Purpose
At Sunrise Pine, we believe students learn best when they feel completely supported and accepted. To make this work, we must all protect our safe and respectful online environment. These guidelines help us maintain a digital space where every student feels comfortable taking academic risks, asking questions, and sharing their ideas freely.
Online Classroom Norms
- Be present and ready: Arrive on time to your live classes. Use your real first and last name on Zoom so we know exactly who is in the room.
- Cameras and microphones: Keep your camera and microphone turned on during class. This helps us build real connections and ensures you are actively engaged. If you experience a sudden technical issue, please message your teacher immediately.
- Special accommodations: We know that every student is unique. If you have an approved accommodation that requires your camera to be off, those supportive rules will always come first.
- Dress and background: Wear school appropriate clothing. Please use a neutral virtual background like a solid color or a nature scene. We ask that you avoid backgrounds with political imagery, adult content, or distracting graphics.
- Focus on learning: Close all unrelated browser tabs before class begins. Do not play games, check social media, or watch outside videos during a live session.
- Use tools properly: Only use the chat, screen share, and annotation tools when your teacher asks you to do so.
Protecting Our Privacy
- No recording allowed: To make sure everyone feels safe sharing their thoughts, you may never record a live class or take pictures of your screen.
- No outside guests: Bringing friends or outside guests to your Zoom screen is not allowed. This keeps our digital classroom completely private and secure for the enrolled students.
Respect and Civility
- Treat your teachers and peers with kindness at all times.
- Wait your turn to speak and do not interrupt others. Use the raise hand feature if you have a question.
- Use appropriate language. Profanity, obscenities, and rude gestures are never allowed.
- Disagree respectfully. During our group class debates, always focus on discussing the ideas rather than attacking the person.
Bullying and Harassment
We have absolutely zero tolerance for bullying or harassment. Our school must remain a completely safe space for everyone. We do not allow social exclusion, discrimination, hate speech, threats, or intimidation in any form. This applies to live video, audio, chat boxes, and direct messages. If you experience or witness bullying, please report it to a teacher immediately.
How We Handle Challenges
Because we are a small community, we handle behavioral mistakes through conversation and support rather than rigid punishments. Our goal is always to teach and restore.
- Gentle Redirect: For minor distractions, your teacher will simply remind you to focus and get back on track.
- Teacher Check In: If an issue continues, your teacher will talk with you privately. They will also reach out to your parents to help find a supportive solution.
- Support Plan: For repeated disruptions that impact the learning environment, you and your parents will meet with your teacher to create a formal behavior plan.
- Severe Incidents: If a student engages in bullying, uses hate speech, or brings a dangerous item on camera, they will be removed from the live class immediately. Your teacher will step in to determine the next steps to ensure the safety of our entire community.
- Welcoming you back: If a student ever needs to step away from class due to a severe behavioral challenge, our focus is on welcoming them back positively. We will hold a brief supportive meeting with the student and parents before they return. This ensures everyone understands the path forward and feels ready to learn again.
Resolving Disagreements
If a student or parent disagrees with a behavioral decision, we encourage open and honest communication. First, please talk directly with the teacher to understand the situation and share your perspective. If you still need help resolving the issue after that conversation, you can reach out to info@sunrisepine.com. That will reach our administration and their decision will serve as the final resolution.