International Baccalaureate Program

Educating for Excellence

 

Rigor + Relevance + Relationships = Educational Excellence

MYP in the Classroom

West and East High School

MYP Unit Freshman Academy

Instructors Ninth grade classroom teachers

The Freshman Academy is now part of the ninth grade curriculum for all students at East and West High Schools. The program is designed to help students build life skills and healthy relationships with teachers and peers to create a foundation for a positive high school experience. The program features a team approach to transitioning eighth grade students into well-adjusted high school students. In the program, teaching teams made up of English, Math, Science and Global History instructors work together to provide an environment in which freshmen can develop a confident voice and feel comfortable seeking help. Among the goals of the program are:

Ø to increase student achievement;

Ø to create stronger, more conscious members of the school community; and

Ø to give students a sense of accomplishment along with a solid skills base to accompany them through their high school career and beyond.

The Freshman Academy program at both schools features an additional Advisory period, which meets every other day to address basic organizational and accountability skills as well as character education, and it serves as their home base as well. In fall 2007, C-PP began offering the IB Middle Years Program (MYP) Approaches to Learning (ATL) course as part of the Advisory period. ATL is taught on a pass/fail basis with students receiving ½ credit for the course, which features the following

Ø Study Skills — retention tools, learning styles, trans-disciplinary skills

Ø “I pod” Instructional period — all core teachers are available for help during the study hall

Ø Other student needs — Class elections, meetings, Rachel's challenge

Ø Community Service Project  — an in-class group project

Ø Introduction to the Personal Project — the culminating component of the IB Middle Years Program, which students will complete during their tenth grade year.