In 2008, a student-led committee revised the wording and implementation of our Upper School Honor Code. The resulting document places greater emphasis on student responsibility and leadership along with shifting the focus away from enforcement and toward community education. The Honor Code is treated as a “living document” that is reevaluated on a yearly basis and recommitted to by our community in an annual Honor Convocation.
Through our Honor Code and the efforts of the Honor Council, we believe the Upper School provides an environment in which our community learns to value honesty and to respect others. Students and faculty are guided by the belief that Honor is a way of life rather than a set of rules to follow, and the expectation is that our graduates will carry these values with them after they leave Walker.
The principles that guide our Honor System are:
-
My words will be truthful. My word is my bond. I will not lie to others by my
overt statement or attempt to leave a false impression by omission of information.
My signature is my word.
-
I will take and use only that which belongs to me. I will respect the property of
others and will use the property of others only with express permission of the owner.
-
My work will be my own. Assessments are intended to a) represent what knowledge
I have gained or skills I have learned and b) to reflect the way in which I obtained that
knowledge and those skills. When I turn in work for classes, it will represent my own
effort. I will neither accept nor provide any unauthorized information that would give
an advantage unavailable to all others in the class.
-
I will not tolerate violations of these principles by others. Should I become aware
of violations of these principles, my first priority is to respond in a manner that, to the
best of my abilities, will protect the community of trust at Walker. I will refuse to
cooperate in the violation. I may counsel my fellow student away from his or her
actions and may also consult with others who may help the individual defer from his
or her course of action.