Blessed Sacrament School strives to create a nurturing setting for learning and to encourage relationships that are supportive and inspire confidence. All members of the Blessed Sacrament School community, including teachers, priests, administrators, staff, students, and parents/guardians, desire to do their part to ensure that all members of the Blessed Sacrament School community are treated with CARE - Courtesy, Acceptance, Respect and Encouragement. Our goal is to create an environment in which all community members exemplify the call to model love for one another as Jesus did.
By choosing to become a member of the Blessed Sacrament School community, each of us covenants and agrees that we will make a conscious effort always to treat one another kindly, charitably, civilly and thoughtfully. All members of the Blessed Sacrament School community are expected to abide at all times by this covenant. Members of our school community who use actions or words that are demeaning, disrespectful, intimidating, malicious, exclusionary or bullying are behaving in violation of this covenant.
The Special Problem of Bullying:
Blessed Sacrament School defines bullying as behavior that involves focused and repeated effort to cause physical or emotional discomfort or fear in the target individual, takes advantage of an imbalance (perceived or actual) in power between the aggressor or target and is intended to isolate, exclude or ridicule the target.
Bullying behaviors include but are not limited to:
• Repeated teasing
• Efforts to embarrass or humiliate
• Deliberate exclusion from group activities
• Acts of aggression
• Spreading of gossip (orally, in written form or through technology)
• Harassment (including sexual harassment)
• Intimidation
• Damage to an individual's property
Blessed Sacrament School will not tolerate bullying in any of its forms.
Consequences of Violating the CARE Covenant: Blessed Sacrament School wishes to encourage behavior that is consistent with our duties as Christians. In the event that Blessed Sacrament School community members violate the CARE covenant, the following steps will be taken:
Process for Responding to Behavior Involving Students:
• First Step: Warning to the child to correct behavior that includes a discussion of expectations and how to meet these expectations
• Second Step: Warning communicated to parent and to child; appropriate behaviors and responses to be suggested and discussed
• Third Step: Administrative conference with parents, child, teachers
• Fourth Step (conduct indicative of a choice to ignore the School's CARE theme and guidelines): Consequences may include, but not be limited to, exclusion from participation in school activities, suspension or expulsion
Particularly serious infractions may warrant a combination of the listed steps.\
Process for Responding to Behavior Involving Adult Members of the School Community.
• Behavior will be reported to the Pastor, Principal, or Assistant Principal. A conference will be scheduled with the adult to address the behavior.
• For parents/guardians, consequences may include, but not be limited to, limited access to school property, exclusion from participation in school activities, and non-renewal of registration.
• Reports regarding administration, faculty, staff or priests will be addressed as personnel issues according to the policies of the Archdiocese of Washington.
Our Community Commitment:
• The Blessed Sacrament School faculty and staff will devote time and attention throughout the school year to encourage behavior that is consistent with our CARE theme and to identify and eliminate behaviors that are harmful to our Christian environment.
• All members of the Blessed Sacrament School community must act as role models for each other, demonstrating in all their interactions the values of courtesy, acceptance and respect.
• All members of the Blessed Sacrament School community are encouraged to intervene when bullying or other unacceptable behaviors are observed.
• Incidents of bullying and unacceptable behavior should be reported as soon as possible to a teacher, administration or the pastor. Reports will be taken seriously and will be treated confidentially.
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