Honor Code

Preamble of the Honor Code

The cornerstone values of Berkshire School are honesty and integrity. The Honor Code codifies and symbolizes our collective commitment to these values. We believe that it is every community member’s personal responsibility to uphold them by adhering to the spirit and the letter of Berkshire School’s Honor Code.

Constitution of the Honor Code

Article 1: Violations

•  Academic Violations: plagiarism, cheating, lying with respect to academic matters
•  Social Violations: theft, vandalism, lying with respect to non-academic matters
•  Violations associated with an Honor or Discipline Committee proceeding: it is a violation of the Honor Code to lie, mislead, or evade questions during an appearance before the Honor or Discipline Committee.

Article 2: Process

Any student who has violated the Honor Code may be required to appear before the Honor Committee or the Discipline Committee. In general, Academic Violations of the Honor Code are heard by the Honor Committee while Social Violations are heard by the Discipline Committee (whose composition and procedures are detailed under Disciplinary Response).

The Honor Committee is a standing committee of student leaders, faculty members and a non-voting Chair. When the Honor Committee convenes to hear a case, it consists of three student members, three faculty members, and the Chair. On occasion, circumstances may necessitate convening a Committee that consists only of adults. The student appearing before an Honor Committee has the right to be supported in that appearance by their Advisor, Form Dean, and a student leader. The Honor Committee hears the case, which includes a period of questioning from the Committee, and makes a recommendation to the Head of School.

Article 3: Consequences

The Honor Committee generally recommends the following consequences to the Head of School but may offer others if circumstances warrant:

•  Warning with Respect to all Future Violations of the Honor Code
•  Warning + Suspension
•  Dismissal

Upon receiving the recommendation from the Honor Committee, the Head of School will impose a sanction on the student, taking both the recommendation of the Committee plus any other pertinent information or circumstances into account.

Article 4: The Honor Pledge

The phrase “I pledge my honor” is short for “I pledge my honor that I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid” and should be written on work handed in for credit and followed by a signature. On work submitted electronically, it should be typed out and followed by the student’s name. Requiring and writing the Honor Pledge provides a constant reminder to all members of the community that honor and integrity inform our daily lives at Berkshire. On exams and large papers, the phrase should be written out in full.

Article 5: Promotion and Perpetuation

The preamble and the constitution are explained to all students at the beginning of every academic year. In addition, the Honor Committee especially, but all members of the community may take whatever measures it deems necessary to promote and perpetuate Berkshire School’s Honor Code.

Plagiarism and Cheating

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, presenting as one’s own work an idea or product taken from another source, or using another person’s ideas, concepts or language without proper documentation. To avoid plagiarism, students must cite everything that is not the direct result of their own thinking. Paraphrases (the translation of facts and ideas into your own words) must also be cited. Single words or phrases that are particularly appropriate or illuminating, the organization of ideas, and the ordering of examples given in a source must all be documented.

The School defines cheating as availing oneself of the means to cheat and facilitating the capacity of another to cheat. Cheating includes, but is not limited to:

1.  Taking notes or unauthorized aids (including wireless communication devices) into a test, examination, or quiz.

2.  Copying from, or being influenced by, another’s work while doing homework or during an assessment of any type.

3.  Use of help on homework, tests, or written work which is beyond the limits specified by the classroom teacher; this includes the use of artificial intelligence.

4.  Giving unauthorized aid to another student, allowing another student to copy work, or allowing another student to present “borrowed” work as original. In cases where one student aids another in this fashion, both are subject to disciplinary action. Please remember that it is the responsibility of each member of this learning community to maintain and model the highest standards of personal and academic honor, honesty and integrity. Those with questions about academic honesty/integrity should consult with their teachers, Advisor, Form Dean, and/or the Dean of Academics.

Lying with respect to academic matters

Students must be entirely forthright in their discussions about academic matters. Any lying with respect to academic matters may subject them to disciplinary action. Examples of lying with respect to academic matters include, but are not limited to, the following: lying about the completion of academic work, lying to avoid satisfying an academic obligation, and lying about the electronic submission of assignments.

In addition to a possible appearance before the Honor Committee, students determined to have lied, plagiarized, or cheated will generally be awarded no credit for the work in question.

Students are expected to sign and agree to the following statement at the start of each school year. 

Definitions of Academic Dishonesty:

1. Plagiarism is the act of representing someone else’s ideas or work as your own. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Information found online. Unless you are stating a commonly known fact (the number of states in the United States, for example), even something like an online encyclopedia needs to be cited.
• An idea that comes from another source. Reading Sparknotes or LitCharts, for example, then using the ideas in your paper is actually plagiarism. You did not come up with these ideas yourself, and you represent them as your own. 
• A summary or paraphrase of someone else’s idea(s) or research. Even if you summarize information using your own words, you still need to give credit to the original source. Changing the order of words, omitting words, or using synonyms for words or phrases does not eliminate the need to cite.
• Exact words from any source, including those generated by AI, whether that source is printed or spoken, or comes from an individual, or comes from a website with no apparent author. If you did not come up with the exact words first, you need to give credit to the person or the entity that did. 
• Copying or editing another’s artwork and passing it off as your own.

2. Misrepresentation or lying involves making misleading statements about your academic work.

• Examples include, but are not limited to, lying about when work was completed or turned in, providing inaccurate information about an assignment (ex. when/where data was collected), and providing misleading statements about computers (ex. my computer wasn’t working, so I couldn’t complete the assignment).

3. Additional examples of academic dishonesty

• Using work that has been previously used for another class, unless otherwise approved by your teacher. 
• Accessing notes or other sources of information during an assessment, even if they are your own, unless you have been given explicit permission to do so.
• Using your phone (or another device) to look up answers to questions on an assessment (for example, looking up vocabulary words during a language quiz).
• Submitting a paper that is heavily edited by someone other than you. Be careful – if you are getting help with a paper from a parent, a peer, a tutor, or even another teacher, significant editing and rewriting and subsequent submission as your own work is dishonest. We want to help you become a better writer; when your teachers grade a paper partially written by someone other than you, they are not getting a correct understanding of your skills, so they cannot help you improve.
• Using or submitting work that has been completed by someone else. Copying a peer’s work (like a homework assignment) and submitting it as your own work is dishonest. If group work or group study is allowed, students often come away with the same understanding of a topic; however, this does not mean that identical responses are appropriate. Articulate your own understanding in your own way. If you cannot do so, it is possible that you do not really understand the material.
• Using a translation tool (like Google Translate) to complete work for homework, compositions, or assessments for a language class.
• Using an online program or application to solve a math problem or a science equation.
• Using artificial intelligence tools (like ChatGPT) to write a response for you.

Consequences for Academic Dishonesty:

First and foremost, we want you to understand what academic dishonesty is, and we want to make sure that you understand the expectations of the Berkshire School Honor Code. A first violation of the Honor Code requires a conversation with your teacher, your advisor, your Form Dean, and the Dean of Academics. You are also likely to be required to sit before the Honor Committee, and you may be suspended from Berkshire. A letter detailing your transgression of the Honor Code will go into your academic file, and a copy will be sent home. 

Additionally, there will be an impact on the grade of the assignment. In most cases, a failing grade will be assigned with no chance for reparation. You may be required to rewrite an essay or retake a quiz in order to ensure the skills are learned, but the initial failing grade will likely remain. You will also receive a Not Meeting Expectations for the trimester when the violation occurred. 

Should you violate the Honor Code a second time, you will most likely be dismissed from Berkshire. 

Your Commitment:

You agree to adhere to the Berkshire School Honor Code for all academic work in all classes: “I pledge my honor that I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid.” You attest that you have read both the Berkshire School Honor Code and this document in their entirety, and you understand the commitment your teachers have made to you and your commitment to your own development as a scholar. You understand the School’s expectations and the likely consequences of academic dishonesty.