Disciplinary Policies & Procedures

APU International School is founded on principles of respect, honesty, and mutual trust. The established rules are essential to the maintenance and well-being of the school and its student body. Every student is responsible for obeying these rules. The disciplinary policies in place at APU International School are intended to guide students toward practicing appropriate, mature behavior as well as ensure the integrity of the school community.

When a student misbehaves, it harms the student’s as well as the school’s interests. However, it also provides the school with an opportunity to teach the student about the consequences of their decisions and compel him or her to more commendable behavior.

Parental or Guardian Right of Notification

Parents and guardians have the right to be notified of misconduct by their children as well as resulting disciplinary action taken. The most frequent infractions are often minor and require disciplinary action that can be resolved within the same day. Under such circumstances, parents or guardians may be notified of the disciplinary action after the disciplinary action has been taken. For more serious offenses, parents and guardians will be contacted in advance of disciplinary action and their immediate presence may be requested by the school. Parents have the right to appeal disciplinary decisions that they do not agree with. (Please see the ‘Appeals’ section below).

Student Rights to Defense and Appeal

While students are required to provide an accurate account of events upon request, students have the right to provide any other relevant, exculpatory or clarifying detail prior to the recommendation of a specific disciplinary action. Students may also appeal disciplinary decisions they do not agree with. (Please see the ‘Appeals’ section below).

Appeals

Guardians of a student have the right to appeal disciplinary decisions they feel have been unjustly assigned to their child. Appeals are typically only allowed for decisions because the parent, guardian, or student believes the resulting disciplinary action was applied under false information and not simply because the resulting punishment appears unfair or too strict. A student or parent wishing to appeal a disciplinary decision must do so in writing to the Dean of Students. The appeal must contain:

• Student’s name.
• Date of appeal (the current date).
• Date of alleged infraction.
• Alleged infraction as the parent and student understand it.
• Prescribed disciplinary action as the parent and student understand it.
• Student’s detailed account of events.
• Written statement of, “I, [student’s full, legal name], believe that the prescribed disciplinary action was applied under a misunderstanding of the truth. I affirm that, to the best of my knowledge, everything written above is accurate, and I have misrepresented or omitted nothing”.
• Student’s signature.
• Parent’s signature (required after parents have been notified).

Upon submission, the student’s parents or guardians on file will be contacted to schedule a meeting with the teacher involved, if applicable. If the teacher and guardians are unable to reach a consensus or if a teacher was not involved in the incident, the guardians and students will meet with the Dean of Students. If the Dean of Students is unable to resolve the dispute with the petitioning party, another meeting with a school counselor will be scheduled; and if the counselor is unable to resolve the dispute with the student’s parents, a final meeting with the principal will be scheduled.

Probation

Behavioral Probation

Students whose behavior demonstrate serious or recurring disregard for the spirit of the rules and expectations of APU International School will be placed on probation. Students who commit a subsequent major rules violation while on probation are likely to be expelled from school.

Academic Probation

Students who fail to maintain acceptable grades will be placed on academic probation. Students whose cumulative grade point average (GPA) falls below 2.0 will be placed on academic probation for two semesters, while those whose semester GPA falls below 2.0 or who earn a final grade of F in one or more courses will be placed on academic probation for one semester.

Students under academic probation must maintain a semester GPA of at least 2.0, have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 by the end of their probation and may not earn any F’s. Failure to comply with any of these requirements is grounds for expulsion from APU International School.

Corrective Guidance

In order to address the needs of a diverse student body, APU International School employs a wide range of disciplinary measures ranging from lunchtime detention to expulsion from the program. Through this combination of major and minor penalties, we hope to apply disciplinary measures which help a student to better fill their role within the APU community. Unless otherwise specified, the school has the right to impose discipline and penalties for conduct occurring both on and off campus.

Penalties may be customized to the needs and circumstances of the student, and multiple minor infractions may be treated cumulatively as a single major infraction. The school reserves the right to apply disciplinary measures as appropriate, including penalties not listed below. Students who fail to comply with the prescribed measures will face further disciplinary action in addition to fulfilling the missed penalty and may have their parents notified to pick them up from school.

Detention

Students who have detention are required to be on campus at the time and location specified or risk suspension. They are also responsible for arranging their own transportation. While in detention, students may not speak or communicate with others except as allowed by a school official, sleep, cause disruptions, use electronic devices or move from their assigned seat. Unless serving a lunchtime detention, they also may not consume food or beverages.

Saturday School Detention

Students serving Saturday School Detention are expected to report to the school from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. noon. While attending Saturday school detention, students must observe all the rules of detention.

Property Damage and Vandalism Restoration

Students serving Property Damage and Vandalism Restoration will be required to perform labor related to beautifying, cleaning, or repairing school property, such as removing chewing gum from underneath tables. Students who damage school property may be required to repair that damage. Such disciplinary actions typically occur on a Saturday.

In-School Suspension

Students serving in-school suspension are required to report to school for the normal school hours and attend in-school suspension for the amount of time they have received. They will be required to make up any course work missed while serving the suspension. While serving in-school suspension, they will be required to observe all the rules of detention.

Out-of-School Suspension

Students serving an out-of-school suspension are not allowed on school property for the duration of the suspension unless requested by a school official as part of a disciplinary meeting, nor may they attend any school functions on or off campus. Students will not be allowed to make up course work or tests missed due to the out-of-school suspension. Suspensions may be carried over from one school year to the next.

Expulsion

The Head of School, Deans, and the Parent Teachers Association may recommend expulsion for a serious violation, even on the first offense or if, in their opinion, a student’s continued presence is deleterious to APU International School or to the student involved. When expulsion is recommended, a student must automatically serve an out-of-school suspension. During the suspension period, the Principal will review the matter with those involved before reaching a final decision. APU International School values all of its students and does not take the decision of expulsion lightly. Such decisions are only made when it is truly believed to be in the best interest of both the student and the student body.