6th Grade

The information packet for testing for the Advanced learning Program is no available in the Counseling Office, Room 134. It is also available on line at SPS Advanced Learning, and at the Bilingual Family Center, and Enrollment Services at the John Stanford Center.

The deadline for applications is October 8, 2009.

Sixth graders only have two days of testing each of the next two weeks. Field trips are going to round out the third day.

Tuesday, April 14: Math (part 1—calculators and tools allowed)
Wednesday, April 15: Reading (part 1)
Thursday, April 16: Field trip to Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple & Dim Sum Lunch

Tuesday, April 21: Field trip to a bowling alley (“The Physics of Bowling”)
Wednesday, April 22: Math (part 2—no calculators or tools)
Thursday, April 23: Reading (part 2)

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.

Principal Halfaker, 7th grade counselor Takiyah Jackson, and I visited Meany Middle School today to give an overview of WMS, describe the transition process, and answer questions for those students coming to Washington. Over 100 Meany 6th and 7th graders will attend WMS next year, and they had many questions. They listened attentively, and some came up to us afterward to have a more in-depth answers. i enjoyed meeting them and am really looking forward to their coming to Washington next year. Our school will be enriched by their presence.

Then next step in the transition process will be an Open House at Washington on Tuesday, March 24 from 5 to 8. This will be not only for Menay students and their families, but also those coming to us from Summit and AAA. Dinner will be served, and after an opportunity to look around the school and visit classrooms and teachers, parents and students will split up. the students will go to the gym, where Washington’s ASB (Associated Student Body, a.k.a. Student Council) will give them a student’s view of WMS and answer questions student-to-student. Meanwhile the adults will convene in the lunchroom to speak with WMS staff. We’re hoping for a big turnout.

I am going around to all the 6th grade classes again, this time to pass out sheets for 7th grade classes. Students will have to rank order the three language classes we are offering next year (French, Japanese, and Spanish), and decide if they want a music class or not. They are supposed to bring these green sheets home with them for parent approval and signature, then return them to me in Room 134.

The District is emphasizing the PE requirement this year. It’s a state law that every middle schooler has at least one semester of PE each year, unless they have a PE waiver for medical, religious or “directed athletics” reasons. Parents should read the green form carefully to make sure they begin the process of a PE waiver if their student is going to take both a World Language and Music classes next year.

I’ve gone around to most of the 6th grade classes, as I do every semester. I highlighted 3 topics this time: 3rd quarter slump, upsurge in harassing, and changes coming to WMS.

1. 3rd Quarter Slump: No matter which program, no matter even which grade, many if not most students experience a slump in their academics during 3rd quarter. Feedback from the students elicited reasons such as: a realization that middle school is just as boring as elementary school, more homework, more challenging homework, getting up at really early hours catches up with them, the social dramas are distracting, and others. I talked about developing the skill of asking for help, a skill they will need more and more as they enter high school in a few years. Awareness of the slump by itself may help avert a huge crash.
2. Upsurge in Harassing: I normally expect and receive a number of requests to talk with me from 6h graders experience bullying or harassing behaviors from other students. What’s different this year is the almost exclusive prevalence of 6th graders as the harassers. I talked about the need to report, as I see only a fraction of incidents, and some thinking about what kind of person do you want to be? although we do have an anit-bullying/harassment curriculum for the entire three years, it has only been approved by staff to run once a month. I think this is insufficient even for these topics, and the curriculum could be broadened to include topics and materials all middle school students should learn, but which are not part of their academic curriculum. This is another story, however…
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Posted by Mr. Bilides at 01:56 PM. Filed under: APP • Bullying • Grades • School Climate • WMS •

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I met with each of the 5 APP classes today to discuss with them the proposed split of their program between WMS and Hamilton Middle School, as described by the Superintendent. Most had heard of it, as I and team leader Monica Beckman had suspected; we wanted to give them an opportunity to voice concerns and answers question as best I could.

Some topics that came up: house location and school selection, especially if parents were divorced; why APP and not the other programs; how friends’ support helps students do better academically; who’s going to teach at Hamilton; what will happen to the music program; where will they go to high school; and what could be done about having student opinions on this heard.

As I had no more information than the public had by that point, my main goal was to listen to the students, correct mis-information, and offer support and suggestions for how to organize a response if they wanted to make one. I should point out that there were several students demonstrably happy about the proposed switch, for different reasons. Still, many were at least a little worried and upset. For example, when it became clear that those switching would end up going to four different schools in 4 years, some protested. Kids are very resilient, however, and when a decision is finally made, there will be many months to help them over whatever humps they see in front of them.