##VIDEO ID:_sjxABWvFZY## McDonald Deputy superintendent for the school district I want to welcome you to our High School South annual program of studies for I guess what is now the class of 2029 um I'm here to just guide you through a couple topics before I turn it over to our supervisors and our lead counselor have a lot of information to share not is being recorded and we are going to this after tonight's presentation it'll be posted up on the district YouTube page and website within the coming days so that being said we're here to provide resources to you as parents and certainly as students as you navigate the process of that transition to High School uh it's always about uh making smart choices and being placed appropriately so with that said I'm going to jump right into it and just do a couple uh topics here uh again in terms of the high school transition and course requirements process we're going to cover some of those things um we're going to cover ninth Gres are extracurricular opportunities summer opportunities and whatnot School transition as I said before it's it can be a daunting process if you have not been through this with one of your children before it's not just the academic part it's a social emotional component it's extracurricular pieces that go into to transitioning to High School uh but uh is ultimately a balance it's something that we want to make sure that you're making those smart decisions you're making uh decisions in collaboration with your current teachers cers um child study team members and uh obviously partnering with your son or daughter uh with regards to their choices our counselors do a great job navigating helping students navigate the process uh they were down at the middle schools this past week uh and then they'll return uh in I guess a few weeks to go back and and talk through individual course selections uh in the coming weeks so uh a lot of resources between the Google classroom distri website emails can be a little overwhelming so please reach out if you do have questions again I go back to that word balance right that's really the the ultimate selections uh during that nth grade year so just in terms of timeline uh again had a chance to go to both middle schools this past week uh meet with your students uh not only as a whole class but then also in small groups peer leaders assisted and having those conversations about what high school is all about and certainly reviewed the different course selections we're given a lot of information uh we like to give kids and families a few weeks to digest before they make those course Selections in the coming weeks so um tonight we're obviously doing a program of studies night as we get into March the counselors will go back to the middle schools and have the chance to meet with your child one-on-one um in August uh we do an amazing job transitioning with the Orient welcome our students as they transition and even that into September there's follow-up groups and conversations with students so there's a lot of steps along the way but trust the process as they say um in terms of high school graduation requirements of course counselors will guide uh your children through this will guide you uh over the four years of high school there certainly 20 credits you're going to take Arts three years of math uh obviously including Algebra 1 geometry science um including biocam environmental or physics social studies three years of social studies including and world history financial literacy four years of fad and health five credits 10 credits of World Language and 21st century life skills so there's plenty of room for electives U many of our students students take more than these uh also built into your schedule is a study hall period uh sometimes our students elect to take the financial literacy course um which is uh intertwined with the study hall period at some point during their four-year sequence so a lot of information here but each step of the way our counselors do a great job just helping students uh with their course requirements and and checking to make sure they're on track to meet the graduation gr courses pretty straightforward you're going to have your kind of core four plus English Math Science Social Studies um certainly can have an elective in there uh we always tell kids you know think about an elective that taxing per se uh something that you're passionate about something that has interest um as you navigate night it's a big adjustment uh you're going to have that study hall period and you're obviously going to have the common lunch we'll highlight at some point but essentially our students have three classes in the morning and then three classes in the afternoon it's a rotating drop schedule so um three of thees will take an AM and PM one drops off in each one of those so but all students e lunch at the same time which is great for to be able to connect with their peers connect with their either counselor um that's a really a to the rotating drop um eligibility looking at the midyear Mark for our eth graders uh we're looking at an 80% in terms of just doesn't mean that you should take all honors per se uh doesn't mean that necessarily want to go across the board that's really about having that conversation with a teacher uh getting some insight from your counselor again it goes back to balance uh it's about appropriate course placement obviously that criteria U with different so um it's all outlined in the program of studies so you can see what each course has in terms of the and what that performance criteria is coming out of eth grade there is a reason to uh appeal perhaps eligibility there's an eligibility review process uh these are things that we look at holistically if a child does not necessarily meet the criteria at the midpoint of 8th grade year um in terms of that it's required uh we will look at this you can put in that course eligibility review our team will decision uh obviously looking at your overall grades assessment scores standardized assessments and whatnot specific departmental exams and whatnot so third grade average at that point will be how the students doing um post midyear points so that is an option if if your child doesn't meet the specific criteria of a certain course or is a digital program of study so we just want to highlight that you can certainly scan this link here on the screen or you can go to the district website uh under the under Department's counseling uh you'll see links there High School counseling you'll see links for the program of studies and you can find that so it's a really good resource for parents and students alike to take advantage of so in terms of course request uh we do course requests through Genesis that process is something that starts you know January 24th uh you can go in and actually see what your child is eligible for at that point you can make those course requests the course requests are not finalized until your child meets with the school counselor or case manager IEP team selections become final certainly um you can make a April 1st uh but after that those are locked in we run our master schedule we plan accordingly for the coming school and our courses make sure our staff were staffed appropriately it's it's a big undertaking and putting together a master schedule for two high schools so it is something that we want to make sure that you have all have time to make those decisions but we want you to make sure that you really think through those decisions because after April 1st it is difficult ult to change those course requests so um that's really what this evening is about that's what this process is about we're here to support you but we want to understand that in terms of timeline in uh August August 1st or August 15 um there is an opportunity to make a tweak perhaps um that's something that um when we talk talk about CL of world language classes uh if there's an opportunity for uh elective or level change um you can put in that request doesn't mean it will be honored certainly there has to be an open seat certainly there has to be a balance in class sizes there are other things that we look at um but 15 that's not something that we're going to uh attain in terms of the uh so we'll put out more information uh as we get closer to that but just understand that um from the coming months ahead all the more reason to make wise decisions now line is uh as you can see here October 15 we um lock in uh a decision with regards to the multi-level classes I know some of our supervisors will highlight that what that's all about but um that's something that shouldn't be taken lightly you certainly want to consult with the teacher with the counselor uh perhaps with the supervisor with regards to um uh what's appropriate and we understand that's daunting but that's part of the reason why we have the multi-level classes uh to give students time to get acclimated to the high school level and then ultimately make a smart decision about what's appropriate for them um but something to think through and and talk to the resources that you have available that I'm going to turn it over to Dr Rich St who's gon to highlight light option two and what that means in W thank you Dr McDonald uh first I want to say uh if our audio cuts out uh we we sincerely apologize for that we're not quite sure why that's happening but if you do have any questions and something just doesn't come through clearly just please reach out to one of us and we'll be able to uh answer your questions in in the chat I'm sorry in the Q&A and we'll do our best to get those cleared up but but thank you very much for joining us tonight uh it gives me great pleasure to uh to host or at least to you know be on this panel tonight with all of you um it's an it's a great time of year to think about what your child is going to be experiencing as they prepare for their High School Journey uh one of the options to consider of course is option two I'm going to tell you exactly what that is and we'll talk a little bit more about why it's a something to consider and perhaps something you might not want to consider but first of all option two is commonly known as option two and permits District Boards of Education to determine and establish curricular activities or programs aimed at achieving The Core Curriculum content standards for promotion and graduation purposes option two serves as an alternative to Traditional High School courses but is not meant to supplant or to be a substitute for and involves in-depth experiences that may be provided by School District Personnel or instructors not employed by the school district I.E a Learning Center or another um um facility for uh academic course work next slide please okay there is an option to website and I strongly recommend you take some time and study that many of your questions will be answered there and if you still have them beyond that please reach out to your child's school counselor or one of us will be able to talk with you for sure so the courses must be pre-approved uh and that approval process involves making sure that whichever option to provide you choose you've taken the time to look at the corresponding course curriculum for class is posted on our website and make sure it's a match and it must be of course from an accredited institution must be New Jersey student learning standards students must show minimum proficiency proficiency to earn wwp credit at 70% but they also must of course pass the course that they're taking according to our program of studies and pass the associated uh exam uh if it's offered if it's asked that you do so uh April 1st is the online approval form deadline for summer work so you must submit by then and they are timestamped option two District assessments are given August 18th and August um 11th uh limiting one course per year uh limiting one also one course per content area uh courses must be completed by a fall of senior year and prior year assessment information is available at that link and I strongly recommend you take a look at that because the passing rates are not good it's very very difficult to achieve uh competency and uh the ability to transfer your learning with a five-week uh summer course which is what we're going to take a look at now so next slide please thank you option two what it is and what it is not I'm going to speak very respectfully but very candidly what it is optional and students should have a conversation with their counselor about why and how it fits into their four-year plan is this the choice that you truly want to make option two is designed for passionate exploration of student interest not the supp plan or high school program of studies but to take a student's interest down a road that perhaps you might not able to provide proper other high schools times River South Montclair High School Montgomery High School there are other institutions that may have summer programming that may tailor more so to a student's interest which is a program we've begun to develop here which I'll talk about in a little bit it's a way to take a course for credit option two is that you cannot access in our high schools as I mentioned it's a way to complete graduation requirements if you have a schedule in Conflict like shareed time attendance at MCTS what it is not something that everybody does okay not everybody takes an option two course and it's not a replacement a high quality program you get with a full year course experience in wwp you child your child wants to and needs to Avail themselves of the foure course experience it is very difficult for students to attain uh a credible ability to transfer learning and understand core ideas and practices in a five-week quick exposure course especially if it's a prerequisite to where they want to go it's very important that they design a course and a course of study rather and a schedule that supports what they want to do most option two does not always favor that next slide please okay real talk about option two colleges and universities quite frankly do not care if you take an option two course remember your why and try not to succumb to the meth that everyone is taking option two work closely with your counselors to design a schedule that supports what you want to do most consult with your parents consult with your teachers and your administrators we are here to support you option two causes students and their families a tremendous amount of undue stress we don't want want to hear we don't want to see we don't want children to be taking five-week courses and they're up until 1:00 in the morning in July taking a 68e course an online self-paced course is not a good replacement for a 40we course taught by our teachers we want to maximize student teacher contact time and that doesn't happen in a summer course that's accelerated the pacing of option two courses often is accelerated as I said and it's difficult to absorb and retain the that much material in a short period of time colleges and universities want to see commitment to a program leadership well-rounded students students need to have time to engage in activities Sports work and still have time to be people it's really important no one expects students to take more courses than what fits in our school day and there are many many other meaningful engaging life-changing experiences students can have during the Summers but we recognize that there are students who definitely want to take courses in the summer which is why we began to develop our summer program so next slide please talking about this a little further my colleagues in the math and social studies Department uh and uh Dr Russell Ray in financial literacy would definitely jump in but if you're interested in well-designed summer course programs that are offered at the CP and honors level that are in session for three hours a day and I'll speak from uh uh the science perspective uh we begin our classes on uh Monday morning July 7th and we run through Friday August 1st registration for the science courses is February 3rd social studies is February 3rd math is February 4th and you can take a look at the financial literacy listings accordingly these are designed to be a summer course they are given at two and a half credits which count toward your GPA and we don't give homework the students come to school they have a fun engaging experiences and then they go home to enjoy the rest of their day and preferably the rest of their summer so District courses run through the Community Education Office and if you have any questions about that there are frequently Asked question documents at that website and we encourage you to peruse those take a look at those and then reach out if you have any credits I'm sorry have any questions thank you very much for your time I'm going to turn this over now to my colleague uh Mr Jeffrey santor all right thank you Dr St uh my name is name is Jeff Santoro I'm the supervisor of fine and Performing Arts um Lee if you could pop the slide up to the next one I appreciate it um I'm going to go over the course offerings uh particularly the ones that are available to ninth graders but uh first I want to address two commonly asked questions in fact one of them came through in the Q&A tonight um so the the first question that I get a lot is um Can my uh child be in a Visual and Performing Arts class all four years of high school and the answer to that question is absolutely yes and the easiest way to think about that is to um view everything that is not a graduation requirement as an elective and then make choices about your electives based on that um because you only need uh you the only courses you need have all four years are language arts and fed so everything in in in senior year beyond that is int elective most people do choose um to take some of our core classes as those uh senior year electives but some students do choose to take Visual and Performing Arts classes so it is absolutely possible to stay in the Arts programs all four years of high school um the other question I get a lot is can my uh child join any of these courses with no back back background knowledge no previous experience and the answer to that question is yes as well um anything we're going to talk about tonight is open to all students whether they participated in these activities in middle school or not um so I'll quickly go through each dep Department there are much more courses available in each of these but these are the ones that are available to nth graders so if you have any questions about uh 10th through 12th grade feel free to reach out to me I'm happy to answer them for you um so starting with the art Department uh we have two offerings for n9th graders Art Foundation and computer Art and Design one uh the best way to think about Art Foundation is it is very similar to The Experience your children are having this year in either the cycle program when they go through cycle art or if they took seventh grade art or eighth grade art elective um Art Foundation is the next uh this the ninth grade version of that class we also have a computer Art and Design class which is exactly what it sounds like it's art made on the computer and this I find this is a very good place for kids who like art and are artistic and creative thinkers but maybe haven't really found um drawing and painting and and making things in 3D to be like their favorite thing in the world to do this is a way to make art um on a computer thinking about design um so that's another really good option for ninth graders uh so these are our entry-level courses for in art and then you can move on beyond that to uh a lot of offerings we have 10th through 12th grade moving to dance um we have a state-of-the-art dance studio at both high schools and our ninth grade course in the dance department is called world dance um because it is a study of dance from all over the world while it will uh give a foundation in Western styles of dance it also brings in dance from other parts of the world and it relies heavily on the backgrounds of students who have Dance Experience who take the class um which reminds me of another really important point about the dance class is it's open to all students whether you have Dance Experience or not um and it is especially open to students who do dance outside of school I know we have lots and lots of um kids who who dance outside of school and I and I think sometimes there's this perception that this is a beginner level course and while there are beginners in it it's differentiated in a way that allows all kids to um participate together at whatever level they're at and move forward from there uh moving over to the music department the first three courses listed here um concert band Corral and string Ensemble are the nth grade equivalents of e8th grade band eighth grade choir and eth grade Orchestra so if your children are in any of those large ensembles at uh the Middle School these would be the courses that they would enroll in at the High School to continue on that path that they've been on most likely since elementary school um if your students are really interested in music but have not found themselves in the band choir or orchestra programs we offer a music theory class which goes into the background of how music is made and composed and we have music technology um that's a class I'd like to highlight because it is a great entry level for students who are creative and love music and love listening to music and even maybe make music on their computers um this is a class ex for that kind of student um they do uh like I said creating and composing using computers but there's also a part of the course that goes over audio engineering um and also uh things like DJing and and making Loops in electronic music and things like that so um a lot of offerings for music at the high schools for kids who have all different backgrounds and interests and uh finally we have a theater program as well at the high school our ninth grade class is called Theater Arts one um this I find to be a really great opportunity for two types of kids um students who have participated in uh Performing Arts in seventh or eighth grade at the middle school or students who have been involved in the plays or musicals at the middle school this is a really great um ninth grade course for those students it's also really great for kids who just want to get more comfortable um speaking and being in front of crowds and and talking out in front of people um there is obviously a speech component to being in in the theater and there's a heavy emphasis on just being comfortable public speaking as part of the curriculum for Theater Arts um so that's a quick overview of everything we have um if you have any questions tonight feel free to put them in the Q&A and uh we can get an answer to you and if you think of anything after that my email is on the district website and I look forward to hearing anyone who has questions so that's it for me um I'm going to turn it back over to Dr stack I believe to for science thank you Mr Santoro hello everyone I'm back uh Dr St here your District supervisor of science to talk about what I love most and that's not just uh scheduling science courses but working with all of you and partnering with you and and and the goal for to support your child's education at the ninth grade level all of our students take biology either as an honors level or at the CP level and the primary difference there is that with the honors level course it's a little more fast-paced uh it's a deeper inquiry more complex phenomenon expectations for scientific and academic writing and communication are definitely a little higher uh but the core ideas run neck and neck so we'll be working with your children at both levels so they experience science and a logical sequence of events and logical sequence of learning experiences designed to help them become the scientists that they are most passionate about so we encourage you to get to know your teachers to reach out uh to me if you have any further questions about your science courses but beyond ninth grade there'll be plenty have time to talk about this typically most students take a level of chemistry at the honors or CP level and then they move on typically to a level of physics either at the honors or CP level or environmental science but what's most important is that you realize that the students very much need to consider uh a logical sequence of courses that that help support where they want to go what they want to do uh either as a scientist or an engineer or just as a person of interest in the science in stem Fields uh it's really important that they also when they consider electives when they go beyond uh the foundation courses that the whatever AP courses that they're choosing that they're logically chosen that you're working with your child's school counselor that you're working with your child's teacher to make the best decision that you can more is not better I was in a conversation with the burus office at Stanford University a number of years ago and the Bersa told me PL quite frankly you know we don't want to see every single possible course a student can take in a field we want the students to be choosing wisely and they can logically articulate their passionate pursuit of why they had chosen this so for example Premed preet predent yeah sure I'm going to take biology I'm going to take chemistry and I'm absolutely going to take physics then I might be careful because I do need to take AP Chemistry I do need or I want to take AP biology and then the appropriate level of mathematics BC calculus whatever supports that vision for where I would like to go there are other electives that would support that language arts social studies and and uh of course uh the elective classes at which are all designed to help your child become a very well-rounded and successful student also uh The Sciences are designed to maximize exposure to the standards so why your child is choosing biology and chemistry and then that last science can be environmental science it's important that students understand that they have to vary their choices they cannot what I might say double dip the standards in other words a student could take biology take a level of chemistry move into AP Chemistry but they still have not met all of the requirements for graduation as that third science has to be of a different discipline and over the years I'd be happy to talk a little further more about that um and as I mentioned earlier when I was talking about option two uh We've developed our summer science program and our summer social studies and math programs to support your child's personal interest in those fields so if I can go to the next slide please and talk a little about science in the summer I'm very proud of our Marine Science course it's a two and a half course I'm sorry two and a half credit course offered at the CPN honors level tuition is $500 and you get a great deal for five weeks of really cool experience in field work look at the students faces in this picture they're happy they're engaged they want to be there they ask good questions they're learning how to be scientists in the field and they're pursuing their passion of what we want them to do most so while they're choosing a summer course they cannot at the same time choose an option two course because they're committed to this program so very much explore what the summer offerings are for your child we encourage enrollment uh it's a lot of fun it's a great experience whether they're taking mathematics whether they're taking social studies or where they're taking science in the summer uh they will definitely enjoy their time with us so have them come to our teachers have them work with us uh and we will help them become the very best they can be next slide please as the summer science courses are for students who are interested in pursuing learning in that field they offered to all grade levels although most of our enrollment this past summer were uh Rising ninth graders we did have a number of 10th 11th and 12th graders who are interested in this area of Science and want to learn more and as I mentioned before it's in place of option two not in addition to option option too so choose the option to come and learn with us we'll have a great summer together and your kids will be all the better for it if you have questions please feel free to contact me there uh my contact information is in the lower right hand corner of the slide and of course you can click on the Marine sence frequently asked questions to learn more about it and beyond that feel feel free to reach out okay now at this point I'm going to turn this over to my colleague uh miss Emily Kling who's going to talk to you about the language arts options and how your student can benefit from her Department's programming thank you very much thanks Dr stck uh so good evening everybody my name is Emily Kling and I'm the language arts supervisor for grades 6 to 12 uh it's a pleasure to be here tonight to talk about wwp's language arts program so our high school language arts program is designed to guide students through a really engaging and transformative journey of self-discovery critical thinking and Global awareness and so that starts in grade nine where students kick off their High School career by exploring themes of self and identity as well as their relationship with the world around them so through diverse text and really reflective discussions they grapple with the essential question who am I and how do I connect to the world so from there when students move up to grade 10 the focus shifts to American Literature and narratives about the American Experience so students examine what it means to be American and how our shared history shapes our Collective and individual identities once they go up to grade 11 our students transition to Global literature analyzing works that explore the United States role on the global stage and so this year encourages critical thinking about how Nations and cultures intersect and influence one another and then finally in grade 12 our Capstone year centers on students using their voices to enact positive change so through a rigorous exploration of texts they ask how can I impact the world and contribute to its betterment and so in thinking about how our curriculum is designed it's thematically based uh providing students with opportunities to engage with a variety of texts including novels short stories poetry non-fiction articles film clips song lyrics and so these rich and varied units are designed to challenge students to really ask those big questions about themselves and the world and thereby equipping them with the skills to leave wwp ready to make a meaningful impact and so when we think about the difference between honors and college prep the primary difference as you know Mr STC or Dr STC already referenced in regards to science is that our honors class just go into that content with a little more depth and complexity in language arts we also offer advanced placement courses in um AP Literature and AP language uh AP Lang is typically taken in the 11th grade year with AP Lit in the 12th grade year and so these courses cater to students who are either really passionate about reading WR reading and writing and wish to refine and enhance their skills or for those who are seeking to improve in those areas and are willing to commit the time and the effort required in addition to our core program uh we do have an elective which is our journalism program and so our journalism program really invites students to consider to analyze and to improve the world they see around them so whether it's their school their Community their country or the broader world so beginning students in our journalism program explore topics such as News sports Arts uh as well as crafting personal opinion pieces on issues ranging from popular culture to climate change and then our intermediate and advanced students hone their reporting and writing skills while also producing a class website and contributing to the school newspaper and the Nightly News which is the student Le School newspaper uh publishes eight issues a year and its editorial board is is supported by the journalism club which is an Afterschool activity that Fosters collaboration and creativity so ultimately and in totality our program really encourages students to engage deeply with texts to consider Big Ideas and to develop their voices and with the end goal being to prepare them not only for academic sess but to also be thoughtful informed and impactful citizens of the world so thank you so so much if you have any questions you're welcome to put them in the chat Andor to reach out or call my office and I'm going to pass it over now to Dr Ashley Warren who's going to talk a little bit about our world language program thank you thank you Miss Kling um and just a mid weinar pause to share with y'all um if you came in late or you missed the beginning um please know the webinar is being recorded the video will be available to All Families following this webinar um as will the slide deck you can reach out to us with questions this is also a webinar so while the chat is disabled the Q&A is open and you can ask questions and we'd be happy to try and build those questions we do just ask for instance if you have a question about mathematics that you hold that question till after Miss wolf speaks as she may address the answer to that question when she speaks um but then you can feel free to engage with us via the Q&A should you have any questions so hello folks um I'm here to put on my hat for World languages I want to welcome future nights to North and share with you that we continue to have an amazing world language program available in the high school um so I'll go through some of the options just like Middle School we do offer four World Language choices in the high school 10 credits or two years of a world language are required for graduation though we certainly encourage you to take more years more courses of World Language um I will tell you that whatever job your child picks whatever future trajectory your child wants they will only benefit from going into that multilingual with any of the home languages they speak or additional languages that they're able to learn or to um strengthen in their time at North so with that said um please know that your child if they took three years of French they're eligible for French to college prep if they took three years of Chinese in middle school they're eligible for Chinese 2 College Prep if they took three years in our German program they are eligible for German 2 college prep and if your child took three years of Spanish in middle school they are eligible they may be eligible for Spanish 3 College Prep or Spanish 3 honors um we do offer an honors program for Spanish because our district does start Spanish education in grade two um and that is unique relative to the other languages I will note that um while many of my colleagues spoke to just the difference between the college prep level and the honors level for World Language it it is unique and I do just want to call out that Spanish 3 honors is a class that moves one proficiency level above Spanish 3 so in in linguistics in our field in second language acquisition we would just say that Spanish three honors pushes students to move more fluidly and quickly between the past tense the present tense and the future tense and to conduct their language in um a higher discourse level so perhaps communicating more regularly through paragraph length discourse as opposed to sentence level or connected sentence level discourse um the person who would be able to speak to your child and help them make that decision on which class to take is definitely your child's current space Spanish teacher um I do just want to add that if your child has had two years of or less of Spanish in middle school or they need to review the basic principles of Spanish they may schedule for Spanish too on the next slide I have just some important notes for y'all as families so you can choose to begin a new language that you do not already speak and the two beginning languages that we offer in high school are Spanish one and French one and those are for students who have no Spanish speaking background or no French speaking background you can also switch to a new language in high school and so that's really important that process um to understand so for example if you have taken three years of French in middle school at Community Middle School and you now want to take Chinese because you have some Chinese background you learn Chinese at home or through a community language school you can do so but in order to make that switch you do need to take a language proficiency assessment that is offered and paid for by the school district the letter will be coming home to all Rising nth graders and their families tomorrow all counselors will be included and students do need to sign up to be registered for the test um and the the test is covered at The District's expense and that is so we can place your child in the appropriate level course um so again that is only for students who want to switch to a language that they have Proficiency in that they have not studied in our district um and finally we do have course options for students to choose in conjunction with the child study team and their counselors there is a class entitled introduction to Spanish communication and culture that may be appropriate for your child it is a um portfolio based class that is um has a high degree of support and so that can be something you speak to your child's school counselor or child study team member about if you have any questions about our world language program please reach out to me thank you so much I can now pass it on to my colleague Dr Cindy for social studies good evening I'm so excited to welcome you and your family to High School North I'm here to talk about social studies and in nth grade the option for social studies is world history the course basically starts off where students will end at the end of their eighth grade year so they've been studying world history in the Middle Ages and the ninth grade class picks up right after that in the Renaissance and goes to the present day the purpose of social studies is really to build students Reading Writing and critical thinking skills social studies is about creating community members who are going to go out in the world and make a difference and make the world a better place so we're often trying to connect the past to the present in social studies it keeps it interesting for our students and helps them understand the world around them and all the things happening in the world around them so we've talked a few times tonight about the difference between world history and world history honors world history honors will cover cover the same content the same time period there will be greater text complexity and students may be responsible for more independent research writing and historical thinking so there is support available at both levels um the teachers are going to a greater depth with the honor students um and there is more of an emphasis on Independent work so those are the difference differences between world history and world history honors uh the next thing I have to tell you about is really exciting we have for the first time in wwp history a Humanity summer course it will be Asian-American and Pacific Islander studies we're working with a really Dynamic group of literacy and social studies teachers to develop this course and we actually have students who are interested in working on the course there's one particular one at High School North who has communicated with me a number of times because he's so excited about this course and has ideas about how we can make it the very best course possible so like the other supervisors mentioned or like Dr St mentioned and Miss wolf will mention after me these courses are run through Community Education they happen in the month of July at High School South um for all students in the district who are taking the course it meets in the mornings every day for those four weeks and students will be with wwp peers they'll be with wwp teachers so I am a parent who shops for summer opportunities for my kids and I will say that it's really important for for for me personally to know the quality of the program and the nice thing about selecting a wwp summer course is that we know it's high quality it is the same teachers in the district the same process we go through to develop curriculum and I will also say as a bonus there are a lot of programs I look at that are $500 or more for a week this is $500 for four weeks and your child will get transcripted credit that goes to their GPA it's it's really a great opportunity if you're if you want your child engaged in mic Pursuit this summer so the content of the course is really learning about Asian-American and Pacific Islander studies through stories that are going to empower students show them the agency of the diverse Asian-American diaspora and we really hope that you'll consider having your child take this course it's a really great opportunity for the first time this year so I'm happy to answer any questions that you have we really care in social studies about making the content Dynamic for your children and helping them get excited about the world without giving any more details although I am happy to answer questions I will pass it along to miss Kristen wolf to talk about math thank you drini I am excited to come here tonight to talk to you about our various options for mathematics courses uh one of the things that I wanted to start off with is just reminding everyone that we have different Pathways and different ways to access mathematics courses our course sequence is foundational and it is important that we think about the sequence of courses but we also recognize and honor that all of our Learners are on different Journeys and we provide them access to highquality courses the four courses listed on this slide are the courses that are open to our ninth grade students Algebra 1 Algebra 2 and Algebra 2 honors which are in a multi-level course and then our geometry honors and accelerated course as well if we move on to the next slide we'll be able to see where these fall within the pathway of our sequence like I mentioned before it is really important to note and understand where your student currently is within e8th grade mathematics as that will help understand where they are headed for nth grade as a district it is important to note that we believe that all of our Learners in mathematics should have access to rigorous highlevel highquality Ma ma medical content and we promote risk-taking and a growth mindset I'm very excited that no matter what course your child enters into is they have access to thinking about themselves as math Learners developing that solid thinking and understanding of collaboration and discourse and engaging in problem solving so you can see that if you're child is currently in our math 8 course they will take Algebra 1 in n9th grade students who are currently in Algebra 1 or Algebra 1 honors will take either Algebra 2 or Algebra 2 honors in nth grade and that is dependent based on the criteria and the grade prerequisites as mentioned before and then students who are in our Algebra 2 h& course will take geometry h& within the nth grade year what you can see as you look ahead within the different grade levels is that then students have access to a variety of courses that follow depending on where they are in their nth grade career we have access to many different AP courses within mathematics by the time students get to their senior year and one of the courses that is in elective on there is our statistics or our AP Statistics courses which are excellent and provide a solid foundation for our students the most important point to note is that no matter where your child is at currently in 8th grade that they have access to very high quality courses to satisfy the graduation requirements for mathematics in high school next slide please as noted before Dr asini and Dr SE did an excellent job selling our summer program courses and I wanted to highlight the fact that we have three fabulous courses in mathematics that are available this summer as well introduction to data science introduction to discret math and discret Mathematics part two these are courses that help students develop a curiosity and passion for mathematics in ways that are not necessarily taught in the traditional course sequence I'm very excited because both data science as well as discret mathematics are growing fields and this provides our students with an opportunity to further their own knowledge and learning as well as by earning course credit as mentioned before each of these courses is worth two and a half credits and will be part of the child's trans scripts it is a way for students to not only grow as mathematicians but also show and demonstrate to colleges that they are truly passionate about learning more in different fields of mathematics if you have any further questions regarding your students mathematics path please do not hesitate to reach out to me individually via email or you can certainly answer uh post questions in the Q&A as well thank you very much and now I would like to to turn it over uh to my colleague as well and we are turning this over let's see to the next slide here very good um to Mr Russell Ray who I believe will be uh coming to us uh Dr McDonald with looking at the video that is playing on here he has left us with that all right we'll give this a second we're going to try and get the audio to work for y'all um in the meantime please do know that there is a tiny URL on the screen that you could type in I did check it myself it does work um and you can watch the video with the audio there the QR code is also available if you'd like to use your phone and open the QR code you could watch that after the webinar um and then listed on this page are the options for 21st century life and career courses Group by computer science engineering family and computer science business and media Dr McDonald do we want to try that audio again or we think we're okay for right now playing here on my end but obviously it's it's there in the PowerPoint so it'll be available we're gonna move forward excellent and as a reminder the slide deck will be available to all following this session as well recording the recording will be posted to YouTube and will be shared out and publicly available to families so again please use that QR code and I can turn it over to my colleague Mr Carl Cooper great thank you I'd like to talk a little bit about uh lee we're going to talk about the AVID program uh tonight uh we're not going to discuss the the ml program yeah Lee just the Avid please oh great thank uh can you go back one more please great thank you uh so Aid is a a wonderful program that we run at both High School North and High School South it's actually a national program it's called Uh Avid uh advancement via individual determination it's a college preparatory program um and it is a 4-year program at High School North students would begin in 9th grade taking our Avid n course and then each year they would move up with a cohort of students from 9th grade they travel to 10th grade all the way up through 12th grade together the uh course is taught in lie of this study call as you know uh all students at High School North and High School South take a study hall uh every um every every session and uh in uh the AVID program our students would attend Avid rather than study hall it's a college prep program that provides uh mentoring in our schools and uh develops academic skills uh there will be an avid teacher that will travel with the students for four years there's also an avid counselor that will travel with the students over the course of four years of the high school program in the program we work on uh organizational skills we work on uh writing strategies to support writing in all disciplines in English and social studies in science during the AVID program over the course of four years we do conduct uh college campus visits we do sometimes bring in college Personnel from from local universities and colleges to come and speak to our students uh we develop um team building uh activities uh we do community service and uh we work on academic strategies to support stud uh students uh in all of their learning uh Endeavors could you advance one more please thanks the um Avid uh student is an application um program and so you'll have a chance if you're interested for your child participate to apply for it uh the AVID program is uh intended for students who have a desire to attend college uh and they want a uh rigorous uh academic experience at High School North in Middle School in eighth grade a student may be earning um a beer see within many of their team classes uh students in eighth grade have a strong uh attendance record and they may fall within some of the following criteria they may be um part of a a community that is underrepresented currently in American colleges and universities it could be that uh this uh would be a first generation college student for the family uh the student might qualify for free and reduced lunch or come from a low income background and but there also might be some other circumstances that that might uh hinder the ability for the student for the family to see college assistance on their own um it's a great program uh we will be running a another information session about the AVID program in February and I'll be emailing everybody with invitations to that special evening program um in the next couple weeks uh if you do have any interest in the program please feel free to reach out to me my name is Carl Cooper and um I look forward to to uh working with you and and your families over the course of the next four years thank you Carl my name is Jeff Riley I'm the athletic director here at West Windsor Plainsboro North and I'm also a supervisor of health physical education and drivers education here in the district um in physical education we provide a wide variet iety of activities for your children to be engaged in that are meaningful and uh purposeful we are very fortunate to have great facilities here at High School North we have two full gyms numerous Playing Fields an all- weather running track swimming pool a fully stocked weight room tennis courts and a high ropes Adventure Course our teachers follow curriculum that is planned out to provide an opportunity for students to improve their own level of physical fitness uh increase socialization with classmates releasee some steam and to find an activity that will ensure a healthy lifestyle going forward After High School uh each year students take three quarters of physical education and one quarter of health or driver's education students will take part in traditional team sports during physical education as well as units that focus on Lifetime activities such as tennis badminton archery and dance in addition each class focuses on increasing personal fitness and developing skills to uh maintain their Level Fitness after graduation uh during health education they will focus on positive responsible decisionmaking uh making a variet also engaging in a variety of topics that span from Human Relationships Substance Abuse and Mental Health to prepare them for the next stage of Life uh Dr mcdonal next slide please 10th grade is a year that we provide the driver's education course we prepare your children for the written permit test upon successful completion of the course and the test your child will be permitted to drive with you in the car we do not do behind the wheel training but as I stated we do prepare them to pass the written test uh we provide an elective called Sports Medicine in this course students learn the role that medicine plays in athletics and is taught by a certified athletic trainer uh we have added a unified physical education program in this course students are fully immersed with students of different needs and abilities the course is designed to propo promote inclusion with the intent of carrying over into the greater School Community while engaging in physical activity the unified physical education course will meet the physical education requirement for gradu uation for all students participating Dr Mall go to next course or next slide please for our Athletics um you know first of all I want to say why why why should you try Athletics in high school and as a parent a teacher and a coach I can tell you that Athletics can be a great way for your children to develop skills that translate to improved abilities in the classroom creates healthy habits uh learns skills and time management and most importantly develop a strong sense of belonging to the school Community we provide a competitive athletic programs that can be a way to bolster your college resumés and can help students for college acceptance uh we have a wide variety of athletic activities that can be perfect for a a wide variety of students as you can see on the next slide um you know for for example in the fall uh we provide boys and girls cross country cheerleading football which is a combined team with High School South and High School North Field Hockey boys and girls soccer girls tennis and girls volleyball in the winter we have boys and girls basketball cheerleading diving ice hockey boys and girls fencing boys and girls swimming boys and girls wrestling boys and girls winter track and then when we get to the springtime it's baseball softball boys and girls golf boys and girls lacrosse Boys Tennis boys volleyball Spring Track and we just added Cricket as well be mindful of dates for registration and make sure your child's physicals up to date so that they can effectively participate in the Athletics when they're going to begin we send a lot of email reminders out and please make note of the deadlines that are listed on our district website we also have something called a United partnership this is a program designed to bring students of all abilities together through Sports this initiative pairs students with our track program and their peers in a supportive team oriented environment uh it's an opportunity to celebrate inclusion to build meaningful relationships and develop skills on and off the field no matter what and you know we can look at the next slide here with extracurricular activities no matter what we offer a lot of things for your children to get involved in as you can see listed here I'm not going to read through them all but overall you know we want you to know that when you participate in athletics here it is always going to be a great day to be a night at High School North so I just want to turn it back over to uh Dr McDonald and thank you for your time this evening and look forward to seeing you on the playing fields and on the courts and involved in after school activities thank you thank you Mr Riley as noted before this webinar has been recorded we'll get this posted within a couple days we appreciate your time this evening certainly if you have questions kindly reach out to us we'll be happy to answer them uh you're in good hands with our school counselors and case managers uh over the next uh month or so as you think through those selections please feel free to reach out with any questions and thank you for joining us tonight