Students are expected to use their own intellectual and creative talents in meeting course requirements. Individual thought and development should be the guiding principle in a student’s academic work, and honesty in all matters is a fundamental School and Quaker value.

Plagiarism (described below) and other forms of cheating obstruct the learning process and hinder personal growth. Academic dishonesty can take many forms, including but not limited to copying another’s homework, using unauthorized sources (such as translator programs for French or Spanish assignments), possessing crib sheets or unauthorized notes for tests, seeking answers from another’s paper during a test, or obtaining advance copies of tests or quiz questions. Students using electronic equipment, such as laptops, to assist in test taking or other classroom assignments, may not access information stored in that equipment without permission from the teacher. Plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty will be viewed as a serious breach of academic trust. Cooperative learning is used in several classes; students need to understand the distinction between this process and plagiarism.

Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or imitation of another person’s language, ideas, or thoughts. This includes the following:

• Copying from published materials (including the Internet and other electronic sources) or from another student’s work.
• Presenting someone else’s ideas in a paper or presentation without the use of footnotes and bibliography.
• Presenting another person’s homework, lab report, journal or project as his or her own.
• Using another person’s ideas or work in the completion of any graded assignment (test, report, project) without the teacher’s permission or without a footnote or otherwise making obvious the source of the information.

In cases of suspected academic dishonesty, the student, teacher, the student’s advisor, the Assistant Head of Upper School, and the Head of Upper School will meet to discuss the issue. If it is determined that the student was in violation of the policy, a grade of 0% is received on that assignment and the student will be subject to possible suspension or other consequences. Situations of academic dishonesty may be referred to the Procedures and Discipline Committee, at the discretion of the Assistant Head of Upper School.

A second offense of this nature during a student’s tenure at Sandy Spring Friends School will result in a meeting with the Procedures and Discipline Committee and more serious consequences, such as failure of the course, suspension, or expulsion.

Students involved in violations of rules for standardized testing, such as SAT, PSAT, ACT, AP, or TOEFL tests, will be subject to disciplinary action, including suspension or expulsion, at the discretion of the School