Dear Students and
Parents,
Many thanks to the
Raptor Agents who helped our new students settle in. They are: Aafia Sait,
Ahira Varkey, Celia Malone, E-Shane Chew, Hyoeun Kang, Joohwi Park, Joon Hyuk
Song, Juyoung Jeung, Miles Gold, Nithya Gogineni,Sanjana Kumar, Sooji Lim and
Yujin Cha.
Please do mark your
calendars for our Back to School Night on Thursday, August 29th.
Yearbook
Photos - a Note from Ms. Sunita
The all-school
Yearbook photoshoot is scheduled for the week of 26 August.
The HS portrait
pictures and class photos will be taken as per the following schedule:
Aug 26 - Grade 9
(Portrait and class photo)
Aug 27 - Grade 10
(Portrait and class photo)
Aug 28 - Grade 11
(Portrait and class photo)
Aug 30 - Grade12 (
Portrait and class photo)
The detailed
schedule will be published in the Daily Bulletin.
Grade 12 students
are asked to wear black and white. Boys are not required to wear suits but may
choose to. Black or dark nice pants with a white shirt is perfectly fine. Girls
can wear dresses, skirts or pants with a top in any combination of black and
white. Both girls and boys are asked to wear dress shoes (not tennis shoes) as
their shoes will show in the photo.
MAP
Testing Beginning Monday August 26 - A Note from Mr. Malone
Measure of Academic Progress (MAP)
testing for all 9th and 10th graders will be from Monday, August 26 through
Thursday, August 29th, with makeup tests on Friday, August 3oth. Students
will be assessed on English Language Usage, Life Sciences in 9th grade and NGSS
Science in 10th grade, English Reading and Mathematics for approximately 75
minutes each day. Subject teachers will be present to support each
student's best effort.
MAP tests, which all students from
3rd through 10th grade take in the beginning and end of each school year, help
us understand the growth in our students and the success of our programs in
comparison to US and international schools. Teachers can use MAP results
to differentiate instruction and understand growth over time.
Please support your 9th or 10th
grader to get good sleep and nutrition August 25-30th so that they can show
what they know, and give us the most useful information to understand and
respond to their learning profile.
Student Handbook - Updates and Signature Pages -
Repeat Announcement
On Thursday students
were given the updated Student Handbook for 2019-2020. Mike Malone created this
helpful presentation with voice over to highlight changes from last
year to this year and important-to-review sections in the handbook.
Kindly take some
time to view this presentation and look at the handbook. We ask that all
students and parents sign the final page of the handbook acknowledging an
understanding of the key parts referring to rules and expectations. This signed
page should be returned to the high school office as soon as possible.
Counseling Newsletter - August - Repeat
Announcement
Please take a minute
to review the counseling newsletter for August. If you have a grade 12 student,
please mark your calendar for Senior Class College Night on Tuesday, August
20th, at 6:00 pm. More details will be emailed to grade 12 parents from the
counselors directly.
Discover
India - A Note from Mr. McFarland - Repeat Announcement
Discover India trips are just six
weeks away! Next Tuesday the trip groups will meet and review important details
including any important equipment necessary and the trip
plans.
Standards Based Assessment and Reporting - Repeat
Announcement
The high school uses
standards-based assessment and reporting for all courses. Teachers award scores
using a 1 - 8 scale four times per year (October, January, March, and June)
using common reporting achievement strands and common learning habits ratings.
Details about the grading and reporting system can be found on page 48 of the
High School Handbook or by accessing this informational document.
In addition to
formal reports, students will receive regular informal feedback from teachers
in class including verbal comments and written feedback on small assignments
(eg: exit tickets, short quizzes). At least once before each summative
assessment, students will receive formal feedback on a more comprehensive
formative assessment. Formative assessments are assessments for learning and
help students identify areas of strength and growth in preparation for their
summative assessment. Such assessments are reflected in PowerSchool but are not
used in determining final scores.
At least once per
unit, students will complete a summative assessment. Such assessments provide
feedback on the proficiency of the standards related to the unit. Performance
on summative assessments determines a student’s final score in the course based
on recent, most consistent performance. In the high school, the last three
summative assessments of the semester (which may include the student’s semester
examination) are used at the data, alongside the strand and holistic rubrics,
to determine the final score in the course at the end of each reporting period.
The rubrics for each specific to each class can be found linked to the course
syllabus. All syllabi can be found here.
Sincerely,
Joelle Basnight
High School
Principal
