School Grade Edit

B is for Beach High!
BY Wendy Goya

Miami Beach Senior High School earned a school grade of a B for the 2009-2010 school year as a result of the 2009 FCAT scores. According to the results from fcat.fldoe.org, Beach High’s scores in the reading, writing, and mathematics assessments improved, but scores decreased in the science portion.

Compared to Beach High’s score in 2008, the average scale score class of 2012 reading scores increased in 2009 from 310 points to 319 points. Class of 2012 mathematics average test score also increased from 308 to 318. Class of 2011 scores improved, rising from an average scale score in reading of 304 in 2008 to 307 in 2009, and the average scale score in mathematics ranged from 325 to 332. The mean score for the writing assessment remained a 4.0

However, in the Science FCAT, the mean scale score decreased from 292 points in 2008 to 288 points in 2009.

“The [juniors] were told that the FCAT Science didn’t count for them to graduate,” Henry VanLeer, integrated science teacher said , . “… they simply didn’t try.”
Last year, 31 percent of the students who took the Science FCAT scored a level 3 and above, while this year, only 29 percent passed.

According to Dr. Rosemary Melinek, integrated science, chemistry and brain research teacher, the state of Florida is still revising the requirements for the science FCAT. “[Beach High] tried to motivate the students by giving them an A for their final exam grade in science if they passed the science FCAT,” said Melinek.  “The best thing that we can do as a department is to keep teaching science and hope for improvement.”

First and Almost Final Draft of Uniform Article

article-first and final

stuff

Effects

Reasons

Change MBSH to Beach High

Move lunch info to different story

Karp quote before reasons

Which are still large, why? ROBINS

Information to Get:

Timeline for the problem

What the average was before the addition of 20 classes

How the new teachers/classes were paid

1. An influx of over 200 unexpected students enrolled at Miami Beach Senior High School during the first week of school, temporarily overwhelming guidance and cafeteria staff who had anticipated and budgeted for fewer than 2000 students.

Even MORE Notes and Quotes

1. Yes, mostly my AP classes. AP Art History, AP Government and AP Biology. Lots of kids don’t have seats to sit on and are forced to share seats with other kids.

2. There are not enough books to give out to all of the kids . Especially in my AP Bio class. Mr.Rehage had a limited amount of books and now we dont have class sets. Mr.Brown who teaches AP Art History has to make copies of each chapters so we can read keep up to date. Its been more then a month of school and yet we do not have our books yet

3. AP Art History and Biology.I would say more then 30 kids

4.I think it is horrible. Some kids can not be put into certain classes all because of the size limit. It had happened to me as well,I could not be put into AP Bio but I fought for it and I got my schedule changed. It sucks that certain kids cant get a proper education all because the school does not have enough money.

5. None at all

6.Well in most of my classes I got my book other then AP Art History and i have been using the book as a resource. I do know that a lot of teachers are copying things and using a lot of paper. Hopefully as the year progresses teachers will get used to the whole idea of using the smart board and not waste so much paper. Only time will tell.

7. In my opinion, i think 2 lunches are a lot better. I am able to get my lunch for the first time in a while and not feel rushed. It took a while to get used to but now I have become so accustomed to it that i cant imagine how it would be without the 2 lunches.

and yes of course you can quote me

More Notes and Quotes

Eduardo Keen September 30 at 7:46pm

1. Do you have any crowded classrooms? Which?
If so, can you please describe how crowded they are.

Yes AP Biology. There is not enough room. We squish together on desks and some students have to take notes on their lap away from a table.

2. Does the crowding affect your ability to learn in the class? Explain how.

Yes tremendously. The class becomes less focused and it is harder for the teacher to teach. Labs are chaotic because there is no breathing room and the lack of specialized attention causes students’ grades to plummet. Also, with a budget deficit, resources are reduced drastically.

3. How many students are in your most crowded classroom, which class is that?

35, AP Biology

4. What is your opinion on classroom crowding?

Although the physical size of the student body has increased, I believe that the overcrowding of classrooms is a direct result of the new School Grading Policy. This new system evaluates a school based on a combination of the number of AP classes taken, SAT scores, and FCAT scores of students. Because of this, Dr. Sidner and the rest of the administration has forced unprepared students to take AP classes. Large class sizes and a lack of proper prerequisite courses cause many to struggle in the class. If they ask their counselors to switch them out of an advanced course, the counselors refuse to switch them, encouraging the students to study harder and to hire a tutor. Unfortunately, many students don’t have any more time to study and cannot afford to pay for a tutor. The counselors say that the student can switch out after the 1st semester, but at that point, what difference does it make? For the personal gain and satisfaction of the administration, much of student body struggles to survive in AP classes and all classes continue to be huge.

5. Are there any benefits to classroom crowding? What are they?

Of Course! Texting during lectures is easier, the class moves slower so students are eventually less prepared for their AP tests, and the increase in students result in an increase in sidebar chatter that overwhelms the class with noise.

6. How are your teachers conserving resources? (for example teachers are making students copy notes from the smartboard as opposed to just printing out the document)

They aren’t. Larger classes are drastically depleting teachers’ resources.

On a different note, still related to the article though…

7. How do you feel about having two lunch periods?

Awful. Although an attempt to control the chaos created by the increase in student population, it hurts numerous aspect of Beach High (ie having clubs and eating with your friends)

Reina G. Reyes September 30 at 7:47pm

1. Most of my classes are crowded, my law class is pretty crowded, my english class is crowded but the class is so big, you can’t tell. At the beginning of the school year, my AP Environmental class was so packed, that there were like no chairs, the big lab desks were used by like 4 students at a time! It was crazy.

2. It for sure affects my ability to learn in the class. Teachers aren’t going to yell over you soo everyone has their own conversations and only some listen. Sometime there aren’t enough books but that isn’t a big deal, its called sharing.

3. At the beginning my AP Environmental class has 40+, they even had to open another period, poor mr.gutherie, he gave up a planning period!

4. My opinion on the classroom crowding is neutral. If a student really wants to learn, they will listen, if not then they can continue talking and slowly fail the class. It’s all up to the hi tide.

5. The only benefit I can think of about the classroom crowding is, you’re more likely going to be placed with a friend. No one is ever alone in a class.

6. Well since my freshmen year, I’ve copied notes from the board, so its not that big of a deal. I guess, teachers are giving out online textbooks since they don’t have enough to pass out.

7. Two lunches is perfectly fine with me. We are pretty much the only school in dade county that is making a huge scandal over NOTHING. Two lunches is the best way to go for beach high at this moment. There are way too many kids in our school, and two lunches feeds them all. And as for club meetings during lunch, if a student is honestly dedicated to a club, they will stay that extra hour or whatever.

Phillip Cohen September 30 at 7:41pm

1. Do you have any crowded classrooms? Which?
If so, can you please describe how crowded they are.

Yes. AP English 3, Mr. Reese. Some kids don’t even have their own desks they just sit on chairs.

2. Does the crowding affect your ability to learn in the class? Explain how.

No.

3. How many students are in your most crowded classroom, which class is that?

I have no idea.

4. What is your opinion on classroom crowding?

It’s annoying because people are fighting for seats.

5. Are there any benefits to classroom crowding? What are they?

No. Except getting less work done.

6. How are your teachers conserving resources? (for example teachers are making students copy notes from the smartboard as opposed to just printing out the document)

They are printing 1 set of papers to use for every class.

7. How do you feel about having two lunch periods?

I hate it. 1st lunch is to early and i am not hungry at that time. Plus you do not get to see all your friends unless they have the same lunch as you.

2nd Draft

Increase in School Population

Enrollment had increased by 214 students as of September 14, 2009 (is “2009” necessary?) for the 2009-2010 school year at Miami Beach Senior High School due to the national economic recession and MBSH’s educational developments and renovated facilities.

According to _____ Lopez, MBSH Registrar, about 35 students from private schools and about 42 students from charter schools contributed to this year’s school population of 2,148 students.

Rosann Sidener, MBSH Principal, attributes the population increase to, “a combination of things- the new building, the school grade, the increasing numbers of advanced academic classes, the International Baccalaureate program and the bad economy.”

Alix Braun, freshman, got an administrative transfer from the county in order to attend MBSH instead of Dr. Michael M. Krop High School and participate in the IB program.

According to the International Baccalaureate Organization’s website, “The International Baccalaureate offers high quality programs of international education to a worldwide community of schools.”

“We are [an IB] candidate school, said Sidener. “We have an authorization visit the first week in December and if they grant us status, we will be IB authorized to offer in August of 2010.”

According to Sidener, MBSH’s school grade increased by 144 points between 2007 and 2008, rising from a ‘D’ to a ‘B’.

Laurie Kaye Davis, parent of Catherine Davis, transferred her daughter from the private school Carrolton School of the Sacred Heart. “The fact that the school went from a D to a B significantly impacted my decision to give this a shot,” she said.

“[Private school transfers are also] thinking, ‘Why am I paying 25,000 dollars tuition when I’ve got a nice, brand new school down the street that’s a ‘B’ school and has great programs?’,” Sidener said.

“We’re not paying private school tuition,” said Davis, “and hopefully, [Catherine] will receive the same quality of education that she was [receiving] at Carrolton.”

In order to accommodate MBSH’s increased student population, “We had to open up 20 more classes after school started,” said Sidener.  “A lot of teachers took on an additional class [during their planning time]. I’ve got quite a few teachers who are teaching 8 classes.”

[LUNCH SITUATION]

[affects]

(Looking forward: Nautilus and Magnet School, Building 8, affect on increase)

According to Martin Karp, Miami-Dade County Public Schools District Three School Board Member, county-wide enrollment has remained relatively stable. Between the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years, the Dade County student population increased by only 0.02 percent, making MBSH is an exception to the county-wide trend.

Notes and Quotes

Martin Karp Notes and Quotes

Rachel and Nadine’s 1st Draft? Kind of?

Increase in School Population

Sorry about the blanks…..

LEDE:

1. Enrollment increased by 214 students for the 2009-2010 school year at Miami Beach Senior High School due to the economic recession and MBSH’s new educational developements.

According to _____ Lopez, MBSH Registrar, about 35 students from private schools and about 20 students from charter schools contributed to this year’s school population of 1,140 students.

Sidener explaining where the 159 new students came from.

“quote from Sidener listing reasons for transfers”

background info about IB: status of IB application, explanation of what it is

“quote from student backing this up”

background about school grade: D to B, from 2007, specifically points that we increased by and years

“quote from student backing this up”

“Sidener quote on economic issue”

“hopefully parent bcking this up”

(Pattern/Bigger Picture)

(Looking forward: Nautilus and Magnet School, Building 8, affect on increase)

(Affects: Lunch, books, class size, etc.)

Places I Frequent

1. Beach

2. Regal Cinemas on Lincoln Road

3. Panfiore

4. Sunset Mall

5. Aventura Mall

Increased School Population Planner (Rachel and Nadine) & Interview Planners

News Planner:

Increased School Population Planner

Interview Planners:

Other Schools Interview Planner

Parents Interview Planner

Transfers to our district

Lopez Interview Planner

Sidener Interview Planner