November Meeting Rescheduling (again)

Dear Scholars Community,

I hate to do this, but it looks as though we are going to have to reschedule our November advisory board meeting one last time.  Dr Sidener was called out of the building for a meeting with her immediate supervisors, and I know that everyone is looking forward to hearing from her. 

We are setting the meeting for Friday, November 20 at 7:30 AM in the Media Center.  To download the event into Outlook or iCal, or to RSVP electronically, click here: http://scholarsacademy.ning.com/events/sa-advisory-board-meeting-all-2

I apologize for the inconvenience and hope that many people are still able to make the re-rescheduled meeting – it should be very informative with regards to the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.

As always, to see the schedule of all future events, click here: http://scholarsacademy.ning.com/events

To receive future event reminders by email, click here: http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=LatestEvents-MyScholarsAcademy

Best Regards,

Andy Weiss

Advisory Board Meeting Change

Dear Scholars Community,

Our monthly advisory board meeting has been rescheduled to Thursday, November 19 at 7:30 AM in the media center, due to a conflict with a PTSA meeting.  Unfortunately, we can only be in one place at a time!  Here is the link to RSVP or download a reminder into your Outlook / iCal: http://scholarsacademy.ning.com/events/sa-advisory-board-meeting-all-2

To see the schedule of all future events, click here: http://scholarsacademy.ning.com/events

To receive future event reminders by email, click here: http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=LatestEvents-MyScholarsAcademy

Don’t forget that our meetings are truly open to the general public.  There are no requirements or dues to attend and your presence is always appreciated.  Dr. Sidener and Ms. Robins will be on hand to answer your IB related questions this month – as we approach our IB site visit this December, I hope to see many faces new and old!

Best Regards,

Andy Weiss

Scholars Academy Club Dues and Executive Board Meeting

Hi Everyone!

I’m Erica Graff, the President of the Scholars Academy Club.

To the Executive Board: We will be having a short meeting on Tuesday, November 10 in Mr. Weiss’ office right after school.

To the rest of the Scholars Academy: Dues are $10 and should be paid by November 20. They can be paid to Gaby Gerinska. I encourage all of you to join the Scholar’s Academy club. All of the money collected will directly benefit you in your classrooms.  If you are unable to afford the $10, please see Mr. Weiss for a waiver.

Thanks!

Erica

A Few Good Interns

Dear Scholars,

State Senator Dan Gelber’s office is looking for additional interns.  Please read the job posting below:

I am looking for a few good interns, to add to the great ones we already have. State Senator Dan Gelber’s  is running for the position of Florida Attorney General.The primary will be held in August 2010, and the general election will be the following November.

 I’m looking for six or more students who have good computer skills, are interested in learning about the state-wide campaign process, and are able to work in a fast paced office. The tasks range from research, which is then entered into spread sheets,to preparing materials for fundraisers and conventions,  to the ubiquitous stuffing and stamping of envelopes, and everything in between.

Ideally, the students would be able to commit to at least two days per week for a minimum of two and a half hours each time. I’m also happy to speak to someone who can give more hours, but fewer days. Bringing their own laptops is a plus.

Anyone who is interested is welcome to email me at henri@dangelber.com.

Best Regards,

Andy Weiss

Monday Trip to CGHS

Dear Sophomores,

Just a reminder to everyone that we are heading down to Coral Gables High School Monday afternoon at 4 PM to learn more about the IB Diploma Programme from actual, real live IB students and parents.  I hope you are able to attend – please RSVP on my door.

For more information, see my original post: http://scholarsacademy.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/ib-the-real-deal/

See you soon!

Best Regards,

Andy Weiss

IB: The Real Deal

Dear Scholars Sophomores and Families,

As I’m sure you’re already well aware, you are positioned to be the first class in the history of Miami Beach Senior High to receive the prestigious International Baccalaureate Diploma.  You’ve probably heard me go on and on about the benefits of the IB program.  You might even have viewed some version of the handy IB_Presentation I’ve shown at various venues.  If you’re really lucky, you might remember something informative I said.

Well, now you have the chance to see something truly rare: I will shut up, for roughly one hour, on October 26, 2009.  It will be a sight to behold.  You will want to bring your friends and family to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, especially after you see the breathtaking flyer that will appear all over school tomorrow morning:

As the flyer says, the idea is that you will have the opportunity to learn firsthand from current Coral Gables IB students and their parents about what the program is like: how much homework is assigned, how difficult the exams are, what kind of studying is necessary, etc.  That way, you will be able to begin to determine for yourself whether you are interested in pursuing all the aforementioned benefits of International Baccalaureate, pending our site visit and authorization.  I promise I will be quiet the whole time.

The details of the event are as follows: A bus will leave MBSH at 4:00 PM to try and avoid traffic heading south to Coral Gables.  If we get there early, we will be able to grab a quick bite at the Merrick Park Mall.  At 5:30,  the IB Coordinator of CGSH will give a quick rundown of how their program works, after which there will be some structured Q and A time and breakout sessions for parents to speak frankly to parents and for students to speak frankly to students.  We will leave CGSH at 7 PM and return to MBSH before 8 PM.

I will be speaking to teachers this week to try and assure that there won’t be any tests or major assignments due Tuesday.  Please RSVP either electronically, or by signing up on my door in room 706.  As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me at aweiss@dadeschools.net.

I hope to see many sophomores and their parents at the event.  Don’t forget to RSVP!

Best Regards,

Andy Weiss

Class of 2014

Dear Scholars Community,

I’d like to announce that the online application is now live for the class of 2014.  I can’t believe that is recruitment season again, especially since it was 97 degrees yesterday, but I am excited to meet with all of our potential scholars.

You can find the application online by going to http://scholarsacademy.ning.com and clicking on the “Apply” tab.  Parents and students should review the application together before submitting, as the form contains lots of important information regarding prerequisite courses, gifted classification, space constraints, notification timelines, and other FAQ. 

The most important thing for you to know is that our priority deadline is Jauary 15.  If you apply prior to this date, your application will be considered without concern for space constraints.  No qualified candidate who applies before January 15 will be turned down.  However, after January 15, I will have to see how many spaces are open and judge your application relative to those of other applicants.  I may have to stress you out by placing you on a waitlist, and that is never fun, so please do your best to apply before January 15.

In general, we are looking for students with a 3.0 unweighted GPA in their academic classes, who are excited to take high-level academic classes in each discipline for all four years.  Virtually all of our students enter ninth grade having already taken Algebra I and Earth Space Science as a minimum; if you do not fall into this category, please contact me directly at aweiss@dadeschools.net so we can figure out if there is a way to keep you on track for success in the Scholars Academy.  There is usually something we can do, but the sooner we speak, the better.

I will be hosting tours of the school most weeks prior to January 15.  The tours will leave at 9 AM on Fridays from my office (706).   Please RSVP electronically at http://scholarsacademy.ning.com/events if you intend to attend one.  Also, please consider joining the “Future Hi-Tides“ group on the My Scholars Academy social network.  It is a great way for me to get important information to applicants and recently accepted students. 

Please forward this post to anyone considering the Scholars Academy or Miami Beach Senior High.  I think we have a top-rate program and would love to show prospective students and families what we do here.  Feel free to contact me at aweiss@dadeschools.net

Best Regards,

Andy Weiss

IB Poster Photo Contest

Dear Scholars,

The International Baccalaureate Organization is sending a team to visit our school in December to see if we know enough about the IB Diploma Programme to implement it next year.  To that end, I am beginning an information campaign to make sure that everyone knows as much as possible by then.  One of the things the IBO will be gauging is our knowledge of something called the Learner Profile.  These are the 10 attributes that IB students should achieve in the process of earning the diploma.

IB learners strive to be:

• Inquirers
• Knowledgeable
• Thinkers
• Communicators
• Principled
• Open-Minded
• Caring
• Risk-Takers
• Balanced
• Reflective

For more information, you can peruse the following document: Learner Profile

To better disseminate knowledge of the IB Learner Profile, I will soon be postering the school from top to bottom, but first I need your help.  I have created the following 10 poster templates, one for each attribute of the Learner Profile:

The idea is that pictures of Scholars Academy students will take the place of the stock photo I am currently using as a placeholder.  What I am asking you to do is the following:

1. Take pictures of you and your friends enacting one of the Learner Profile attributes (you have wide latitude of interpretation here, from arts and crafts to kabuki theater).
2. Email the photos in .PNG or .TIF format to me at aweiss@dadeschools.net.
3. Groom your MySpace profile in anticipation of becoming famous.

I will use the best picture emailed to me for each attribute by Friday, October 16.  By Monday, all of your friends will be asking you to autograph the posters that will be all over school.  By Tuesday, everyone within a 10 mile radius of Miami Beach Senior High will be able to recite the Learner Profile from memory.  No joke.

Students and parents, please stay tuned in the coming weeks, as I will slowly be rolling out more and more information in anticipation of our IB site visit.  As always, if you ever have any questions, feel free to email me at aweiss@dadeschools.net.  And as always, a great way to get better informed is to attend our Advisory Board meetings, even if you’re not a regular participant.

Best Regards,

Andy Weiss

October Advisory Board Meeting

Dear Scholars Community,

Just a reminder that our monthly advisory board meeting will be held this Thursday, October 8 at 7PM.  The meeting will be hosted by the Goldberg family at 3447 Prairie Ave.  All are welcome – please RSVP to the event electronically and email Rita Goldberg at fredritagoldman@bellsouth.net if you intend to attend.

Best Regards,

Andy Weiss

PS: As a bonus, I’m posting more college information below:

1. This is a table to figure out where you stand relative to HS seniors all accross the country.  Use your best combination math and verbal SAT score and your unweighted GPA to see your percentile on the Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Admissions Index: http://www.hecb.wa.gov/Research/issues/admissions/AITables-05.pdf
2. This is a NYT article about state prepaid college funds, and is one of those ‘Thank goodness I live in Florida’ higher education moments. It turns out that out of the whole country, only Florida and Colorado’s funds are not running decifits: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/education/05college.html?_r=1
3. This is a link to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund application: http://www.hsf.net/Scholarships.aspx?id=72
4. And this is new set of college rankings byt Washington Monthly that lists schools by their social mobility, research and community service: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings/national_university_rank.php

The results are in…

Dear Scholars,

I would like to extend congratulations to the executive board of the Scholars Club for the 2009-2010 school year.

• Freshmen Representatives: Veronica Pizzorni, Brittany Graff
• Sophomore Representatives: Jason Albert, Patrick Quinlan
• Junior Representatives: Lena Compton, Luc D’Hautuille
• Senior Representatives: Danielle Madrigal, Erin Albert
• Secretary: Madison Sanders
• Historian: Nadine Goldberg
• Treasurer: Gaby Gerinska
• Vice President for Correspondence: Alessia Pizzorni
• Vice President for Senior Affairs: Edwin Innis
• President: Erica Graff

E-Board members: There is a meeting this Wednesday immediately after school in Room 3562.  Please RSVP.  Congratulations again!

Best Regards,

Andy Weiss