Upper School Faculty Information
SECTION 1
Expectations for Upper School Teachers
I General Duties
The school day
o The school day for teachers begins at 7:50 and ends at 3:40.
Teachers are expected to be at school during these hours. Teachers are
expected to be in assembly when it begins at 8am and likewise in their
classrooms for advising at 8 am.
o Teachers are expected to be available to help students during SAS.
o Teachers are expected to be at all-school assemblies unless they have
received permission to miss them.
Faculty Meetings
o Teachers are expected to attend all after school meetings unless they are
coaching.
o These will usually be on Thursday from 3:45 to 5 PM. There
will be a few additional meetings throughout the year; these dates
will be announced in advance.
o Note: Teachers are expected to attend the November Open House on the
first Sunday in November
Taking Attendance
o Morning attendance will be taken by advisors at all opening activities morning meeting and advisory. This should be entered into FAWeb
immediately. All students who enter after 8AM should be marked late
(even if it is 8:01 - consistent enforcement is essential). Attendance needs
to be take in all classes and study halls and entered in FAWeb before the
end of class time.
Notices
o Teachers are required to uphold school policies and to send notices
(protocol in discipline chapter) when observing infractions.
Individual Duties
o Each teacher is assigned 1 or 2 additional duties by the Head of Upper
School
o Each teacher is typically serves as an advisor for up to 15 students.
Cafeteria/ Break / Detention Duty/Study halls
o Teachers, together with their advisees, will be assigned cafeteria duty a
few times during the year; each duty lasts for one week. When on duty
teachers need to eat in the cafeteria and to be sure their advisees supervise
cleaning of the cafeteria before they leave. This usually requires the team
to remain in the cafeteria until the end of the period. If an advisee fails to
participate in his/her lunch duty, a notice must be sent.
o Teachers will be assigned a few break duties. For this duty they will need
to be present and monitor the Willow Grove commons.
o Teachers will be assigned a few after-school detention duties where they
will proctor detention in the Wissahickon room on the Willow Grove
Campus
o All teachers will be required to proctor study halls. These should be quiet
places where students are working.
II Grading and Timely Return of Student Work
SCH believes that providing timely, constructive feedback to students about their
academic progress is an important element of the learning process. We view all
assessments as learning tools, not just as a means of evaluating students. We
believe that students should have the opportunity to learn from mistakes before
being assessed on the same material or before taking the same type of assessment
again, i.e. before being asked to write a second essay, student should receive
feedback and a grade on the first. The following guidelines were established in
order to serve as a goal for teachers to return work to students:
1. All tests must be put on the test calendar with the grade(s), course,
teacher name and the date it was added. Ex. 12 H Calc Tkac 7/31.
2. Quizzes will be returned within 2-3 class periods.
3. Mixed format tests (objective, short essay) will be returned
within 5 class periods.
4. Essay Tests and Lab Reports will be returned in 6 class periods.
5. Essays and Papers will be returned within 8 class periods.
6. Major research papers and projects will vary depending on scope and
depth of each project. Speak with your Department Chair.
Note: Occasional circumstances may prohibit teachers from meeting these
return time goals on every assignment. In these cases, please communicate
with your Department Chair.
Reporting Grades on FAWeb
All Upper School teachers will use FAWeb as their running gradebook
and will post grades for parents and students to view under the established
time frames for returning work listed above. Three comments per quarter
are required. See below.
Comments on particular assignments –
 Teachers must comment on any grade of C- or below.
 Any assignment that has deducted points for lateness must include a
note that it has been reduced for lateness - with specifics.
 Any grade that is inconsistent for a student requires a comment. Ex. If
a C- student gets an A or an A student gets a C.
 Teachers must comment on at least 3 pieces of student work each
quarter. Please be sure there are positive comments.
Note: While this comment will be accessible to both parents and students, teachers may
directly address the student.
Number and weight of grades
 There must be a minimum of 5 major graded items in each quarter (if
homework is used as a major graded item, it must be checked and
recorded on an ongoing basis).
 No one graded piece of work may count more than 30% of the quarter
grade.
 For second semester seniors, there will be a minimum of 7 graded items.
III Homework Policy
Generally, each teacher will assign homework for each class meeting. Students
should expect to spend at least two hours outside of class studying and completing
homework. This amount of time will vary, depending on the nature of the courses
and assignments and on the study methods of the students. Students should expect
30-50 minutes of homework per class session, depending on the grade level and
whether the course is an Honors or AP class. Homework can only be assigned on
the day that the class meets and cannot be doubled on the days the class drops off
the schedule. Students should make use of free periods and study halls for review,
study, and completion of assignments, as well as meeting with teachers.
Vacation and Religious Holidays
No regular homework is assigned over Thanksgiving, winter, and spring
vacations. Tests, papers, quizzes, and other graded assignments will not be
due on the class after these major holidays (that could be the first or
second day, depending on the schedule). If a student is having difficulty in
a course, the student’s teacher may send a special review assignment home
to be completed over the winter vacation or a student may be asked to
make up missed work. Homework will not be assigned over certain
religious holidays; tests, papers, quizzes, and other graded assignments
will not be due on or immediately after such holidays. With advance
notice, teachers will accommodate students who are excused to observe
religious holidays not widely recognized by the school. If parents have
questions about the process of excusing students from school for religious
holidays, they should contact their Division Head. A single night’s
homework may be assigned over other short holiday periods, e.g.,
Columbus Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and Presidents’ Day
weekends.
IV Contacting Advisee Parents
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By the end of the first full week of classes, advisors must contact parents of
advisees. This may be done either by phone call or by email. (A personal
email for each advisee’s family is required, not a mass email, although an
email can be copied and pasted.) Email addresses can be found in FAWeb and
the SDH Directory (Blue Book/Finding List).
In order to establish strong communication with parents, advisors must
contact parents twice each quarter. As a suggestion, advisors might wish to
contact parents in the middle of a quarter to check on progress and after
reports come out.
V Email
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If possible, any phone call or email from a parent should receive a same-day
response. If a parent emails or calls a faculty member after hours or on the
weekend, that teacher must respond during the next school day, at the latest.
For all other emails, responses should be sent within 24 hours (at the longest.)
SECTION 2
Addressing an Academic Problem
1. If a parent needs to be notified of an academic concern in a particular class, the
classroom teacher is the person who should call or email the parent with the
concern and the plan for improvement. The teacher should touch base with the
advisor first to see if there may be extenuating circumstances he/she should be
aware of before calling or emailing; however, the responsibility for contacting the
parent remains the teacher’s responsibility. The teacher sends a summary of the
call or forwards the email (with the plan) to the advisor and cc. to the Department
Chair and Head of Upper School. The student’s advisor may follow up with
parent if he/she feels it would be helpful.
2. If the issue is not at the level of informing parents, but is till a concern, contact the
advisor with the plan for dealing with the issue and cc the Department Chair and
Head of Upper School.
3. If the student is having small problems in several areas, such as missed
homework, possibly identified in a grade meeting, the advisor is the person to call
home with the information and the plan.
4. If there is a major concern, notify Head of Upper School to co-create plan of
action with a team comprised of Head of Upper School, School Psychologist
teacher and advisor, deans and possibly parents depending upon the severity of
the situation. Advisor or Head of Upper School will notify parents of the
difficulties and the plan.
Section 3
Social Emotion Concerns
To report social/emotional concerns:
1. For a concern email the appropriate Dean. Subject should read student of concern.
2. For a major concern that needs immediate attention: See below
a. Contact Head of Upper School and Marisa Crandall, School Psychologist
immediately.
When to Contact the School Psychologist Regarding an Advisee
If a student says anything about harming him or herself or makes any type of suicidal
gesture, or if the student is displaying signs of self-harm or intention to harm someone
else, you must immediately escort the student to the school nurse and contact the school
psychologist. If a student has made suicidal comments in your presence, you are
responsible for getting that student to the nurse or psychologist yourself. The student
should not be out of your sight and your arm’s length reach until in the presence of the
school nurse or psychologist. The US school psychologist is Dr. Marisa LaDuca
Crandall and she can be reached at x. 1325 or at 215.720.5693. The LS psychologist is
Dr. Pamela Brown, and in the event that Dr. Crandall cannot be reached, contact Dr.
Brown at 215.275.7611.
The school psychologist is available to you as advisor and teacher to hear any concerns
that you may have about any students. However, there are some situations that require
consultation with the school psychologist and these include: Any indication of selfmutilation or “cutting”; negative changes in the appearance, friend group, or academic
functioning of a student; angry or disrespectful outbursts in class or towards peers;
patterns of antisocial, avoidant, or relationally aggressive behavior; indication in writing
or speaking of hopelessness, lack of interest in life, substance use, aggression, homicide
or suicide; sudden withdrawal from peers or activities; frequent crying or other emotional
outbursts.
SECTION 4
Disciplinary Procedures
Community Expectations -Honor Code
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy is a community built upon mutual respect and
personal responsibility. We conduct ourselves in a manner that embodies honesty,
respect, and trust in ourselves and each other to do the right thing. We celebrate
our achievements in all areas of school life and strive for our goals without taking
unfair advantage or seeking success at the expense of others. We affirm that we
will conduct ourselves in a manner that exemplifies the values of our school
community.
Disciplinary Responses
At SCH Academy, we have a multi-tiered response to disciplinary issues,
depending on the gravity of the infraction. Our ultimate goal in every situation is
for students to receive fair and clear consequences for their actions, learn from
their mistakes, and move forward in a positive direction. Upon a student’s second
detention in a quarter, parents or guardians will be notified and he or she will no
longer be “in good standing” for the remainder of that quarter and the next
quarter; upon a student’s third detention in a quarter, parents or guardians will be
notified and the student will go before the Judicial Board to determine further
possible disciplinary action.
In Good Standing
Students “in good standing” have specific privileges they have earned by
their responsible behavior.
Freshman and Sophomores have free break time and can, for the most
part choose where they will go during SAS.
Juniors have a free break time, for the most part can choose where they
will go during SAS and are allowed to sign out of their open study halls.
Seniors have free periods whenever they are not in class and, with
permission of their parents are able to leave campus after signing out when
they are free.
Losing Good Standing
Students will no longer be considered in good standing and will lose the
privileges associated with it if:
 accumulate two detentions in a single quarter;
 do not meet academic obligations and behavioral expectations (e.g.
conduct in and out of class, treatment of others, etc).
If a student loses good standing:
Freshmen and Sophomores may spend SAS and or break in a study
hall
Juniors will lose the ability to sign out of Open Study Hall
Seniors will replace all their free periods with study halls.
Consequences for Morning Lateness
Morning lateness will be monitored by personal advisors. Upon a student's
4th lateness to school in one quarter, the advisor will notify the student,
the parents, and the dean. Upon a student's 7th lateness to school in one
quarter, the student will be removed from "good standing."
Upon a student's 10th lateness in one quarter, he or she may need to go
before the Judicial Board to determine further consequences.
Note: Students who take school buses or ride Septa are excused when their transportation
is late.
Reporting Discipline Problems:
 Latenesses to school will be handled by Lynn Gehr.

For all small infractions you will send an email to David Coley with
the word notice and the grade in the subject line.
o Three notices will result in a detention. Two detentions in a quarter
will remove a student from “good standing”. If a student
accumulates three detentions in a quarter, they will or may go
before Judicial Board.

Any other major discipline issues are emailed to Rick Knox (11,12), or
Matt Norcini (9,10) depending on the grade with a cc to Head of
Upper School; you will receive a reply from Rick or Matt within 24
hours. The deans will decide the consequence.
• Note: Teachers may not assign detentions. Teachers report the infraction, and then
deans decide the consequences. For major offenses, please do not tell students that you
are giving them detention; say that you are reporting their offense to the deans.
SECTION 5
Student/Teacher Issues
Important: Before you begin the protocol below please note: for any student/teacher
issues, inform the Head of Upper School and the Department Chair from the beginning
and throughout the process until there is a resolution.
Protocol for handling concerns about teachers or classes:
o This issue usually comes to the advisor first; if it does not, it should be
referred to the advisor who will follow the steps below:
o Have the student sit down with the teacher to discuss this issue
- - this is an important lesson in self-advocacy. If the student needs
extra support, the advisor may accompany the student to the meeting. In
an occasional instance, it may not be beneficial for the student to meet
with the teacher. In this case the advisor should go to the Department
Chair.
o It is the Department chair’s responsibility to support the teacher in
facilitating a resolution.
o If the issue continues to escalate, it is the responsibility of the
Department Chair to notify and seek the help of the Head of Upper
School.
SECTION 6
Teacher Absences
Who do you contact when you are going to miss school?
Planned Absences:
o If you know you will be absent for school-related reasons, inform your
Department Chair as soon as you know you will be absent.
Unplanned Absences:
o If it is before 9 PM the evening before you will be out, call your
Department Chair. Email lesson plans to Lynn Gehr cgehr@sch.org and
your Department Chair.
o If you wake up and realize you cannot make it in, call Lynn Gehr at school
215-247-7200 Ext 7216 and leave a message stating that you will not be
in;
o Email lesson plans to Lynn Gehr cgehr@sch.org and your Department
Head. You should do this no later than 7 AM
o If you are going to be out of school for non-school related reasons you
need to speak with the Head of Upper School. If you plan to be out 2 or
more days, you will need to speak with the Dr Sands as soon as you know
you will be absent. Refer to the employee handbook for complete
information about numbers of absences, etc.
o In the event that you are sick for 3 or more consecutive days, in addition to
contacting your Department Chair you need to contact Liane Faermannn at
Human Resources. Serious conditions are covered under special legally
mandated leave.
o Department Heads can arrange with Lynn Gehr the process they would
like for arranging for substitute teachers.