1. We do not tolerate physical or psychological violence.
2. We do not permit the use of drugs, alcohol, or tobacco.
3. We require regular attendance.
4. We expect a sincere involvement in the school on both an academic and a social level.
5. We do not tolerate cheating or plagiarism (the stealing of other people’s thought or work), forgery, or other instances of dishonesty.

Students should know the following policies and general information, listed alphabetically:

Audio Players: You may listen to music on your audio player outside, during lunch, and in quiet study rooms or the chairs by room 204 during your break(s), as long as it does not disturb others. You need to unplug yourself completely at all other times: do not wear a headset above your waist. Your audio player must not be visible during school trips; you may use it only at night once you are in bed. Audio players will be confiscated if you use them inappropriately. You will need to retrieve them at the next meeting of the Rules Committee.

Bancroft Way Door and Back Stairs: Please use only the Bancroft Way door to enter and leave the building. Use the back stairs only to attend meetings in the Fireside Room or the Chapel, to reach the Grotto, or to get to the pay phone. The downstairs area and courtyard do not belong to Maybeck; we use them only through special arrangement with the church.

Bayview Office: The Bayview District Office of the United Methodist Church is located on the second floor next to room 205. Please be considerate of the staff and guests who use this office. Loud and boisterous conversations and profane language are inappropriate and offensive to most everyone who works in our building, as well as to visitors.

Bicycles: Maybeck encourages students to ride their bicycles to school and insists that they wear helmets and bring kryptonite locks to secure their bikes to the racks in front of the school. Please do not bring bicycles inside the building, as there is no space to store them.

Bulletin Boards: Check the bulletin board opposite the Teachers’ Room daily for announcements regarding classes and Rules Committee. Messages are posted whenever a class is canceled. Student meetings, petitions, and announcements are also posted here under the day of the week. The student bulletin board, under the clock, is available for students to post messages to the student body. There is also a bulletin board on the landing of the front stairs. Please do not tape announcements or flyers to the landing windows.

Caretaker: Our building has a live-in caretaker. His apartment door is next to the lockers. Please respect the entrance to his home by keeping it free from disturbances and obstruction.

Cell Phones: Cell phones must be turned off during the school day (8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.) and must not be visible inside the school building. You may use your cell phone outside only. The one exception: one student at a time may use a cell phone next to the phone by the back stairs. Cell phones will be confiscated if you use them inappropriately. You will need to retrieve them from the Office Manager at the end of the day. If your cell phone is confiscated a second time, your parent will need to come and get it from the Office Manager. You may not use your cell phone on school trips except during the final stretch of our ride home to alert your family of our arrival time.

Chairs: Please help preserve our chairs by treating them well and not leaning back in them.

Clean-Up: Students are expected to keep the school neat and clean. Pick up after yourself at the end of each class and after eating lunch. If you spill anything, please clean it up promptly. Cleaning supplies are kept in the locked broom-closet next door to the women’s restroom. At the end of the day, students should put all chairs on the tables and leave classrooms looking tidy.

Decorum and Attire: Maybeck is open to visitors, shares space with Trinity United Methodist Church, and participates in various aspects of the University of California neighborhood. Language, behavior, and clothing in the halls, the classrooms, and the vicinity of Maybeck must be in keeping with the standards of an educational community. While creative expression is encouraged, students must dress in a manner appropriate for a work and study environment. Students are also required to wear shoes at all times, and to maintain a reasonable standard of personal hygiene.

Eating: Students may eat on the student-built patio in front of our building or in quiet study rooms when they have breaks, provided they clean up after themselves. Eating is permitted throughout the school during the lunch hour only.

Entrance Staircase: The entrance staircase is directly next to the church office; try to be light-footed on the stairs and respectful of the people working there, especially when going downstairs.

Free Time: You may have free time before and after school, during lunch, or during a break between your classes. We ask that you hang out on our patio or up the street at Sproul Plaza, but not on the corners of Bancroft Way and Dana Street or in the school hallways. You may also use the quiet study room(s) provided here at school—for quiet study only.

Gum: Please do not chew gum in the building or Chapel.

Hallways: The hallways are very narrow for a school. We have a special dispensation from the Fire Marshall to have a school here as long as we guarantee to keep the halls free from obstruction of any kind. Keep this in mind as you move along the halls and help maintain a smooth flow of traffic. Please do not sit or place your bags on the hallway floors or in the stairwells. Students may not linger or chat in the hallways while classes are in session: please go to a quiet study room if you wish to work, or outside if you wish to socialize. During class time, two students at a time may study silently in the chairs outside room 204.

Laptop Computers: Students may bring laptops to school to work on assignments during free periods or in class with the teacher’s permission. Students should put their laptops away in the hallway and must not use them to generate music or other noise in classrooms or quiet study rooms. Please note that Maybeck cannot assume responsibility for the security of your computer.

Lockers: Use your locker to store your books, daypacks, and other valuables. Be sure to close its lock every time. Because the building is open to the public all day, there is a risk of your belongings being stolen if you leave them unattended. Report any suspicious strangers to the office staff, and remember to keep your valuables with you or in your locker. You may decorate your locker, but all decorations must be removed at the end of the year unless you plan to use the same locker next year. If you do not restore your locker to its original condition, your family may be charged a fee for cleaning or painting it.

Lost and Found: Lost and found items can be retrieved from the Lost and Found Box in the school office. Periodically and with due warning, we give away unclaimed items, as we do not have much room in the office.

Lunch Time: Please be courteous to each other and to others in our community during lunch time as you would during other parts of the school day. Clean up after yourselves, use quiet voices, and do not participate in roughhousing or other boisterous activities in the building.

Neighborhood: Our neighborhood is a dynamic, exciting, and busy place. Please do not impede traffic by congregating on the sidewalks or the corners of Dana and Bancroft Way. You are welcome on the UC Berkeley campus as long as your behavior is respectful of the public. Remember, if you go to a local café, you will be expected to order something.

Office: Please take care of your office business during lunch time or during your breaks. Use the mailbox on the left of the office entrance for your absence notes and tuition checks. Staplers, scissors, tape, etc. for student use are placed on the student supply bookshelf. Be sure to return them. There is one set of keys to the classrooms. If you need to borrow them, return the spindle promptly to the nail on the left of the office doorway. Short messages for teachers can be clipped on the teachers’ message board in the office. Papers and assignments should be put in the teacher’s box in the office. The office is a work place; please do not come in to chat and hang out.

Office Computers and Phones: The office computers are for staff use only, and the office phones are for school business. If you need to make a phone call, please use the pay phone downstairs by the back staircase.

Personal Messages: Messages to students from teachers, parents, and/or the office staff are tacked on the message board right across the hall from the office door. Check it throughout the day and tell your friends when they have received a message. Please remove your message when you see it.

Quiet Study Rooms: There is a quiet study room available for students most periods of the day. Please check the schedules posted on the bulletin board for current listings. You may eat in the quiet study rooms so long as you keep them tidy and clean. Please do not leave your belongings in these rooms: use your locker.

Recycling: We recycle all aluminum, glass and plastic bottles, and paper. Empty beverage containers should be quietly deposited in the containers at each end of the long hallway. Paper goes into the blue bins in each classroom. Do not put trash, tissues, or other non-recyclables in the blue paper bins.

Restrooms: The men’s restroom is at the top of the front staircase; the women’s restroom is at the end of the hall near the lockers. There are locks on the doors to prevent the outside public from using them; please do not share the code with people not affiliated with Maybeck. Please keep the restrooms tidy and tell the Office Manager if there is a plumbing problem or if the paper towels or toilet paper need to be replenished.

Skateboards: You may not ride your skateboard anywhere on our block or on the sidewalks on either side of Bancroft Way and Dana Street. Skateboard riding is also prohibited in portions of the UC Berkeley campus, including at the RSF. Skateboards are large objects. Please show good skateboard etiquette by carrying them in the building and being careful where you place them in classrooms or the hallways.

Smoking: Smoking is not permitted anywhere for any Maybeck member during the school day (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.), or at any Maybeck event, activity, camping trip, or Special Program.

Visitors: Past students are welcome to visit Maybeck occasionally so long as they check in with the office, follow Maybeck rules, and in no way disrupt activities or students. The staff reserves the right to limit or bar specific students’ visitation. Other visitors should check in with the office or arrange to meet their friends outside. In general, visits should take place during the lunch hour. If a student wishes to bring a visiting friend to class, he or she should arrange the visit with the office and the teacher(s) in question.

Maybeck affirms the right of all students to engage fully in their academic studies and the school community. Any form of harassment interferes with this right by jeopardizing students’ sense of safety and security at school. Harassment is a form of violence and includes unwelcome verbal, physical, visual, electronic, and sexual conduct that creates an intimidating, offensive, or hostile environment or that interferes with any student’s ability to participate in school activities.

Harassing behavior can include: racial, ethnic, gender-based, or sexual jokes, insults, threats, or innuendoes; sexually suggestive gestures or unwelcome touching; photographs, pictures, or objects that convey offensive or sexually suggestive content; unwelcome or offensive email, phone calls, or web sites.

Any incidents of harassment will be dealt with seriously. If a student feels he or she is being subjected to harassing behavior by students or staff members, he or she should speak with any member of the Rules Committee or the staff.