Student Handbook - The Taft School

EXAMINATIONS, EVALUATIONS AND
ACADEMIC CREDIT
Examinations are given at the end of each semester. Students may not reschedule exams to facilitate
an early departure for vacation.
Students who find during the term that they have three major assessments—tests, papers, projects,
labs—due on the same day may request to have the last assigned exercise due at a later date. Such
requests should be made to the teacher 48 hours in advance.
The following policies were written by the departments heads to clarify examination procedures:
ACADEMICS
Principle
Students are responsible for meeting their academic obligations during the regular school year and
also at prescribed times during examination periods each semester. Failure to do so will result in a
response as described below.
During the Semester
A student who misses an announced assessment as a result of an unexcused absence will receive a 40,
which will be averaged with the grade the student receives upon making up the assessment.
Assessments submitted late on the due date are penalized 5 points, and submissions after the
due date are penalized 10 points per day. The paper’s final grade will be no lower than the nonpenalized
grade averaged with a 40. Students must complete all major assessments to be complete
in a course
Students referred to the Moorhead Academic Center to take or complete an assessment should
do so by the end of the next academic day.
During Examination Periods
A student who misses a semester examination as a result of an unexcused absence will receive a 40,
which will be averaged with the grade the student receives upon making up the exam.
Students who arrive late for an exam but within the first hour will receive a penalty of five points.
After one hour, the student will receive a penalty of ten points. In each case, the student will be given
the full time for the exam.
Students may not wear hats during examinations.
Semester Examinations and Academic Credit
If a student fails a semester examination in the spring of his/her senior year, the teacher will offer
a re-examination only if the student fails the semester and needs to pass that course in order to
receive a Taft diploma. In most other circumstances, Taft does not offer re-examinations for credit.
If an underclassmen or fall semester senior fails an examination, a re-examination will not be given
even if the student has failed the semester and received no credit for the course. If the student has
failed a semester course that is part of a sequence of semesters, after a reasonable period of time
for preparation, the student must take a placement exam in order to proceed to the next level. For
instance, a student who fails the spring semester of Latin I must pass a placement exam in order to
proceed to Latin II in the fall.
Student Handbook 2010–11
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