Welcome to the Pali Science Department!

We are looking forward to having your child in our science class. The success of your student is our primary goal and we recognize that it is our responsibility as teachers to do all that we can to help students achieve this success. Teachers are available for tutoring during nutrition, lunch, before, and/or after school should your child need extra help. Please see the individual teacher for specific times. There is also tutoring available in the study center (J109) where your student can sign up for a tutorial program (for any Pali class).

Our teachers have prepared a course expectation sheet that explains many policies and procedures. Every science class offered by the science department is performance based. That is, students must demonstrate competence in the subject matter of the course in order to receive a passing grade. Effort by students is part of their work habits and cooperation grade, not their academic grade. We are working hard to insure that students are individually evaluated and that their "grades" represent an accurate assessment of their understanding of the content of the class. Attendance alone will not guarantee a student a passing grade in any of our courses. However, we do enforce the attendance policy (7 absences is automatic fail; 3 tardies = 1 absence; an “excused” absence still counts as an absence in terms of the attendance policy; for questions – see the attendance office or your handbook)

In order to provide an excellent learning environment for your child, we will provide many "hands-on" activities. To get the most from these activities, we ask that you help us by

• encouraging your child to come to class prepared to learn,
• that you reinforce our requirement that your child does not interfere with the learning of others, and
• that your child is respectful to teachers, property, and peers.

Students who are unable or unwilling to do so will be reminded, then asked to leave the class and sit in the Dean's office.

Should you need to contact any teacher, the school contact information is as follows:

• School phone: (310) 230-6623
• School website: www.palihigh.org/staffdirectory.aspx

In closing, we invite you to visit our classes on Back to School night (fall) and Showcase night (spring), or any other time. Please call first to arrange such a visit. If you have questions or concerns about our program please do not hesitate to get in touch with your child's teacher.