BE KIND.
Show respect to yourself, to others, and to the school environment. Students are expected to be courteous and considerate in their dealings with others. Verbal or physical harassment will not be tolerated. This includes any sort of fighting, sexual, racist, or discriminatory language of all types, as well as all forms of harassment, bullying OR cyber-bullying.
- The Ontario Human Rights Code defines harassment as “verbal abuse, unwelcome remarks, jokes, taunts, suggestions about a person's body, sexual orientation, mental and physical health, attire, age, ethnic or racial origin, job or religion. In no place is harassment acceptable.”
Treat other students and staff, guests, occasional teachers, custodians, visiting students, etc. with the kindness and respect that we all deserve. When you go on field trips, community events, sports or other competitions, you go as representatives of KDSS. All school rules apply. Be excellent ambassadors of our school!
Respect the school building and grounds by putting trash in garbage cans. Graffiti, vandalism, and willful destruction of property will not be tolerated. This applies to all forms of school transportation as well. Serious school and legal consequences may apply, in addition to the student bearing the cost of replacement.
Pranks and Mischief
Mischief and pranks can cause serious damage to the school building, and may be a safety concern for students, staff, and community partners, or break municipal, provincial or national laws, i.e. are illegal (vandalism, trespassing, endangerment, bullying.) Under no circumstances are pranks, practical jokes, or other forms of mischief allowed.
Progressive Discipline
School administration must enforce the code of conduct and maintain discipline in the school. BWDSB and KDSS use a progressive discipline approach. Progressive discipline focuses on prevention and intervention strategies, as well as discipline with opportunities for students to continue their education.
Bluewater District School Board and KDSS support a safe, inclusive, and accepting learning and teaching environment in which every student can reach their full potential. Appropriate action, through progressive discipline, must consistently be taken by schools to address behaviours that are contrary to provincial, board and school codes of conduct:
- uses a continuum of prevention programs, interventions, supports, and consequences to address inappropriate student behaviour and builds on those strategies to develop positive behaviours.
- in some circumstances, short-term suspension may be required.
- in some cases where the incident is of a more serious nature, long-term suspension or expulsion may be required.
In cases of inappropriate behaviour involving students with special needs, interventions, supports, and consequences must be consistent with the student’s strengths, needs, goals, and expectations that have been outlined in their Individual Education Plan (IEP).
Interventions may include:
- Administrator speaks to the student
- Review Code of Conduct with student and/or parent
- Reflection sheet to be completed by student and signed by parent
- Phone call home
- Removal from sports / clubs / competitions / field trips
- Letter to parents outlining concerns
- Office detention
- Withdrawal from class (supervised)
- Behaviour contract
- Meet with parents and/ or student and/or support staff
- Referral to support staff and/or community agencies
- Peer Mediation/Restorative Justice
- Connection with outside law-enforcement agencies, Public Health, Child and Youth services etc.
Suspensions will be considered or implemented when mitigating factors have been considered, and when progressive discipline has been used and a variety of consequences have been implemented. The Principal will suspend or expel students based on AP 6820-D “Suspension and Expulsion”.
CELL PHONES AND OTHER ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION DEVICES
As per Ministry of Education PPM128:
Emergency calls may be made or received in the office. It is expected that secondary students bring their board assigned laptop with them, charged and ready to use, each day.
Cell phones and other electronic communication devices are a distraction from learning. Students learn best when they are out of sight.
It is a Human Rights and violation of privacy issue to take unwanted photos/videos of individuals in the classroom, hall, or change rooms. Text messaging and use of a cell phone can facilitate cheating, harassment, and other undesirable/illegal activity. Students whose phones are confiscated are tracked at the office. For the first and second offences, they are returned by administration at the end of the day. For the third offense, parent or guardian will need to pick up the device.
Progressive discipline for continued use may also include suspension.
Alcohol / Tobacco / Vaping / Drugs
The Bluewater District School Board’s Policy on use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs clearly outlines offences and consequences regarding the use of these substances. A copy of the entire policy is available upon request. The Education Act directs schools "to protect the health and safety of all students."
By school board policy, it is not permitted:
- to use tobacco (smoking), or vaping (e-cigarettes) in the school, or on school property, or on school transportation (must be at least 20m off school property). This is also governed by the Smoke-free Ontario Act.
- use or possess alcohol;
- use or possess inhalants for the purpose of intoxication;
- use or possess illicit or performance enhancing drugs;
- to be under the influence of alcohol or other drugs (excluding tobacco) while on school property or on Board-sponsored co-curricular trips or events.
Students who smoke and/or use vape paraphernalia on school property will be suspended and will be reported to the Public Health Tobacco Enforcement Officer. Disciplinary action for violations may include suspension, police referrals, fines, and expulsion.
Dress and Appearance
From Bluewater District School Board Policy BP-1404-D (Student Dress Code): students must wear clothing, accessories, and shoes that are suitable for the BWDSB environment and that meet the following expectations: 3.1.1 Dress will:
- i) comply with health and safety requirements for the intended activity, including appropriate footwear (e.g., physical education classes, swimming classes (see (ii)), science classes, sporting events, technical education, etc.);
- ii) Swimwear of any type may only be worn if required for the intended activity and would not be appropriate as outerwear in any other circumstance;
- iii) respect the board’s intent to sustain a community that is positive, anti-oppressive, equitable, accepting, and inclusive of a diverse range of social and cultural identities;
- iv) not promote content that can reasonably be interpreted to be discriminatory, defamatory, threatening, lewd, vulgar, obscene, promoting hate, profanity, pornography, or any other content that disrupts the learning environment;
- ·v) not refer to tobacco, cannabis, alcohol, drugs or related paraphernalia, promotion or incitement of violence or harassment, any illegal conduct, profanity, pornography, or criminal activities, or depict or display hate speech; and
- ·vi) not interfere with the safe operation of the school.
Sports / Music / Clubs
At KDSS, part of the student experience is the leadership, comraderie, challenges and opportunities of extracurricular activities. All students at KDSS are students first, and must prioritize academics. KDSS has a variety of clubs, teams, sports, and lots of exciting ways to get involved for students of all grades and interests. Check out the bulletin boards around the school for sign-ups and club meeting times & locations. KDSS Admin will be sending out a regular email communication for parents and guardians with upcoming events, signups, opportunities, and other information. Here are just some of the ways students can get involved:
Elementary:
- Cross Country
- Basketball
- Volleyball
- Band
- Track and Field
- Soccer
Secondary:
- Basketball
- Volleyball
- Badminton
- Football
- Rugby
- Band
- Student Council
- Track and Field
- Curling
- Swimming
- Hockey
- Golf
- Soccer
- Games Club
NEED TO KNOW FOR STUDENTS & PARENTS/GUARDIANS
Parking
The lot directly behind the school, as well as the spaces on River Lane, is dedicated to staff and visitor parking. Students may not park in the Staff parking zone.
Parking facilities are quite limited at KDSS. The opportunity for students to park their vehicles is a privilege granted by the Board of Education; it is not a right. Students in Grade 12 can apply for a parking pass through the office. Only vehicles registered with a parking pass are allowed to park in the student lot. Do not block roadsides, or fire lanes.
The fire route along the east side of the school is out of bounds for vehicle parking.
The parking areas will be checked periodically by the school during school hours. School administration reserves the right to have illegally parked vehicles towed at the owner's expense. The OPP will enforce parking violations on town streets.
Students are encouraged to carpool, get a ride, bicycle (bike racks located at main entrance), and for those who qualify, to use board-provided bus transportation.
Student Wellbeing
Students have very busy schedules, managing school, teams, clubs, part-time jobs, etc. Most students have homework. Getting enough sleep and healthy food are essential to ensuring wellbeing. KDSS has nutritious snack items available from the breakfast club, as needed. If you need help managing, need to talk to someone, or feel you are falling behind – talk to a staff member or find us at the office!
There is lunchtime help available from teachers. Guidance appointments are arranged through the guidance office. We can make referrals for mental health counselling, addictions counselling, and we have lots of resources for students experiencing crisis or difficulty.
Academic Honesty / Cheating and Plagiarism
What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism occurs when you copy or use ideas from someone else's work and say they are your own. You are plagiarizing when you copy exact phrases or paragraphs without using quotes and citing the section. Also, if you use an idea that you did not come up with yourself you must give the author credit by citing their work. If in doubt give the person credit by putting the author in your bibliography. It is still plagiarism even if you did not intend to do so. Be sure when you are turning in your work.
Cheating and plagiarism are completely unacceptable. Examinations, tests, essays and projects are means by which your teacher can grade your achievement. You may not pass off other people's work as your own, nor can students use unauthorized material to cheat on a test. Students may be assigned a failing mark for either cheating or plagiarism. If in doubt, talk to your teacher.
What about using AI assistance like ChatGPT or similar?
Talk to your teacher about what AI assistance looks like in your grade or subject area. While it can help generate ideas or a framework, it is not able to demonstrate YOUR learning.
***Please note: the use of AI, unless explicitly permitted by your teacher, may be considered plagiarism.
Be prepared to hand in your own notes, rough work, writing drafts, brainstorming, thinking and revision process, as your teacher requests it.
The bottom line is that if you are submitting work, it must be YOUR work.
KDSS ASSIGNMENT/TEST POLICY
Procedure for Tests and Assignments
Teachers will provide students with a reasonable amount of lead time for tests and major assignment dates. Students who are absent from class with school approval or for co-curricular activities, are expected to:
- Make alternative arrangements with the teacher, prior to the absence.
- In the case of illness, where it was not possible to make prior arrangements, the test/assignment will be completed on the first day back after the missed class.
The teacher will determine if there will be another opportunity to demonstrate the curriculum expectations covered on the test at a later date. Students who miss a test or assignment without an approved/legitimate reason, may receive a mark of zero.
Procedure for 30% Exams / Culminating Activities (Secondary)
All secondary courses, from Grades 9-12, will have an exam or culminating project assessment during the assigned exam days.
Semester 1:
- Friday January 23, 2026
- Monday to Thursday, January 26-29, 2026
Semester 2:
- Friday, June 19, 2026
- Monday to Thursday, June 22-25, 2026