4a
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The IBO normally expects schools to offer the MYP to all students in the years it is being, or will be, offered. If this is not the case in your school, please explain why.
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Some special needs students who have individual Individualized Educational Plans (IEP) may not be able to participate in all aspects of the programme (may not be able to take Language B).
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4b
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Other academic programmes taught to the MYP age group, 11–16 years, if any:
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4c
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Is there entry selection into the MYP?
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Yes
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No
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X
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If “ yes”, please provide information on selection criteria.
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4d
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Are MYP students streamed/tracked?
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Yes
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X
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No
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If “yes”, please provide details.
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Only because of special programs at our schools that require some tracking (e.g., English for Speakers of Other Languages, Gifted, Special Education).
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4e
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Nationalities/ethnicities of students: (Optional)
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Nationalities/ethnicities
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Approximate numbers
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(add rows as necessary)
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5a
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List the main reasons for wanting to introduce the MYP.
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Provide a holistic, rigorous approach to education
Increase rigor of school curriculum, instruction and assessment
Increase percentage of students in the Diploma Program
Improve the international focus of our cluster schools
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5b
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What can the school’s introduction of the MYP bring to its community and to that of the IBO?
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The introduction of the MYP will have a number of positive affects on our community. We have already seen a number of families who have transferred their middle school students from nearby private schools to both the middle and high school due to the reputation of the International Baccalaureate programs. Many parents have commented on how much the rigor of instruction has increased. Parents are also seeing many teaching styles being used in their students’ classrooms.
We believe that our schools have the rich diversity that reflects the current trend in the United Sates. We further believe that schools like ours will help the IBO gain a better understanding of the challenges and needs this wide diversity brings. We believe we can be a partner with the IBO in taking their programs to a new level.
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5c
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Please indicate how the head of school/head of section has been introduced to the MYP.
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Karen Cox has attended MYP Head of School training in Salt Lake City. Ms. Cox also visited Langston Hughes Middle School in Fairfield, Virginia to observe the MYP at an authorized school.
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5d
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Please indicate the MYP training received by the school’s MYP coordinator.
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Jerry LeSage, MYP Coordinator at Ridgeview Charter High School received training through CASIE in June, 2005 in Atlanta, Ga.
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5e
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Please outline the schedule of regular staff meetings for vertical and horizontal planning of the teaching of the programme.
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Both schools currently provide opportunities for horizontal and vertical planning, including time for the 2 core teams from the schools to meet together to plan. We will build a professional development calendar that provides additional opportunities for MYP articulation between and within content areas and grades. This will occur during the school day through common planning time and release time as well as after school/summer. Our system is heavily invested in Professional Learning Communities; we will continue to build in that direction with MYP being a key focus area.
At Ridgeview, teachers meet by grade level/team (horizontal) weekly and by department (vertical) quarterly. In addition, collaborative planning for Mathematics and Language A for each grade level occurs weekly and is facilitated by a coach.
The Fulton County School System provides 5 early release days where students attend school for half a day and staff attends Professional Development for 5 hours. A minimum of one of these days is devoted to MYP.
Two of the days were used for MYP professional development at Ridgeview.
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5f
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How have you organized MYP training for all staff?
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We have set a preliminary schedule that will allow for all teachers in the program to be trained at Level 1 by the end of the 08-09 school year. Teachers trained at Level 1 may participate by choice in Level 2 training beginning that year. In addition, we created an Introduction to MYP workshop for all staff that was delivered summer 2006. We are also exploring the possibility of bringing trainers to our site to conduct specialized training for ESOL, IRR (sometimes referred to as Special Education or Special Needs) and other staff sub groups.
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5g
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Please describe the school’s planned MYP induction process for new teachers and administrators.
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The MYP coordinators have developed an Introduction to MYP course which is offered as a part of the Fulton County Professional Development schedule. This class is offered each semester depending on demand. This course covers material typically found in the Level 1 training. Staff receives Professional Development credit for successful completion of the course.
Each new teacher has a mentor assigned to them. This mentor helps the new staff member through their first year at Ridgeview. They also reinforce the Middle Year Programme with their assigned staff member.
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5h
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Please indicate the number of weeks in your academic year.
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36 weeks
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5i
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Please indicate the number and length, in minutes, of class periods in an instructional day.
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Middle School – 7 periods of 50 minutes
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5j
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Please indicate the annual number of hours (1 hour = 60 minutes) devoted to instruction in each subject group for each year of the programme.
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Subjects
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Year 1
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Year 2
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Year 3
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Year 4
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Year 5
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Language A
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150
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150
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150
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Language B
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150
37.5**
Connection
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150
37.5** Connection
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150
37.5** Connection
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Humanities
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150
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150
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150
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Sciences
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150
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150
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150
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Mathematics
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150
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150
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150
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Arts
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37.5*
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37.5*
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37.5*
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Physical education
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75
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75
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75
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Technology
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37.5*
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37.5*
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37.5*
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NOTE: * In the middle school, students will be scheduled to have a Technology and an Art
Connection class (one period for 9 weeks). This accounts for 37.5 hours. An additional 12.5+ hours will be gained through the use of the Design Cycle which will be used in conjunction with a Science Fair or Social Studies fair project (the discipline will be chosen each year and may change from year to year). Additional Art hours will be gained through work on projects in Humanities and/or Language A on projects that will be assessed using the Art Assessment Criteria (in addition to the discipline specific criteria) and will be included in the students’ Art portfolio.
** Heritage language students have Language B exposure in the Heritage Language “connection” class. This class is 37.5 hours. They are assigned this connection for at least two connection cycles. Therefore, they receive at least 75 hours of instruction. Most have the connection all year and get 150 hours of instruction.
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5k
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Please indicate the language(s) of instruction for each of the subject groups in each year of the programme.
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Subjects
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Year 1
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Year 2
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Year 3
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Year 4
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Year 5
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Language A
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English
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English
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English
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Language B
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Spanish
Japanese
French
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Spanish
Japanese
French
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Spanish
Japanese
French
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Humanities
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English
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English
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English
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Sciences
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English
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English
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English
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Mathematics
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English
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English
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English
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Arts
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English
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English
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English
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Physical education
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English
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English
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English
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Technology
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English
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English
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English
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5l
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Which subjects, other than MYP subjects, will you offer, if any?
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None
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5m
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What other requirements (for example, national, local requirements) will MYP students have to fulfill, if any?
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Level 3 students who have been accelerated in their math instruction will be required to take the same End of Course Test required of Level 4 or 5 students taking the same class.
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