Welcome Parents to Tottens Open House March 11, 2010

Introductions Mr. Jeff Preston – Principal Miss Tammy Stancavage – Assistant Principal Mr. Gary Tames – Assistant Principal Mr. John Boyle – Assistant Principal Mrs. Denise Calabria – Parent Coordinator

Our Philosophy Our Vision We will create a safe and caring environment, which will promote academic excellence of each students individual level. Students will be encouraged to discover the interdisciplinary relationships that exist in their studies. During a pupils tenure at our school, we will promote healthy social interactions and self esteem while fostering techniques to empower future learning and imparting a love for learning. Our Goal Our goal is that every child will be accepted into the high school and program of their choice by the end of the their tenure at Totten.

Class of 2013 Facts Expecting approximately 400 incoming 6 th Graders. Approximately 13 classes in all. Implement a self contained approach in grade six. Helps to ease the transition to middle school life. Heterogeneous mix of students (except honors). You will find out your childs class with this June Report Card Miss Tammy Stancavage will be your Assistant Principal – ext. 335

Totten by the Numbers - Last year we received a grade of A from the City of New York. -On our most recent parent survey we discovered that: - 95% of our parents are happy with our school. -93% of our parents believe our school has high expectations -96% of our parents feel welcome in our school. -97% our of parents believe our school is safe. - We also discovered among our students: - 94% feel encouraged to succeed by their teachers. - 94% feel welcome in school. - 85% feel teachers inspire them to learn. - 95% feel there is a person in school that can help them if they have a problem.

Standardized Test Results ELA 2009

Standardized Test Results 6 th Grade Math

Successful Statistics - We are very proud of the job we do in preparing our children for high school. - Over the years we have had a great deal of success in regards to high school acceptances. - Over the past two years: - 60 students accepted into NYC Specialized High Schools -S.I. Tech, Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Tech & LaGuardia -Over 100 Students accepted into The Tottenville Institute Program (Science or Classics) -25 Students Accepted into C.S.I. High School -Over 250 students accepted into various Private &Parochial High Schools including - Msgr. Farrell, St. Joseph by the Sea, St. Joseph Hill Academy, Poly Prep, Staten Island Academy, St. John Villa Academy, Notre Dame, Regis, Xaverian & Xavier -Over the past two years our students have earned almost $200,000 in full and partial scholarships to Private and Parochial High Schools. -We have a 100% Graduation Rate – All of our students go on to high school! -484 ARISTA Members Last Year -153 New 6 th Grade Members -177 Honor Key Members (3 year ARISTA Members)

Honors -Traditionally 2 to 3 Honors Classes per grade -Selection is based on multiple criteria - performance in class, performance on standardized exams, teacher recommendations, UFT Contract, spacing, etc -Once your child has been selected for an Honors class they must continue to perform at our Honors standards to maintain their seat. -Traditionally there is some turnover from year to year in our Honors classes, with some children being added to the program while others lose their seats. We believe that competition drives success. -We also reserve the right to expand the honors program, when children out perform the necessary number of seats available. This quite often occurs in grade 8.

Honors Philosophy 6 th & 7 th Grade Honors Philosophy - All core content is covered to ensure success on standardized exams. - Honors classes work at a faster pace & delve deeper into more complex issues. - Honors curriculum allows for more hands on learning experience. - Encourage our students to make real world connections to the curriculum. - Expect our honors students to read higher level books both independently & in class. - Teachers are encouraged to differentiate instruction, allowing students to be challenged while at the same time working at a rate that allows them to succeed. - By the middle of grade seven, we begin our selection process to see who will be accepted into our 8 th grade accelerated courses.

Honors Philosophy Grade 8 Honors Philosophy: -6 th and 7 th Grade Honors Curriculum covers and or overlaps many of the topics 8 th graders are assessed on standardized exams. - This allows us to expand our offerings beyond 8 th grade material to topics normally covered in high school. - We have realized that by grade 8 some students excel in specific subjects and some excel in all subjects. -We decided to use this data to develop our students strengths and foster their development. - In 8 th grade a programming method commonly found in High School. -This allows us to basically individualize a childs program and rewards them for their past success. -Seventh grade honors students are rigorously tested each Spring to determine which students are eligible for our accelerated courses. -In order to be eligible to for a course the student must have maintained a 90 average in the course, have a 90% attendance record and the recommendation of their teacher. In addition to those criteria the student must also pass our entrance exam. - We run two sets of classes parallel to each other an 8 th grade accelerated class and an 8 th honors class. Our 8 th grade honors students qualify for one or the other in each content area. -Some qualify for as many as four accelerated courses or as few as zero. -Successful completion of these courses allows the student to receive high school credit while still in middle school. -In theory a student can receive H.S. credit in Integrated Algebra, Living Environment, U.S. History & Government, Foreign Language and English before graduating 8 th grade! - We are the only school that offers all of those programs to its students!

Regents Courses & Statistics This year we currently have 66 students taking the following courses, each course is individually programmed with the top 66 students in each subject area! -Integrated Algebra (I.A.) -Living Environment -U.S. History & Government (U.S.H.&G)) -Freshman English -For the Class of 2013 we will be adding the Foreign Language Proficiency Exam We can boast some impressive statistics from these classes: -100% Passing Rate on both I.A. & U.S. History Regents Exams. -91% overall average on the US History Regents Exam. -84% overall average on the I.A. Regents Exam. -47 of 66 students received a grade of 85 or better on the U.S.H.&G Regents. -45 of 66 students received a grade of 85 or better on the I.A. Regents. -This is our first year offering Living Environment and we expect similar results.

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Course Load & Philosophy -Grade 6 & 7 Philosophy- Honors children work at a faster pace and delve deeper into more complex issues in class. However, much of the content remains the same due to the fact that all sixth & seventh grade students take the same standardized ELA and Math test each Spring. If we didnt cover the material on the exam we would be short changing our students. Our Honors curriculum lends itself to more hands on activities, that allow our students to make real world connections to the material covered. We expect that our honors students to be reading more challenging books both in class and independently. We encourage our teachers to differentiate instruction inside our honors classrooms allowing the students to be challenged while at the same time working at a rate that allows them to succeed. By the middle of grade seven we have begun our selection process to see who will be accepted into our 8 th Grade Accelerated Courses. In grade eight our honors students are eligible to take three Regents Courses (Integrated Algebra, US History & Living Environment) as well as Freshman English and the FL Proficiency Exam!

Course Load & Philosophy (cont) Grade 8 Philosophy- Much of the material that our honors students need to know for the standardized tests has either been covered in 6 th and 7 th grade or overlaps with the high school curriculum that we begin to examine. We also begin to realize that by this time in their lives students begin to specialize or excel in one or more subject areas. This allows us to change our approach in conjunction with our students development. In grade eight we take on more of a high school approach in programming our honors students. This approach allows us to create an almost individualized program that rewards students for their successes in the past two years. Seventh grade honors students are rigorously tested each Spring to determine which students are eligible for our accelerated courses. In order to be eligible to for a course the student must have maintained a 90 average in the course, have a 90% attendance record and the recommendation of their teacher. In addition to those criteria the student must also pass our entrance exam. While we do see many students qualifying for all four of our accelerated courses, It is more common that based on their specialty they only qualify for two or three. Successful completion of these courses allows the student to receive high school credit while still in middle school. In theory a student can receive H.S. credit in IA, Liv Env, U.S. Hist & Gov, FL and English before graduating 8 th grade! We are the only school that offers all of those programs to its students!