Jefferson County Public Schools
May 2012 Nov.-Dec. 2012
Elementary application period starts soon Applications will be accepted online this year (page 2)
Most elementary schools will be part of 1 of 13 clusters (page 3) JCPS is now accepting middle and high school applications (page 6)
www.jcpsky.net Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer Offering Equal Educational Opportunities
JCPS elementary application period starts soon The registration and application period for elementary schools for the 2013-14 school year is Mon., Nov. 19, through Fri., Jan. 11.
address, call the JCPS Demographics Office at 4853050 or use the SchoolFinder, an interactive feature on the JCPS Web site.
Who should apply during this period?
Online registration and applications with instructions will be available on the district’s Web site and at registration sites that will be located throughout the district during the application period.
• Students who will enter kindergarten at the start of the next school year • Students who are new to the district • Students who have moved • Students who want to apply to a magnet school, magnet program, or optional program To find out which school serves your child’s home
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For more information, call the JCPS Optional, Magnet, and Advance Programs Office at 485-3323 or the Student Assignment Office at 485-6250.
The Elementary School Showcase will be held at the Kentucky International Convention Center on Sat., Nov. 17, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Representatives from schools and from many JCPS District offices will be available to answer your questions. You’ll get a free copy of Choices, the guide to JCPS elementary schools, at the Showcase. Links to individual school sites also are available on the JCPS Web site.
Most elementary schools will be part of 1 of 13 clusters Beginning with the 2013-14 school year, most JCPS elementary schools will be part of a cluster that includes five to eight schools. During the elementary application period (Mon., Nov. 19, through Fri., Jan. 11), students may apply to any of the following: • The school that serves their home address • Any other school in their cluster • A magnet school • A magnet program • An optional program See the next page for an overview of magnet schools and program. Click here for the elementary version of Choices, the guide to JCPS schools and programs.
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Elementary magnet programs JCPS elementary magnet programs provide a specialized learning environment (such as a Montessori school) or focus on a specific subject (such as technology or health and fitness). Students who are accepted into a magnet program become a full-time student of the school that offers it. Students throughout the district may apply to many of the following programs, but some serve students from specific clusters. JCPS provides transportation for most students who are accepted into a magnet program. • Academy for Excellence in Teaching and Learning: Atkinson (districtwide magnet program) • Communications: Breckinridge-Franklin (magnet
program for Clusters 8 through 13) • Environmental Studies: Cane Run (magnet program for Clusters 1 through 6) and Portland (magnet program for Clusters 7 through 13) • Gifted and Talented: King (districtwide magnet program) • Health and Fitness for Accelerated Learning: Wellington (magnet program for Clusters 1 through 6) and Rangeland (magnet program for Clusters 7 through 13) • Institute for Creativity and Innovation: Maupin (districtwide magnet program) • International/Cultural Studies and Language: Fairdale (magnet program for Clusters 1 through 7) and Goldsmith (magnet
Mill Creek Elementary offers a Leadership Academy. 4
program for Clusters 8 through 13) • Leadership Academy: Mill Creek (magnet program for Clusters 1 through 5) • Mathematics/Science/ Technology: Wheatley (districtwide magnet program) • MicroSociety: Indian Trail (magnet program for Clusters 6 and 7) • Montessori: Kennedy Montessori (magnet program for Clusters 1 through 8) and ColeridgeTaylor Montessori (magnet program for Clusters 9 through 13) • Preparatory Academy: McFerran (magnet program for Clusters 4 through 7) • Success for All Accelerated Reading: Jacob (magnet program for Clusters 1 through 5) • Talent Development: Byck (districtwide magnet program) • Technology: RooseveltPerry (districtwide magnet program) • Visual and Performing Arts: King (districtwide magnet program) • Visual Arts: Rutherford (magnet program for Clusters 1 through 6) and Price (magnet program for Clusters 7 through 13) • Waldorf-Inspired Program: Byck (districtwide magnet program)
Magnet schools accept applications throughout the district Elementary students throughout the district may apply to the following magnet schools, which are not part of an elementary cluster. JCPS provides transportation for most students who are accepted into a magnet school (except for the Brown School). • International Baccalaureate (IB) school: Young (3526 W. Muhammad Ali Blvd.) • Mathematics/science/technology school: Brandeis (2817 W. Kentucky St.) • Performing arts school: Lincoln (930 East Main St.) • Self-directed learning school: Brown (546 S. 1st St.)
Traditional schools: Students are assigned to Audubon Traditional (1051 Hess Lane), Carter Traditional (3600 Bohne Avenue), Greathouse/Shryock Traditional (2700 Browns Lane), or Schaffner Traditional (2701 Crums Lane) based on their home address. Foster Traditional Academy (Cluster 2) and Shelby Traditional Academy (Cluster 12) offer the Traditional Magnet Program, and students throughout the district may apply. These six schools are part of the traditional education feeder pattern to Barret Traditional, Jefferson County Traditional, and Johnson Traditional Middle Schools.
Students perform in Lincoln Elementary’s black box theatre.
Wilkerson Traditional (Cluster 2) and Smyrna Traditional (Cluster 7) provide traditional education, but they don’t offer magnet programs and aren't part of the feeder pattern to traditional middle schools.
Hawthorne’s Spanish Immersion Optional Program Hawthorne Elementary offers the Dual-Language Spanish Immersion Program. It’s an optional program, which means transportation is provided only for Cluster 13 students. The program provides daily immersion experiences that prepare students (kinder-
garten through fifth grade) to read, write, and speak proficiently in Spanish. The students receive daily math and science instruction in Spanish from certified, Spanish-speaking teachers. Other content areas are taught in English. Students also benefit from
cultural enrichment in a Spanish arts class. Hawthorne’s program benefits both students who are learning Spanish as a second language and students who are learning English as a second language.
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JCPS is now accepting middle and high school applications JCPS is now accepting online applications for middle and high school magnet programs, optional programs, magnet schools, and high school open enrollment for the 2013-14 school year. You also can complete the online application at registration sites at many JCPS schools and offices. The application period will end Fri., Jan. 11. For more information on optional programs, magnet programs, and magnet schools, contact the JCPS Optional, Magnet, and Advance Programs Office at 485-3323.
Click here for the middle and high school version of Choices.
For general information, contact the Student Assignment Office at 485-6250.
Academy @ Shawnee to launch new middle school program The Academy @ Shawnee is going to start an innovative middle school magnet program serving about 100 students in grades six through eight. The program will help students develop the core skills needed to be successful at the high school level and beyond. Middle school students will participate in real-world aviation experiences during 15 days of 6
extended learning time — 5 days in the spring semester after acceptance into the program and 10 days in the summer. The program will admit students who have a strong record of academic achievement and good attendance—and who are committed to participating in the extended-time experiences.
For high school students, the Academy offers two districtwide magnet programs: Aerospace: Flight School and Aerospace: Aviation Maintenance Technology. For high school Network 3 students, the Academy also offers an Engineering course as well as Navy JROTC.
Foreign exchange students bring new perspectives to Atherton classrooms Atherton High has nine foreign exchange students this year, the highest number in recent memory. The 17-year-olds are from Kosovo, Japan, China, Russia, Germany, Brazil, and Spain. They are victors of fierce academic competitions in their home countries to spend one of their high school years in the United States. Some of the students are scholarship recipients from the U.S. Department of State. All of them have regular class schedules but make special visits to other classes to discuss realities and challenges from their corners of the world. In fact, the students’ backgrounds make them a hot commodity among teachers hoping to help their other students understand viewpoints from different cultures.
sues. “It just gives a different perspective about what goes on. I use these young people a lot to compare and contrast issues like education or voting. The students here in America have a lot of questions for these young people.” The American students have been quick to accept their new peers, who represent some of the many national flags hanging in Atherton’s lobby. For example, during his first month at the school, a student from Kosovo was
nominated for Homecoming Court. “These students have really enriched the international academic theme of our school,” says Principal Thomas Aberli. Atherton offers an International Studies/International Baccalaureate (IB) course and other courses in the Human Services, Education, and International Studies Professional Career Theme. Fairdale High (see the next page) and Seneca High also offer courses in this theme.
“I love having these students in class,” says John Ferguson, who teaches Atherton courses in business, economics, and global is7
Fairdale High is only Jefferson County Cambridge School Earlier this year, Fairdale High signed a letter of agreement with University of Cambridge International Examinations to become the first and only Cambridge School in Jefferson County. Cambridge is a world-renowned university in London. The International Examinations program is a challenging course of studies that offers high school students opportunities for an international diploma and college credit. Cambridge courses—taught in more than 2,900 schools worldwide—are available in English, math, natural sciences, social sciences, global studies, and foreign language.
“University of Cambridge International Examinations is the world’s largest provider of international programs,” says Fairdale Principal Brad Weston.
Cambridge provides the curriculum and tests as well as online support, technical assistance, and professional development (PD) for Fairdale teachers.
“Leading universities and employers worldwide value and recognize the Cambridge programs as evidence of academic ability and preparation to succeed at the highest levels. We are very excited and proud to partner with the University of Cambridge. This is an excellent opportunity for Fairdale students.”
Fairdale offers courses in the Human Services, Education, and International Studies Professional Career Theme. Atherton High and Seneca High also offer courses in this theme.
Mark your calendar Nov. 17: Elementary School Showcase Nov. 19:.Elementary school application period begins
sociation (PTA) Reflections Awards Ceremony Dec. 8: ACT testing
Nov. 21–23: Thanksgiving Break
Dec. 21–Jan. 4: Winter Break
Dec. 1: SAT testing
Jan. 11. . Elementary, middle, and high school application periods end
Dec. 4: 15th District Parent Teacher As-
Are you getting the e-mail newsletter?
Parent Connection eNews is a JCPS newsletter that offers new, brief articles in a monthly e-mail. You can view the latest issue and sign up for future ones on the Parent Connection Web site. 8
Are you as smart as a JCPS seventh grader? The answers to the challenging science questions in the last issue of Parent Connection are 1: C, 2: D, 3: C. To review the questions, click here and and select the October issue in the archive. The first parents to send the correct answers last month were Amy Dobben (mother of a student at Jeffersontown elementary), Angela Duvall (Butler Traditional High), and Amanda Keller Felts (Greathouse/Shryock Elementary). This month, Parent Connection offers a quiz with seventh-grade math questions. The first three parents who send the correct answers to the newsletter office via email and the first three who send the answers via regular mail will receive a free JCPS T-shirt. Please include the name of your child’s (or grandchild’s) school. Click here to send the answers via e-mail. The regular mailing address is Thomas Pack, Communications and Publications North,
C. B. Young Jr. Service Center, Building 4, 3001 Crittenden Drive, Louisville, KY 40209. You don’t need to write the questions or answers. Just send the question numbers and the letters for your answers. Or you may print out this quiz and mail it. 1. What is the prime factorization of 408? A. 2 • 3 • 17 B. 2 • 4 • 51 C. 23 • 51 D. 23 • 3 • 17
3. Francine drew the picture below on a piece of poster board. She plans to color the interiors of the circle and the triangle blue. What is the approximate area of the parts of the picture that she will color blue? A. 57 in.2 B. 82 in.2 C. 114 in.2 D. 233 in.2
2. A dentist offers her patients different colored toothbrushes (red, blue, and green) and different flavored toothpastes (mint, lemon, cherry, and bubble gum). What is the total number of different combinations of one toothbrush color and one toothpaste flavor that the dentist has to offer? A. 2 B. 7 C. 12 D. 14
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How to get students to read more books
Take them all off the shelves, put them back in a new way Okolona Elementary is the first elementary school in Kentucky to stop using the Dewey Decimal System in its library and start using a system called the Book Store Model.
and poetry usually would be found on different shelves.
The shelves for popular subjects—such as animals or sports—now can include fiction, nonfiction, and poetry books.
“I’ve been very slow about easing them into it, so they have a true understanding of how it works.” Still, “changing to this format has The Book Store Model been a challenge for some seems to be boosting readof my students. I had one
Under the Dewey Decimal System, fiction, nonfiction, 10
Okolona’s library started the school year with the new model, and “so far, my students are loving it,” says librarian Amanda Klakamp.
say, ‘Why do we have to change after you made us learn all that Dewey stuff last year?’ I laughed and explained that students still need to know ‘Dewey stuff’ because they will need to know how to use it in middle school, high school, and college for all the research they will do—as well as in the public library.”
ing. For instance, a little more than 300 Okolona students checked out 933 books in September 2011. In the same month this year, fewer than 300 students checked out 1,218 books. Klakamp worked with JCPS Library Media Services last summer to reclassify the books, which involved packing all of them into 67 boxes and trucking them to the C. B. Young Jr. Service Center, a JCPS facility on Crit-
tenden Drive. Library Media Services Director Paul Lanata arranged for a large storage area to be emptied so employees could sort books using the new system. Each of the more than 3,000 books had to be relabeled and tagged. Finally, all of the books were trucked back to Okolona and rearranged on the shelves. The effort initially stemmed from a discussion between Lanata and Okolona Principal Tracy Bar-
ber, who was looking for a better way to feature library subjects. Klakamp, now in her second year as the Okolona librarian, had initiated a smaller-scale subject heading redesign at an Indiana school. “You really have to have a philosophy and a vision that will allow [the new system] to work,” Lanata says. “Our main objective is for students to read, and if this facilitates that, more power to it.”
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Students interned on the set of a film
Ballard, and Pleasure Ridge Park.
The internships were created by Conrad Bachmann, a Louisville native and longtime Hollywood actor who has been a partner with the three JCPS Communication, Media, and the Arts Professional Career Theme high schools—Fern Creek,
Bachmann had a role in a small film this past summer and convinced the director, Matt Berman, to bring three JCPS students to California to intern for a week. Berman agreed to sponsor the flight and hotel stay for the students and their chaperone.
Two students from Fern Creek Traditional High (Lakin Pack and Andy Creek) and a recent graduate from Ballard High (Cassandra Kelsey) were selected to intern for a film in Los Angeles.
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Students from these schools have been involved with Conrad’s Louisville International Festival of Film since the inception of the Professional Career Theme Program.
An application and audition process was established to select the students. Applicants were required to submit an extensive portfolio that included letters of recommendation, transcripts, work samples, and an essay. The judging panel included filmmakers, postsecondary partners, and JCPS Communications staff. Candidates were invited for an interview session and were required to demonstrate that they could operate a camera. The winners were required to create a docu-
mentary highlighting their experience. Lakin, Andy, and Cassandra showed a brief video at the Oct. 8 Jefferson County Board of Education (JCBE) meeting.
Eastern educator receives Career and Technical Teacher Award
Eastern High teacher Jodi Adams received the Outstanding New Career and Technical Teacher Award from the Kentucky Association for Career and Technical Educators. Adams, who began teaching business and information technology in 2010, has private-sector business ownership experience, which now benefits her students in the classroom. Her colleagues describe her teaching style as innovative, creative, and student-centered. She serves as the chair of Eastern’s business program, and she has helped launch Kentucky’s first High School of Business. The program takes students through a
college preparatory curriculum designed to guide them into private-sector opportunities or to major in business in college. Adams also was instrumental in the creation of Eastern’s Eagle’s Nest Café.
More than 45 students are national scholarship program Semifinalists
Sravya Vishnubhatla, Jacob A. Vittitow, Sarah Y. Wang, and Grace C. Zhang Eastern: Peter J. Heiniger Seneca: Riley Nelson About 1.5 million juniors at 22,000 high schools entered the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/ NMSQT). Nationwide, there are 16,000 Semifinalists. They are the highest-scoring students in each state.
Students at four JCPS high schools are Semifinalists in the 2013 National Merit Scholarship Program or the 2013 National Achievement More than 160,000 juniors Scholarship Program. requested consideration in the 2013 National AchieveBallard: Jian Du, Lucian ment Scholarship Program B. Hymer, Madison G. Mcwhen they took the PSAT/ Tyeire, and Quenten G. NMSQT. Nationwide, there Woolfolk are 1,600 Semifinalists, DuPont Manual: Naga who are the highest-scoring K. Alluri, Marie K. Bissell, students in their region. Robyn B. Blackman, AlTo become a Finalist in eilen T. Boss, Hannah M. ther program, a Semifinalist Botts, Zachary R. Brewer, must have an outstanding Ava E. Chen, Yuyao Ding, academic record throughJames W. England, David L. Ferguon, Kyle A. Fowler, out high school, receive a recommendation from his Shunhua A. Fu, Benjamin or her principal, and earn T. Gatson, Michael A. GosSAT scores that confirm the sen, Samuel T. Harper, Kenny K. Jackson, Zachary earlier performance on the J. Jones, Josephine M. Kim, qualifying test. John F. King, Serena Lian, Andrew H. Liu, Michelle Liu, Helen J. Lu, Emily McConville, Abigail B. Menefee, Jean C. Namonywa, Matthew A. Pearson, Allison Pecaro, Elizabeth M. Penava, Vivek A. Raj, Mary O. Richardson, Zoe E. Schaver, Abby N. Schroering, Elizabeth K. Scruton, Jacob R. Shpilberg, Allison Traylor, Omer Veladzic,
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation administers both the National Merit Scholarship Program and the National Achievement Scholarship Program. For more information, visit www.nationalmerit.org. Contact the Parent Connection
editor, Thomas Pack, at 485-6315 or at thomas.pack@jefferson. kyschools.us. 13
Vision 2015:
JCPS strategies to increase learning The JCPS Strategic Plan: Vision 2015 includes goals in four focus areas: Increased Learning; Graduation and Beyond; Stakeholder Involvement/Engagement; and Safe, Resourced, and Equipped Schools. Beginning with this issue, each edition of Parent Connection will highlight the strategies that the district is using to meet one of the goals or the measures it is using to track success. This month, the focus is on Goal 1. Focus Area: Increased Learning Goal: Every student progresses in his or her learning and meets or exceeds proficiency in all subjects. Strategies: • Design and implement a system to align the written, taught, and tested curriculum that allows teachers to be creative and to differentiate the taught curriculum to engage and to meet the needs of the whole child. • Determine through collaboration and research— and then institutionalize instructional best practices for—the effective delivery of the district-written curriculum and educational program in support of improved learning and the
development of the whole child. • Design and implement a coordinated system of professional development that is aligned to annual strategic priorities and targeted to the needs of schools. • Establish a formal process to support and monitor the use of instructional best practices. • Develop and implement a comprehensive, balanced plan (that includes both formative and summative measures) for student assessment that includes K Readiness and K–2 measures and the use of authentic assessments where data are utilized to inform practice. • Develop and implement reading interventions for current third-grade students (Class of 2021), current fourth-grade students (Class of 2020), and current fifth-grade students (Class of 2019) who are not performing at the Proficient level. • Develop and implement early interventions for students who are entering kindergarten and who are identified as academically underprepared by a Kindergarten Readiness Assessment. Develop and implement early interven-
tions for K–2 students who are identified by K–2 assessments. • Use program evaluations to measure, monitor, and manage program adoption, improvement, implementation, expansion, or termination. • Create a coordinated system of student support that will result in increasing attendance, reducing dropout and suspensions, and ultimately increasing time spent on learning. • Provide for continuous improvement of systems designed to support student achievement and to eliminate the achievement gap.