Codes of Honor

HONOR STATEMENT

Notre Dame Preparatory School is dedicated to the pursuit of academic excellence, spiritual growth and social justice. To achieve these goals we work together to establish an atmosphere of trust. The values of honesty and integrity are elements essential to this commitment.  Accordingly students are encouraged to grow in their understanding of the principles of honor. Honor enables us to demonstrate our belief in the dignity and value of each member of the Notre Dame community.  When we value personal integrity and the integrity of the community, we act according to the principles of honorable behavior at all times. Specifically, we accept responsibility for our own actions, and we refrain from using crib sheets; copying or giving homework; receiving or giving prior information for tests or quizzes; plagiarism (copying from printed material or electronic media without citing the sources); stealing; lying; using inappropriate language; or abusing others or their property, on or off campus.

Notre Dame Preparatory School is dedicated to the pursuit of academic excellence, spiritual growth and social justice."

Disregard for the honor statement will be subject to administrative and/or faculty review and subject to appropriate sanctions. A student who violates the Honor Code faces consequences including, but not limited to, detention, suspension, or expulsion. Ordinary sanctions for violations of the honor statement will be:

1. For stealing, lying or other dishonorable behavior inconsistent with the school philosophy, the student will be required to make proper restitution and will receive consequences appropriate to the seriousness of the infraction, up to and including, suspension or expulsion.
2. For plagiarism of any kind the student will receive consequences appropriate to the seriousness of the infraction, up to and including, suspension or expulsion.
3. For cheating, the student will receive a zero on the test, quiz, and/or assignment.
4. For violating the technology acceptable use policy, the student will meet with the Dean of Students and will be subject to appropriate sanctions.

TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

INTRODUCTION

Notre Dame Preparatory School provides access to a full range of technological equipment, software, and programs to students and faculty for education purposes.

The faculty and staff believe strongly in the educational value of this technology and recognize its potential in support of our curriculum and student learning. Our goal in having students use individual laptops in the classroom is to promote educational excellence by facilitating resource sharing, innovation and communication. While Notre Dame makes every effort to protect students and teachers from any misuses or abuses that could result from the use of technology, NDP is not responsible for offensive or objectionable material which might be accessed on the Internet. All users of the NDP Network must comply with national and state telecommunications laws; any violation is strictly prohibited. This includes harassment or cyberbullying, copyright infringement and invasion of privacy such as recording, photographing or posting pictures (other than self-portrait) without someone’s permission. Posting information online might involve personal risk or liability; many schools, businesses and legal institutions regularly monitor sites so be careful what you share. If a student damages the network or if NDP gets sued because of a student’s illegal activity, the student and her parents are personally liable including reasonable attorney’s fees.

The use of all technology at Notre Dame Preparatory School is governed by the rules and regulations in the NDP Student Handbook. Consequences for inappropriate use or misuse of laptop and/or school-wide technology resources will result in consequences depending on the severity of the infraction. Violations of a policy may result in revocation of Network and/or Internet and/or email privileges and in disciplinary action up to and including suspension and expulsion.

NETWORK AND EMAIL

The NDP electronic mail system, data files, software on the network, and hardware, other than the student laptops, are owned by NDP and controlled by the Network Administrator. NDP provides email as an educational tool to aid students and staff members in fulfilling duties and responsibilities. Each user is personally responsible for the use and contents of personal email and network shares.  Obtaining another person’s password or access code is a form of theft; misrepresenting one’s identity in electronic communications is a form of dishonesty. Instant messaging is prohibited in school.  NDP reserves the right to access, inspect and disclose the contents of any data on its system as deemed necessary without prior notice to or permission of the account’s user.  Messages used for illegal purposes or the transmission of inappropriate material will be reported as necessary to the authorities.

Use of the network is a privilege, not a right. All users are expected to exercise responsible behavior and language when using the network. However, supervision of email received by students but not originating from the school network is the responsibility of the parent or guardian.  Students have access to school network printers; usage of these printers is for school-related printing only.

SOFTWARE

Unauthorized copying or distribution of software violates copyright laws and software license agreements and is prohibited. Modifying, manipulating, or otherwise tampering with applications, files, and data on the NDP network, or any attempt thereof is not permitted. Using school software for inappropriate activities is prohibited.  Playing games, music or using other non-educational software from outside of the school on laptops or on school computers is not permitted while a student is on campus during school hours. NDP is not responsible for laptop maintenance problems due to software other than that authorized by NDP.

INTERNET

Accessing and/or transmitting materials that promote pornography, profanity, gender, racial, religious, and other biases, intimidation, or any other information counter to NDP philosophy and mission statement is strictly prohibited. Any attempt to access a site blocked by the firewall is a violation of the NDP Acceptable Use Policy.

All users are responsible for abiding by copyright laws and practicing ethical use of all resources.

LAPTOPS

Laptop owners must protect their electronic and intellectual property. This means not sharing one’s password, securing equipment at all times, and respecting the rights and property of others. Laptops must be in their owners’ possession at all times unless they are stored in the school-designated locked lockers when not in use. Faculty will lock laptops in their classrooms during assemblies. 

Loaner laptops will be available only to students who purchase laptops through the NDP laptop program.  Students who purchase laptops outside the school program will not be eligible for either warranty service or loaner laptops. Loaners will be issued to students on a first-come, first-served basis and only to students whose laptops have problems with hardware or school-installed software. Loaner laptops will not be issued to students who forget to bring their laptops to school. All students will be required to fully charge all supplied laptop batteries each night. Loaner laptops will not be given to students due to low batteries. For ordinary repairs, our Tech Support staff members service NDP laptops with help from student trainees; the vendor provides major warranty repair. 

Personal files including sound, video and digital images can be saved to laptops only; all other files should be saved to the server and on laptops in case one or the other malfunctions. Students saving non-school related files to the network will be reported to the Administration and files will be deleted. NDP is not responsible for any loss of files due to software or hardware failure. 

All laptops will be loaded with a school-sanctioned image which includes Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Office XP Standard. Any additional licensed software with educational value (i.e. print driver or Internet Provider for home use) loaded on the student’s laptop must not interfere with the educational operation of the laptop or programs. The technology department will not troubleshoot to resolve any problems arising from loading non-NDP sanctioned software. To correct problems related to loading non-authorized software, the laptop will be re-imaged back to the state when it was first given to the student. 

The technology department will install Antivirus software on all student laptops. Any tampering with or disabling of this software will result in a temporary suspension of the student’s access to the NDP network until the software is functioning correctly.