Flex Academy Community Code of Conduct

Purpose & Rationale

This Code of Conduct has been developed to provide parameters around our expectations of students as learners and Community members. The Flex Academy learner Profile and Core Values provide a foundation for this code of conduct.

This code of conduct also includes ways in which Flex Academy may address situations where a student is acting out of synch with the learner profile or our core values. The details in this code of conduct are not exhaustive but provide a view of how we approach our core values in managing student behaviour.

Flex Academy Learner Profile

A Flex Academy learner is a reflective and adaptable thinker who is inquisitive, discerning, and full of wonder at God's world, courageous and sustained by hope with a merciful, humble, and empathetic heart, and an advocate who is responsive to the needs of others, serving to have an impact on a world in need of redemption.

Flex Academy Core Values

Academic Success - Engaged Lifelong Learners

We aim to inspire every student to become a passionate learner who reaches towards their personal best while continually seeking out opportunities to grow. Our goal is that students leave Flex Academy having developed the skills and tools to remain discerning lifelong learners.

Integrity - Authentic Christ Followers

One of the definitions of integrity is the quality or state of being complete or undivided. We believe this wholeness can only be found in Christ. Our desire for our students and, by extension their families, is to walk in the fullness of an authentic relationship with Christ within a supportive community that prays together, challenges each other and shares life together.

Relationship - Intentional Supportive Community

Responding to the needs of our families, we develop a variety of opportunities for students to connect, to learn together and to build supportive community. Our teachers and staff pray for, encourage and come alongside our students and families as we partner with them in their academic journey.

Flexibility - Personalized Learning Choices

Just as every student is unique, their learning should be as well. We value creating individualized learning plans for every student that are designed to provide a flexible and tailored education, empowering and supporting parents as we partner with them. We strive to create innovative opportunities, including individualized home education, any-pace online courses, community-building face-to-face learning groups, cross-enrolled options and much more.

Conduct Expectations

At Flex Academy, our entire community – including staff, students, volunteers, and parents – is responsible for ensuring Flex Academy is a safe, supportive, and inclusive school. Behaviour that falls within our core values and learner and teacher profiles looks like the following:

Demonstrating respect for themselves, others, and their school

Apologizing and working toward change when there is a problem

Forgiving one another and working together

Owning our mistakes and taking steps to correct them

Treating all individuals, regardless of race, ability, sexual orientation, self-expression, or religious beliefs with kindness, inclusion, and respect.

Treating school property and the property of others with a reasonable standard of care

Expressing themselves with socially acceptable language and gestures

Exhibiting behaviour that is free of all forms of intimidation, harassment, racism, exclusion, and discrimination

Dressing in accordance with the school dress standards

Promoting positive behaviour through the avoidance of all types of violent acts

Informing a school official of any unsafe situation

Make every effort to attend scheduled classes and arrive on time

Respecting the rights of others to learn in an environment free of unnecessary distractions

Assisting in making the school a safe, caring, and orderly place

Modelling respectful and responsible behaviour, not only at school, but within the community and whenever acting as a school ambassador or representative

Some behaviours demonstrate a lack of willingness or ability to synch up with our core values and learner profile. In cases where behaviour is problematic but not dangerous or extreme, or in cases where behaviour is the result of something that is clearly outside of a student's control, Flex Academy teachers and administration will take an educational, skills-based, supportive and partnering approach to help students reach toward their full potential as responsible learners and community members who show care toward themselves, others and school property.

Problematic Behaviour

These kinds of behaviours will result in consequential responses from Flex Academy in the form of detentions, parental involvement, academic probation, or loss of priveledges and include, but are not limited to:

Distracting others from focusing on classroom instruction or prescribed tasks (including distracting others during Flex blocks or Flex days when on campus)

Creating unsafe situations for school members

Improper use of Flex spaces (the Village or Mez) - includes habitually not signing in or out or a chronic lack of communication with the school if not staying the full day on a Flex day.

Swearing at a Flex Academy community member

Habitual absenteeism

Habitually poor work habits or lack of effort in completing schoolwork

Habitual unkindness toward others (excluding, gossiping, using unkind words)

Serious or Dangerous Behaviours

Some behaviours demand serious responses from the Flex Academy Administrative team that can include removal from class, suspension, and in some cases expulsion from Flex Academy. These behaviours include, but is not limited to:

Retaliatory behaviour toward others

Possessing any form of a weapon while on school property

Possessing or using intoxicants, illegal, or restricted substances. See the Flex Academy Substance Abuse Policy for more on this.

Willfully and continually interfering with the rights of others to learn

Acts of bullying, violence, targeted exclusion, harassment, or intimidation

Threatening others – in person or online/digitally

Possession or use of weapons

Theft or damage to property

Community Responsibility

It is the responsibility of the entire Flex Academy community to ensure our school is a safe, caring, inclusive and orderly school. For families, it is of the utmost importance that teachers and Flex Administration are treated with dignity and respect. we expect our Staff to do the same toward both students and families.

Flex Academy takes a zero-tolerance approach to bullying and harassment within our community. Any parent or guardian who berates, swears at, yells at, intimidates, bullies or harasses a Flex Academy teacher or staff member will be at risk for withdrawal of their students from Flex Academy. Alternatively, a parent or guardian who disrespectfully treats a staff member in these ways may also be prevented from entering the school premises until reconciliation takes place between the parent and staff member.

Consequences & Rising Expectationsand
Discipline is intended to promote the development of positive and healthy social and group
behavior. As a school, part of our role is to actively teach these attitudes and skills and to help
students correct unhelpful behaviors. At times, this involves the use of consequences and, if
necessary, rising expectations that coincide with students’ age and maturity.
Some examples of possible consequences that may be considered are:
- Informal meeting between teacher and student or admin and student to address the
situation or behavior
- Having students fill out an Incident and Reflection Form where they consider their
choices and their impact
- Phone call or email to parent to discuss or inform of the situation

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- Formal meeting involving staff, student, and parent/guardian
- Detention or “Make Up” of missed time
- Removal of an assumed school privilege (off-campus permission, involvement in
extracurricular activities, etc.)
- Referral to school administration (Vice Principal then possibly Principal/Head of School)
- Restitution, either monetarily or through school-based community service
- Involvement of RCMP liaison officer
- Definite in-school or out-of-school suspension
- Indefinite suspension
- Expulsion

Suspension
A suspension is a removal of a student’s right to attend regular class instructional sessions.
Suspensions may be either:
- Directed Suspension – supervised suspension up to 10 days in length served at our
school
- Definite Suspension – up to 10 school days spent at home
- Indefinite Suspension – in excess of 10 school days
Administrators of schools may suspend a student when:
- A student is wilfully disobedient to a teacher or any other employee of the school
- The behavior of the student has a harmful effect on the character or persons of others
students
- A student fails to apply themselves in their studies or fails to comply with the rules of
the school and does not, after due warning, make a reasonable effort to reform

Expulsion
An expulsion is the removal of a student’s right to attend a given school.
Administrators of schools may expel a student when:
- The student has continually refused to comply with the Code of Conduct or other rules
or policies of the school either verbally or through their actions or both

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- Has committed a one-time serious infraction or breach of the school Code of Conduct
and must be removed from the school for the safety, benefit, and stability of other
school community members
- Has failed to apply himself or herself to his or her studies
An expulsion can be appealed to the school’s Board of Directors.

Student Threat Assessment Protocol
A threat is an expression of intent to do harm or act out aggressively against someone or
something. Threats may be verbal, written, drawn, posted online, or made by gesture. Threats
must and will be taken seriously, investigated, and responded to.
Threat Assessment Initiation
A student threat assessment will be initiated when behaviors include, but are not limited to:
- Serious violence or violence with the intent to harm
- Verbal threats to harm expressed within or outside of class
- Written threats to harm expressed within or outside of class
- Making threats digitally, including via social media or text messages
- Possession of weapons (including replicas or toy weapons)
- Setting fires