 St. Thomas More students stand under the honor code they must learn when they come to the school. From left are St. Thomas More students Katie Conlin, 14 of Lewes; Joe Zarraga, 15 of Milford; Katherine Eliassen, 17 of Dover and David Duplechain, 17 of Wyoming. Delaware State News/Dave Chambers |
MAGNOLIA — Most students who break the rules know they will soon face a principal who will decide the consequence of their poor judgment.
At St. Thomas More Academy, a Catholic school in Magnolia with a student body of 205, things run quite differently.
Those who do not follow the honor code of the school must plead a case to their peers, who then choose if the student is guilty or innocent and determine a punishment to fit the crime.
The school, which is Downstate’s only Catholic school, opened in 1998.
Its first graduating class in 2001 had 17 students.
The honor code is a pledge the students make to God and the school to act with honesty, dignity and respect, and to dedicate to a life of honor.
“If you look around the school you will see pocketbooks and bags, nothing is hidden, because nothing is ever stolen,” said the principal David McKenzie.
“The students take the code very seriously, but some situations do come up where a student is accused of an action reflecting negatively on the code and the school, and that’s when they must go before the honor board.”
Mr. McKenzie explained the honor board is made up of eight students, two from each class.
He said the accused student is given the option for a teacher advocate to represent them.
He said the board members understand that they must remain non-biased and sometimes face uncomfortable situations such as a friend on trial.
Katherine Eliassen, 17, of Dover, is a senior and student body president.
She said she and her fellow classmates take the honor code very seriously, and called it a right of passage.
“At freshman orientation, Father Lentini blessed the students,” Ms. Eliassen said.
“Then they had to recite the code of honor before getting their school pins.”
David Duplechain, 17, is a junior and active in soccer, basketball and tennis at the school.
He said in a small school the students all know each other and are proud to pledge the honor code.
“We live by the code and follow the code because we know it is right,” he said.
“My parents gave me the option and I picked (St. Thomas More) mainly because I would rather be a big fish in a small pond and now I know I made the right choice.”
He said he has made a lot of friends and there aren’t any cliques or bad groups of kids because everyone is true to the code.
“The culture of the school is to be kind and courteous, we have no geeks or cool crowds, everyone is very accepting of one another,” Mr. McKenzie said.
“Other schools pressure students to just get through it, but here our goal is to see them succeed.”