William Amos Hough High School

Honor Code 2021-2022

The objective of our honor code system is to instill in students values that will reinforce conducting themselves with integrity. It is Hough’s desire that the spirit of the Honor Code become a guiding force in the life of every student. For such a system to be effective, every member of the school community—students, parents, faculty, and staff—must believe in and support its principles.

In order to ensure that freedom and integrity prevail at Hough High School, students, parents, faculty, and staff accept the responsibility of upholding an honor system. We believe that an atmosphere of truth is basic to the system of cooperation and mutual respect on which Hough High School is founded. While attending Hough High School, each student must realize the importance of personal honesty. The Hough Honor Code applies to both in person learning and all virtual learning and assignments.

The Hough High School Honor Code is the following: Each student is honor-bound to refrain from cheating, lying or misrepresenting the truth, and stealing.

1. Cheating: Cheating is giving, receiving, or attempting to give or receive unauthorized help that could

result in an unfair advantage in completing work. The student is to assume that all work is to be done individually unless the teacher specifies that collaboration is acceptable. Cheating includes plagiarism. Plagiarism is the action of presenting others’ work, words, or ideas as their own. All Hough High students are expected to turn in their own work. Examples of cheating may include, but not be limited to:

• Copying information or answers from someone else’s work, homework, projects, reports, essays, quizzes, test papers, or Google documents.
• Allowing others to copy your work or doing their work for them, i.e. giving another student your homework to copy.
• Giving or taking assistance of any kind while taking a quiz or test. This includes talking or gesturing during the examination period.
• Using unauthorized aids such as cheat sheets, translation devices, notes, books, formulas or information in calculators or computers or via any internet source. Having any of these aids or any technology device out during a test or quiz without permission will be considered a violation.
• Discussing a quiz or test with someone who has not taken the quiz or test.
• Direct copying of key phrases from another source.
• Direct copying of key phrases from another source with minor adjustments such as changing verb tense or word order.
• Using another person’s ideas or arguments without proper citation.

2. Stealing: Stealing is the taking of anything without the expressed consent of the owner. Example of stealing may include, but not limited to:  

• Stealing copies of tests or quizzes.
• Stealing another student’s homework, notes or notebook.

3. Misrepresenting the truth: Helping someone else to lie, misrepresent the truth, cheat, or steal may be an honor offense. All homework assignments, essays and papers, laboratory reports, quizzes, tests, examinations, remote work, and other exercises are considered to be an individual’s work except when a teacher has given other explicit instructions about collaboration.

All school community members agree to this pledge:

1. I understand the seriousness of an infraction of the Honor Code, which addresses cheating, lying, misrepresenting the truth, and stealing.

2. I agree to abide by the Hough High School honor system.

Every faculty member must, and parents and students should, when aware of an infraction of the Honor Code, report the infraction. Students are encouraged to remind each other of the importance of obeying the Honor Code.

It is the student’s responsibility to understand our academic policies. We make every effort to clarify the guidelines for students and families. Students cannot defend themselves by claiming that they didn’t mean to violate these policies. Students who do not take the time to understand our policies are in effect demonstrating that they intended to violate them. A student cannot claim ignorance as a way to justify an honor code allegation.

Honor Code Violation Consequences

Violations of the Honor Code accumulate throughout the student’s high school career.

Informal Violation (assignments that fall under the informal grading category)

• 1st offense- Student receives a 0 on the assignment with no opportunity to make it up for a grade. Student can submit work for feedback from the teacher. Incident recorded in student’s discipline record with a warning.
• 2nd offense- Student receives a 0 on the assignment with no opportunity to make it up for a grade. Student can submit work for feedback from the teacher. Student and parent will meet with teacher and administrator. Incident recorded in student’s discipline record with a warning and parent conference.
• 3rd offense- Student receives a 0 on the assignment with no opportunity to make it up for a grade. Student can submit work for feedback from the teacher. Incident recorded in student’s discipline record and student receives one day of ISS.

Formal Violation (assignments that fall under the formal grading category)

• 1st offense- Student receives a 0 on the assignment with no opportunity to make it up for a grade. Student can submit work for feedback from the teacher. Student and parent will meet with teacher and administrator. Incident recorded in student’s discipline record with a warning and parent conference.
• 2nd offense- Student receives a 0 on the assignment with no opportunity to make it up for a grade. Student can submit work for feedback from the teacher. Incident recorded in student’s discipline record and student receives two days of ISS.

Students who violate the honor code may be ineligible for honor societies, student government, and other activities

The Hough High School Honor Statement: This work is solely the result of my own effort. I have neither given nor received any unacknowledged assistance. I have also neither seen nor am aware of any honor violations on this assignment. (It is understood that this pledge be included with EVERY assignment, paper or test. The student simply needs to sign, “pledged” by his/her name at the top of every assignment upon submission.)