Middle School Update

Volume 6 Number 27

April 23 , 2007

CALENDAR:

MYP GRADING IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL:  We will be giving two presentations on this topic, Thursday night April 26th and Friday morning April 27th.  These are Parent Coffees organized by your Middle School Parent Advisory group. There will be simultaneous translation. It might be helpful to bring with you the organizer (agenda book) of your child for reference.  We will provide sample work showing how we use the criteria to determine what the level of attainment.

STUDENT-LED CONFERENCES: As I have mentioned several times in the Monday Update, Student-Led Conferences this semester will be different than in the past. We will NOT be distributing report cards. We do NOT want to talk about grades and GPAs.  If a student is currently on academic conditional or probationary status the counselors will keep parents up to date on how the student is progressing.  If we anticipate that a student needs to be put onto an academic contract, we will contact parents about the concerns when we see the problems. This will not be a surprise.

What  is important for students to reflect on and parents to be aware of is how the student is doing on each MYP criterion in each subject. As students move up into high school these Criteria will determine the student’s grade which will be reported on the official transcript for college admission.

As a parent, what should you be concerned about? The most common answer is “the grade.”  This, however, is shortsighted. MS grades are not generally reported to colleges. Yes, it is great to be able to praise your child for a high GPA or improving GPA, but what students need is an honest assessment of where they are on the continuum  of learning.  Getting an A in English in grade 6 probably means the student is a good reader and writer at that level, turns in work completed and on time, and is most likely neat and organized.

The MYP criteria allow for a more detailed analysis of student progress. The student might be an “A” given the grade level but needs to know that to improve his/her writing there needs to be more detail in the descriptions or a more varied vocabulary needs to be used.  These are the types of things students will reflect on as they prepare for these student-led conferences.  They will review their work and not only reflect but also set goals on how to improve.

Using and understanding the MYP criteria is a process. We are attempting to separate it from the pressure of quarter grades to make it less stressful. Please help us with this by coming to the conferences prepared to talk about criteria not grades.  You will need to see all 6 or 7 teachers in order to get the full picture. NOTE:  If your appointment is at 2:45 please arrive by 2:30 so that you have the opportunity to see the PE and elective teachers first.

COMMUNITY AND SERVICE:  On Tuesday afternoon a group of student volunteers will stay after school to help finish the bags for Operation Smile patients undergoing surgery next month.  If your child asks for permission to stay on Tuesday, please say yes.  Thank you.

The ADCA SWIM MEET will be held this coming Wednesday and Thursday, April 25 and

26 at Campo de Marte in Jesus Maria (Jr. Nazca s/n). This is an all-school event, with participants between the ages of 10 and 18. Come on our and support our team!! The tournament will start at 10:00 a.m. each day.

REPEATED ANNOUNCEMENTS:

RECYCLING TETRA-PAK CONTAINERS:  We have a container near the Middle School Office for the recycling of tetra-pak containers.  When you empty a milk or juice container at home (or school) please rinse it out, flatten it, send it to school with your child, and have him/her put it in the collection box.  These will be recycled and converted into desks for public school here in Peru.

WALK THE WORLD, EL MUNDO EN MARCHA CONTRA EL HAMBRE:  The World Food Programme of the United Nations is organizing a walk to raise money to support a campaign against child hunger in Peru.  This will be May 6th from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.  More information will be provided in the Monday Messenger.

PLACEMENT INTO EXTENDED MATHEMATICS IN GRADE 8:  There are many factors that determine if a student will be successful in Extended Mathematics in grade 8.  We look at the first semester grades in the core subjects, Iowa Tests of Basic Skills Math Total score, recommendation of the current math teacher, and the results of the Hanna Orleans Algebra Aptitude Test. We will also ask students to write a reflect piece about their own feeling about what course is most appropriate for them in grade 8. None of these, alone, is a good indicator of success. We combine all of the information. We will then send home a letter indicating which course the student will be placed in for 2007-2008. This letter will go home in early May. At times, the placement is tentative. This means the student is given a chance to try the Extended class but will be moved to the Regular if they can not keep up.  At other times, students show a great deal of growth in maturity and abstract thinking between now and December and are moved into Extended for the second semester.

Until the introduction of the MYP, for a student to be able to take higher level math in grades 11 and 12 it was necessary that they take Algebra (Extended Math) in grade 8 or they would have to take two math courses in grade 10.  With the MYP program, that is no longer true. Students can move from Regular 8 to Extended 9 if they demonstrate the skills, habits and attitude to be successful.

CAS ACTIVITIES:

Grade 6

Group 4:  Consumer Math at Wong’s

Group 1:  Cooking

Group 2:  Yoga + Fun Games

Group 3:  Crafts

Grade 7

Group D and E:  Centro de Lima/San Francisco

Group F and A:  Barranco

Group B and C:  Cementerio

Grade 8

CoFo