Academic Policy

Attendance policy

Attendance is mandatory for students enrolled in the Wooden Boat Building, Marine Systems and Composite Boat Building programs. Three days of absence or the equivalent are permitted within each quarter. An absence equivalent to one school-day is defined as follows: two absences of a half-day (one half-hour or more) or four late arrivals or early departures of less than one half-hour. Students who exceed three days of absence per quarter are placed on academic probation by the program manager. Further violation of the attendance requirements while on probation may result in dismissal. Additionally, students who miss more than 10% (19 days) of the course for any reason may be dismissed. Students must make arrangements with their instructors to make up work missed due to absences.

Attendance at 90% of all lectures and lab periods is required of students in The Yacht Design Program. The daily schedule for lectures and labs is 8 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, in the Yacht Design Program. If a student is regularly tardy or absent, he or she most likely will not achieve satisfactory progress due to the scope and depth of material covered daily. No credit is given for missed assignments or late assignments unless a student makes prior arrangements with the instructor or proves to the instructor that special circumstances are warranted. Yacht Design students are required to participate in the internship portion of the curriculum.

Attendance at 90% of all classes is required of students in the General Education courses. A student who misses more than 10% of the course (1.5 classes) for any reason may be dismissed. Students must make arrangements with their instructors to make up work missed due to absences.

Grading system

The School recognizes the importance of consistent, fair and periodic evaluations of each student’s performance, both as a means of measuring the student’s progress towards educational goals and as a method of evaluating of The School’s success in providing the education for which the student has contracted. The grading system used throughout The School for all category grades, progress reports and final grades is as follows:

90-100 Excellent
80-89 Above average
70-79 Average
65-69 Below average
0-64 Unsatisfactory

Quarterly progress reports

Each full-time educational program is divided into four marking periods (quarters), consisting of approximately nine and one-half instructional weeks, excluding breaks and holidays. Quarterly progress reports with grades are issued at the end of each quarter; grades are assigned for each of the subjects or categories within the individual program of study. A weight is applied to each subject or category to calculate a student’s grade point average (GPA) for that quarter. The quarterly progress report reflects whether the student has made satisfactory progress for that quarter. Each student is expected to monitor his or her own academic progress between quarters so that an overall grade for a quarter is not unexpected. Students should note that work submitted late will be given a low or zero grade, and a zero grade will have a critical impact on the overall grade for any subject. If a student has failed to satisfy the requirements for a quarter, he or she may be placed on academic probation.

Standards for graduation

Upon successfully completing a program from The Landing School, each student receives a diploma. To be eligible to receive a diploma, a student must have satisfactorily completed his or her program, meeting all evaluation criteria and attendance requirements, as well as meeting all financial obligations to The School. If, during the school year, a student fails to meet any graduation requirement, he or she may be subject to immediate dismissal.

Standards for satisfactory progress

To maintain satisfactory progress in any full-time educational program at The Landing School, a student must achieve the following minimum cumulative grade point averages (GPA) on the quarterly progress reports:

Quarter 1: 60
Quarter 2: 65
Quarter 3: 68
Graduation: 70

A student who does not maintain satisfactory progress in a technical program may not be admitted into General Education courses.
The formula used for the calculation of GPA varies between the programs. Each student should familiarize himself or herself with the procedure for his or her program. In addition to the school-wide GPA requirements, students in the Yacht Design Program also are required to achieve a minimum overall subject grade of 65 in each of the five subjects that make up the program. Enrolled students must maintain satisfactory progress to remain eligible for federal financial aid.

Make-up work/remedial courses

Due to the highly compressed curriculum in the Yacht Design Program, the opportunity to do make-up work is not available to Yacht Design students. In the Wooden Boat Building, Marine Systems and Composite Boat Building programs, a student who has not satisfactorily completed an assignment in the required time may apply to the course instructor for permission to do a make-up assignment. Depending on the circumstances, the instructor may grant permission for make-up work and establish a mandatory completion date and maximum grade obtainable. All make-up work must be completed by the end of the quarter in which it was assigned.

Academic probation

If a student has failed to satisfy the requirements for the first, second or third quarter, he or she may be placed on academic probation in the subsequent quarter. A student placed on academic probation will be advised by the staff in writing as to the nature of the deficiency, and provided with recommendations on ways to achieve and maintain satisfactory progress. Academic probation will only be offered if there is a realistic expectation that the student will be able to satisfy all academic criteria by the end of the following quarter. Students who have failed to satisfy academic criteria and are not offered academic probation will be required to leave The School.