Veritas

Founded on Catholic principles and enriched by Dominican Spirituality, the school educates young people to pursue Veritas (truth) through study and prayer and to build Veritas in our world through community and service. We encourage our students to spread this Veritas by becoming spiritually and ethically grounded, academically prepared, ecologically conscious, and critically aware of their responsibility to build a more truthful and peaceful world.

Justice, Respect, and Peace

The Dominican Community of Schools recognize and respect the dignity of every human being. Learning at SAA-SDS is not limited to academics and athletics. Our desire is to work alongside families in the education of each student. A segment of this is offering safety, guidance, and correction when some of the more difficult and challenging aspects of maturing and growing appear. As a community, we are committed to an environment that is free from unkind behavior, harassment, intimidation, or bullying.  “Unkind behavior, harassment, intimidation, or bullying” refers to any intentional written, spoken, or physical act, whether subtle or overt, which:

“Unkind behavior, harassment, intimidation, or bullying” can take many forms (in person, digitally, or otherwise) including but not limited to the following: slurs, rumors, jokes, innuendos, demeaning comments, drawings, intentionally isolating others, pranks, gestures, physical attacks, threats, other written, spoken, or physical actions. The School reserves the right to address actions and situations off campus that reflect poorly upon the School and/or when necessary to uphold our standards of conduct and safeguard our school community. 

“Intentional acts” refers to the individual’s choice and purpose to engage in the act rather than the ultimate impact of the action(s).

Reporting incidents is the responsibility of not only those who are victimized by the behavior, but also anyone who witnesses the behavior. The expectation is that reports are made in a timely manner so that the School can respond appropriately. If such inappropriate behavior occurs, it should be reported to an appropriate staff member who will document the incident and take action. Depending upon the frequency and severity of the conduct, an intervention will be used to remediate the impact on the victim and the educational climate. Strategies will be employed to change the behavior of the person responsible for the unacceptable behavior. The intervention may include counseling, correction, discipline, and/or referral to law enforcement in the most extreme cases. False reports and/or retaliation also constitute violations of this policy.

The ultimate goal is for members of the community to transfer the ideals expressed in this policy into their daily lives both on and off campus. Justice, Respect, and Peace (JRP) is our student-faculty program to create a culture of kindness, mutual respect, cohesion, and fellowship.