What’s the difference between the TAS values and the Honor Code? Was the Honor Code written by the Honor Committee? Here are some common myths about the Honor Committee and the Honor Code debunked.
The Honor Code is a secret document completely different from the TAS values that we sign but don’t get to see.
The TAS values are the five values you see everywhere around school, plastered on walls of classrooms, playgrounds, cafeterias, etc. The Honor Code, however, only applies to upper school students. Both Middle and Lower School have  a similar version of the honor code called the Character Code.
When a student signs the Honor Code, they are saying that they will do their best to uphold and promote the values of honesty, respect, responsibility, kindness, and courage. The content of the honor code is available for public view in the TAS website under the Honor Committee tab.
The Honor Committee wrote the honor code.
Student Government wrote the Honor Code with Ms Yonkey, the US Activities Director, several years ago.  The honor committee was then founded after the Honor Code to promote the Honor Code.
The Honor Committee only exists at TAS.
By definition, the Honor Code is just a set of ethical rules that runs a community. It differs everywhere because different cultures believe in different values. Thus many schools, especially universities, have their own versions of the Honor Code. To enforce these rules, these schools all have Honor Committees as well. But unlike the TAS honor committee, some of the other honor committees have serious consequences ready if a student violates the honor code. The TAS Honor Committee exists just to be a positive force to the TAS community.
There will be a sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, hundredth honor code in the future.
Most likely, no. Courage will probably be the first and the last addition to the honor code. When the honor committee wanted to add courage, they had to make a proposal to not only the upper school admin, but also the senior admin of the whole school. It took a lot of effort to add courage.