"Honesty" is often defined as truthfulness and trustworthiness. One of the goals of Challenger Middle School is to teach these values to students. While students have strong limitations on our campus, they also have the freedom in which to practice the higher values of integrity, honesty, and trustworthiness. As in the larger society, however, there will be times when certain students will not make proper choices and abuse this freedom. When an instance of cheating occurs, it is the responsibility of the school to react, so that a student flirting with dishonesty learns a valuable, lifelong lesson about the importance of being honest.

The acts of academic dishonesty are of major concern to Challenger and include the following:

Cheating on Tests or Assignments: A student is cheating when he/she is guilty or dishonest on any exam, quiz, or assignment - or when he/she knowingly assists another in dishonesty on any exam, quiz, or assignment.

Plagiarism: A student is guilty of plagiarism when he/she is caught copying another student's work, data, disk, homework assignments, and/or textbook material (including any published print and electronic material) and is claiming the work as his/her own.

Theft of Alteration of Materials: A student would be guilty of theft or alteration of materials if he/she is caught stealing, exchanging, or altering test documents, class materials, and/or teacher's records. This includes a student involved in selling, distributing or accepting stolen testing materials - or a student who refuses to cooperate in an investigation of cheating.

These acts will be dealt with the consequences as listed. In all cases, grades will be affected and a suspension from school is a possibility.

Consequences will include one or more of the following: