McKinney Christian Academy Chapter Bylaws
Purpose
The MCA chapter of the National Honor Society exists to promote
excellence in mind, body and spirit by creating enthusiasm for
scholarship, stimulating a desire to render service, promoting
leadership, and developing character in MCA students and in the entire
MCA community for the sake of Jesus Christ, our LORD (Col 3:23-24; 1 Cor
10:31).
Induction
Select 10th-12th grade MCA students are invited to join the NHS in March
or April, and inducted after a review in May. MCA NHS members are
students who have distinguished themselves in the areas of scholarship,
service, leadership, and character, as determined by vote of the MCA NHS
faculty council. Invitations are issued by the faculty council based
on scholarship and conduct. Selection of members is based on submission
and faculty council review of a membership packet. Meeting the minimum
objective requirements for invitation does not guarantee invitation.
Similarly, invitation to membership does not guarantee induction, nor
does submission of a membership packet guarantee induction.
Requirements for NHS Invitation
- A minimum 3.50 cumulative high school (grades 9-12) grade point average.
- A maximum of 8 total days absent in the current academic year.
- No behavioral detentions or repeated violation detentions, Saturday
schools, school suspensions, or any MCA code of conduct, honor code, or
sportsmanship code of conduct violations for the current academic year.
- A minimum of one full semester at MCA, or the written recommendation of the student’s previous principal.
Requirements for NHS Membership
- Submission of a membership packet.
- Exhibiting and maintaining a 3.50 minimum high school GPA.
- A maximum of 8 total days absent in any academic year.
- No behavioral detentions or repeated violation detentions, Saturday
schools, school suspensions, or any MCA code of conduct, honor code, or
sportsmanship code of conduct violations.
- Exhibiting and maintaining NHS chapter and MCA standards in character, conduct, and servant leadership
- Character: Faith (Heb 11:1; 2 Cor 5:7), Love (1 Cor
13; Matt 22:37-40), Humility (Phil 2:5-11), Integrity (Prov 11:3),
Courage (1 Sam 17:32), and Honesty (Dt 25:15-16) are all benchmarks of
Christian character.
- Conduct: Christians shall live obediently (John
14:23-24), by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26), adhering to the MCA code
of conduct, honor code, and sportsmanship code of conduct.
- Servant leadership: Jesus Christ is the model of servant leadership (Matt 1:17-18; John 13; Matt 28:18-20).
- Exhibiting and maintaining NHS chapter and MCA standards in community service, which includes:
- A minimum of 10 hours of an NHS chapter community service project
per year. (A “year” begins each May at the MCA NHS induction ceremony,
and ends at the NHS induction ceremony the following year.)
- An additional minimum of 10 hours of a personal service project per year.
- An additional minimum of 10 hours of tutoring at MCA per year.
- Regular attendance of monthly NHS chapter meetings. (Minimum
attendance of 6 of the 9 monthly meetings each year, without missing 2
consecutive.)
Petitioning for an NHS membership invitation
Any MCA high school student who meets the invitation requirements may
petition the faculty council for an MCA NHS invitation. The petition
must be in the form of a single page, typed letter to the faculty
council outlining the student’s qualifications and her/his reasons for
seeking membership. The letter must be endorsed (by signature) by two
MCA faculty members, and submitted to the NHS chapter advisor in a
sealed envelope with the petitioning student’s name and “NHS membership
invitation petition” on it. Petitioning does not guarantee issuance of
an invitation, but petitions will be considered during the invitation
process.
Officers
MCA NHS officers will be nominated and elected during the inaugural
monthly meeting, held in September each year. The officers shall be:
- President: Calls and runs meetings, delegates tasks, coordinates chapter activities.
- Vice President: Organizes the annual NHS service project and backs-up the president.
- Treasurer: Collects and disperses monies and provides general accounting.
- Secretary: Administrative- Submits and records meeting minutes, letters, etc.
- Historian : Documents chapter history by semester and assists the secretary.
The Executive Committee
The MCA NHS executive committee is comprised of the officers and the NHS
adviser. It is responsible for the general supervision of the MCA NHS
chapter and for making recommendations to chapter membership.
Meetings
There will be regular monthly NHS meetings during the academic year. They will be held each month (Sept – May).
Dues
Annual dues are $10.00, payable at the September meeting.
Faculty supervision
The MCA chapter of the NHS will be coordinated by a (non-voting) faculty
advisor and legislated by a faculty council comprised of five full time
faculty members. All MCA NHS chapter activities shall be under the
authority of the faculty council and the principal.
Disciplinary Action
Disciplinary action, including probation and/or dismissal from MCA NHS
chapter membership may result from a failure to maintain the
requirements for membership. Any and all disciplinary action will be
initiated by majority vote of the faculty council.
Process for MCA NHS disciplinary action:
- A potential deficiency is brought to the attention of the faculty council.
- After investigation, the council will decide, based on a (private) majority vote, whether to
- Dismiss the student from NHS membership.
- Place the student on probation.
- The council must determine the duration of the probation.
- Failure to comply by the end of probation results in dismissal.
- Dismiss the alleged deficiency without disciplinary action.
- Following any vote for disciplinary action, the faculty council will
notify the student in writing of the alleged deficiency and the
resulting disciplinary action.
- Any MCA NHS member who receives written notification of disciplinary
action may request, in writing within 7 days of notification, a hearing
before the faculty council.
- Any MCA NHS member who has been dismissed may appeal the decision of the faculty council to the MCA upper school principal.