Summer 2012
Parent Newsletter
Dear Parents and Guardians of Affton High Students,
We are beginning summer with great news about our EOC scores. With our high End of Course Exams (EOCs) and decreases discipline incidences, we are encouraged about our student achievement. English II EOC scores for advanced and proficient are up to 87% and Algebra I advanced and proficient scores are increased to 71% according to our preliminary data reports!
Government, Algebra II, Geometry, US History and English I were also increased from last year!
The Master Calendar, the ABC daily calendar will be placed on the website and updated if changes to dates occur. If you have any questions, feel free to call the main office, your guidance counselor or me at 633-5931.
Summer School is in full swing. The first session is 14 days long and concludes on June 15. The second session concludes on July 6. Thank you to those teachers who are teaching this summer to provide the credit opportunity for our students. We are offering both remedial and enrichment credits this summer.
New Physics and PLTW room: We are in the midst of remodeling the old metals room. It will become the new physics/PLTW room for year two and year three. Mr. Bernabo will be teaching in this room.
At one of the past Parent Advisory Council meeting, we had some conversation about CatsCrew, Project Lead the Way and AP courses. It occurred to me that many of our parents may not be familiar with these programs or acronyms we use at the high school.
PAC: The Parent Advisory Council is an informal setting for parents that can visit with me and the assistant principals. We meet the first Wednesday morning of every month from 8:00 am to 9:00 am and the following Monday night from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. There is no prepared agenda. Parent may bring their own topics of interest or concerns to share or ask questions about. Parents may attend once or every time! I often refer to this meeting as “The Principals’ Coffee.” We meet in my office located in the main office. All parents are invited. These will start up again in September, 2012.
CatsCrew: This is our ‘brand name’of the nationally recognized program called “LinkCrew,” a year-long freshmen transition program that focuses on upper classmen being mentors to the freshmen. The program only involves cost for training the upper classmen to be leaders and to facilitate group activities with the freshmen. The whole morning of freshmen orientation focuses on getting to know each other, playing team-building games and older students sharing a bit of advice about high school. The students who were ‘invited’ to be Cougar “CatsCrew” members are from a cross-section of the student body and represent athletes, theater/artists/actors, student council members, academically successful students, and emerging leaders---all around great kids! These upper classmen CatsCrew members will contact their freshmen via phone, at school, visiting their Seminars and at football games. These upper classmen will be assigned to a freshmen seminar and assist with mentoring the 15-20 freshmen over the school year. Studies have shown the more students feel connected to school, the more academically and socially/behaviorally successful they are. If you want more information, please contact the CatsCrew adult leaders---Paul Hoggatt, Laurie Free, Heather Mayfield, Phil Beermann, or Jason Buck.
AP courses: Advanced Placement courses are offered at Affton High as honors courses. Students may or may not take the nationally-normed AP exams for college credit. Scores on the AP exams range from 1-5, with most colleges awarding college credit for scores of 3-5. The AP courses we offer: AP US History, AP Political Science, AP Biology, AP Calculus, AP English, AP Physics are all taught by teachers with advanced degrees in their subject areas. Additionally, we offer college credit in French 3 and 4, Spanish 3 and 4, College Algebra, and Art. Saint Louis University’s 1818 college courses (named after the year the university was founded) partners with us for our honors English III course. Juniors and seniors may elect to take a course for college credit at a substantially reduced rate (such as $230 for 3 hours of credit) than they would pay for taking the course while enrolled at a university. For more information about college credit, please contact your guidance counselor or Mary Carpenter, our College Counselor and Director of Counseling.
PLtW: Project Lead the Way: is going into its third year---- pre-engineering course offered in the Industrial Technology dept of Affton High. 21 students (freshmen and sophomores) took the Foundations and Principals of Engineering, learning about 3-D design, animation/configuration of 2-D and 3-D designs on a computer, drafting, and elevations of drawings and printing 3-D models of their drawings. Through a grant, Affton High was able to purchase new computers, furniture, poster-size color printer, 3-D printer, laser printer/engraver and building tools for models and designs. Mr. Philip Davis is the instructor of this foundational new course. 16 students went on to year two –Introduction to Engineering Design (IED) and we are offering the architectural design course as the year three course—taught by Aaron Bernabo. Our goal is to offer college credit to those students who take advanced PLtW courses junior and senior years. This course currently is offered for practical arts credit.
New ACE program: also located in the old metals room in the back of the school by the football field is an alternative program called ACE. We began this computer program-teacher assisted small learning environment in January, 2012, for students who were experiencing difficulty learning or not achieving to their potential in the larger school setting. We are happy to announce that four students completed their graduation requirements through the ACE program and graduated with their cohort on May 27.
DECA: is the marketing club for all those who take marketing courses at Affton High. The students in this club have the opportunity to compete in local, state and national advertising/ marketing competitions with other schools. Students who are chosen to represent their school, must be prepared to design an advertising campaign to sell a product all within a few days during the competition once they are given the topic, and guidelines. Mr. Hildebrand and Mrs. Donald are teaming this year to expand the number of students in the business dept who can get involved. Last year, we sent 7 students to Salt Lake City, Utah for the international competitions!
Sports Night: This is a tradition at Affton High that takes place in the spring. It may be bigger than Homecoming! It is a ‘friendly’ competition between the grade level classes to compete in activities such as tug-of-war, basketball hoops, volleyball, relays and sock races. Each class has their own ‘noise maker’, their own T-shirt, their own faculty sponsors, and their designated spot in the gym where the class ‘cheers’ on their teammates who participate in the various activities. It is crazy, wholesome fun at its best! I like to refer to it as ‘Americana.’ If you are brave enough to come, wear ear plugs and be prepared to laugh! All parents are welcomed.
Seminar: this is a structured “study hall” time on Wednesdays for 45 mins during the school day, from 9:15 am to 10:00 am. On the first 3 Wednesdays of the month, we refer to Seminar as ‘academic,’ when students may get a pass from a teacher to make up a quiz, see a teacher about homework, or go to the library to finish an assignment. On the last Wednesday of the month, we have ‘club day,’ when students may choose to attend club meetings. Some of the clubs are larger (Varsity Sports Club and DECA) and are held in the gym. Some of the clubs are smaller (French club, Mathletes, Trend) and are held in a teacher’s classroom. A full list of clubs is located in your teen’s planner. We also announce and post clubs and where they are meeting.
Finish Strong!: We have a new program to link all our 5 schools together. It is called Affton Strong! Each school will have its own ‘theme’. The high school’s is Finish Strong! The others are: Play Strong, Learn Strong, Grow Strong, Stay Strong and Finish Strong. We hope with common language and connection to our goal of persistence to graduation, when students begin in Affton in our Early Childhood Center, they can see themselves graduating in 13 years!
Mark your calendars: Parent –Teacher Conferences: will be held Tuesday, Oct. 16, and Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012 from 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm. each night. We hope many parents come to meet their teen’s teachers and discuss their first quarter academic achievement.
Parent Boosters: This organization helps to raise funds for their classes’ Senior Lock In after graduation. They also help their teens organize Junior Ring Dance and Prom. Any money raised through the four years is used by that class for senior activities such as Lunch on the Lawn (out front of Affton High early in September), the Senior Picnic in May, and a T-shirt for the seniors.. Each class has a group of parents who take the lead in organizing their classes’ fund-raising. Some of the fun/fund activities include: Mouse Races, Trivia nights, Re-Sell it/Rummage sales, Craft Fair, cookie-dough sales, junior-high dances, car washes, snack sales.
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to call me or Phil Beermann—assistant principal for 11th and 12th graders, or Jason Buck—assistant principal for 9th and 10th graders.
Thank you for your continued partnership in your teen’s education. Have a great summer! The first day back for the students will be Aug. 15, 2012!
Dr. Sue Jackson
Principal, Affton High