A Note to the Parents and Guardians
The purpose of this handbook is to inform parents and students about the practical aspects of life at the Science Leadership Academy (SLA). In addition, there are many people at SLA who are prepared to help make the high school experience as powerful and enriching an experience as possible for students and their families. We look forward to getting to know you and your children. Additional information about the school can be found on our website: scienceleadership.org, and if you have any more questions after reading this document, please feel free to call the school at 215-400-7830.
Table Of Contents
Absentee Policy
Academic Integrity Policy
Acceptable Use Policy
Advisory
Appearance and Guidelines
Assesment at SLA
The Café
Chewing Gum
Classroom Policies
Classroom Schedule
Code Of Conduct
The Elevators
Hours Of Operation
Lateness Policy
Leaving The Building
Lunch and Food Services @ SLA
Marking Periods
Office Hours and Grading Policies
Personal Electronic Devices
SLA Portal
Transportation
Weather and Emergencies
Absentee Policy
On any day that a student is going to be absent due to illness or any other reason, the parent/guardian should telephone the SLA secretary, Semaj Smith-Hobbs at 215-400-7830 or email at attendance@scienceleadership.org by 8:30 am. After an absence from any contagious or communicable disease, a note from the family physician or release from the Board of Health should be delivered to the School Nurse or School Secretary. In the case of all absences, students are encouraged to stay current on their school-work using the SLA website to receive assignments and take part in classes.
Academic Integrity Policy
Across disciplines, we value student collaboration and expression of original ideas. The vast majority of students turn in assignments that either meet or exceed our expectations and contain no plagiarized or copied work. In an effort to honor their work, we introduce the following policy to respond to work that has been plagiarized or copied.
Definition of Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty for this Policy: In an instructional setting, plagiarism occurs when a student uses or supplies someone else’s language, ideas, or other original material without acknowledging its source including, but not limited to:
- Copying from the Internet or any other source, or using any unapproved websites/apps to complete assignments (including putting work into an online translator)
- Copying from another student or getting unapproved assistance from another student on an individual assignment
- Turning in another person’s work as your own (including Rosetta Stone)
- Submitting a group project that includes plagiarized or copied work
- Supplying another student with work that is not their own (including Rosetta Stone)
- Using ChatGPT or any other AI to generate/submit any aspect of original work for any class assignment (unless specifically instructed to do so by the teacher)
MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS
If plagiarism/copying occurs on larger assessments in a given academic year (benchmarks, large projects worth 10% of grade or more):
- 1st offense: Students will automatically fail the quarter if the assignment isn’t re-done. Students can re-do the assignment, and any redone project that meets expectations can earn up to a 50%. The re-done project’s grade will be mathematically factored in to determine the student’s final grade for the quarter. If plagiarism/copying is caught at the very end of the quarter, student will earn an Incomplete for the quarter and will have a maximum of two weeks to re-do the assignment for 50% credit. There will also be a parent meeting with advisors, teacher and student.
- 2nd offense in any class: Student will fail the course where the second plagiarism occurs for the quarter and there will be a parent meeting with advisors, teacher and Mr. Lehmann.
- 3rd offense in any class: Student will fail the course where the third plagiarism occurs for the year.
**Group Projects: If a group project is submitted that contains plagiarized or copied work, other group members who didn’t plagiarize will be penalized one full letter grade (10%) for the project, and the group member who plagiarized/copied will fall under the above consequences. If there is a concern about a group member possibly plagiarizing or not completing his or her share of a group’s work, other group members should voice this concern with their teacher as early as possible, and the teacher will work with the group to come up with a solution.
MINOR ASSIGNMENTS
If plagiarism occurs on other assignments (non-benchmarks; smaller assignments), the following consequences will apply for BOTH copier and copiee:
- 1st offense: 0 and redo for 0 credit, meeting with advisor and alert parents.
- 2nd offense in same class: meet with advisor, teacher and Mr. Lehmann
- Additional offenses in class: parents come in and meet with Mr. Lehmann, possible suspension or failure for quarter depending on frequency of offenses.
**Please note: in all cases when plagiarism/copying occurs, all members of the student’s academic team will be included on progress notes as a supportive measure.
Adapted from the Council of Writing Program Administrators, http://www.wpacouncil.org
Acceptable Use Policy
Science Leadership Academy values technology and encourages its use in creative ways to support student learning in a safe and secure learning environment. This policy is a guide ensuring the appropriate use as well as safety for all community members. While these technologies provide powerful learning opportunities, they must be used responsibly. To support the technology program, families pay a mandatory annual $40 technology fee. This fee helps pay for insuring the machines, purchasing software licenses and any other technology-related costs that the school incurs. If there is any major damage incurred to a school-issued laptop, and the technology fee has been paid, families are only liable for the deductible. If the tech fee has not been paid, students will be charged the full price of the part.
Families may choose to provide their child with a personal laptop. Students who opt out of a school laptop at the time of laptop distribution will not receive a school laptop at that time. All families are responsible for the technology whether their child uses a school-issued laptop or their own personal laptop.
If a student is using their own device, all troubleshooting, wifi connections, and technical assistance will have to be through the manufacturer of the laptop in use by the student. SLA does not have the resources to break-fix/troubleshoot any opt-out laptops, this includes Chromebooks of any kind. SLA does not provide loaners for personal laptops that are being repaired, however, should a student choose to opt-in to a school laptop, one will be issued to the student. Once a school laptop is issued, however, it may not be turned in until laptop collection at the end of the school year and is considered the student’s responsibility, even if they choose to continue the use of a personal laptop.
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The following rules apply to any device connected to the School District of Philadelphia’s network. Learning always takes priority while using SLA’s wireless and hardwired internet connections.The following guidelines apply to any school device, whenever it is in use, and any device logged into the School District of Philadelphia’s network. Some of these rules differ for home use, so it is the responsibility of the student to know the difference and to adhere to the School District of Philadelphia’s network rules and Acceptable Use Policy while in school.
- Do not touch or explore data on another personʼs laptop/device unless invited by the owner
- Only access areas of the network you have been given permission to access at school
- Do not load any game, video or music file on your machine that is not paid for or have the rights to use by you.
- Do not play games at school, unless school and parent approved
- Do not chat online or play music/videos unless given permission by your teacher
- Do not post or send any message/picture/sound/video that is obscene, rude, harassing or insulting to anyone
- Do not attack, threaten or intimidate another student via technology (or otherwise)
- Do not take pictures or post pictures of others without asking their permission
- Do not take up bandwidth by downloading movies, music, pictures, or by playing online games
- Do not store data on the hard drive, all personal files must be saved on an external hard drive/cloud space
- Do not download any illegal materials or intellectual property that was not purchased by you
- Peer to peer file sharing is strictly prohibited and monitored by the School District of Philadelphia
- Do not plagiarize, for more information see SLAʼs academic integrity policy
- Do not forward or send any content not directly associated with your learning
- Do not deliberately or negligently spread viruses, malware, or spyware
Science Leadership Academy and The School District of Philadelphia will monitor user data and internet access and has the right to check the contents of any electronic device brought onto the schoolʼs premises or on any official school event. Educational use of the network and computer resources takes precedence over non-educational use. This statement covers (but is not limited to) the use of any and all electronic devices owned by the school and by the students that are brought onto schoolʼs premises or at other official school functions.
An email address with the suffix @scienceleadership.org will be provided to all students. Students may use this to communicate with parents, teachers, friends, experts and fellow students around the globe. This address is to be used for all school-related business. Your private account should be used for all other communications. Communicating online is very much like communicating with people in person. You must be respectful of others at all times. Remember that all email & Canvas messages can be read by the SLA Technology Team and the administration. Donʼt write anything you would not want to share with teachers and parents.
In the end, part of the learning experience at SLA is to responsibly use these all types of communication methods as part of your school day.
Above all follow the school rules:
Respect Yourself ~ Respect the Community ~ Respect SLA as a Place of Learning
*this policy is subject to change at any time – last update: 8/25/24
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Advisory
The purpose of the Advisory class at SLA is to provide academic support to students and to foster a sense of community within the school. Advisory is a safe-haven for students founded on confidentiality and mutual respect. It provides a place for a student to express themselves about issues that are important to them, including transitioning from middle school into high school, managing homework expectations, peer pressure, conflict resolution with teachers, and more.
Parents/guardians should view the advisor as their first link to the school. They should email/phone the advisor about matters such as extended absences and/or special issues, or to check on a student’s progress.
Parents/guardians and their child meet with their child’s advisor once a semester to review the student’s academic and social progress, and to discuss the student’s achievements and challenges. Whenever possible, students are paired with an advisor for their entire high school career. Therefore, advisors have the advantage of looking at a student’s academic and social adjustment to high school holistically and across disciplines. As students advance to the junior and senior years, Advisory discussions also deal with course choices and college-preparation issues and activities. Advisory meets Mondays and Thursdays from 3:05-3:50 pm.
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Appearance and Guidelines
SLA students must dress respectfully in such a way that their dress does not interfere with another student’s learning. In addition, all students are required to keep a white lab coat at school for use at important events such as EduCon and other special days.
Students should be aware that teachers can require students to wear lab coats in class—many science teachers will require lab coats when working in the lab. Students are expected to purchase their lab coat on the first day of school.
While students can put personal touches on their lab coats, we ask that they respect the uniform and the school community, and are appropriate in their consideration of decorations. Students can always speak to a faculty member to gauge whether a certain personal touch is appropriate. Students who inappropriately adorn their coats may need to purchase a new one. Students are expected to be dressed respectfully, neatly, and modestly in clothing suitable for school.
Assesment at SLA
Students at SLA are assessed through a variety of means with a focus on project-based learning and our five core values of inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation, and reflection. Our students do not take the School District of Philadelphia benchmark exams; rather, they complete projects in every subject that are assessed based on the SLA rubric
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The Rubric:
Exceeds Expectations = 20 – 19 points
Meets Expectations = 18 – 16 points
Approaches Expectations – 15 – 13 points
Does Not Meet Expectations – 12 – 0 points
Design –
Does the student plan and structure the project thoughtfully and purposefully?
Knowledge –
Does student demonstrate the understanding of ideas through inquiry, research, analysis, or experience?
Application –
Does student use a variety of skills and strategies to apply knowledge to the problem or project?
Process –
Does student take the necessary steps to fully realize the project goals?
Presentation –
Does student effectively communicate the central ideas of the project?
Report Cards at SLA
All report card grades are graded on the A, B, C, D, F scale, rather than a 0-100 numeric scale. As such, on the report card, grades look like this:
95 – A, 85 – B, 75 – C, 65 – D, 55 – F
There are no percentages of grades between the 95, 85, 75, 65, 55 grades for final quarter grades or for final cumulative grades for final course grades.
Teachers grade individual assignments as outlined in their course syllabus and course requirements. Generally, an A would be a grade between a 90-100, a B would be an 80-89, a C would be a 70-79, a D would be between a 60-69, and a failing grade would be below a 60.
The Commons
The Commons is a gateway to the school and it is the first space that visitors and guests see. It was designed to give the students a warm and inviting place to gather and eat. As such, students should respect the café and keep it clean. This means conducting oneself in an appropriate manner and caring for this very visible part of the school environment by doing such things as throwing away trash.
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Classroom Policies
Parents/guardians should be aware that while there are universal guidelines at SLA, teachers may have different classroom procedures regarding hats, food, etc… We expect all students to respect those guidelines. Students who cannot abide by the classroom policies and, therefore, are asked to leave class more than once in a school year may have to have their parents come in and follow them through several class periods so that parents can observe student behavior.
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Classroom Schedule
SLA’s class schedule is rather unique. Classes meet for 65 minutes four times a week at different times during the day. Classes meet during the letter bands, for example, a student might have English during A Band. The class period schedule is as follows:
All 9th Graders take mini courses at SLA from 1:30 – 3:45 on Wednesdays. All 10th – 12th Graders are involved in their Independent Learning Plan / Internships from 1:30 – 3:45 on Wednesdays.
Teachers are in Faculty Workshops from 1:45 – 3:15 every Wednesday.
Please note: SLA students may remain in classes or have Independent Learning Program obligations on days when other School District of Philadelphia schools have an early dismissal for staff development afternoons. Please refer to the SLA calendar for more information.
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Code Of Conduct
At SLA, we have come together to try to further each other’s knowledge, wisdom, and abilities. To do that, we all need to feel safe, valued and respected. To that end, we offer the following three guidelines for student behavior:
- Respect and care about yourself.
- Respect and care about the community and its members.
- Respect and care that this is a place of learning
All other specific guidelines for behavior stem from these simple statements.
Disciplinary actions for students who violate any or all of these codes of conduct range from parent conferences, to loss of privileges, to suspension and/or expulsion from SLA. Students and families should be familiar with the School District of Philadelphia’s Code of Conduct that can be found at www.philasd.org.
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The Elevators
Students are not allowed to use the elevators without an elevator pass or authorization from a teacher. Students who use the elevator without permission will be subject to a $20 fine.
Hours Of Operation
The school building is open from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm Monday-Friday. The first class starts at 8:15 am every morning, and school ends at 3:05 pm on Tuesdays and Fridays, 3:30 pm on Wednesdays (including ILP and Capstone) and 3:50 pm on Mondays and Thursdays.
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Lateness Policy
School starts at 8:15 every morning. The school opens for student access at 7:00 am, so there should not be a reason for students to time their arrival so closely as to risk being late.
Latenesses that are the result of doctor visits or other extenuating circumstances, accompanied by a note, will not count toward detentions. Train delays that are not reported by SEPTA are not excused. Seniors who do not have a first-period class do not have to report until the second-period.
If you know your child will be late, please email attendance@scienceleadership.org or send in a note and cc: your child’s advisor.
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Leaving The Building
Students may not leave the building during school hours without a note. Students must sign out in the main office before leaving for any reason.
Lunch and Food Services @ SLA
Lunch policy is as follows:
All students are entitled to a free breakfast, and students can receive lunch (free, reduced or full-price) according to School District of Philadelphia regulations.
Students may be in The Commons or the 2nd floor ballroom, or in a classroom with permission (and attendance) of a teacher.
Students are not allowed outside for lunch without express written permission from SLA administration.
There is no “passing time” between the lunch periods (SLA lunches are 65 minutes long, longer than most high school lunches,) therefore students should plan accordingly and not be late to their class after lunch.
Students are expected to respect the school and assist SLA staff in keeping the lunch areas clean.
Marking Periods
SLA follows the School District of Philadelphia high school calendar for marking periods. Please Note: SLA students may remain in classes on days when other School District of Philadelphia schools have an early dismissal for staff development afternoons. Please refer to the SLA calendar for more information.
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Office Hours and Grading Policies
Personal Electronic Devices
At SLA, we are proud to be a 21st century school and we promote responsible and thoughtful use of personal electronic devices. However, cell phones and other items should not interfere with the learning process.
Therefore, cell phones will not be permitted to be out in class. We want kids to be able to focus in class, and more and more, schools all over the country are seeing that when students have their cell phones on them during class, it is just that much harder for them to focus.
Therefore, all students will store their phones at the start of each class in the designated station. They may retrieve their phones only with teacher permission.
Students who disrespect the policy may have their phones stored with their advisor or the office for longer periods of time. Repeat issues may result in the family being called in for a conference.
As a result of this practice, students will not be available for direct contact during class time. If you have a family emergency that requires immediate attention, please call the school office at (215-400-7830)
Family Tip: Do a phone use check with your child. Take a look at your phone use totals for the last 24 hours, and the last week. When are they using their phone, and for what purpose? Talk about what boundaries they could set as an individual, or what you could set as a family.
SLA Portal
SLA’s website includes a portal that gives students access to many of the web-based communication and publication tools including SLATE and Canvas — our on-line course software, and GSuite tools. It enables teachers and students to create online spaces for each course, allowing them to communicate about assignments, school events, and more. Parents and guardians can check student assignments by emailing the child’s advisor for login access. The School District of Philadelphia also has a parent portal for formal grades and progress on standardized testing. In addition, parents will receive frequent emails from the school via our parent list-serv. We will subscribe all requested email addresses the first week of school. If you do not receive the parent emails. Contact your child’s advisor with any questions or concerns about the portals.
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Transportation
The following buses and trains stop near the building at 1482 Green Street: SEPTA Routes 4, 43, 16 and Broad Street Line (Spring Garden Stop). For help with transit routes check Google Maps or City Mapper App. Free transpasses are available for students who live at least 1.5 miles away from the school. TransPasses will be handed out on the first day of school during advisory.
Students taking Regional Rail can upgrade their student transpass at these SEPTA locations.
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Weather and Emergencies
SLA is a School District of Philadelphia (SDP) school and operates the same as other Philadelphia public and charter schools do. Please listen to your local news stations, or go online to philadelphia.cbslocal.com or www.philasd.org to check for school closings due to inclement weather or weather emergencies. SLA’s school code is 2650. SDP also puts this kind of information on their Facebook page
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