Middle School Update

Volume 7 Number 21

March 5, 2007

CALENDAR:

WALKING GATE:  There is a gate for MS and HS students to use in the mornings and at 3:30 p.m.  To use this gate at 3:30 p.m. students must have a pass with a photo.  If your child has lost the pass they may pick up a form in the office for you to sign. Please remember to send another photo.  Students who need to use the gate once in a while may get a temporary one-day pass by bringing a note signed by a parent authorizing the student to do so.  This is a safety issue.

LA MOLINA RESIDENTS: Student have been arriving on time.  Thanks for making the necessary adjustments.  Please be aware that more schools will be opening this next week and traffic could become heavier.

AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: Activities begin this week, there will be limited transportation available at 5:30.  Please call the Transportation Office, ext 4423, if you have questions.

EIGHTH GRADE PARENTS: There will be an informational meeting for parents on March 6 th at 2:30 p.m. in the Little Theater. The purpose of this meeting is to learn about the Community Focus (CoFo) projects that students will be doing during the entire semester. Please join us.

POWERSCHOOL: You will not see much information in PowerSchool at this point in time because we are just beginning. We will send out information about getting back in as grades become available.

ASSESMENT:  As you know we are now an IBO World School.  We offer the three programs of the International Baccalaureate: Primary Years Program (EC3 – grade 5), Middle Years Program (grades 6 – 10), and Diploma Program (grades 11-12).  In grades EC3 – grade 10 ALL students participate in the full program.  In grades 11-12, all students participate in the program but to varying degrees.

Assessment by the MYP is significantly different than the method of grading we have been doing up until now. It is not an average of all work done. Work is marked compared to MYP Criteria as you see in the Middle School Student Handbook. We will be taking steps to align what we do with the MYP. This is a time of transition.

In the Middle School, we feel that students need help and encouragement to develop the habits necessary to be a good student. The importance of doing homework, being responsible for communication with parents about test results, bringing materials needed for use in class, and similar things needs reinforcement in grades 6-8 as students adapt to secondary school which is not a self-contained style like elementary schools. In grades 6-8 we will be adding this semester a Criterion X.  This criterion is called Personal Engagement. It is where completion of homework, returning tests signed, bringing materials, and other grades not part of the MYP criteria will be recorded. Criterion X has more weight in grade 6 than in grade 7 or 8, and there will be no Criterion X in High School.

We will be experimenting with better ways to report progress to parents and students. No longer will MYP students have their grades calculated by, for example,

Instead, each subject has criteria (Middle School Student Handbook). Math in grade 7, for example, will be:

More information will be included in the next Update.

MONDAY ENVELOPES: 8th grade students will have a letter regarding the CoFo meeting for parents.  7th grade will send the field trip permission form for the semester. 6th grade won’t be sending anything.

BOARDING SCHOOL VISIT: An admissions representative from Pomfret School will be visiting Colegio Franklin Delano Roosevelt on Friday, March 16th at 2:30 pm to meet with students and parents who are considering an American boarding school.  Pomfret is a co-ed, college preparatory boarding school for students in grades 9-12. Over 12% of Pomfret’s 350 students are international, and in the past few years Pomfret has hosted students from more than 20 countries.   For further information please visit    http://www.pomfretschool.org

FLEP MEETING:  There will be an information meeting for parents of 6th graders to talk about the Family Life Education Program that Ms Castañeda and Ms Remy will be presenting to 6th graders during ATL.  If you have questions about the topics, materials, or approach to be used, please attend this meeting on Friday, March 9th, at 1:30 p.m. in the Little Theater.

PLEASE REMIND YOUR CHILD:  Each student in MS needs to turn in to his/her ATL teacher by Thursday March 8th a photo of the place where they   normally study at home. This can be in color or black and white. It can be printed on a printer on regular paper, it does not need to be  a glossy photo.  If students are now studying at the beach -- don't  send that photo. It needs to be where they normally study during the school year.