Homework policy
Rationale: Homework is an important piece of the student learning cycle as it allows for several goals to be met on a nightly basis. Homework can provide students with opportunities for practice and reinforcement for the instruction they received in class that day. It also can be a vehicle by which they can apply the skills they learned in class to the world around them. Another important element of homework is that it allows students to build their level of independence and responsibility as they take ownership of their own learning and educational development. As parents check homework assignments and talk to their children about what they are working on, homework provides another bridge of parent partnership.
Finally, homework assignments provide teachers with another tool they can use for assessment to tailor their instruction to individual students.
Time Guidelines: So that students are not working an inordinate amount of time any single night on homework assignments, the following time guidelines are in place for parent and faculty reference:
Archdiocesan Homework regulations are as follows:
1. Grades 1-2 not to exceed one half hour.
2. Grades 3-6 not to exceed one hour.
3. Grades 7-8 not to exceed two hours.
Missing Homework Policy: To be effective in meeting the goals stated above, homework should be completed the day it is assigned. As a result, it loses value and purpose when it is finished later and simply becomes another task for the student to complete as opposed to a tool that enriches the learning cycle. To support this the following late homework policies will be in place under usual circumstances:
Student has however many days they were absent plus one day to make up work.
Grading: As stated above, homework is designed to provide practice and enrichment for students throughout the course of a lesson. While it also provides a form of formative assessment for teachers to gauge how students are grasping a concept, it will not be used as a form of summative assessment to demonstrate mastery of a certain standard. While the specific weight will vary classroom to classroom, homework will not constitute more than 10% of a student's overall grade over the course of a trimester. For Kinder and 1st grades, homework will constitute a portion of a student's work habit grade rather than a portion of the course grade.
