-20 demerits
9.Disrespect of an elder, educator, administrator-15demerits
10.Dress Code Violation-10demerits
11.Leaving class without permission before dismissal-10demerits
12.Throwing trash or other projectiles around the room-10demerits
13.Having a cell-phone or other electronic devices during instruction-10demerits
14.Fighting in school, -25demerits (recommendation for suspension and appear in mandatory hearing)
15.Using profanity-10demerits
16.Saying “shut up,” or calling a student something other than their name-5demerits
17.Directly defying an educator, or administrator-15demerits
18.Inappropriate conversation in the classroom (sexual, violent, or otherwise inappropriate conversation)-15 demerits
19.Stealing from others-20 demerits
You can make your own class chart and use your grade book to log in demerits. If you need a paper separate and apart from your grade book to track demerits for your classes one will be provided to you upon request. The legend will look something like this:
|
Student’s Name
|
Demerits earned/code #
|
Date
|
|
Jaquan Duncan
|
5/2
|
11/30/09
|
|
Tabetha Sharp
|
0
|
11/30/09
|
|
Tim Johnson
|
10/15
|
11/30/09
|
***Demerit logs should be turned into Mallam Woolbright’s box at the end of every work day. Those extreme cases of students receiving 15 or more demerits should be reported immediately following class.