Mooresville Christian Academy

At Mooresville Christian Academy our mission is to provide Christ-centered grammar and secondary academic instruction to partner with parents in their charge to train and educate their children. We aim to equip students with a Biblical worldview and the academic tools they need to become leaders in the Kingdom of God in this generation.

Philosophy of Discipline / Discipline Policy

Philosophy
"It is good for a young man to be under discipline, for it causes him to sit apart in silence beneath the Lord's demands." Lamentations 3:27-28 (The Living Bible)

Discipline is related to "disciple":
1. The purpose of discipline is to disciple students in the Lord's way. (Proverbs 6:23; 19:20)
2. Discipline is instruction that molds, shapes, corrects, and inspires appropriate behavior. (Proverbs 9:9; Hebrews 12:11)
3. Discipline is the opportunity to redirect students' sinful natures. (I John 1:8)
4. The goal for our students is the same as the goal Jesus had for the disciples--self-motivated discipline born out of a personal desire to please God. (Romans 12:2; I Timothy 4:7)

While the temporary discomfort of discipline seems hard to bear, it is a testimony of love and concern. (Hebrews 12:5-11)

As students learn to submit to the authority of parents and teachers, they will be learning the process necessary to submit to God's authority. (Hebrews 13:17)

Modeling appropriate behavior is the most effective and efficient way to teach children appropriate behavior. (Luke 6:40; II Thessalonians 3:7-9)

God does not force or intimidate His children into making Godly decisions. He allows them to choose. (Joshua 24:15)

Society's lifestyles are moving further away from Biblical principles. One of the most serious challenges is to keep classroom management philosophies firmly rooted in the scriptures. (Proverbs 22:6; Romans 12:12)

Disciplined living is the outward manifestation of a proper love and respect for God, others, and self. (I Peter 2:17-18)

Policy
The purpose of discipline at MCA is to help students learn obedience, respect, and responsibility, and to insure a happy and secure environment for learning. It is the school's desire to work in harmony with parents to "bring up children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). Our goal is to promote self-discipline in the life of each student by teaching and rewarding Godly character. Emphasis will be placed on cultivating a good attitude and the proper response to correction. A majority of discipline will occur in the classroom. Students may be required to do extra written work, janitorial work, or some form of restitution for misbehavior.

There are basic behaviors that will automatically necessitate a visit to the office. Those behaviors are:
1. Disrespect shown to any teacher, volunteer, or other adult, including repeated disruption of the classroom
2. Dishonesty in any situation while at school, including lying, cheating, and stealing
3. Rebellion (i.e. outright disobedience in response to instructions)
4. Fighting (i.e. striking in anger with the intent to harm)
5. Obscene, vulgar, or profane language or gestures including taking the Lord's name in vain

When a visit to the office is required, the parent or guardian will be contacted and given details of the visit. The parents'/guardians' assistance and support in averting further problems will be sought. Repeated office visits may warrant parent conferences and can result in suspensions or expulsions. Severity of rule infractions will determine when a suspension or expulsion is warranted. Love and forgiveness will always be an integral part of discipline at MCA, but serious misconduct will not be tolerated. Any authority we have in your child's life must be delegated from you; therefore we rely on parents to enforce discipline.

While at MCA we know that students will be exposed to sin, however we feel that it is very important that they not be exposed to undisciplined sin. Your student is a representative of MCA on and off campus. Therefore, we reserve the right to address character issues that occur in and out of school. Students can be suspended or expelled due to immoral activity of any nature.

When repeated offenses occur, students may be placed in character probation and given the opportunity to set goals to improve character and behavior. Failure to do so may result in suspension or expulsion.

Willful Accompaniment
Am I my brother's keeper? The Bible's answer to this question is "YES!" For example, we are warned that we should discipline our own actions so we do not cause others to stumble. We are called to follow the example of Christ and to be servants of one another (John 13:1-16; Philippians 2:1-8). We need to express love through encouragement and sympathy, especially when the other person is "down." We ought to help others solve their problems and go out of our way to give friendship, particularly to the lonely.

Leviticus 5:1 states, "If a person sins because he does not speak up when he hears a public charge to testify regarding something he has seen or learned about, he will be held responsible." Clearly the Bible teaches that we are all responsible for what we know and that we are to give open and honest testimony when called on to do so.

We are not to be gossipers or to be destructive with our tongue (Colossians 3:8). We can hurt others badly or be hurt ourselves by criticism and tale bearing. On the other hand, we have a responsibility to respond to the wrongdoing of others. "Squealing" is often considered the worst crime and yet there are times when it is wrong to ignore what others do. At MCA, if a wrong harms others or the school, we have a responsibility to react, and even if a person seems only to be hurting himself, we cannot ignore it--we ARE our brother's keeper.

We have no rule at MCA for responding to the wrong of others, but we do have a biblical standard. In Matthew 18:15-17, we are told that we ought to go to the offender, after making our own hearts right before God, and confront him with the purpose of restoration about the wrong. If after going to the offender, there is not the correct response, we are told to go again and to take others with us. If there is still not the correct response, we are told to go to the authorities. Since we have twice gone to the offender, there is no question of our motive. If we do not follow through on our responsibilities, we could hurt our brother by allowing him to get deeper into sin, hurt others if the offense harms them directly, and hurt our way of life at the school.

MCA also has a policy against willfully accompanying a person who is violating MCA policy for suspendable and dismissable offenses. Therefore, a student who chooses to stay at a party where there is underage drinking is responsible whether or not they drink. The biblical principle is for Christians to stay away from sin and to be careful not to associate with people who are disobedient. Students who find themselves in a situation where these policies are being violated should refuse to participate, contact their parents as soon as possible, and separate themselves from the activity quickly.

There is a real danger for teenagers in groups to make very poor and often dangerous decisions. Often all that is necessary for the group to avoid problems is for one of the members to speak up and say, "That's not a good idea. Let's do something else." This willful accompaniment policy is MCA's way of encouraging our students to be their brother's keepers by encouraging their friends to do what is right and good. This policy also avoids problems of determining degrees of involvement by "sips," "puffs," "inhaling," etc.

Discipline Tools

Detention
Students may be assigned detentions at the discretion of the principal or his/her designee. Detention is a consequence for infractions that occur at school and school-sponsored functions. Infractions usually resulting in detention include: excessive tardies, dress code violations, and disruptive behavior.

Suspension
The principal or headmistress may suspend a student. Infractions usually resulting in a suspension include lying, cheating, forgery, fighting, flagrant disrespect, abusive language including profanity, possession and/or consumption of alcohol or tobacco, willfully accompanying others who are violating the behavioral expectation of the school, reckless endangerment of self or others, possession or use of pornography, gambling, skipping class, leaving campus during school hours without permission of the office, defacing school property, hazing, and any other serious violation of biblical morals.

Suspended students may not attend classes or any other school activity including home and away athletic events, but may complete their missed academic work for full credit. Suspended students will also receive a period of disciplinary probation in most instances.

Dismissal
Dismissal from school may occur at the discretion of the administration. Dismissal will be the usual consequence for the following infractions:
1. abusing, supplying, selling or possessing illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia
2. repeatedly committing any infraction
3. stealing
4. assault or battery
5. threatening the safety of other students
6. possession of a weapon
7. destruction of school or personal property
8. serious violation of any state, federal, or city ordinance
9. fornication, homosexual immorality, or any other sexual immorality
10. willful accompaniment with others committing dismissible offenses
11. committing any suspendable infraction while on disciplinary probation
12. committing a second, similar suspendable offense within the same school year
13. any other action which seriously impairs the effectiveness of MCA's academic or spiritual missions

The student and his parents may have an opportunity to express their side of the issue to the board in writing. All other privileges including the privilege to appear before the board, to present evidence, to be represented by counsel, and to cross-examine witnesses are all reserved by the board.

Dismissal may also be the result of the failure of parents to cooperate with the school in the discipline of their children.

Mooresville Christian Academy may discipline its students for suspendable or dismissible infractions regardless of whether these occur on or off school grounds and before, during, or after school hours.

Threats/Intimidation/Weapons Policy
Mooresville Christian Academy has a zero tolerance policy involving threats (verbal or written) and possession of a weapon on school property or at a school function. Our school's first responsibility is the protection of all of its students. Therefore, if a student brings a weapon to school, or to a school function, or has a weapon in his/her possession, the school will suspend the student pending a hearing to determine the student's continued enrollment. Micah 6:8 says, "What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justice, love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"

If a student has been threatened or intimidated, the student should immediately contact the teacher or school principal who will immediately initiate action concerning the threat. The accused student will immediately be removed pending investigation of the incident. The administration determines whether the threat was or might be genuine or if the student was or might be capable of carrying out the threat. In those circumstances in which the school determines that the threat is not credible, the threatened parties and their parents will be notified. This includes all cases, even those in which the student was "only joking."

Leaving the Building
Students must not leave the school building other than at regular dismissal time, except by permission of the school office. A written note, signed by one parent, must be presented to the school office for approval prior to the time of early dismissal. Students must sign out in the office when leaving early. A