Activities – Philosophy of Participation

Philosophy of Participation

Bishop Amat High School encourages the participation of all of its students in co-curricular programs whenever the student has fulfilled academic as well as behavioral standards as established by the school. There are three components of eligibility for each of the co-curricular groups. The student participant must be able to demonstrate academic achievement, responsible attendance and appropriate self-discipline. The specific academic and behavioral standards, which must be met in order to participate in co-curricular programs, are unique to the type of program with regards to the level of responsibility given to the participants and the time commitment involved.

Acceptable overall academic achievement is demonstrated by meeting a minimum GPA requirement. Students who do not meet the minimum GPA requirement of their program are put on academic probation for one grading period. Students are considered academically ineligible to participate if they again do not meet the minimum GPA requirement after the period of academic probation.

Attendance is monitored through the Attendance Office and any action taken would be in accordance with the established attendance policies.

The student's classroom teachers as well as the Deans of Discipline report unsatisfactory behavioral patterns. The classroom teacher is responsible to ensure that behavior in the classroom creates an optimal learning environment, which benefits the individual student as well as the classroom of students as a whole. The Dean of Discipline is responsible for the general behavior of students outside of the classroom and assists the teacher with behavior inside of the classroom, when necessary. The Dean of Discipline follows established policies as described in the Discipline section of this handbook.

The classroom teacher uses the conduct/citizenship comments on the report card to reflect the adequacy of behavior in the classroom. These conduct/citizenship comments on the student report card are used to determine the behavioral eligibility of students in co-curricular programs and are as follows:

Comment G : The student's classroom conduct/citizenship habits are good.
Comment C : The student sometimes needs correction.
Comment N : Conduct/citizenship habits need improvement.
Comment U : Conduct/citizenship habits are unsatisfactory.

Receiving more than one comment "N" and/or a comment "U" on the report card may effect a student's eligibility to participate on any athletic team, performance group or activity group. In addition, these comments may affect a student's eligibility to run for student government office or hold the office once elected, and a student's eligibility to try out for a Pep Squad or participate on the pep squad if already a member.

Students who do not meet standards of self-discipline are considered behaviorally ineligible to participate if they do not improve after a period of behavioral probation. Specific eligibility requirements, including minimum GPA and behavioral requirements, are listed with the description of each co-curricular program in the pages that follow.

Student Council

The executive branch of the Student Body is the Student Council. It consists of the ASB Officers, Commissioners and Class Officers. The Student Council conducts the business of the student body including all elections and the organization of most activities.

Student Senate

The other legislative branch of student government is the Student Senate. It is composed of the ASB Officers, the Homeroom Presidents, representatives from each athletic team, and the President or Vice-President of each club, organization, performance group, and publication group. The Student Senate meets at least once a month to provide input to the Student Council, and discuss matters of importance to the student body, in order to bring information from and communicate information to the members of their respective groups.