Students are evaluated frequently with quarterly evaluations communicated to parents via written comments, conferences or phone conversations. Letter grades are given each semester or at the end of a shorter rotation class. Interim reports, about halfway through each quarter, are sent for those students who are doing extremely well, showing improvement, or having difficulty. These reports are mailed home to parents.

The OES faculty is concerned about overemphasis on the importance of grades. Our emphases here are primarily on learning and on the progress each student makes as he or she strengthens skills and further realizes potential. Students and parents are urged to be more concerned with the content of course reports than with the letter grade issued each semester.

Academic Standards and Probation
We expect that every student will have no less than 80% of her/his work completed and turned in on time. Each teacher will define what “on time” means for a particular class or project. We expect that a student will maintain no less than a “C” average in each class. A student who does not meet these standards, i.e., receives a grade of Cor below, or has less than 80% of her/his work completed on time at the end of the quarter will be placed on academic probation for the next quarter.

As soon as a child is placed on academic probation, the child’s advisor, the teacher(s) of the class where the problem is occurring and one of the STARCAST staff will form an academic probation committee to help support the student. A staffing with the committee, the parents and the student may be held to establish an action plan to help correct the problems. The student will sign this plan and copies will be given to all teachers involved, STARCAST staff, the Grade Team Leader, the Head of the Middle School, the student and the parents. If there is more than one area of concern for the student, the staffing will include all of her/his teachers.

The academic probation committee will have the following menu of options, to choose from as further action needs to be taken:

a) Friday assignment sheets that are taken to each teacher for sign-off that work is complete and turned in. This would be returned on Monday with a parent signature. These may be done electronically.

b) Study table after school or during advisory may be required.

c) Counseling/support in school or in the community.

d) Tutoring in subject area or study skills.

e) Possible dismissal from the school.

f ) Other options created with parents.

Subsequent quarters on academic probation will result in further meetings of the academic probation committee, staffings with parents and revising the action plan.

This system has been designed with flexibility to meet the needs of individual children. There is not a specific time when a child will be asked to leave OES although that is always one of the options open to the committee to suggest. We do believe that with the academic and personal support available to students here at school and with the help and support of families, each student at OES can successfully meet these standards.

There may be students who are working with professionals in our outside community for whom accommodations to this policy must be made. Those accommodations will be made in collaboration with the parents, outside professionals and the child’s teachers. In these cases, our goal will be to help that student reach the standards without accommodation as soon as possible. Please be in touch with Cindy McEnroe, Steve Brennan or Charyl Cathey if you have questions about any part of the policy.

Parent-Teacher Conferences
The faculty has chosen late fall as a conference time to talk with Sixth Grade parents and parents of students new to OES about their child and her or his performance in school. This is also a chance for parents to talk with teachers concerning personal interests, aspirations, and problems of their children, and to learn what the teacher’s goals are for the year. Students are encouraged to attend these conferences. Seventh and Eighth Grade conferences, led by the 7th and 8th graders, will take place at semester.

Parents are welcome to talk with their child’s teachers at other times as the need arises. If a conference is desired, please make an advance appointment during school hours to avoid time conflicts. Each grade level team has two periods each day when conferences may be scheduled. Teachers may be unavailable for after-school conferences or visits on Mondays, as required faculty meetings take place at this time.

The Head of Middle School, the Counselor, and the Advisors are also available by appointment to talk with parents, both during and after the school day.

Student Records
The School maintains progress and behavioral records on all students. These include such things as admissions application, records from previous schools, report cards, attendance, standardized test results, health records, and correspondence. Student records are used by the faculty and are open to inspection by the student’s parents upon request. No one else has access to them without the consent of the administration, parents, or both.

All STARCAST
Counseling and Support
The Counseling and Academic Support Team serves all Middle School students and is guided by the principle that all our students are stars with strengths to develop and gifts to contribute to the community. STARCAST is designed to engage students, faculty/staff and parents in ongoing communication and collaboration to meet the special developmental needs of early adolescents. Through STARCAST, students are supported as they grow socially and emotionally and as they reach for academic success.

STARCAST works directly with students individually, in groups, and in the classroom. Students are encouraged to develop social and emotional competencies in the areas of self-awareness, leadership, problem-solving, stress/conflict management, goal setting, peer-helping, and self-advocacy. Though the emphasis in this work is educational, serious issues and crisis situations will sometimes arise during these critical transition years. STARCAST is poised to provide crisis intervention, support, and referrals for students and their families as needed. If students are working with community medical or mental health professionals, we ask parents to sign a release and exchange of information form which allows practitioners to consult with the school counselors. The school is then positioned to support the students’ therapeutic progress, health, and safety. Staff education, modifications to the student’s school program, information to the care provider regarding the student’s school experiences, and school counseling support for students and their families is put in place as needed and requested.

STARCAST supports students’ academic progress through direct work with students, partnership with parents, and collaboration with colleagues. Teachers offer individual support for students and opportunities for teacher-facilitated after-school study sessions. Many Upper School students are STARCAST mentors and work with Middle School students as part of their service learning commitment to the community. In consultation with the counselor, grade level teams of teachers meet weekly to use a variety of ways to assess student progress and plan for individual needs of learners. When academic concerns emerge but are not resolved, referrals for outside assessment or tutoring are offered as appropriate. The Middle School counselors work closely with community professionals to do educational planning, make accommodations, and monitor progress.

Partnership with parents is an integral part of the Middle School program. The MS counselors, MS Head, Grade Level Team Leaders, advisors, and teachers maintain an open line of communication through the newsletter, phone calls, emails, meetings, conferences, and staffings. STARCAST works with PAL to offer guest speakers, informational meetings, discussion/support/book groups as needs and requests arise. Fall Partnership days, for the parents of students at each grade level, offer a valuable opportunity to clarify expectations, define roles, build community, and commit to the values which constitute our shared mission as parents and educators of OES students.

Homework
We recognize that families today seem busier than ever and that children are programmed into more and more activities outside of school. We also recognize that you have chosen OES because you want the academic challenge and excellence we offer, and that we don’t want to diminish the programs we have. We also recognize that children need time to just be! Given that we can’t add more hours to the day or another day to the week, we use the following homework policy:

• During the week, approximately twenty minutes of homework will be assigned for each class period. For those in Pre-Algebra, Algebra, or Geometry, math time may be more. This means that students should have between 1 1/2 to two hours of homework Monday through Thursday evenings.
  
  
• No homework will be specifically assigned to Sixth Graders for the weekend. No assignments will be due on Monday, nor will tests be scheduled for that day. It must be recognized that students may choose to work on the weekend if they wish to have an extended time to work on an individual or collaborative project. This time may also be needed to catch up on work missed.
  
  
• Seventh Graders will have occasional assignments on weekends and Eighth Graders will have more frequent weekend assignments in preparation for increased work in the Upper School.
  
  
• Faculty will publish assignment syllabi when possible. We recognize that in order to take full advantage of experiences in the classroom, this is not always possible nor will the syllabus remain unchanged.
  
  
• Homework will not be assigned during vacation periods. We ask that parents join the partnership by making sure that students are not over scheduled, that there is quality time to complete assignments, to enjoy family activities, and to just be!

Students are asked to be prepared to participate in class activities; nothing is gained when an individual cannot take advantage of a discussion, lecture, or test due to lack of preparation. The class is also denied the valuable contributions a prepared student could have made. If a student has difficulty meeting homework assignments, she or he should discuss the problem with the teacher immediately.

Good study habits can also be fostered by scheduling homework on a daily and weekly basis, seeking help before confusion and panic occur, and providing optimal conditions for studying, such as a good light, a straightbacked chair, a sturdy desk, adequate

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