10th Grade Parent Orientation

September 22, 2011 

Welcome to all of our returning families and new families alike. We are very excited about our partnership this year and we hope that

tonight will be informative and enjoyable. We have taken the time to clarify our mission and practice and look forward to hearing your

feedback and questions tonight and throughout the year.

OUR SCHOOL MISSION

• The Young Women’s Leadership School of Astoria creates a community of lifelong learners that successfully prepares young women for college. TYWLS of Astoria is committed to nurturing the intellectual curiosity, creativity, and developmental needs of its young women. The school community cultivates dynamic, participatory learning and enables students to experience success on many levels, especially in the fields of math, science and technology. Students are supported to achieve their personal best in and out of school. TYWLS of Astoria instills in its students a sense of community, responsibility and ethical behavior that help make them leaders of their generation, today and tomorrow.

iZone InitiativesThe Innovation Zone (iZone) is a community of innovative New York City schools committed to personalizing learning. By meeting the needs, motivations and strengths of each child, students will be better prepared for success in K-12, college and career. Across the iZone, schools achieve personalization in a variety of ways based on which ideas, technology and tools work best for their school community. http://schools.nyc.gov/community/innovation/izone/About_Us/default.htm

Most of the changes we have made this year are represented in the schedule:• Foundations Classes• Studio Courses• Open Lunch• Academic Coaching in Advisory

In addition we also have:• 100 new laptops• iPads for teachers• SmartBoards in every classroom

Advisory

• The Young Women’s Leadership School of Astoria strengthens the mind, body and soul of our students by providing daily opportunities to build self-confidence. We encourage cooperative behavior through team-building exercises, and acquire life skills by developing meaningful peer and advisory relationships. An integral component of our advisory program is service to our in-school, local and global community. The end goal is to gain understanding, appreciation and to celebrate the diversity within our shared community. Our primary focus is to equip our students with the tools and experiences they will need to become educated and productive citizens, as future leaders of tomorrow.

Grading Policy• Differentiation: Our school has students of all achievement levels and work

habit styles. It is our goal to identify and understand these differences, so that we can educate each girl well. This individualized instructional philosophy will enable us to challenge all of our students and help them grow.

• JumpRope: We believe that a single grade cannot effectively report all that we need to say about a student’s learning and performance. As a result The Young Women’s Leadership School of Astoria has adopted JumpRope, an outcome based grading system developed by the EASL Institute. 

• Our goal in using this system is to provide families and their daughters with high-quality, timely feedback needed to support the learning process and encourage student success. Each student’s academic performance is outcome based (not yet, meets standards, exceeds standards).  All assessment is based on evidence of learning.  Marks reflect learning, not conduct.  Students and parents can access the site at:

• http://app.impactschools.net/ImpactParent.html#school=TYWLS

Regents Exams• Regents Exams in global history and

geography, geometry, and earth science will be given during the weeks of June 13-21.

• Although the state tests are important, we want to stress that our general course of study is designed to enhance the skills needed for all standardized exams. Students will receive specific instruction towards the content and format of the exam and will be well prepared before the above mentioned dates.

• Geometry and earth science are needed for an advanced regents diploma.

Your Role

• Students can only be successful when they have the full support of their families. You are the key to your daughter’s achievement and we provide many opportunities for you to be part of our school community, as we work together to help our girls grow.

• You are welcome to make an appointment to visit classrooms, join a book club, help with a project, chaperone a field trip, be part of our career day and community service projects, not to mention the varied activities Sandra Pagan has put together to bring you into the building. We are also open to suggestions for ways you think we can improve and we’d love to hear about all of your talents and how you’d like to use them to be part of our school.

• Please contact Sandra Pagan, our community liaison, with any questions, suggestions or just to make an appointment to come visit!

Announcements from the College Office

• October 5: College Fair at TYWLS of Astoria.  Parents are invited from 9-10:00 am. 

• October 12: PSAT

• November 14: College Fair at Lehman College.  More than 50 colleges will be represented!

Lawrence Alexander, our CBI counselor, will be available to meet with students every day, after school until 4:30 pm, to help them on their road to college!

The 10th Grade Team!Please see www.schoolrack.com/BrookeCareyELA for a copy of this presentation.

• Laura Mitchell, Principal Lmitche10@schools.nyc.gov• Sandra Pagan, Community Liaison

spagan2@schools.nyc.gov • Lawrence Alexander, CollegeBound Counselor

lalexander@the-cbi.org• Brooke Carey, ELA brookecareyela@gmail.com and

www.schoolrack.com/BrookeCareyELA• Melissa Scott, SETTS liss906@gmail.com• Dave Kolodney, Earth Science mrkolodney@gmail.com 

www. schoolrack.com/MrKolodney• Daphne Riley, Spanish dacari22@gmail.com• Jen Mangone, Global History

jen.tywlsastoria@gmail.com www.schoolrack.com/JenMangone

• Monica Zimmers, Geometry monicazimmers.math@gmail.com and www.schoolrack.com/MonicaZimmers