What a difference a year makes. At this point last year, we had already missed several days of school, affecting semester finals and ECA testing. While we have missed a few days, to date our schedule has not been interrupted by the polar vortex.
Our guidance department in partnership with Purdue North Central recently conducted a meeting to discuss the benefits of taking dual credit/concurrent credits and advanced placement courses. As I have mentioned in previous Wolves Wires, we are a leader in the state with almost 77% of our most recent graduating class earning a dual credit, passing an advanced placement exam, or earning an industry certification. Over the next several years, Michigan City High School will be expanding its dual credit offerings. For the 2015-16 school year, we are adding AP Psychology, AP Environmental Science, and AP Probability and Statistics. Our goal is to add AP Human Geography and AP World History over the next two school years.
If your students are taking Algebra 1 or English 10, then they are very familiar with the Acuity assessments. This year, our students in English 10 and Algebra 1 will take the Acuity three times in preparation for the End of Course Assessments (ECA) in May. Our teachers meet in professional learning communities to monitor student performance and align their curriculum to better instruct students moving forward. We have established a goal that by the end of the 2014-2015 school year, 80% of our sophomores will pass the Algebra 1 ECA and 75% of our sophomores will pass the English 10 ECA. Our students performance on the ECA along with an increase in our graduation rate will help Michigan City High School improve it’s A-F accountability grade. To better support our students with passing the ECA, after school ECA support will be provided by Club Inspire. Contact Vicky Burton at 873-2044, ext. 4543 for more information.
Please contact guidance and continue to monitor your students via RDS to ensure your students are on the correct path. As always, you can follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, or call to remain informed of the many wonderful things taking place here at Michigan City High School.