Gifted Jaguars and Eagles

Dear DA STEM students and parents/guardians,  Normandale has decided to offer students a Pass / No Credit option for spring semester.   Because this is a DA class, if you choose to get a letter grade your grade would be based on the usual scale and weighted in your GPA at Jefferson or Kennedy.  In NCC’s pass/fail system, in order to earn a pass, students will need to be earning 70% at the end of the semester (which is not howP/F is being done at BPS right now). You do not need to decide today which type of grade you would like.  I spoke with Cary Komoto, the NCC STEM Dean, today and he agrees that you will get to choose the P/F option by notifying me after you have had the opportunity to see your final grade from NCC.  I will then communicate whether you chose the  grade or P/F option to BPS and to NCC.   You can choose to take a grade in one class and a Pass/Fail in another.   If you earn an A or B in your NCC courses this spr...

Dear DA Social Studies students and parents/guardians,  BPS has decided that the default grade will be Pass / No Credit for trimester 3 but that you can opt-in to a traditional letter grade system.  Because this is an AP class, if you choose to get a letter grade your grade would be based on the usual scale and weighted in your GPA.  In the pass fail system, in order to earn a pass, students will need to be earning 60% at the end of the trimester. I have been told that even if we return in May, this grading system will be the system for the trimester. You do not need to decide today which type of grade you would like.   For this class, most of you are getting everything in and are on track to get a B+ or above.  I recommend that if you maintain your success, you should take the traditional grade, because this class is weighted in your GPA.  For those of you who are  struggling to get your work in, consider if this reminder of ...

Congratulations to the Jefferson and Kennedy seniors that would have been honored on Monday night.  We unfortunately were not able to recognize these outstanding seniors because of this pandemic but I wanted to recognize them here.  This year I was on the awards committee at both high schools and I was going to MC the event.  Monday I realized how much I miss my seniors and I really was sad for them that they didn't get this special night.  

Exam Length, Structure, and Format The exams will only include topics and skills most AP teachers and students have already covered in class by early March. We know that some students have lost more class time than others, and we want to be fair to all students. Like many college-level exams, this year’s AP Exams will be open book/open note.  Get tips for taking open book/open note exams. Most exams will have one or two free-response questions, and each question is timed separately. Students will need to write and submit their responses within the allotted time for each question. For most subjects, the exams will be 45 minutes long, and include an additional 5 minutes for uploading. Students will need to access the online testing system 30 minutes early to get set up. Students will be able to take exams on any device they have access to—computer, tablet, or smartphone. They will be able to either type and upload their responses or write responses by hand and submit a...