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Ada Merritt K-8 Center

International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme http://adamerritt.dadeschools.net/

http://www.ibo.org

660 SW 3rd Street

Miami FL, 33134

Telephone: (305) 326 0791

Fax: (305) 326 0741

School Site Administration

Carmen M. Garcia

Principal

Lydia Sabatier

Assistant Principal

Jackeline Sanchez-Jimenez Andrew Alvarez

Primary Years Programme Coordinator Middle Years Programme Coordinator

This Student Agenda belongs to:

Name: _________________________________________________________

Student ID # ________________________ Grade ______________

Homeroom Teacher: ________________________ Room# _____________

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Dear Middle Years Programme Students:

Welcome to the 2018-2019 school year at Ada Merritt K-8 Center, a top-rated A school in Miami-Dade

County Public Schools District, winner of the Magnet Schools of America Award of Excellence, voted by

the American Organization of Teachers of Portuguese (AOTP) as Outstanding K-12 Portuguese Program,

and winner of the US Spanish Embassy 2017 School of the year! Welcome to a fully accredited

International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP)! As you enter sixth grade or continue your

studies in seventh and eighth grades, you will have the opportunity to receive a world-class education.

The IB MYP curriculum emphasizes work habits and study skills that will allow you to gain independence

and efficiency in your learning. This agenda is an invaluable tool that will assist you in acquiring the skills

necessary to become an efficient, lifelong learner. Please review it carefully, highlight it and share its

information with your parents, then sign it to acknowledge your understanding of its contents.

The MYP is a rigorous program that aims to prepare you for the academic demands that you will face

from middle school through college. In order to qualify for the Ada Merritt K-8 Center IB Certificate and

pin, at the end of grade 8, you will need to meet the following requirements:

- Maintain grade averages of C (2.5) or higher in all subjects and in conduct

- Maintain effort grades of 2 or higher

- Maintain a portfolio with work samples from each year of the program and reflections on your

progress in the MYP as outlined in the Portfolio Student Checklist

- Complete a minimum of 10 hours of service in grades 6 and 7, and 20 in 8th grade, for a total

minimum of 40 hours at the end of the Middle Years Programme

- Complete an Eighth Grade Community Project.

By complying with these requirements, you will demonstrate that you have acquired the attributes of an

IB Learner and you will be equipped to face the challenges ahead of you. Should you fail to meet those

requirements, but meet the minimum Miami-Dade Public School passing requirements, you will receive

an Ada Merritt K-8 Center Certificate of Promotion.

We wish you a very productive, fulfilling, and exciting school year 2018-2019!

Respectfully,

Carmen M. Garcia

Principal

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______________________________ ______________________________ _____________________

Student Signature Parent Signature Date

Superintendent of Schools Alberto M. Carvalho

Principal Carmen M. Garcia

Assistant Principal

Lydia E. Sabatier

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MYP SCHEDULE

School starts at 8:35 every day and ends at 3:05 (1:50 on Wednesdays). You will follow a block schedule

of 4 periods each day: 1, 3, 5, 7 on Odd Days and 2, 4, 6, 8 on Even Days, alternating Art or Music with

PE. (period 9 being your alternate period).

MYP Schedule

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday (85

minute periods)

Time

Periods Minutes

Homeroom 8:35 am – 8:41 am 6

1&2 8:43 am – 10:08 am 85

3&4 10:10 am – 11:35 am 85

5&6 11:37 am – 1:38 pm with a 30-

minute lunch break 85+30

7&8 1:40 pm – 3:05 pm 85

STUDENT WORK PRESENTATION

All work handed to your teachers should be written legibly and include the following in the heading: full

name and date. Individual teachers may provide additional instructions for work presentation. It is the

student’s responsibility to adhere to these requirements.

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE (IB) MIDDLE YEARS PROGRAMME (MYP)

KEY CONCEPTS GLOBAL CONTEXTS

Aesthetics Change Communication Communities • Identities and relationships

• Orientation in space and time

• Personal and cultural expression

• Scientific and technical innovation

• Globalization and sustainability

• Fairness and development

Connections Creativity Culture Development

Form Global interactions Identity Logic

Perspective Relationships Time, place and

space

Systems

IB MYP GRADING SCALE

1. Minimal achievement

2. Very limited achievement for all objectives with support

3. Limited achievement for most objectives with support

4. Good general understanding with occasional evidence of analytic skills

5. Consistent and thorough understanding, usually shows higher level thinking

6. Consistent and thorough understanding, higher level thinking, much originality and insight

7. Consistent and thorough understanding, higher level thinking, originality and insight applied in a wide

variety of situations.

Subject Teacher Room Study Buddy Phone

#

Study Buddy Phone

# H.R.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9/Alt

MYP Schedule

Wednesday (60 minute periods)

Time

Periods Minutes

Homeroom 8:35 am – 9:06 am 28

1&2 9:08 am – 10:08 am 60

3&4 10:10 am – 11:10 am 60

5&6 11:12 am – 12:48 pm with a

30-minute lunch break 60+30

7&8 12:50 pm – 1:50 pm 60

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PEANUT / NUT FREE SCHOOL

Ada Merritt K-8 Center is a peanut/nut free school. Please refrain from bringing to school any products

containing peanuts or tree nuts.

DISCIPLINE

It is expected that all students will respect and contribute positively to their learning environment, and practice

effective self-management. Upon misbehavior, students will receive a warning. On the second disruption during

a class period, they will receive a conduct cut. Each conduct cut will lower the student’s conduct grade for the

grading period. Extreme disruptions or repeat offenses will be sanctioned by a detention and/or referral. At all

times, students are expected to follow the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Code of Student Conduct

guidelines posted on the District’s website, and their individual teachers’ classroom rules.

BULLYING

Ada Merritt K-8 Center values the principles of the International Baccalaureate Learner Profile. Therefore,

bullying, repeatedly using hostile, intimidating, domineering, or threatening behavior (verbal, physical or

electronic), with the aim or purpose of physically or mentally hurting another individual, will not be tolerated.

Bullying is a violation of the Code of Student Conduct (http://ehandbooks.dadeschools.net/policies/90/index.htm),

and will be dealt with by the school’s administrative staff.

CELL PHONES AND ELECTRONICS USAGE POLICY

Unless otherwise requested by your teacher, the use of items such as iPods, cell phones, mp3 players and other

electronic items is NOT PERMITTED during class time. If any such items are used by a student, they will be

confiscated. A parent will be required to pick up confiscated devices after school.

UNIFORMS

Middle School students must adhere to the school’s uniform policy. They may wear the gold, navy or

white polo shirt with khaki pants, or knee-length shorts or skirts (no more than two inches above

the knee). Uniforms must be worn at all times. Students may wear the approved sweatshirt with a

school logo or a plain navy sweatshirt with no logo or markings. Hoods and hats may not be worn

during class. Undershirts must be the same color as the shirt. Closed-toe shoes are required at all times.

Dress code violations will result in disciplinary action after a warning at the first infraction and will be

entered in the student’s record.

GRADE REPORTING

Parents are expected to use the Parent Portal to follow their child’s academic progress. Interim Progress

Reports are issued at the midpoint of each quarter. Quarterly report cards are issued at the end of each

grading period. Parents, however, are encouraged to request paperless interim and grade reports through

their Parent Portal. In addition, IB grades are recorded in Managebac, an online portal providing access

to complete IB program information, including curriculum, assignments, and assessment information

(assessment criteria, grade descriptors and teacher comments). This additional tool provides parents and

students convenient, real-time access to students’ IB MYP experience and academic progress. All

students and parents are required to provide an email address in order to open a Managebac account.

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SERVICE AS ACTION

Service as Action (SA) is incorporated into the Middle Years Curriculum to encourage students to think of

themselves as thoughtful members of the local and global community. Middle grades students are asked to

complete a minimum of 10 hours of service in their communities in sixth grade, 10 in seventh grade, and 20 in

eighth grade. Service participation is one of the requirements for receiving an Ada Merritt IB Certificate at

the end of your 8th grade year.

All Service as Action proposals, evaluation, evidence and reflection must be submitted through Managebac,

which will allow students and parents to monitor their progress towards meeting the SA requirement.

There are two types of service activities:

1. School sponsored activities:

- All are pre-approved

- They may take place in school or outside of school, outside of school hours

- Information on opportunities for such activities will be shared through Managebac, the IB Service

board, flyers, etc.

2. Local community service activities for non-profit organizations. These activities are found on your own

or with your parents help and must be approved by your service advisor prior to completion.

Directions on submitting a request for SA and entering reflections and evidence are listed in the Service as Action

Guide available on Managebac. New students will receive instruction on the Managebac system at a beginning of

the school year assembly.

Community Service Do’s and Don’ts

Do

• Work at earning your SA hours throughout the year and be prepared for the May 17, 2019 deadline

• Seek as many activities as possible to be of service to your school, local and global community

• Check Managebac and the Service bulletin board for service opportunities offered to all students

• Volunteer for non-profit organizations that service the broader community

• Complete all Managebac forms yourself

• Complete your reflection and evidence quickly while it is fresh in your mind (within a week of the activity

completion)

• Indicate the actual number of hours you completed

• Attach photographs or scans of your evidence as image or PDF files

• Check grammar, syntax and spelling before submitting requests or reflections

• Communicate with your Service Advisor through Managebac.

Don’t

• Email Service forms or requests

• Submit requests for activities performed:

o under a parent’s supervision

o during school hours or the previous year

• Enter your grade level supervisor as the activity supervisor. The activity supervisor is the adult from the

sponsoring organization who can verify that you completed the activity under his/her supervision

Any questions regarding Service as Action should be submitted to your service advisor through Managebac.

My Service as Action Adviser is: _______________________________

My email address for Managebac is: _______________________________

My parents’ email address for Managebac is: _______________________________

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Portfolio Guidelines 2018-2019

At Ada Merritt K-8 Center, Portfolios serve a dual purpose. They provide you with a medium for selecting work

samples that reflect your growth throughout the Middle Years Programme. They also make you an active

participant in the evaluation of your progress. You may choose either a digital portfolio maintained on Managebac

or a paper portfolio, which will be kept in homerooms. In either case you will keep a checklist in the portfolio.

You will select work and reflect on it at designated times in your subject classes. The following checklist is a tool

to guide you towards the completion of your IB Portfolio at the end of each year. Your homeroom teacher will

also evaluate it as a requirement for earning the Ada Merritt K-8 Center International Baccalaureate

Certificate in eighth grade.

IB Student Portfolio Checklist

Student’s Name: MYP Year

1 2 3

1. Student Information:

• Student profile

• Approaches to Learning self assessment

• IB Learner Profile self assessment

• End of year reflection

2. Work Samples with Reflections

• Minimum of 6 per year, students are encouraged to include work samples that reflect a

range of Global Contexts

3. Extra-Curricular Activities

• Extra-curricular activity reflection with artifact (1-2 per year)

4. Family Involvement

• Family involvement activity form with artifact (1-2 per year)

5. Service as Action (enter the number of hours marked completed on Managebac)

Parent Porfolio Reviews (1 per year)

The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their

common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet help to create a better and more peaceful world.

The IB learner profile represents 10 attributes valued by IB World Schools. These attributes, and others

like them, help individuals become responsible members of their local and global communities.

As IB learners we strive to be:

✓ Inquirers

✓ Knowledgeable

✓ Thinkers

✓ Communicators

✓ Principled

✓ Open-minded

✓ Caring

✓ Courageous

✓ Balanced

✓ Reflective

✓ ____________________

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ATTENDANCE

There are probably no factors more important to a student’s progress in school than regular and punctual

attendance. Ada Merritt K-8 Center engages students in a rigorous course of study which prepares them

for successful post-secondary education. It also requires full participation in the program as well as

punctual and assiduous attendance.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-

DCPS) Board Rules regarding Student Attendance:

• Excused absences and tardies: illness or injury, medical appointment, death in family,

observance of a religious holiday, school sponsored events, subpoena, outdoor suspension

• Students missing five (5) or more consecutive days due to illness or injury are required to

provide a written statement from a health care provider

• Medical appointment: students must bring a note from a health care provider indicating the

time and date of the appointment

• Students absent from school will be marked “unexcused absent” until they submit the required

documentation. Failure to provide required documentation within three (3) school days upon

the return to school will result in an unexcused absence

• A student accumulating ten (10) or more unexcused absences in an annual course will have

his/her final grades withheld pending intervention by the Attendance Review Committee

• Unexcused absences do not require that the teacher provide make-up work for the student

• Students are expected to request make-up assignments for all excused absences/tardiness upon

return to class

• They must complete the make-up assignments within three days of the return to school

• No student shall be released within the final 30 minutes of the day unless authorized by the Principal

• For students following a 4X4 block schedule, each day not in attendance is counted as 2 absences.

Tardies greatly affect the learning environment of a child and of the entire classroom. Accumulated unexcused

tardies be counted towards the threshold for initiating an attendance review and entered in the child’s

permanent record with a referral. In addition, excessive tardies may prevent a student from being

eligible for perfect attendance.

Additional details on school board attendance rules may be found on the M-DCPS website at

http://www.neola.com/miamidade-fl/search/policies/po5200.htm

.

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I have read and understand the school’s Attendance Policy, as well as all the information included in the

student agenda pages.

______________________________ ______________________________ _____________________

Student Signature Parent Signature Date

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ADA MERRITT K-8 CENTER

MIDDLE YEARS PROGRAMME

ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY

Academic honesty is the quality of being a principled learner. It is an expectation of the Ada Merritt K-8

Center Middle Years Programme (MYP) that any work presented by an MYP student is his/her own

original work, representing his/ her personal learning. This expectation extends to all work submitted:

home learning assignments, projects, quizzes, and tests.

The academically honest student:

IB Learners strive to achieve the attributes of the Learner Profile, including being principled by showing

personal integrity and honesty. As principled learners, MYP students always strive to conduct

themselves with academic honesty, when dealing with teachers, peers, parents and school work.

Students at Ada Merritt K-8 Center understand that plagiarism (presenting another person’s work as

your own) constitutes theft and fraud and is classified as a Level II Behavior in the Miami-Dade County

Public Schools Code of Student Conduct. MYP students receive instruction in information literacy, and

understand that copying another person’s work, cutting and pasting from the internet, and using images

or other media without crediting the source, all constitute plagiarism. They learn to avoid plagiarism by

acknowledging the source of any passage, sentence, key idea, image or other media that they use in their

work. They learn to use quotation marks to indicate that they are using someone else’s words, and to

acknowledge the author. They practice strategies such as note-taking, paraphrasing, summarizing, and

citing sources, in order to use written information appropriately.

Penalties for Academic Misconduct:

According to the MDCPS Code of Student Conduct, cheating and other forms of misrepresentation are

considered Level II Behaviors because they significantly interfere with the learning and/or the well-

being of others. The following are the consequences for academic honesty violations:

• Parents will be contacted.

• Work will be graded F.

• The student will write a reflection on the importance of being a principled learner.

• The behavior will be documented in Miami-Dade County Public Schools records and in the

student’s cumulative folder through a Student Case Management Referral Form.

_____________________________ ____________________________ __________________

Student Signature Parent Signature Date

DOES

Acknowledge help from parents and peers

Acknowledge the sources of direct

quotations and key ideas

Cite reference materials such as books and

websites in a bibliography

Know what constitutes cheating and abides

by the rules

Follow all exam rules

Report witnessed cases of academic

misconduct.

DOES NOT

Use notes or reference materials during a

test unless allowed by a teacher

Copy from another student’s work

Hand in as his/her own that is partly or

entirely someone else’s work

Do assignments for another student

Offer another student his/her own work

to copy Remain silent when witnessing

misconduct.