L E A D P U B L I C S C H O O L S Brick Church College Prep Bulletin BCCP is a zoned-enrollment college preparatory middle school doing "Whatever It Takes" to graduate 100% of our students and send them to a four-year college or university. April 1. 2015 Brick Church College Prep Calendar Fri, April 3 Wed, April 15 Fri, April 24 April 27 - May 7 May 11 - 22 Mon, May 25 Good Friday! Monthly Parent Breakfast, 7:30-9am! First to the Top Pep Rally! TCAP Testing Window! Memorial Day No School! No School! Come start your day with current and soon-to-be Brick families over some hot food! Show your support for our scholars by helping us kick off the spring testing season Make sure your scholar gets good sleep in order to be fully prepared! Spring MAP Testing Window Wed, May 27 Last Day of School for Students! Spotlight: Testing and Technology It’s that time again! Along with the warm and wet weather of the Spring semester, we are also entering our last testing period of the year. This is the final opportunity for our scholars to show off everything they have learned this year. Here are our Top Ten Tips for Test Success:! 1. Get a good night’s sleep: Being well rested will boost alertness and mental endurance.! 2. Eat a healthy breakfast: 3. 4. This will give your scholar’s mind and body the energy they need to succeed.! Come to school: Attendance is crucial leading up to and during testing periods.! Sit comfortably: An open and loose posture will help keep your scholar relaxed and focused.! Brick Church College Prep redo work if they make sure they understand all directions! 7. Keep eyes on the test: Scholars are prepping for standardized testing over the next few weeks, including the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program, or TCAP. 8. While it is important to be mindful of time, students shouldn’t watch the clock; it’s better to keep their heads down so as not to be distracted by other students.! Use time wisely: Scholars need to pace themselves; they need every possible second to attempt to answer all questions and review their work.! 9. Work on what you know: 5. Relax: Students should expect a n d a c c e p t s o m e s t re s s ; understand that students worry because they want to succeed, but they should be confident in their abilities.! 6. Listen closely and read carefully: Scholars can avoid making simple mistakes and having to spend valuable time to If a question is really hard, it’s best to skip ahead and try the rest of them to make sure students get as many answered correctly in the time allowed.! 10.Celebrate: Especially during this time of the year, it is important that families acknowledge the hard work our scholars do every day. This will help keep stress down and build confidence. "1 S E Q U O I A C L U B We are Brick Church College Prep! TCAP vs. MAP: What’s the Difference? TCAP is the state test that sees how students and schools in TN compare to each other. It tests whether or not students have met the academic standards of their grade level. They are tested in Math, Reading, Science and this year we have a Social Studies test.! ! MAP on the other hand tests the growth of your student from the beginning of the year to the end of this year. Did your student grow a grade level or two? Is your student on grade level or above? These are the questions MAP seeks to answer. It also gives an indication of how your student compares to students in the rest of the US, not just TN. They are tested in Math, Reading, Language, and Science. Scholars compete in the ST Math Ironman Challenge during iCan Day on Saturday, March 14. Here at BCCP, we recognize that computers and the Internet play important roles in our daily lives. Here are a few ways in which we teach our students and keep track of their progress using technology.! Achieve 3000 This is an online differentiated reading program to help improve your scholar's reading, writing, and comprehension skills. Each scholar reads a non-fiction article that is set to their individual reading level. They are given an opinion poll, 8 comprehension questions about the article, and a challenging math comprehension problem. The computer grades the articles immediately. A score of 75% or higher is a passing score. ! ! " 2 ! ST Math Scholars who continue to pass their articles We strongly encourage all students to at 75% or higher receive points towards complete AT LEAST 30 minutes of ST Math various in and out of school rewards. each night. We believe Students have earned jeans passes, no that ST Math directly homework for a day, and a field trip to improves your child's Pizza Hut for lunch. Students can keep ability in solving math track of their own progress. This program is problems, and we also available 24/7. Scholars are encouraged to believe that this log in after school to continue their learning program increases your and improve their comprehension. ! child's chances of reaching Proficient or Parents may also set up their own Advanced status on the Achieve3000 account to monitor their Math section of the scholar's academic progress, activity scores TCAP. ! for 75% passing or higher, and how many articles are being completed daily.! The code for ST Math is BRI2VC-L68-8FTo create an online account, contact your ASR. If this is not an option for your child at scholar's ELA teacher for the login and home, we encourage you to see if the public password information.! library has computers that can be used. Brick Church College Prep