The northeastern United States boasts some of the finest and most competitive colleges and universities in the country. Many of its K-12 schools, including those in the Providence-Warwick area, are feeder schools to these renowned institutions. The fierce pressure many students feel to gain admission to these schools and then continue excelling through graduation sometimes leads a decent young person to make a foolish mistake and end up in trouble–threatening to destroy all the time, effort, and money they and their parents have invested.
The Lento Law Firm's renowned student defense team has advised many young people and their parents in the Providence-Warwick area who found themselves in this situation.
Joseph D. Lento specializes in defending students accused of wrongdoing at every level of education. He also assists people who find themselves in trouble for academic issues such as failure to progress, grade appeals, etc.
The Providence-Warwick Metropolitan Area
The Providence-Warwick area is famous for its history, rich culture, recreational activities, and educational institutions. Founded almost four centuries ago, it is one of the oldest metropolitan areas in the United States and a rewarding place to attend school.
Located on the coast of Narragansett Bay, Providence-Warwick is renowned for its distinctive regional traditions and cuisine: ice hockey, sailing, water sports, clam chowder and clam cakes, grinders (known elsewhere as subs), and coffee milk–so popular that it's the official state beverage.
Providence-Warwick's past as a major textile manufacturing center is reflected in the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), one of the country's most prestigious art and design schools, and the associated RISD Museum, one of the largest college museums in the United States.
Providence-Warwick Student Concerns
With all the wealth of opportunities around them, students in Providence-Warwick face heavy pressure to succeed academically. As one article in the New York Times stated, “College degrees have essentially become prerequisites for the kinds of jobs that buffer against economic precarity, which has increased competition among students and raised the bar for admission to elite schools. In this context, the pressures on students are greater than ever.”
It's important to keep in mind that even the brightest students with the most impressive academic achievement records lack the maturity and perspective of their elders. Some may get so caught up in maintaining stellar records that they listen to a peer's foolish suggestion about ways to get around the system; others may go along with a group of friends who are intent on seeing how far they can push the rules without getting caught.
Academic-defense advisor Joseph D. Lento has worked with many students whose momentary bad choices placed them in trouble. He understands their state of mind, is empathetic to their situations, and has a track record of successfully negotiating with school administrations to resolve the issue, rescuing students from destroying their academic careers.
Providence-Warwick Schools
Academic-defense advisor Joseph D. Lento and his firm's student defense team are able to defend Providence-Warwick students of all ages accused of all types of school violations. The Lento Law Firm is available to help students at the following colleges and universities, among others:
Colleges and Universities
- Brown University
- Community College of Rhode Island
- Johnson & Wales
- Providence College
- Rhode Island College
- The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
Attorney Lento and the Lento Law Firm student-defense team also defend students enrolled in boarding schools located in the Providence-Warwick area, including:
Boarding Schools
- Saint Andrew's School
- Overbrook Academy
- Middlebridge School
Attorney Lento and the Lento Law Firm also work with students in private, religious, charter, and public schools:
Private Schools
- Community Preparatory School
- The Lincoln School
- Moses Brown
- The Wheeler School
Religious Schools
- Bishop McVinney Regional
- Blessed Sacrament School
- La Salle Academy
- Providence Hebrew Day School
- Sacred Heart School
- Saint Augustine School
- Saint Joseph School
- Saint Kevin's School
- Saint Margaret School
- Saint Mary Academy-Bayview
- Saint Mary's School
- Saint Michael's School
- Saint Patrick School
- Saint Paul School
- Saint Peter School
- Saint Pius V School
- Saint Rocco School
- Saint Rose of Lima School
- Saint Thomas Regional School
Public Charter Schools
- Textron Chamber of Commerce (9–12)
- Time Squared Academy High School (K–12)
- Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts (TAPA)
Public Elementary Schools
- Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary School at Broad Street
- Anthony Carnevale Elementary School
- Asa Messer Elementary School
- Carl G. Lauro Elementary School
- Cedar Hill Elementary School
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School
- Fortes Lima Elementary School
- Frank D. Spaziano Elementary School & Annex
- George J. West Elementary School
- Greenwood Elementary School
- E.T. Wyman Elementary School
- Greenbush Elementary School
- Harry Kizirian Elementary School
- Holliman Elementary School
- Horgan Elementary School
- Hoxsie Elementary School
- Leviton Dual Language School
- Lillian Feinstein Elementary School at Sackett Street
- Lippitt Elementary School
- Maise E. Quinn Elementary School
- Mary E. Fogarty Elementary School
- Norwood Elementary School
- Oakland Beach Elementary School
- Park Elementary School
- Pleasant View Elementary School
- Reservoir Avenue Elementary School
- Robert F. Kennedy Elementary School
- Robert L. Bailey, IV Elementary School
- Robertson Elementary School
- Scott Elementary School
- Sgt. Cornel Young, Jr. & Charlotte Woods Elementary School
- Sherman Elementary School
- Vartan Gregorian Elementary School
- Veazie Street Elementary School
- Wakefield Hills Elementary School
- Warwick Neck Elementary School
- Webster Avenue Elementary School
- William D'Abate Elementary School
Public Middle Schools
- DelSesto Middle School
- Esek Hopkins Middle School
- Gilbert Stuart Middle School
- Nathan Bishop Middle School
- Nathanael Greene Middle School
- Roger Williams Middle School
- West Broadway Middle School
Public High Schools and Technical Vocation Schools
- 360 High School
- Central High School
- Classical High School
- Dr. Jorge Alvarez High School
- E-Cubed Academy
- Hope High School
- Mount Pleasant High School
- Pilgrim High School
- Providence Career & Technical Academy
- Providence Academy of International Studies
- Toll Gate High School
- William B. Cooley, Sr. High School
Disciplinary Defense in the Providence-Warwick area
All universities, colleges, vocational schools, public schools, private schools, charter schools, and religious schools in Providence-Warwick require that their students conform to certain standards of conduct. The standards are designed to ensure that classes and other campus activities can be carried out without interruption, so students can study without fear of physical or mental harm from their peers.
Rhode Island students may find themselves in trouble for a range of behavior, including bullying, cheating, plagiarism, vandalism, computer hacking, and other types of IT misuse, sexual harassment, or gender-based conduct violations, just to name some of the major categories.
Academic Progression Issues
Modern life offers a kaleidoscope of distractions that can interfere with a student's ability to put in the level of effort required to be promoted to the next grade. The temptations of social media and the internet often draw students away from the work they know they should be doing. School-related extracurricular activities can also pull a student away from their studies to the extent that their grades fall.
Compounding this, students may suffer from emotional issues caused by family matters or personal relationships, which can make it hard to focus on their studies.
All Providence-Warwick schools have established standards that students must meet in order to maintain the academic standing necessary to graduate. The policies laid out by Providence College, the Community College of Rhode Island, Brown University, and the Rhode Island School of Design provide good examples. Students must earn a minimum number of credits each school term and maintain a certain GPA to avoid being put on probation, suspension, or even dismissal. If a student receives notice that their grades have slipped so far that they face one of these prospects, they shouldn't panic. Instead, they should contact accomplished student-defense advocate Joseph D. Lento. Mr. Lento knows how to work with school administrators to help a student obtain time extensions or the remedial assistance necessary to catch up to where they need to be, so they can be promoted to the next grade.
Academic Misconduct Issues
Today's digital environment offers students more opportunities to inadvertently break academic rules than in previous eras. Some schools fail to adequately explain the difference between what is acceptable and unacceptable when using information found on the web. For example, the dividing line between what is considered appropriate paraphrasing and what is treated as plagiarism can be confusingly vague.
Other times, students may collaborate with one another on school projects in good faith, only to be accused of having broken their school's academic rules. An accusation of cheating, dishonesty, research misconduct, unauthorized assistance or collaboration, or ethics violations can bring a student's academic career to a screeching halt. Any student who faces disciplinary action for one of these or any other disciplinary violation should consult a student-defense advisor at the Lento Law Firm as soon as possible. The earlier the problem is dealt with, the less likely the student will suffer severe consequences.
Behavioral Misconduct Issues
All schools in Providence-Warwick have student handbooks with codes of conduct that students are expected to be familiar with. Offenses may include everything from disrupting a classroom and fighting on school premises to going off-campus during lunch period without permission. Activities that might not lead to serious consequences outside of school can have very serious consequences when carried out during the school day.
The Lento Law Firm's student defense team can smoothly resolve such situations with the faculty and school administration much more effectively than a student or parent could on their own.
Title IX Sexual Misconduct
The Lento Law Firm defends students, teachers, administrators, and other school employees against Title IX violation charges. Title IX is a federal rule that prohibits sex-based discrimination by any educational institution that accepts federal money. Title IX regulates behavior by students, teachers, administrators, and other school employees, as well as third parties who are on campus or who commit a violation while engaging in school activities.
The difference between sex-based discrimination, sexual harassment, and gender-based harassment
Sex-based discrimination covers a wide range of conduct. It includes sexual harassment, sexual violence, and gender-based harassment.
Sexual harassment encompasses unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, nonverbal, or physical conduct of a sexual nature–regardless of the gender of those involved. Sexual harassment may be accompanied by sexual violence or harmful physical contact of a sexual nature.
Gender-based harassment includes unwelcome conduct based on a student's sex and harassing conduct based on a student's failure to conform to sex stereotypes.
The Lento Law Firm's student defense team has a long history of advocating persuasively on behalf of those accused of violating Title IX regulations.
School Discipline Defense Attorney Value
That old saying about being “penny-wise and pound foolish” has never been more on point than when it comes to saving a student's academic career. No one can present a case on their own behalf, as well as experienced academic-defense attorney Joseph D. Lento. Students and their parents can save themselves many hours of anxiety and aggravation by retaining the Lento Law Firm. Call 888-535-3686 or contact us here.
