Category: IB

LVA Celebrates Inaugural Class of the 100% Society

LVA Celebrates Inaugural Class of the 100% Society

Lehigh Valley Academy RCS

Many of our 4-6 building mathematicians have brighter lanyards these days as they have started collecting the limited edition pins marking their entrance into the 100% Society!  These bright badges of honor let their peers and teachers know that they have successfully earned at least three 100% scores on the iReady lessons during that month. 100 society 1The best part is that the iReady lessons are specifically chosen for each individual student to best meet his/her needs and to give each student exactly what is needed to promote growth, giving all students the opportunity to continue being strong mathematical thinkers! This brand new society originated as a fun and engaging way to motivate the students to make the best of their time spent on iReady Online Instruction, and we have seen such enthusiasm from our students.

In January, the Math Department was happy to celebrate our Inaugural Class of the 100% Society and we have continued adding to our society ever since.  Each month, in addition to the fancy invitation, the students are invited to attend an exclusive monthly event, which always has a fun theme and is filled with Minute-to-Win-It games, crafts, STEAM projects, outside time, and a super professional photo booth, complete with props to make those 100 society 2100% Society memories last! Each student also receives a limited edition monthly 100% Society Pin to wear on their lanyard that announces to LVA that they are rocking their Online Instruction.  Each month features a fresh new color, and students are urged to collect them all. We look forward to inviting more and more students into the 100% Society to celebrate their commitment and growth using the iReady program!

 

Mrs. Steph Comp, Ms. Mary Hartnett, & Mrs. Hannah Chami

Math Department – Elementary School

Lehigh Valley Academy

 

LVA celebrates IB “Four” All!

LVA celebrates IB “Four” All!

Lehigh Valley Academy RCS

Lehigh Valley Academy Regional Charter School is
one of two schools in the United States to offer the
Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme, Diploma Programme & Career-related Programme.

This year marks the start of Lehigh Valley Academy’s (LVA) seventeenth year of operation.  For the last sixteen years, LVA has prided itself on many things, one of them being the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme.  In 2006, LVA was authorized to offerHIMG_6707 the Primary Years Programme (PYP), followed by the Diploma Programme (DP) in 2007, and the Middle Years Programme (MYP) in 2009.  LVA is thrilled to now be able to add the Career-related Programme (CP) to that list of authorizations, making it one of two schools in the United States to offer all four programmes and one of twenty-three in the world to offer all four programmes.

The CP is IB’s fourth program and stemmed from a need to balance career-readiness with challenging academics.  While many career-readiness programs don’t offer students access to academic rigor, the CP has this tenant as its cornerstone.  Like the DP, students in the CP will take academically challenging courses; however, they will have the opportunity to select a career pathway.

CP students will have a core just like DP students have a core.  The CP core, however, looks a little different:

  • Personal and Professional Skills (PPS):  This class will show students how to succeed in today’s world in the classroom and beyond.  They will focus on effective communication skills, resume writing, interview skills, and how to effectively collaborate in the workplace.  
  • Service Learning:  Like the DP, students in CP will complete a service learning component.  Students will interact with their community; students will serve an authentic need while learning new skills.  Students will work with the PPS class and teacher to develop a service learning project that relates to the chosen career pathway.
  • Reflective Project (RP):  Similar to the Extended cp-model-enEssay in the DP, students will write an extended piece of academic writing that will focus on research and developing an argument.  The RP will focus on an ethical dilemma in the student’s pathway. 
  • Language Development:  Instead of taking a DP language class, students in the CP will be allowed to study a language of their choice using Duolingo.  This course will culminate in a language portfolio to demonstrate their learning.

In the spring of 2017, Mrs. Mauser and I attended a training on CP to find out if it would be a good fit for LVA.  After that training, we knew CP was the perfect fit for LVA. We are proud that we can offer DP to all of our students, a programme that oftentimes is highly selective.  The IB is working hard to change this perception, and schools like LVA are at the forefront of that change. While we firmly stand behind our IB-for-All mission and believe that all students benefit from a DP education, we realize that DP isn’t always the best fit for everyone.  This is where CP fits in. It allows students to take a few DP courses and focus on a career pathway to prepare them for college or the workforce.

On April 11, 2018, a team from IB visited LVA to talk to our staff, students, and parents, and assess our readiness to offer CP.  As a result of the visit, the team had many commendations for LVA.  In particular, the team applauded LVA for:

  • “its desire to ensure that more students are part of a full IB programme.”
  • “creatively incorporating the IB learner profile into the ethos of the school community.  It permeates the school culture.”
  • developing “a comprehensive program for English Language Learners that includes extensive classroom support for teachers and students.”
  • developing  “the context to implement an inclusive CP with policies and practices that effectively support special educational needs.”

Like the IB, LVA is a dynamic institution.  We are definitely proud of our Diploma Programme, but we recognize the need to grow with and for our students and for the local and global communities of which they will be a part.

To begin our CP journey, LVA has decided to offer two career pathways from Project Lead the Way:  Biomedical and Engineering. These are the most popular careers our students choose to study in college.  They are also pathways that can prepare students for careers, two-year degrees, and four-year degrees. The Biomedical pathway, for instance, caHIMG_6770n prepare students for two-year medical related career programs, technical medical programs, and pre-professional programs.  While we are starting with these two pathways, we do want to add more. The hope is to add a business/management pathway. After this, the sky truly is the limit; the CP is an extremely flexible program that we hope will meet the needs of students at LVA.

Our first CP cohort will consist of about 40 students, which is approximately 40% of the 2018-2019 sophomore class.  

For more information on the Career-related Programme, please visit the Career-related Programme page on LVA’s website:  Career-related Programme Page.

Mr. Andrew Hall

DP/CP Coordinator, Project Lead the Way Coordinator

My 10th Grade Personal Project: By Vidhya Thiyagarajan

My 10th Grade Personal Project: By Vidhya Thiyagarajan

Lehigh Valley Academy RCS

vidhya2The Personal Project, a requirement for Year 5 students (10th grade) in the MYP (Middle Years Program), is a project where students can basically focus on any topic they are interested in, as long as they complete the cycle of Investigate, Plan, Take Action and Reflect on their chosen topic.

I have been playing flute for six years. Over the years, I have developed a deep passion and respect for flute and music itself. Involved in many ensembles and taking advantage of every opportunity to perform, fed my curiosity of wanting to learn more about music. I wanted to further my knowledge by expanding my realm of music from playing to composing. So, for my Personal Project, I decided to focus on music, specifically composing music for the flute and teaching my piece to kids. I created timelines and lists to ensure that my project would be successful and completed on time. After, I had researched “Music Theory” and used my previous knowledge to create a two-part flute piece: Nature’s Chorus. Before I began teaching, I collaborated with the Jr. and Sr. High School Band teacher: Ms. Riccio, the 4-6 Band teacher: Ms. Ewaniuk and my private flute teacher to get their advice on what I could do to improve my song.

After both myself and my three teachers evaluated the song and I made the necessary changes, I started vidhya (6)teaching it to Ms. Ewaniuk’s four flute players. I was so excited to teach and watch my piece come to life. The four flutists: Alexis, Grace, Joelle and Sofia exhibited enthusiasm and dedication in learning the song in every lesson. Each lesson consisted of new techniques in playing the flute learned and improvement in the song. They were so fun to work with and I am really glad I had the opportunity to to work with four talented musicians and offer them some advice on being a musician! After we had worked on the song for about four weeks, it was time for our first concert!

On April 8th, the 4-6 Jaguar band and choir had a concert at the Sands Casino. Along with their performances, my flute quartet performed Nature’s Chorus. I was so ecstatic and proud of how far they had come since their first time playing my piece and was so happy that they had fun while practicing and playing it! We have another performance on May 10th, along with the 4-6 Band and Choir, and I cannot wait to hear their performance! I am so thankful to have had this experience because it provided me with exposure and perspective on music and teaching that I could not have gotten anywhere else! I also want to thank all of my teachers that supported me throughout this entire project and LVA for giving me this opportunity!