SY 2021 Secondary School Student & Parent

RABAT AMERICAN SCHOOL SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENT & PARENT HANDBOOK SCHOOL YEAR 2020-2021 FATH 1, AVE AL MOHIT AL HADI AL MANZEH - CYM, RABAT 10052 WWW.RAS.MA [email protected] 2 WELCOME! 5 Section 1 - RAS BELIEFS AND GOVERNANCE 6 Vision 6 Mission 6 Beliefs 6 Profile of Graduates 6 Non-Discrimination Policy 6 Learning and Inspiration 7 Governance and History 10 Section 2 - ORGANISATION 11 Contact Information: 11 Staffing 11 Business Office 12 Secondary School Leadership Structures 13 Educational Leadership Team (ELT) 13 Curriculum Leadership Team (CLT) 13 Secondary Leadership Team (SLT) 13 Student Support Services Team 14 Communications 14 Email 14 Hotline 14 Open House 14 Information Nights 15 Change of Address, Email Address or Phone Number 15 Section 3 – TEACHING & LEARNING 16 Goals 16 Schedule 16 Home Learning 17 Communicating about Home Learning 17 Assignment Completion 17 Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) 17 Field Work 17 Library Learning Commons 18 High School 18 Assessment and Reporting 19 Assessment Calendar 19 Assessment Handbook 20 Reporting Procedures and Student, Teacher and Parent Conferences 20 Reporting 20 Progress Reports 20 Report Cards 21 Grading 21 Grade Point Average (GPA) 21 Online Grades 21 Academic Warning 21 Academic Probation 21 Academic Recognition 22 Positive Recognition 22 Secondary School Achievement Awards 22 Academic Excellence Award 22 Academic Achievement Award 22 Community Service Award 22 Richard Brunt ‘Makes a Difference’ Award 23 Honor Societies 23 Standardized Testing 23 English as an Additional Languages (EAL) 23 Learning Support 24 Assessment Calendar 24 Final Exams 24 3 Exemptions from Final Exams 25 Exam Preparation Weeks 25 Final Examinations for students departing early 25 Schedule Changes 25 Graduation Requirements 25 Transfer Student Credits 27 Credit Recovery 27 Grade Placement 27 Week Without Walls 28 Section 4 – STUDENT CONDUCT 30 Common Agreements on Behavior Expectations 30 Student Expectations 30 Teacher Actions 30 Administration Actions 30 Investigations 30 Consequences 31 Academic Honesty 31 Expectations 31 Definitions 31 Investigations 32 Consequences 32 Mobile Phones 33 How We Dress 33 Campus After Hours 34 Attendance and Punctuality 34 Types of Absence 34 Limit on Absences 34 Sickness During the Day 34 Arrival at school 35 Late to Class 35 Planned Absence 35 Sickness Absence 35 Leaving Campus During the Day 35 Off-Campus Privileges 36 Parents Absent from Rabat and Home 36 Student ID Cards 37 Food Services 37 Guests of Students 37 Section 5 - PERSONAL, SOCIAL, & HEALTH EDUCATION 38 Student Support 38 Counseling philosophy 38 Counseling Services 38 PSHE (Personal, Social, Health Education) Program 38 Homeroom and PSHE (Personal, Social, Health Education) 38 Homeroom Groups 38 The Homeroom Teacher 38 Grade Level Meetings 38 Student Support Team 38 Section 6 - COLLEGE COUNSELING 39 Introduction 39 Universities and College Requirements 39 Section 7 - TECHNOLOGY 41 Responsible Use Guidelines 41 Expectations of Students 41 Respect Yourself 41 Protect Yourself 41 Respect Others 41 Protect Others 41 Balance 41 Ethical and Respectful Use 42 4 Protecting your identity 42 RAS Email guidelines 42 Wi-Fi Access 43 Being a member of the community 43 Section 8 - CO-CURRICULAR PROGRAMS 44 General 44 Athletics 44 Goals of RAS Athletics 44 Varsity and Junior Varsity (JV) Levels 45 Affiliations 45 Student Athlete Expectations 45 Important Forms 46 Activities 46 Social Events and Service Projects 47 Posting Notices and Promotion of Events 47 STUCO - Student Council 47 Section 9 – ADDITIONAL PRACTICAL INFORMATION 48 Campus facilities 48 Cafeteria 48 Fire and Emergency Drills 49 Personal music 49 Language Use 49 Lockers 50 Lost and Found 50 Posting of Signs 50 Procedures for Withdrawal 51 Social events 51 Student Health 52 Health Records 52 When to Keep Your Child at Home 53 School Medical Insurance 53 Textbooks 54 Bags Unattended 54 5 6 W ELCOME! August 2020 Dear Students and Parents, Welcome to the 2020-2021 Academic Year Edition of the Rabat American School Secondary School Student & Parent Handbook. The goal of the handbook is to provide both students and parents with a practical guide to life at RAS. Reading through the handbook and having it on hand for reference is important. Parents and students, please read the sections on Behavior Expectations and Attendance particularly carefully. Being in school for the requisite time and making the best use of that time are two cornerstones of effective learning, and we work to ensure that all students are aware of these expectations. The philosophy of the Secondary School has its foundations in the liberal arts approach to education, which offers students the opportunity to learn in a variety of ways. We offer a broad selection of challenging academic courses, leading to three learner-centered pathways through a four-year high school diploma and two-year college preparatory experience based upon courses within the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme framework. We encourage participation in a wide variety of co-curricular activities such as team and individual sports and the visual and performing arts. Our students learn responsible citizenship by actively participating in the governance of the school as members of the student councils and by engaging in purposeful community service. This handbook contains information about the philosophy, goals, policies and operating procedures of the Secondary School. It has been prepared as an informative guide for students and parents. Familiarize yourself with its contents. If you have concerns that are not addressed in the handbook, I encourage you to contact Julie Milligan, our Secondary Assistant Principal, one of our faculty members or me directly. I believe you will find RAS to be a caring educational community where we aspire to the Aristotelian ideal articulated by the philosopher Will Durant that “we are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” I wish you all a successful and rewarding year. We are glad you are here! Kind Regards, Dr. Ted Fuller, Ed.D. Secondary School Principal 7 S ection 1 - RAS BELIEFS AND GOVERNANCE Vision Learning in a world community: Pursuing excellence in an environment of unity, mutual respect, and understanding. Mission The Rabat American School is a world learning community, preparing its students for higher education by inspiring academic excellence, intellectual curiosity, effective communication, service, and integrity. Beliefs Each RAS student: ● has dignity and worth ● strives for personal and academic excellence ● is civically, socially, and environmentally responsible ● learns in partnership with students, staff, and parents ● recognizes similarities and respects diversity ● thinks critically and in depth ● makes healthy, wise, and respectful decisions ● communicates skillfully in a variety of languages and media ● grows intellectually, physically, socially, ethically, and emotionally ● values learning and becomes a lifelong learner Profile of Graduates RAS Graduates are: 1. Knowledgeable, Inquisitive and Thoughtful ● cultivate the skills to explore new ideas, concepts, and issues ● acquire a depth of knowledge and understanding in a wide range of disciplines ● develop curiosity and a habit of lifelong learning ● recognize and practice critical thinking skills to solve problems and reflect on their own learning and decision making. 2. Effective Communicators ● understand and express ideas clearly and confidently when writing, listening, and speaking ● communicate in multiple languages and modalities ● willingly collaborate and communicate to problem-solve 3. Open-Minded, Principled, Reflective and Caring ● value their own and others’ cultural backgrounds ● actively seek new perspectives and viewpoints ● respect and seek justice for all members of the learning community Non-Discrimination Policy The Rabat American School celebrates the diversity in our community. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, gender or sexual orientation. 8 9 L earning and Inspiration We believe that effective learners: Ask meaningful questions • questions which connect their experience to the world • questions which further/extend their own learning This presumes a constructivist view of human understanding, where new information is assimilated into an existing cognitive scheme based upon a human being’s prior experience. Developing sophistication in asking meaningful questions allows a learner to construct further knowledge independently. We believe that as effective teachers: • We value who our students are (now) - we get to know them and what makes them tick • We guide their inquiry and support their efforts in that direction • We model those things we want from them and demonstrate the merit of those things This is a prescription for inquiry-based learning and pastoral care as a core element of our curriculum We believe that effective learners: Are metacognitive about themselves as learners • They examine their own learning • They reflect on their learning • They adjust their learning based upon their reflections Metacognition occurs when someone’s learning processes and attitudes themselves become the objects of their consideration. In this condition of heightened self-awareness, a student understands his or her individual learning styles (their strengths and weaknesses) and adapts them in order to assimilate new information or to develop new skills. We believe that as effective teachers:

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