It is expected that Visitation students understand and practice academic integrity and honesty. Any form of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. To this end of ensuring academic integrity, a middle school assembly covering this topic is held in the fall followed by direct instruction in the classrooms by the teacher. 

Academic Plagiarism – Using someone else’s exact words or paraphrasing ideas without giving credit is academic theft. Material from Wikipedia, Spark Notes, pre-generated essay sites, ChatGPT or any AI generated work, or any literary summary/analysis websites are unacceptable material. Likewise, copying or allowing copying is a form of plagiarism. Simply putting one’s name on work completed by another classmate, an Internet source, or a parent also counts as cheating. 

Therefore, the consequences which may be applied are severe: 

1. An automatic 0 on the assignment.

2. A conference with the Discipline Board, the teacher, student and the student’s parent(s).

3. A suspension, which can range from 1 day to 3 days since the Visitation Honor Code has been broken. 

4. The earning of a D for both the Work Habits and Behavior grades at the end of the trimester.  

To avoid the appearance of plagiarism, 6th to 8th graders must follow the Modern Language Association (MLA) format on citations. Students may see their teacher for help on developing his/her own thoughts from the given information.