FAQ: Handwritten Prewriting Requirements
Where to Find Information in the STAA Handbook
This FAQ article helps families understand where handwritten prewriting requirements are addressed throughout the STAA Handbook. The requirement that assignments without handwritten prewriting cannot be accepted as work samples is documented across multiple handbook sections to ensure students understand this essential academic expectation.
The STAA Handbook can be read online and downloaded from www.staahomeschool.com/handbook (active STAA Student Zone username and password required).
The Academic Integrity Policy
The primary documentation for handwritten prewriting requirements is found in the Academic Integrity Policy, which all parents and students must read and initial as part of the Student Behavior Policy and Academic Integrity Agreement form.
Click here for an easy, readable version of this form is available on the STAA Student Zone (active STAA Student Zone username and password required). This page is part of the 'Policy Collection' within the STAA Handbook section of the STAA Student Zone.
Section 4: Handwritten Prewriting Requirement
The Academic Integrity Policy includes the following key components regarding handwritten prewriting:
- Why This Matters: Demonstrates original thinking, guards against AI-generated content, shows growth as a writer, and prepares students for college testing.
- What to Submit: Handwritten brainstorming, prewriting, and draft work with every assignment. In math, all lessons and tests must include show-your-work paper.
- Live Class Students: Submit scanned handwritten work as a separate PDF or insert photos into Word documents.
- Critical Statement: “Assignments without handwritten prewriting cannot be accepted as work samples.”
The Five Most Challenging Issues in Accepting Work Samples
Our policies are designed to make it very clear what St. Thomas Aquinas Academy needs to see from students to sign off on work samples as attempts to complete the required assignments in the course. The five most challenging issues we encounter when accepting work samples are:
- Unlabeled work. No student names, dates, or identification of what course or lesson/assignment was uploaded. Secondary to this is questions and problems that are not numbered.
- Students not using the source texts and assigned readings to support their ideas and show how their written work stems from thoughtful contemplation of the themes, learning systems, new skills, and information in their books that are part of the course. We provide extensive instruction in the High School Orientation on how to quote and reference source material in student assignments.
- Writing assignments created and edited by A.I. or simply copied from internet sources.
- Submissions of parent overviews of academic work instead of submitting the work samples the student created and polished himself. Parents are, of course, welcome to add overviews as part of a work sample if there are important comments to share with their advisor, but the parent overviews cannot be submitted in lieu of the student work.
- Student responses to questions that are not included with the work sample. If the questions are not with the responses or students do not mirror the question so it is very clear what they are responding to, there is no way to figure out what is going on with the work sample. This is especially true of tests in textbook-driven courses that might have multiple choice tests or in math programs where the student responses need to be accompanied by the original math problem (as well as their neat-and-complete show-your-work paper).
The “Why Handwritten Prewriting Matters” Article
As noted at the bottom of the “Why Handwritten Prewriting Matters” article on the STAA Student Zone, this is the only new article that was added to the Policy Collection and STAA Handbook. It does not introduce any new policies regarding work samples. Instead, it addresses more of the “why” behind the requirement, providing explanations that families can share with students when questions arise about the reasons for handwritten prewriting.
This article appears in the STAA Handbook, Part 2: High School Orientation as Section 2.2.1b, pages 109–112, and explains the five essential stages of the writing process that prewriting documents: Reading and Consulting the Authors, Brainstorming, Organizing and Outlining, Arranging Your Points, and The Sloppy-Copy Rough Draft.
STAA Handbook, Part 2: High School Orientation
The following sections within the High School Orientation handbook address handwritten prewriting and the writing process:
Section 2.2.1. Academic Integrity Policy (Pages 104–108)
Contains the complete Academic Integrity Policy including Section 4: Handwritten Prewriting Requirement and Section 5: If Academic Integrity Issues Arise, which requires fresh prewriting completed with pen and paper under direct adult supervision for any resubmitted work.
Section 2.2.1b. Why Handwritten Prewriting Matters (Pages 109–112)
The dedicated explanatory article documenting the intellectual journey from ideas to expression, cognitive benefits of handwriting, what prewriting shows teachers, and how the requirement prepares students for their future.
Section 2.2.3. Short Response Guidelines (Pages 124–125)
Under “Writing Process,” states: “Start with a handwritten rough draft (sloppy copy). This prewriting work must accompany your final submission and demonstrate your authentic thinking process.” The Key Reminders box also emphasizes that handwritten prewriting work must accompany the final submission.
Section 2.2.4. Reflection Papers (Pages 126–128)
Under “Writing Process Requirements,” specifies: “Handwritten Prewriting: Include your Seven Sentence Skeleton prewriting plan either on or after your Works Cited page. All reflection papers must be accompanied by handwritten brainstorming and planning work.”
Section 2.2.5. Book Reviews / Book Reports (Pages 129–132)
Under “Writing Process Requirements,” states: “Handwritten Prewriting: All book reviews must include handwritten brainstorming and planning work.” References the Socratic List questions from Teaching the Classics and book report planning from Jensen’s Format Writing. Under “Academic Integrity,” reiterates that all handwritten prewriting work must accompany the final submission.
Section 2.2.9. Major Papers / Research Papers (Page 150)
Specifies that major papers require “a rough draft (a hand-written rough draft/sloppy copy unless following the multi-stage research paper projects in the European History IA course)” followed by polishing for tone, flow, punctuation, grammar, and spelling before submission.
Section 2.1.7. Work Samples and Semester Reporting (Page 94)
States under “End-of-Semester Process”: “At the end of each semester, you will submit your starred assignments (along with any prewriting or show-your-work papers) as your work samples.”
STAA Handbook, Part 3: Semester Reporting
The Semester Reporting handbook reinforces the handwritten prewriting requirement within the context of work sample submission and transcript documentation. The articles in this section of the handbook are not yet numbered in the same way the High School Orientation articles are numbered, so use the table of contents to navigate the STAA Handbook, Part 3: Semester Reporting:
Pillar Two: Student Work Samples (Pages 16–35)
This section explains how work samples serve as formal, academic examples that advisors review to verify that students completed their courses and demonstrated high school standards. The requirement for handwritten prewriting is addressed within the work sample submission guidelines.
What NOT to Submit: Protecting Academic Integrity (Page 35)
Explicitly lists among unacceptable submissions: “Papers submitted without handwritten prewriting or rough drafts and the structural outlining appropriate for the student’s current progress through the writing and reasoning courses.”
Student Identification: More Than Just Administrative Details (Page 32)
Explains how the identification requirements and prewriting documentation reflect both practical and philosophical considerations, teaching students to take ownership of their academic work and understand the ethical implications of academic integrity.
Quick Reference Summary
The STAA Handbook Quick Reference Summary lists “Handwritten Prewriting Required” as one of the non-negotiable standards, stating:
- All writing assignments must be accompanied by handwritten brainstorming, prewriting, and draft work
- Assignments without handwritten prewriting cannot be accepted as work samples
- Math lessons and tests require neat-and-complete show-your-work paper
Questions? If you have questions about handwritten prewriting requirements, please reach out to your high school advisor through the course Q&A forums or schedule an advisor appointment.
Note: The last update to the page numbers in this article was done in January 2026. Look for the article titles in the table of contents of the STAA Handbook to find the most accurate page numbers. The STAA Handbook can be read online and downloaded from www.staahomeschool.com/handbook (active STAA Student Zone username and password required).