General Information

Mars Hill Policies

Assignments & Grading

Teachers should issue a grade two weeks following each quarter.
Following the second quarter, the teacher should issue both a second quarter and first semester grade.
Following the fourth quarter, the teacher should issue both a fourth quarter and second semester grade.
Teachers should issue a numeric grade.
The standard Mars Hill equivalence grades are: A (100-90), B (89-80), C (79-70), D (69-60), F (59-0)
Students will have work for Mars Hill every week in every class. Tutors will assign work by 8:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. If work has not been assigned by 8:00 Tuesday morning, it is the student’s responsibility to determine if work has been assigned.
Tutors will return work within two weeks. If a teacher fails to return work within this timeline, it is the parent’s responsibility to contact the tutor or Mr. Hughes.

School Day Decorum

Students should strive to be in full uniform compliance throughout the school day. To maintain good hygiene, professionalism, and common courtesy, during school hours students will refrain from outdoor sports and physical recreation other than walking around campus.
A student who is found out of compliance with the uniform will call a parent. A student who is missing part of the uniform will sit out of classes until a parent arrives with the missing part of their uniform.
Study Halls: During the day a student may have an hour or two that he is not taking classes. One of those hours the student may use with his own discretion (a free hour) where he may read, talk quietly, or walk/sit outside. The rest of the time that he does not have a class, he must be using that time to study or work on homework.
Classes: Students should be on time for their classes and waiting in their seats for their tutors. They should use the restroom prior to class and bring all class materials with them (books, paper, pens, etc.)

Discipline

Late Work: Students (and parents) are expected to diligently honor all assignment due dates, asking for excuses only for reasons generally honored in academic and professional settings. These would include serious illness, death in the family, and pre-planned vacation. For illness and bereavement, assignments will be accepted one week late with a note from a parent.
Printer and Computer Issues: These are not considered a legitimate excuse. In the case of such incidents, homework must be sent digitally before class (via email), or if a digital transfer is not possible, a parent must contact the tutor before class to verify that the assignment is in its completed state, pending the resolution of the computer issue. In either case, a hard copy must be delivered to tutors by Wednesday of the same week.
Respect: Students will treat tutors with a high level of respect. Students are to end all conversation when a tutor enters the classroom, and are expected to address tutors with the appropriate salutation (Mr./Ms./Mrs./Dr./Pastor). Outside of prescribed discussion time, students will refrain from speaking in class before raising their hand and being called on by the tutor. Students will stand when tutors enter the classroom and wait for the tutor to greet them.
Honesty: Students are caught cheating once, they receive an F on that assignment and repeat classwork for that quarter. Students caught cheating a second time are suspended for one semester and given an opportunity to reapply. Plagiarism is handled in the same way as cheating.

Academic Probation

Parents should monitor their students’ grades each quarter to make sure they are completing their course work to an acceptable standard
Students whose cumulative GPA falls below 3.0 for a semester, or who receive a quarterly grade of D or lower in any single class are placed on academic probation (Grade point equivalents: A = 4.0, B = 3.0, C = 2.0, D = 1.0, F = 0.0)
If a student meets either of these criteria for academic probation, parents need to notify administration (marshillky@gmail.com) using this form: Probation Letter – parents
Probation letter to be filled out by teachers with a student who has received a C or below in any class for any quarter: Probation Letter – teachers

Graduation & Diplomas

In order for students to graduate from Mars Hill and use our transcript, they must use our grades. For parents using Mars Hill only to supplement their own homeschool, they are free to adjust their scores however they wish. This makes our grading more important to those who wish to have a “Mars Hill” diploma.
Also, for a Mars Hill diploma, students must have completed more than 15 of their credits at Mars Hill (students who move to the area in the middle of their junior year may receive special consideration) and must be a full time student their senior year.
We ask that students who want to walk in the Mars Hill graduation ceremony make it their only graduation ceremony.