On Wednesday February 25, the Academic Programs Committee met to discuss progress along a number of curricula and instructional fronts. In attendance at the meeting were representatives from the John Hopkins Program (Hillenbrand), International Baccalaureate (Dominique), Saturday U (Enrico), Mathematics and Science Supervisor (McKenzie), and Curriculum Revision (Petrosino). A summary of the meeting follows by topic area:John Hopkins Program- Ms. Hillenbrand reports that the expansion efforts are fully underway and functioning well. The expansion efforts have seen an increase in this select program of 42 students. These students come from a fairly equitable proportional distribution between Wallace and Calabro Schools. Ms. HIllenbrand also reports that the technology is working well and that parent and student reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.
International Baccalaureate- Ms. Dominique reports that progress on students community projects is pushing forward in a very good way. Discussions also centered on some concerns about the degree and extent to which MYP is being implemented. In response to this issue, Dr. Petrosino and Ms. Dominique have created an MYP Implementation Survey that is currently being pilot tested around the district with school administrators.
Saturday U- Mr. Enrico reports that the efforts to create the Saturday U Enrichment Program have been successful. Saturday U Enrichment is independent of Saturday U and is intended to be more inclusive of the needs for all students in the district. Initial courses will be in Yoga and Theater Arts. Saturday U Enrichment boasts the addition of over 50 new students to the "Gifted and Talented Program" and is intended to not have a strict academic requirement but rather to develop the ideas of "talent" that are often under-emphasized in most Gifted and Talented Programs. Students and parents can only belong to one program (Saturday U or Saturday U Enrichment). Plans are underway to expand course offerings for the 2009-2010 academic year.
Mathematics and Science- Mr. McKenzie has reported on efforts to accommodate the needs for mathematics instruction for all IB Diploma students. One idea that has gotten some traction recently has been to offer 2 mathematics courses during a single academic year in high school. Discussion was extensive and we hope to reach some conclusion within the next couple of meetings.
Curriculum Revision- Dr. Petrosino reported on curriculum revision efforts as well as discussion on implementation issues surrounding the adoption of the new curriculum. All agree that this is a very important issue and will take the concentrated efforts of many in the district.
Next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 11th.
Picture: Fabian Theater, Hoboken (Washington and Newark Sts) circa 1958.
1 comment:
Please check this very informative website for what the IB really is about. www.truthaboutib.com
The tremendous amount of money we spend on education in this country is not lost on the International Baccalaureate Organization. The IBO has not only found a way to nab this chunk of our American tax dollars, but has found a way to influence our students politically.
I urge parents to please find out all they can about this program, especially its values-based methods, overall philosophy, and stated mission which is to create acceptance for "global citizenship" under the United Nations, and to create acceptance of the United Nation's authority for governance of the U.S.A. under the UN's UDHR and Millennium Development Goals. A similar international mission statement and curriculum has been in place in some states' schools even before IB came along, thanks to Goals 2000.
By all means, taxpayers should learn all they can before giving IB their stamp of approval.
Please visit www.ibo.org and www.unesco.org (and click on the Education tab) to see what this is about, in their own words.
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