Statement of Community Expectations
Introduction
Each member of the Lakeside community—students, parents/guardians, faculty, and staff—is expected to act in ways that show consideration and respect for others and that enhance an open atmosphere of trust. We deliberately keep rules to a minimum, expecting that action will spring from general principles of consideration, integrity, and inclusion. Learning, we believe, requires a willingness to be open and to contribute to an atmosphere of comfort and encouragement for all community members. Therefore, an atmosphere of support and trust is essential in order to affirm “the meaning and value of community” prescribed in our mission. Such an atmosphere must be created and recreated through individual acts each day. Just as even small acts of academic dishonesty or personal discourtesy erode the conditions that promote learning, so every action that affirms consideration, integrity, and inclusion builds the “ethical spirits” that contribute to the kind of community we seek.
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Expectations
- All members of the Lakeside community are expected to be honest in all communications. Most important, individuals are expected to be honest and forthcoming about their own actions. We also encourage members of the community to be responsive to specific inquiries about incidents or events about which they may have knowledge.
- Students in grades 5-11 are expected to be on campus at all times during the school day unless they have written permission from their parents/guardians and have signed out in the divisional office. Seniors have the privilege of leaving the school grounds when they have no academic obligations or appointments to meet. Seniors are expected to be on campus enough to take a reasonable part in the life of the school. Students in all grades are expected to attend all their scheduled classes and meet all appointments.
- Students are not permitted to sell or be involved in the sale of, possess, use, or be under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, and/or any illegal drugs on the campus or while participating in or attending offcampus school activities or trips. Students are also not to consume alcohol, marijuana, and/or any illegal drugs before attending or while traveling to and from school activities on or off campus. The consequence for violation of this rule, no matter how minor, typically will include at least suspension from school immediately after Upper and Middle school disciplinary processes and attendance in a program about drug use and/or community responsibilities, and may lead to expulsion.
- Employees are not permitted to possess, use, or be under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, and/or any illegal drugs on the campus, while representing Lakeside in the community, or when supervising students while participating in or attending off-campus school activities or trips or while traveling to and from school activities on or off campus. (The sole exception is made for moderate consumption of alcohol at a school-sponsored adult or employee family event such as Winterfest, alumni receptions, head’s open houses, Annual Fund events, or the Farewell Reception.) The consequence for violation of this rule, no matter how minor, will entail disciplinary action up to and possibly including termination.
- Use of tobacco and smoking (including e-cigarettes) are not permitted on either campus, in any vehicle owned by Lakeside, or at any off-campus Lakeside activity.
- The school views cheating in all its forms as unacceptable behavior. Using the intellectual property (e.g., words, images, or ideas, or any other similar creation of someone else’s mind and hands) of another in one’s own work without giving credit to the source is plagiarism, and a violation of academic integrity equivalent, in significance, to the violation of personal integrity that results from dishonesty in any form.
- Lakeside School does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, creed, disability, marital status, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a person with a disability, or genetic information. Discrimination or harassment based on any of these attributes is considered a violation of the school’s personal respect policy and will not be tolerated.
- No action is to be taken, and no behavior exhibited, that threatens or compromises the health and safety of any individual or that causes damage to school or personal property, whether by use without permission, theft, destruction, or defacement.
- Each member of the community must endeavor to maintain a clean, orderly, and healthy environment at Lakeside. A good learning environment, and the Lakeside community’s pride in its campus, depend upon all individuals doing their best to respect the spaces, property, and buildings the school provides.
Violations
Lakeside School will consider violations of these expectations on a case-by-case basis and will respond to such violations based on two fundamental principles:
- Lakeside School is an educational institution in which a high level of personal responsibility is expected of all students and adults. All members of the community should be able to assume that they teach and learn in and contribute to a community in which members share a personal commitment to abiding by this Statement of Community Expectations.
- Membership in the Lakeside community is a privilege, not a right. Unwillingness or incapacity to live by these expectations is reason to evaluate the appropriateness of one’s membership in the community