Middle School Improvements

Dear Parents,

I want to thank you for your patience as you have waited to receive information nformatio e waited to recieve teience about the myriad changes our school is undergoing. I know that the end of the school year is a busy time and that this document is quite long, but Theresa and I believe it is important to give you as much information as possible as you continue to look at Saint Pius X as your choice for a quality, Catholic education here in Tulsa.

It should first be said that Saint Pius X had a fiftieth year of amazing successes. Our undefeated seventh and eighth grade academic bowl team won state and was invited to nationals. Our fifth and sixth grade academic bowl team took first place in the city, their highest level of competition. Two of our students were named to the All-City Mathcounts team, and eight of our students were chosen for the Brother Bernadine Scholars Program at Bishop Kelley. Our test scores showed positive gains for the fourth consecutive year. I could go on and on, but ultimately the point is obvious: Saint Pius did a wonderful job of nourishing the talent that we have had this year, and this is a direct result of a wonderful job by our teachers.

I want it to be clear that I, as an administrator, truly value the effort and hard work put forth by all of our teachers this year, regardless of whether or not they will be returning. All of them have been consummate professionals and have helped to prepare our students for their futures, and as those who are leaving or changing positions do so, I want to wish them well in all of their endeavors.

Despite our teachers and our successes, however, we still have a few areas in which we need to grow. This is not an indictment of our current school or our teachers; as you all well know, parenting is a fluid process that needs to change as the child does. We have clearly had some wonderful things that have occurred and are continuing to occur, and it is for those reasons that changes have to come now and will continue to occur in the future. It is absolutely essential that each year we feel comfortable enough to adapt to the changing needs of our students, and our new policies this year will directly address those issues.

Those issues are as follows:

1. Instruction has been forced to rigidly follow curriculum without providing for special needs.

2. Students with special needs have had no resource other than after school or outside tutoring.

3. Teachers have not had the opportunity to seek further instructional training or professional development on the job.

4. Consistent discipline and academic policies have not been in place to provide students with a clear view of expectations.

5. The school has lacked essential resources to bridge these issues.

As a result of this, we have made the following changes:

1. We are moving to an elective system that features quarter-long classes in addition to those of the traditional curriculum. A full list of these classes follows, but the essential elements are these. First, by adjusting our schedule in minor ways, we were able to ensure that all traditional curricular classes would still be able to cover all the necessary material. Second, the quarter long class, while it has a specific objective, is also in place to provide a chance for remediation or extension as appropriate. Third, these classes will meet the essential needs of our students that might not be covered by our traditional curriculum while still providing a strong, educational backing that is flexible and can be adjusted easily as needs change.

2. In addition to our elective system, we are bringing on two full-time staff members that will work exclusively in a one-on-one situation with our students. They will be available not only for our students who need extra help, but also for our students who would enjoy the further expansion of classes that they have already mastered. We are doing this, first and foremost, to ensure that all students, regardless of ability, have access to challenging, academically appropriate materials that can help them to mature intellectually without the need for expensive tutors and outside help.

3. We are bringing in a new staff member, Paula Anderson Rubin, who has many years of experience as both a middle school teacher and a member of school reform movements. In addition to her experience, she also holds a Master’s degree in education, and will be our main teacher-trainer at the ground level of the middle school. Mrs. Anderson Rubin will be teaching our language arts classes but will have free periods each day to assist with daily teacher training, implementation of new methods, and other student and teacher assistance. She will furthermore coordinate our middle school handbook to ensure that all practices and procedures are consistent throughout the building.

4. We will also be launching a new middle school handbook that will detail policies specific to our middle school students, policies that exist above and beyond the traditional disciplinary procedures laid out in handbooks. For example, headings and formatting for all formal papers will be consistent in all classes, expectations for note taking and homework will be the same in all academic areas and procedures will be homogenized across the board. This handbook will be released with our revised general handbook following the summer.

5. As a result of the generosity of our parents, friends, teachers and benefactors, we have been able to add our new middle school library, purchase additional resources and set up our tutoring lab. For the first time in awhile we’ve been able to address needs not in the sense of adjusting the need to fit our budget, but instead adjusting the budget to meet the need.

All of these changes are just steps to our ultimate goal: providing a full school experience that integrates all aspects of the academic life and rigorously prepares all students, regardless of ability level, for future academic success at Bishop Kelley, Cascia Hall or any of our other area high schools. As a result of this, we will also be able to add the following highlights:

- We are adding an additional math class for each of the 6^th – 8^th grades, which will allow us to lower the student/teacher ratio and provide for more individual instruction.

- Additional class sets have been purchased (and more are on order) to ensure that all middle school students (at no expense to you as a parent) will be required to read eight novels next year (roughly a novel every four a half weeks). This will increase to twelve to sixteen novels over the next three years in order to ensure that reading and writing to continue to hold a place of high priority at our school.

- We are in the process of purchasing Spanish textbooks that will allow us to teach a Spanish 1 course at the 8^th grade level. This in turn will ensure that our eighth grade students will be able to take Spanish 2 as freshmen at Kelley should they so desire.

- Our language lab will also be up and running so that any middle school student who does not wish to participate in Spanish will have the opportunity to take a language that they truly enjoy.

So without further ado, I am happy to announce our middle school staff for the 2008 – 2009 school year.

Name:	Position:	Notes:
Jay Luetkemeyer	8th Grade Homeroom, Social Studies, Social Studies Elective Team	Jay comes to us from Oklahoma City, and has his Master’s degree in education.
Cathie Kinnaman	8th Grade Homeroom, Math, Math Elective Team	Cathie has graciously decided to step down as athletic director and take on a new role as one of our eighth grade homeroom teachers.
Paula Anderson Rubin	7th Grade Homeroom, Language Arts/Writing, Coordinator of Middle School Programs	As mentioned, Paula brings wonderful experience to us as well as a desire to help us to continue to grow within the middle school.
Crissy Donatucci	7th Grade Homeroom, Math, Spanish and Elective Team Teacher	Crissy will be taking a more active role in the middle school by focusing only on middle school students; another teacher will take over the duties for teaching Spanish to Kindergarten through 5th grade.
Katie Blum	6th Grade Homeroom, Science and Elective Team Teacher	Katie, sister of Amy Blum, comes to us and is ready to accept the challenge of taking over our science program.
Debbie Margerum	6th Grade Homeroom, Religion, Social Studies Elective Team	Debbie has agreed to take on more responsibility of the moral and social development of our students to help ease their transition into middle school.
Heidi McCoy	Elective Specialist, Team teaching support	Heidi will bring her expertise as a former assistant principal and diocesan curriculum coordinator to help us build our elective program and assist other teachers with projects and complex assignments.
Russell Nance	Music, 8th Grade Religion	Russell, brother of seminarian Todd Nance who spent time with us at Christmas, brings a degree in Theology and experience as the music director at Saint Thomas Moore parish.
Father Jim Caldwell	8th Grade morality	Father Jim has agreed to teach a one day a week morality class to our eighth grade to help broach topics that include Catholic social justice, morality and ethical responsibility.

Below you will find a listing of all of the new elective classes. The first three quarters (as listed behind the class description) will be required classes for each of our grades and will consist of two sections. The fourth quarter will allow students, teachers and parents to dialogue and send students to the best fit for both their academic, social and personal needs.

Class Descriptions:

6^th Study Skills: Basic studying, note taking, essay answering and organizational skills. This course introduces students to middle school expectations through writing and the practicing of homework and sample tests and quizzes. It also teaches the importance of planners and gets students in the habit of writing down assignments and other important information. Students leave this class with a clear understanding of middle school policies, procedures and expectations. (Language Arts, 1^st Quarter)

6^th Health and Exercise: This course emphasizes the importance of total health and fitness for all people. It begins with basic nutritional instruction and demonstrates how diet affects mood, academic performance and disposition. Students learn how to evaluate nutritional information and set a healthily diet so they can succeed in all areas of their lives. Furthermore, they learn basic CPR and first aid skills, survival skills and basic exercise and fitness stretches, strengthening and rehabilitation processes. (PE, 2^nd Quarter)

6^th Elements of Service: This course teaches students the basics of Catholic social teaching. Spreading two grades, students learn the best ways to provide service to both the Pius and general community. Discussions and papers will be assigned to discuss stewardship and the importance of giving time, talent and treasure. Students will culminate this course by creating and implementing a service project at their time and expense to benefit those less fortunate than themselves. (Social Studies, Religion, 3^rd Quarter)

6^th Journalism and Writing: A second grade spanning course, students will create their own newspaper to highlight the accomplishments of fellow students as well as the good things that are happening at the school. Students will learn how to interact with those older than themselves, gain interview skills and writing prowess. Students will also have the opportunity to share their opinions about local and national issues. (Language Arts, Social Studies, Technology)

6^th Applied Mathematics: This course will serve a dual purpose: one, to extend the level of mathematical discussion for our top students, and two, to provide our lower level students with hands on, interactive activities that allow them to increase their personal math knowledge. The class will consist of creation activities that allow students to apply math in a variety of areas including construction, engineering, physics, and rocketry. (Math and Science)

6^th Engineering and Applied Science: This course will serve the same goals as the applied mathematics course, but will focus its energies on the science side of the discussion. Students will build rockets, robots, bridges or other materials that allow them to test and demonstrate scientific knowledge. (Math and Science)

6^th Extended Health and Exercise: This course extends the skills learned earlier in the year and provides a more intensive exercise course. Students will get more in depth instruction regarding nutrition and health, as well as learn more about exercise techniques and other health and safety issues. (PE)

7^th Relationships and Leadership: This is the introductory class for our seventh grade students and focuses on providing a forum to talk about relationships within the class with a focus on their coming into a leadership role. Students will be challenged to treat all people with respect, and this class will also help build friendships and community within the class. These values will be taught through guest speakers, activities and reading and writing. (Language Arts, Social Studies, Religion, 1^st Quarter)

7^th Essays and Applied Writing: This course begins to prepare students for high school writing and exposes them to other forms they may have not yet seen. The class will continue the refinement of the five paragraph essay as well as provide a forum for expository, opinion and humorous writing. Students will have the opportunity to extend their writing as well as share it with their peers, teachers and parents. (Language Arts, 2^nd Quarter)

7^th Elements of Service: This course teaches students the basics of Catholic social teaching. Spreading two grades, students learn the best ways to provide service to both the Pius and general community. Discussions and papers will be assigned to discuss stewardship and the importance of giving time, talent and treasure. Students will culminate this course by creating and implementing a service project at their time and expense to benefit those less fortunate than themselves. (Social Studies, Religion, 3^rd Quarter)

7^th Journalism and Writing: A second grade spanning course, students will create their own newspaper to highlight the accomplishments of fellow students as well as the good things that are happening at the school. Students will learn how to interact with those older than themselves, gain interview skills and writing prowess. Students will also have the opportunity to share their opinions about local and national issues. (Language Arts, Social Studies, Technology)

7^th Applied Mathematics: This course will serve a dual purpose: one, to extend the level of mathematical discussion for our top students, and two, to provide our lower level students with hands on, interactive activities that allow them to increase their personal math knowledge. The class will consist of creation activities that allow students to apply math in a variety of areas including construction, engineering, physics, and rocketry. (Math and Science)

7^th Engineering and Applied Science: This course will serve the same goals as the applied mathematics course, but will focus its energies on the science side of the discussion. Students will build rockets, robots, bridges or other materials that allow them to test and demonstrate scientific knowledge. (Math and Science)

7^th Extended Health and Exercise: This course extends the skills learned earlier in the year and provides a

more intensive exercise course. Students will get more in depth instruction regarding nutrition and health, as well as learn more about exercise techniques and other health and safety issues. (PE)

8^th Time Management: In this course, which is similar to the sixth grade modular for middle school, is designed to help eighth grade students prepare for the pressure of their final year and provide transitional instruction for the change in classes and scene. This also focuses on writing and reading. (Language Arts, 1^st Quarter)

8^th Advanced Writing: Students in this course focus on high school writing and learning how to extend the basics of the writing that they’ve learned. Specifically focused on preparing students for the style of writing at Bishop Kelley, this class will nonetheless provide an academic background to all instructional writing that they will encounter at any high school. (Language Arts, 2^nd Quarter)

8^th Global Concerns: In this course students will focus on newspapers and current event stories. In addition to analyzing the bias of news sources and the legitimacy of news stories, students will learn about other countries, changing political systems and hot-button topics that could affect them far into the future. (Language Arts, Social Studies, Religion, 3^rd Quarter)

8^th Journalism and Writing: A second grade spanning course, students will create their own newspaper to highlight the accomplishments of fellow students as well as the good things that are happening at the school. Students will learn how to interact with those older than themselves, gain interview skills and writing prowess. Students will also have the opportunity to share their opinions about local and national issues. (Language Arts, Social Studies, Technology)

8^th Literary Catholicism: In this course, students will learn about the connections between literature and their faith. Studying the works of Lewis, Chesterton, Greene and Wilde will be supplemented with video presentations and other areas of Catholicism and literature that are not normally explored. (Language Arts)

8^th Extended Health and Exercise: This course extends the skills learned earlier in the year and provides a more intensive exercise course. Students will get more in depth instruction regarding nutrition and health, as well as learn more about exercise techniques and other health and safety issues. (PE)

8^th Educational Initiatives: This course will allow students to experience firsthand the rigors and requirements of teaching. Students will be paired with a mentor that will help them to plan activities and to work one-on-one with other students who have demonstrated a need that can be met with direct instruction. (Social Studies)

8^th Engineering and Applied Science: This course will serve the same goals as the applied mathematics course, but will focus its energies on the science side of the discussion. Students will build rockets, robots, bridges or other materials that allow them to test and demonstrate scientific knowledge. (Math and Science)

Finally, stay tuned. Our middle school handbook will be out following the first weeks of school, and some other minor changes will be detailed in that document as well. Also, feel free to attend any of our forums should you require or desire more information about any of the previous data. We are ultimately here to serve our students, and our new plans do exactly that: make sure that our students are personally responsible, academically excellent and vibrant members of our church school community.