Acceptable Use Policy


Science Leadership Academy values technology and encourages its use in creative ways to support student learning in a safe and secure learning environment. This policy is a guide ensuring the appropriate use as well as safety for all community members. While these technologies provide powerful learning opportunities, they must be used responsibly. To support the technology program, families pay a mandatory annual $40 technology fee. This fee helps pay for insuring the machines, purchasing software licenses and any other technology-related costs that the school incurs. If there is any major damage incurred to a school-issued laptop, and the technology fee has been paid, families are only liable for the deductible. If the tech fee has not been paid, students will be charged the full price of the part.

Families may choose to provide their child with a personal laptop. Students who opt out of a school laptop at the time of laptop distribution will not receive a school laptop at that time. All families are responsible for the technology whether their child uses a school issued laptop or their own personal laptop.

If a student is using their own device, all troubleshooting, wifi connections, and technical assistance will have to be through the manufacturer of the laptop in use by the student. SLA does not have the resources to break-fix/troubleshoot any opt-out laptops, this includes Chromebooks of any kind. SLA does not provide loaners for personal laptops that are being repaired, however, should a student choose to opt-in to a school laptop, one will be issued to the student. Once a school laptop is issued, however, it may not be turned in until laptop collection at the end of the school year, and is considered the student’s responsibility, even if they choose to continue the use of a personal laptop.

The following rules apply to any device connected to the School District of Philadelphia’s network. Learning always takes priority while using SLA's wireless and hardwired internet connections.The following guidelines apply to any school device, whenever it is in use, and any device logged into the the School District of Philadelphia’s network. Some of these rules differ for home use, so it is the responsibility of the student to know the difference and to adhere to the School District of Philadelphia's network rules and Acceptable Use Policy while in school.


  • Do not touch or explore data on another personʼs laptop/device unless invited by the owner

  • Only access areas of the network you have been given permission to access at school

  • Do not load any game, video or music file on your machine that is not paid for or have the rights to use by you.

  • Do not play games at school, unless school and parent approved

  • Do not chat online or play music/videos unless given permission by your teacher

  • Do not post or send any message/picture/sound/video that is obscene, rude, harassing or insulting to anyone

  • Do not attack, threaten or intimidate another student via technology (or otherwise)

  • Do not take pictures or post pictures of others without asking their permission

  • Do not take up bandwidth by downloading movies, music, pictures, or by playing online games

  • Do not store data on the hard drive, all personal files must be saved on an external hard drive/cloud space

  • Do not download any illegal materials or intellectual property that was not purchased by you

  • Peer to peer file sharing is strictly prohibited and monitored by the School District of Philadelphia

  • Do not plagiarize, for more information see SLAʼs academic integrity policy

  • Do not forward or send any content not directly associated with your learning

  • Do not deliberately or negligently spread viruses, malware, or spyware


Science Leadership Academy and The School District of Philadelphia will monitor user data and internet access and has the right to check the contents of any electronic device brought onto the schoolʼs premises or on any official school event. Educational use of the network and computer resources takes precedence over non-educational use. This statement covers (but is not limited to) the use of any and all electronic devices owned by the school and by the students that are brought onto schoolʼs premises or at other official school functions.

An email address with the suffix @scienceleadership.org will be provided to all students. Students may use this to communicate with parents, teachers, friends, experts and fellow students around the globe. This address is to be used for all school-related business. Your private account should be used for all other communications. Communicating online is very much like communicating with people in person. You must be respectful of others at all times. Remember that all email & Canvas messages can be read by the SLA Technology Team and the administration. Donʼt write anything you would not want to share with teachers and parents.

While many members of SLA, including staff members, use instant messaging and blogging software to communicate, part of the learning experience at SLA is to responsibly use these types of communication methods as part of your school day.


Above all follow the school rules:

Respect Yourself   ~   Respect the Community  ~  Respect SLA as a Place of Learning



*this policy is subject to change at any time

updated 4/23/18