Orientation:
All new International students are required to attend an Orientation at Newman School, generally scheduled during the last week in August. During orientation, students will take placement exams, select courses, and have an opportunity to meet students, teachers, and participate in workshops and activities to assist with their transition to Newman School and the United States.
Residence Requirement
While attending The Newman School, international students are required to reside in a “homestay” with a responsible adult in the Boston area. The school must be notified immediately of any change in living arrangements, address or phone number. If a student wishes to change the “homestay” arrangement, he/she must meet with a Newman School administrator to request a change, and the school must receive approval from the student’s parents BEFORE any change is made.
Students failing to comply with this requirement may be considered for withdrawal from the school.
Attendance/Credit Requirement for the E.S.L. Program
All students are expected to be in class every day on time. If a student in our ESL program has excessive absences he/she will not receive a certificate of completion of the ESL program and will be given the mark of “F” (failure) and not earn credit for the semester. Further, the student will be required to satisfactorily make up the time and satisfactorily complete all assignments before given consideration for reinstatement of credit.
If a student is absent, his/her parent or guardian must call the school (617.267.4530) the morning of the absence to report it to the office. Students with excessive tardies or unexcused absences may jeopardize their enrollment at Newman.
Travel Plans
Students planning to travel during the holiday and vacation periods should make travel arrangements well in advance. Even though international students may be returning home for holidays and vacations, it is expected that they will NOT extend their vacation time by missing classes.
Academic Requirements for Acceptance into the High School Program
Students enrolled in the ESL program will receive 1 ½ credits per semester upon successful completion of that program. If a student is enrolled for 2 semesters of ESL, those credits may be used toward meeting the credit requirement for foreign language and toward the “elective credits” required for graduation from the high school program. Upon completion of at least one year of the ESL program, students will be evaluated, and the next course of study will be determined based on grades (including course grades and standardized testing - TOEFL, CELT, etc.), and teachers’ recommendations. Please note that the G.P.A. students earn does not include E.S.L. courses.
International students must satisfactorily complete the same (or equivalent) courses and credit distribution as domestic students required for graduation. In addition, regardless of course load, international students on a student visa are required to be at school all day, each day from 8:15 a.m. to at least 2:45 p.m.
Minimum High School Course Requirements for ESL/International Students
The following is an example of the minimum course/credit diploma requirements for ESL and International students transferring into our high school program:
Satisfactory attendance to and completion of:
English 10: Literary Genre/Grammar
English 11: American Studies Literature for a full year
or in combination with a writing course such as Expository Writing
American History
Math
Science
Electives (minimum – 1 credit)
In addition to these courses, students may be required to satisfactorily complete other courses in order to be considered eligible for a Newman School diploma. Requirements for a diploma will vary based on student’s proficiency with English and the number of allowable transfer credits. At the time of scheduling, students are required to sign a statement of intention indicating if they intend to earn a diploma from Newman and acknowledge an anticipated date of graduation.
To insure a balanced academic program, students are expected to enroll in courses from various disciplines each semester. Further students are expected to fully participate in the enrichment activities.