Daily Accountability

At Scattergood, we've tried to find the balance between freedom and responsibility regarding rules and structure. In order for our days to run at least somewhat smoothly, we have a framework of rules regarding daily accountability (things like being in class, showing up to your crew, not bringing food or drinkin the library, etc.). When one of these rules is broken by a student, that student is given a "slip". These slips accumulate over the course of a block (one month), and the total slip count at the end of the block determines whether that student goes up or down in status. If a student receives a slip in an academic setting, the student is required to attend a structured study hall that night. All other slips are responded to by the Dean of Students and/or the Dean’s Advisory Committee.

Status

"Status" primarily relates to the set time that a student must be in the dorm each evening. Freshmen start the school year at 1S, Sophomores at 2S, Juniors at 3S and Seniors at 4S, with corresponding dorm times from 10:00pm to 11:00pm. Seniors can move up to 5S, with a dorm time at 11:20pm. Depending upon slip counts, other classes can move up a total of two levels within one school year.

Major Rules

The second tier of rules at Scattergood relates to what we call Major Rules. These rules are more serious than "slip" rules. A student's decision to attend Scattergood is understood to mean that the student accepts these rules and is intending to comply with them. These rules apply whenever and wherever a student is under the care and/or jurisdiction of Scattergood. Actions involving dishonesty, violence or drug use are examples of Major Rule Violations. These rules are described in detail in the Scattergood Student Handbook.

The most serious major rule violations (such as drug use or violence) result in immediate suspension or expulsion. However, most major rule violations are handled by a committee of students and staff members called the Dean's Advisory Committee. Taking the offending student, the community and the circumstances into account, this committee recommends specific consequences in response to a major rule violation.

Dorm Rules

Among the many areas of the community, the dorm is probably the most important for a student. Besides being the space where a student lives for nine months out of the year, the dorm also tends to be a place where students spend a lot time interacting with each other. It is not unusual to find several members of the same sex hanging out in one person's room, playing a multiplayer video game with several classmates, or sitting in a common area talking with who ever walks by. For social interactions, the dorm tends to be a focal point on campus.

However, there are quite a few rules for the dorms that all students must follow in order to ensure a safe and workable living environment for each student and staff living in the dorm. First and foremost, no student is allowed in the dorm of the opposite sex at any time unless there has been a time approved by the Dean of Students and the dorm sponsors on duty for there to be open dorms. The second important rule deals with dorm time, the time when students must enter and stay in the dorm for the night. This time depends on an individual student's status, but ranges from 10pm to 11:20pm. The exception to this is Sunday night where all students must report and stay in their dorm by 9:30pm for an all dorm meeting. Other rules which are enforced during the day and evening hours are students who are too loud during quiet time (study hall in the evening and after 10:20pm at night), are out of their room after lights out without permission (11:05pm), have other students in their room after lights out without permission, are in another students room after lights out without permission, or are displaying basic behavioral problems.

In all, the rules of the dorm are meant to give everyone a chance to have a comfortable, relatively quiet place to live. This is not to say there aren't plenty of opportunities to be loud with friends or freely play any kind of music. It just means that the dorm is a place where someone who needs to sleep or study can be expected to be able to ask others to respect that need. At Scattergood, it is that kind of respect that we are trying to foster and it is apparent in no other place on campus as in the dorms.