Academic integrity is essential to the success of the educational enterprise and breaches of academic integrity constitute serious offenses against the academic community. Every member of that community bears a responsibility for ensuring that the highest standards of academic integrity are upheld. Only through a genuine partnership among students, faculty, staff, and administrators will the school be able to maintain the necessary commitment to academic integrity.

Academic eligibility for competition in PIAA sanctioned sporting events is governed by a combination of two sets of rules. The first are the PIAA eligibility standards as stated in its Constitution and By-Laws.The second are those specific rules of Loyalsock Township School District. The PIAA and Loyalsock Township School District eligibility rules are extensive. Space does not permit a complete rewriting of these rules. To be eligible to participate in any extra-curricular activity, a student must be passing five credit equivalents the marking period prior to his/her activity. In the case of fall sports*, this will be the last marking period of the previous year. Eligibility will be checked on a weekly basis.

The athletic program is regulated by certain minimum standards set by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (P.I.A.A.), which is a statewide organization. The school can enter a boy or girl in competition with other schools if that pupil meets certain eligibility requirements.

• Parent/Guardian(s) must consent to such participation, in writing. A student cannot take part in athletics until a properly signed certificate is returned to school.
• A physical examination is given, and certification is made by a physician that participation in athletics will in no way be harmful to the student before he/she may participate in any sport.
• A student may not compete more than four years beyond the eighth grade.
• If a student has reached his/her 19^th birthday before July 1, he/she is ineligible to compete in any sport that school year.
• The P.I.A.A. rules require a pupil to pass at least four full credits to be eligible for the varsity, junior varsity, or junior high athletic program. Students who do not meet the four-credit requirement will become ineligible for academic reasons until they meet the four-credit requirements. Grades will be checked for eligibility on a weekly basis. Students who are academically ineligible at the time of report cards shall be ineligible for 20 school days.
• All work missed during absence from school because of athletic contests must be made up in the regular manner.

Students are required to be in school the entire day of an athletic event if they wish to participate in that event. A student will be allowed one exception to this requirement per activity provided that the administration is notified before 8:30 a.m. The student must get approval for the tardiness and report to school at the agreed upon time.

* If the required seventh grade dental and/or the sixth grade physical exams are not completed in the year they are due, the student will not be able to participate in extra-curricular activities the following school year.

Student Deficiency Reports (below 70%) will be mailed mid-way through each marking period. Their purpose is to alert parent/guardian(s) and students that the student is in danger of failing that class for the marking period.

We encourage parents/guardians to view their child’s academic progress on the web. To begin using your Portal account. You can:

• Check your child’s latest grades
• Receive email alerts when new grades are posted
• Receive emails with school or class information
• See what homework is not turned in and read notes from your child’s teachers
• View team and club activities
• Verify attendance
• View your ‘Combined Calendar’ to see all the events from the school calendar and your child’s own classes and activities automatically collected and personalized
• Read daily announcements, lunch menus, school policies, and classroom news
• And much more…

Reporting to parent/guardian(s) is not limited to deficiency reports and/or report cards. Teachers may schedule conferences with parent/guardian(s) to discuss academics, attitude, behavior, and any other concerns regarding a student. Parent/Guardian(s) are encouraged to call the school and request conferences with individual teachers or teams.

Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of words and/or ideas of any published work. The penalty for plagiarism, cheating or contributing toward cheating may be a grade of zero (0) in the examination, homework, research paper, or any type of assessment at the discretion of the classroom teacher. The parent/guardian will be notified and the student will be referred to the building administrator for possible disciplinary action. Any violation of academic integrity is a serious offense and is therefore subject to an appropriate penalty or sanction.

In order to be promoted to the next grade level, a student must pass four of the five academic subjects.Any student not passing two or more academic subjects for the year will be considered a scholastic retention. Failure of an academic subject and a Related Arts average of less than 70 may result in a retention recommendation. Students may be considered for a non-scholastic promotion if certain conditions prevail.

Throughout the year, students are assigned to Related Arts classes that may include Art, Computer, Futures, Music (Instrumental and Vocal), Spanish, Technology, Wellness (Health and Physical Education). Each student may be responsible for the cost of certain materials used for selected projects.

Report cards are issued approximately one week after the end of each nine-week marking period. In no case shall a student’s marking period grade be based solely on one examination. Please feel free to request a copy of grading report procedures from an individual teacher or grade-level team leader.

Report cards may be withheld for any marking period in which a student has outstanding obligations.