The Mission of St. John’s Preparatory School involves the complete education of each student (1907 Prospectus, 5-6). Essential to the complete education of a St. John’s Preparatory School student is academic integrity, which applies to all aspects of academic performance. It can be defined as “the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner” (Penn State University Handbook). One example of academic dishonesty is plagiarism, which is “a form of cheating that has been defined as ‘the false assumption of authorship: the wrongful act of taking the product of another person’s mind, and presenting it as one’s own’ (Alexander Lindsey, Plagiarism and Originality [New York, Harper, 1952] 2)”.
St. John’s Preparatory School challenges its students to embrace the offerings of our rigorous college preparatory curriculum. To fulfill the mission and goals of St. John’s Preparatory School, students are offered opportunities to develop to their maximum intellectual potential through formative and summative assessments. These assessments include research projects, papers, presentations, tests, quizzes, and homework. A lack of academic integrity undermines the value of these assessments and takes from students the opportunities to grow and develop to their fullest potential.
It should be known that a growing percentage of the reported cases of academic dishonesty at St. John’s Preparatory School occur because students share work, either in person or digitally, without the expressed approval of the teacher assigning the work. In such cases, the originator of the work is just as culpable for the academic dishonesty as the student borrowing the work, even if he was unaware of the receiving student’s intention to borrow the work. Therefore, students are encouraged to protect their work at all times, assist other students with assignments only with the expressed consent of teachers, and never share their work digitally with another student.
Academic dishonesty and plagiarism are seen as serious offenses to the community of St. John’s Preparatory School. A student who engages in academic dishonesty or plagiarizes is subject to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal from the School. In all instances of cheating and academic dishonesty, teachers will determine the academic penalty for the assignment in question; a zero or no credit is the most common academic penalty. Teachers will then refer instances of academic dishonesty or plagiarism to the Assistant Principal for Academics for the student’s grade level.
