Hey guys! A random question just popped up in my head: what happens if you’re late to class at a boarding school?
Would the teacher allow you to attend class? Are you expected to have a pass?
The consequences (and there are consequences), will depend on the school and are outlined in the student handbook.
Depends on the teacher. A minute late, yes,you can attend.At some point, the lateness becomes an absence from a discipline perspective, so the teacher may just tell you to leave. No point in disrupting the class further.
You are expected to be on time. If there’s a valid reason, the school will have a procedure for excuses. If there is no valid reason, you are considered late or absent and disciplined as laid out in the handbook.
to add to skie’s comments, I actually did ask this from pretty much all the tour guides and they said it was pretty hard to be late given that most of them operate on a block schedule where they have longer classes and don’t have every class each day. Therefore, you will typically have 10-15 breaks between some classes and other breaks such as lunch or prep period in between others.
An example of how one school handles it…
Two lates equals an absence. You get one “free” absence per trimester. After that, each absence earns you a detention. A couple detentions and you’ve earned a grounding (Saturday in your room for the evening).
Keep in mind, sports and similar activities are treated like classes…so lates and absences are noted and recorded.
Anywhere you were supposed to be for any thing – class, sports, coop job – was an "obligation " and you were expected to be on time for all obligations. There were penalties associated with having a certain number of lates. Much more severe penalties for failure to show up at all. In a nutshell, better late than never.
At Kiddo’s school, being late to class results in a type of penalty mark. Students are allowed only a limited number each semester. Kiddo has been unfortunate enough to have been double-dinged with penalties in one morning. The first penalty for a dress code infraction. The faculty member told kiddo to go back to dorm and change. That resulted in kiddo being late for class - second penalty that day. Depends on the school. Some schools will give you a penalty for being late to a sit-down meal, not being in dress code, being late for class, being late for study hall, having phone ring in class - read your school handbook - I believe most of these are available now online.
I have another question: can a student chew gum in class?
@YoungThriver Depends on the school.
Hi @YoungThriver Probably a better way to think about this is how a student SHOULD act in class. Sitting toward the front, looking at the instructor, paying attention (or appearing to pay attention) and taking notes are all good things. Asking questions can be hit or miss. It’s better to not ask too many. Things to avoid doing would be looking down/bored/at some device/out the window, chewing gum (as you say) or making any other kinds of movements or noises. Since I tend to get bored in lectures, I find note-taking helpful as something to do. Also I sometimes get out the textbook and read ahead if I find myself getting really bored.
(Chewing gum is considered a reasonable accommodation for some learning differences… which is why it might depend on the school and whether they are used to working with different kinds of learners…)
Hmmm. I think no gum-chewing went the way of the chalkboard slate. Given the thermoses of coffees and water bottles and other things I observed students enjoying in classes at Choate, I doubt there’s a no gum-chewing rule there. Does anyone here actually know of a BS where gum-chewing is not allowed in class? There may be some, but I’d be surprised as that rule just seems archaic to me.
I doubt gum chewing is much of an issue but tardiness is. At DS’s school you get demerits for being late to class (among other things) and I believe after 15 minutes it’s counted as an absence. Demerits add up and lead to weekend early morning detentions and then escalating consequences. If you wake up sick and don’t feel you can go to class you need to get to the health center before class in order for the absence to be excused.
All of this should be spelled out in the student handbook.