HOMEWORK--THE AVERAGE STUDENT SHOULD SPEND APPROXIMATELY 1 AND 1/2 HOURS EACH NIGHT COMPLETING THEIR HOMEWORK. SOME NIGHTS WILL OBVIOUSLY BE LESS THAN THIS, OTHER NIGHTS MORE. ALMOST EVERY NIGHT STUDENTS WILL HAVE HOMEWORK IN MATH, ENGLISH, LITERATURE AND HISTORY. HOMEWORK IN SCIENCE, RELIGION, SPELLING AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE WILL OCCUR A COUPLE OF TIMES A WEEK. SPELLING PACKETS WHICH INCLUDE DEFINITION OF WORD, USE IN A SENTENCE AND WRITTEN OUT FOUR TIMES EACH ARE DUE EVERY FRIDAY. THE SKILL OF SUCCESSFULLY COMPETING HOMEWORK IS THE OBJECTIVE FOR THIS YEAR. ASSIGNMENTS ARE TO BE TURNED IN NEATLY DONE AND ON TIME. HOMEWORK IS MARKED DOWN IF IT IS TURNED IN LATE. CONTINUED LACK OF HOMEWORK OR POOR QUALITY HOMEWORK WILL RESULT IN DETENTIONS AND PARENT CONFERENCES. PLEASE WORK WITH YOUR CHILD AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR IN ESTABLISHING GOOD HOMEWORK PATTERNS. READING IS PART OF EVERY NIGHTS HOMEWORK. WHETHER READING IS ASSIGNED OR NOT, READING AND REVIEWING HISTORY AND LITERATURE NOTES AND STORIES IS A MUST. FIVE MINUTES SPENT IN REVIEW OF THESE TWO SUBJECTS EACH NIGHT WILL SUBSTANTIALLY INCREASE A STUDENTS PERFORMANCE IN REMEMBERING IMPORTANT DETAILS ABOUT THE READING. ALL HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS MAY BE DONE IN EITHER PEN OR TYPED (UNLESS OTHERWISE INSTRUCTED). HISTORY--THIS YEAR WE WILL BE STUDYING AMERICAN HISTORY. THE EVENTS, PEOPLE AND PLACES THAT HAVE CREATED WHO WE ARE AS A PEOPLE TODAY, WILL BE EXAMINED STARTING WITH COLONIZATION AND ENDING WITH EVENTS OF THIS CENTURY. READING COMPREHENSION, MEMORIZATION, ESSAY WRITING, REPORTS, GROUP PROJECTS, POWER POINT PRESENTATIONS AND CLASS PARTICIPATION ARE ALL COMPONENTS OF THE SKILLS TAUGHT AND DEVELOPED DURING THIS SCHOOL YEAR.

MATH-- SOME STUDENTS WILL BE TAKING ALGEBRA WITH MRS. MILANI. THIS IS AN HONORS CLASS AND STUDENTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE ABLE TO MOVE AT A RAPID PACE. POOR TEST SCORES AND OR LACK OF COMPLETING HOMEWORK WILL RESULT IN DISMISSAL FROM THIS CLASS. MY MATH GROUP WILL BE REVIEWING BASICS IN MATH FOR SUCCESS IN HIGH SCHOOL. AN EMPHASIS IS PLACED ON STUDENTS MASTERING FRACTION WORK AND NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE NUMBERS. MY MATH CLASS WILL ALSO BE DOING UNITS ON ALGEBRA, GEOMETRY AND TRIGONOMETRY.

LITERATURE-- OUR READING PROGRAM WILL INCLUDE A COMBINATION OF THE FOLLOWING; SELECTED SHORT STORIES FROM OUR READER, NOVELS, PLAYS (READ, PERFORMED, ATTENDED), POETRY, ORAL REPORTS, ORAL READING, DISCUSSION, ESSAYS AND CLASS PARTICIPATION. THE WIDE RANGE OF READINGS WILL ALLOW STUDENTS TO SAMPLE MANY AUTHORS AND STYLES OF WRITING. THIS IN TURN WILL HELP OUR STUDENTS TO DEVELOP AND IMPROVE THEIR OWN WRITING STYLE.

RELIGION--SCRIPTURE STUDY, CATHOLIC DOCTRINE, MORAL DECISION MAKING, HUMAN SEXUALITY, PRAYER AND CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY ARE THE DIFFERENT ELEMENTS WE WILL BE EXPLORING THIS YEAR. HOMEWORK PROJECTS CONSTITUTE OVER HALF THE GRADE FOR RELIGION. QUALITY EFFORT IS EXPECTED ON THESE PROJECTS.

SCIENCE--THE FOCUS THIS YEAR IS PHYSICAL SCIENCE. MRS. LOPEZ AND MR. WALTON WILL BE CO-TEACHING THIS CLASS. THE AREAS OF CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS WILL BE EXPLORED. STUDENTS SHOULD BE READY TO TAKE NOTES AS WELL AS COMPLETE THE WORKBOOK PAGES. MONTHLY SHORT REPORTS ON FAMOUS SCIENTISTS WILL BE PART OF THE CURRICULUM. STUDENTS WILL BE TURNING IN WEEKLY SCIENCE IN THE NEWS SUMMARIES. ALL STUDENTS WILL BE REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SCHOOL SCIENCE FAIR. MORE DETAILS WILL BE GIVEN OUT IN OCTOBER.

COMPUTER-- STUDENTS WILL CONTINUE THEIR WORK WITH MR. CLIFTON NOBLE IN EXPANDING THEIR KNOWLEDGE AND USE OF THE COMPUTER. COMPUTER PROJECTS ARE INTERWOVEN WITH CLASS WORK IN OTHER SUBJECTS AREAS.

SPELLING--EXPANDING BOTH SPELLING SKILLS AND VOCABULARY ARE EMPHASIZED THIS YEAR. SELF CORRECTION OF SPELLING MISTAKES IN THE STUDENTS OWN WRITING IS DEVELOPED.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION-- WITH MR. LEITE STUDENTS WILL PARTICIPATE IN VARIOUS SPORTS AND GAMES. IMPROVING ATHLETIC SKILLS, TEAMWORK, EXERCISE AND FUN ARE THE INGREDIENTS OF THE P.E. PROGRAM. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT STUDENTS HAVE THE RIGHT KIND OF SHOES FOR P.E. . ANY EXCUSE FOR MISSING P.E. MUST BE IN WRITING (FROM A PARENT IF STUDENT IS TO MISS ONE OR TWO CLASSES OR A DOCTORS NOTE IF STUDENT IS TO MISS MORE THAN TWO CLASSES)

ART--THOUGH THERE WILL BE SOME ART PROJECTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR THE REAL FOCUS OF ART THIS YEAR IS ITS INTEGRATION INTO OTHER SUBJECT AREAS. ART IN HISTORY, MATH, COMPUTER AND LITERATURE WILL BE ENCOURAGED THROUGH VISUAL PRESENTATIONS.

PROGRESS REPORTS--PROGRESS REPORTS WILL BE SENT OUT HALFWAY THROUGH EACH TRIMESTER. ALL STUDENTS WILL RECEIVE A PROGRESS REPORT FOR THAT PERIOD. PLEASE SIGN PROGRESS REPORTS AND RETURN THEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

HONOR ROLL--STUDENTS ATTAINING A 3 POINT OR ABOVE GRADE POINT AVERAGE WILL BE ON THE B HONOR ROLL. THOSE ATTAINING A 3.65 OR ABOVE WILL BE ON THE A HONOR ROLL. GRADE POINT AVERAGE IS BASED ON THE GRADES FOR THE FOLLOWING SUBJECTS; RELIGION, MATH, READING, ENGLISH, SPELLING, HISTORY, SPANISH AND SCIENCE.

SUPPLIES--YOUR TEEN SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT HOME A SUPPLY LIST THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT BY NEXT MONDAY ALL SUPPLIES SHOULD BE IN THE STUDENTS DESK. I WOULD ALSO ASK THAT YOUR CHILD’S THINGS ARE SOMEHOW MARKED, ESPECIALLY ITEMS LIKE CALCULATORS. THIS WILL SAVE A LOT OF PROBLEMS AS THE YEAR GOES ON. A STEADY SUPPLY OF PENS, PENCILS AND BINDER PAPER ARE IMPORTANT. ORGANIZATION IS THE KEY TO STARTING THE YEAR SUCCESSFULLY. PLEASE CHECK DURING THIS FIRST MONTH OF SCHOOL YOUR CHILD’S NOTEBOOKS. THIS WILL GIVE YOU A GOOD IDEA OF WHAT WE ARE STUDYING AND HOW ORGANIZED YOUR CHILD IS WITH THEIR WORK. NOTES SHOULD BE KEPT FOR ALL SUBJECTS EXCEPT SPELLING. PLEASE MAKE SURE ALL BOOKS ARE COVERED BY NEXT WEEK.

COMMUNICATION-- ONE OF THE KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL YEAR IS THE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN TEACHER AND STUDENT, STUDENT AND PARENTS AND TEACHER AND PARENTS. A NEWSLETTER DETAILING UPCOMING FIELD TRIPS, SCHOOL PROJECTS OR REPORTS AND OTHER INTERESTING 8TH GRADE INFORMATION WILL BE COMING OUT AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH TRIMESTER. IF YOU ARE UNCLEAR ABOUT ANY INFORMATION COMING HOME (OR INFORMATION IS NOT COMING HOME) PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO WRITE ME A NOTE OR GIVE ME A CALL 234-2244 OR (707) 647-2637. I KNOW THAT WORKING TOGETHER WE CAN CREATE THE BEST LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR YOUR CHILD.

THANKS,
MR. BILL WALTON