UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR
At Maria Regina School, the faculty believes that each child has a right to learn in a Christian community, which fosters love and directs the child toward responsible behavior. The purpose of discipline is:
- To provide an atmosphere, in and out of the classroom, that is conducive to learning, and
- To promote character training (i.e. to cultivate the virtues that ensure right living and to redirect disorderly tendencies).
Maria Regina School staff strives to reward and motivate positive, appropriate behavior, thus eliminating inappropriate behavior as much as possible. Appropriate behavior is expected of all students. Some examples of conduct unbecoming to a Catholic Christian student, and therefore, subject to disciplinary action are, but not limited to, the following:
BULLYING
Bullying is not tolerated at Maria Regina School. Students who bully others will be asked to leave the school if their actions are not corrected. Bullying takes many forms including, but not limited to:
Arguing: Students can learn to interact in appropriate ways with his/her teachers and peers. It is never appropriate to argue or talk back to any member of staff. Students here are expected to respect all others, and to abide by the rules of Christian fair play.
Fighting: Any hitting, kicking, biting, spitting, etc., is considered inappropriate behavior, and any student engaging in such violent behavior will be suspended immediately.
Inappropriate language/name calling: Obscene language (including swearing and ethnic slurs) is never acceptable (whether in verbal or written form) and will result in immediate disciplinary action. Respecting the feelings of others is an essential part of Christianity, and students are expected to respect the feeling of others.
Obscene gestures: The use of obscene gestures is immature, unacceptable, and non-Christian behavior is never acceptable at Maria Regina School. Such behavior will be referred for discipline.
Roughhousing: This type of behavior often results in injury to a child or escalates into a serious fight and it is not allowed. Any form of KEEP AWAY (or any game without rules) is considered to be roughhousing.
Threats of violence: Such threats are always taken seriously, and will be dealt with by the disciplinarian. Intimidation and bullying behavior are not tolerated. The student making the threats will be asked to leave the school.
Any behavior by individuals that might pose a threat to the well-being of students, staff or others and/or any weapon possession are not an area for practical jokes or offhand comments. If you become aware of a threatening situation, you must immediately report it to a teacher or the principal.
Cyber-bullying: Parents need to be aware of the growing importance of the Internet’s social networks in young peoples’ lives such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, etc. Social bullying and the spreading of rumors occur easily when students’ Internet activities are unsupervised by parents. Cyber-bullying is any derogatory, inflammatory or otherwise hurtful comments posted about the victim on a social network. When the offence is discovered off-campus, parents must bring to the school a printout of the offensive comments in order for the school to take appropriate action.
These disciplinary measures, focusing on unacceptable behaviors of students, follow the archdiocesan policies (see below).
