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Posted by: mikaeldavis On 04/18/2008 06:00 AM
Updated by: mikaeldavis On 04/18/2008 06:00 AM
Expires: 01/01/2013 12:00 AM
Re-Engineering the Ninth Grade Experience
As the Assistant Principal for Instruction, a great deal of Ms. Sifen’s work involves designing your child’s program of studies, aligning curriculum, recruiting highly qualified teachers, and spearheading our high stakes testing to ensure that we meet all local, state, and federal standards. As you know, for the past three years Warwick has been recognized by Newsweek Magazine as one of the best 100 schools in the nation, as measured by our exceptional performance on International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement Exams. Yet some would argue that the better we get at achieving high test scores, the further we get away from authentic learning.
So in addition to preparing students to pass high-stakes exams, Ms. Sifen is ensuring that each student at Warwick is equipped to identify options, evaluate an idea’s efficacy, and make informed decisions. That is why we are so excited about the work that she is doing with scheduling in the Freshmen Academy.
Utilizing various assessment data, Ms. Sifen has devised creative ways to give Ninth Graders a more manageable load during their transition to high school, with a specific focus on students in our average courses. There are still some details to be ironed out, but beginning next year ninth grade students will be able to take one or two classes each semester as a double block, enabling them to receive intensive instruction on their particular areas of weakness. This will reduce the number of classes that they take in a given semester from 7 to 5 or 6. Perhaps most exciting about the four potential scheduling scenarios is that each contains enough flexibility to allow for elective courses. The plans are also adaptable for students who need reinforcement in one subject, the student who needs remediation in a combination of courses, or the student who needs no reinforcement at all.
As always, we in the Freshmen Academy wish to thank Ms. Sifen for her tireless efforts to improve our students’ academic achievement.
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