Gifted Jaguars and Eagles

We had a great tour to Macalester today. I hope you'll ask your student about what they learned and to start discussing as a family what your student is looking for in a college: -big versus small school -urban versus rural -close to home versus far -public versus private Next year as juniors we recommend that students start thinking about colleges and start investigating so that they can get their applications in the fall of their senior year.

ON May 23rd 41 Dimensions Academy 9th graders (from both the STEM and Humanities programs) went on a campus visit and tour to the University of MN Twin Cities. Students had the opportunity to ask questions and to start thinking about what they want in a college and in what colleges are looking for in applicants. I will take the sophomores to Macalester in June. We have historically done campus visits but because of COVID this was our first one in a long time!

Congratulations to Bloomington's National Merit Finalists. We are particularly proud that they are all DA students! Kennedy: Isaac Stein Jefferson: Alex Kiner Jamie Melville Joseph Shetaye

Dear DA 10th graders and parents/guardians, Our current DA sophomores will have access to a 3rd year of DA which is a new feature of our program.  We designed this because of parent and student feedback that PSEO and current BPS courses were not meeting the academic and social emotional needs of our gifted students.   I have had some parents ask about the difference between DA and PSEO so I'm sharing this slideshow with you.  I am also willing to answer questions if that's not helpful enough.   Our hope is that your student will choose to continue in the DA program but we also understand that we cannot possibly design a program that is a perfect fit for all our high ability students.   If you are planning on sending your student PSEO next year BPS will still make you register this month as if you aren't because that decision will happen later but the college.  However, for our purposes the GT dept would like to know how many students will not be continuing so I can try to ...

Congratulations to Snezhanna Medvedovski and Elias Caspari for being named Bloomington Jefferson High School's 2021-2022 ExCEL nominees! They are both DAHS graduates! One female and one male student from Bloomington Jefferson High School can be nominated for this award yearly. Criteria for the ExCEL Award includes: JR in high school, participation in Minnesota State High School League sponsored fine arts and/or athletic activities, demonstration of leadership qualities, volunteerism and academic excellence. Snezhanna Medvedovski participates in gymnastics (captain), track and orchestra at Jefferson. She is also on the “A” honor roll, a member of Pathfinders, student council, and NHS. Snezhanna also spends a great deal of time volunteering at her church. Elias Caspari participates in soccer, show choir, and theater at Jefferson. He is on the “A” honor roll and spends time volunteering at both his church and community theater. We are proud to have both represent Jeffers...

Dear DA 10 STEM cohort and their parents, Mr. Kersten is going to have surgery next week so I will be subbing in for him for period 2 from Nov 18-23. One day I will administer a test for him. However, the other days I am organizing some speakers for our students. On 11/19 we will Zoom in Andrea Peterson who graduated from Jefferson and works at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory . She went to the U of W Madison and Harvard and will talk about her process of choosing her STEM career path. On 11/23 we will do a college panel with: -Jordan Thomson, Washington University, St. Louis - Kennedy grad -Tuan Dinh, Princeton University -Kennedy grad -Jillayne Clarke, Johns Hopkins University -Jefferson grad All the speakers will be on Zoom so students will need to bring their Chromebooks and headphones those days. Sincerely, Meredith

November 4, 2021 Dear Parents and Guardians of DA 10 cohort, We have noticed that this semester is significantly more difficult for some of our DAHS students than previous years. We appreciate that many of you answered the survey the GT department sent out. The data demonstrated what we are seeing in class - we have a wide range of experiences right now in the DA STEM program and some of our students are very stressed. What we are seeing in Bloomington is similar to the experiences of educators (including other AP teachers and gifted advocates) across the country. Many of our students are struggling in ways which hadn’t manifested in pre-pandemic times. We are now seeing many members of our cohort struggle with self-regulation, the ability to focus on their work, their ability to ask questions, their ability to work with peers on an academic task, and are struggling with issues of depression and anxiety. We want to be responsive and support our gifted learners. I have met wit...

Join the Jefferson High School Math Team! Everyone is welcome, freshmen/sophomores/juniors/seniors at any math level. Everyone participates in practices and meets. Practices are on Mondays and Tuesdays 2:40-3:40 after school in room C123, starting November 1st. Feel free to drop in to see what it’s like! You can join the team at any time during the season! Contact Coach Rafferty (Liam.Rafferty@normandale.edu) with any questions.

Dimensions Academy (STEM and Humanities) Outreach Meeting 12/9 Nobel High School Outreach Meeting 12/14 Dimensions Academy (STEM and Humanities) Outreach Meeting 1/11 All meetings will start at 7pm and be online. Zoom links are below: Dimensions Academy High School (STEM & Humanities) Outreach Meeting Time: Dec 9, 2021 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/97172811340?pwd=MTBMRjFPdmxUQ0t0dVhBeE5GanZNQT09 Meeting ID: 971 7281 1340 Passcode: 2iz1sb Nobel High School Creativity Outreach Meeting Time: Dec 14, 2021 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/97616148795?pwd=NDBjaXVtN21VNjgrVXNyVTVBNUluZz09 Meeting ID: 976 1614 8795 Passcode: P1hWq0 Dimensions Academy High School (STEM & Humanities) Outreach Meeting Time: Jan 11, 2022 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/95179900672?pwd=amk2eHRWeGl1TXJtNUdpRjVRcCtpZz09 Meeting ID: 951 7990 0672 Passcode: pq1Ktx

Congratulations to three of our Dimensions Academy alumni who have been selected as National Merit Semifinalists: Alexander Kiner Jamie Melville Joseph Shetaye All of them attend Jefferson and will graduate in 2021. We are very proud of their hard work!

Dear Jaguars, I want to update you on Homecoming and MAP testing. Homecoming: Next Monday Jefferson will run a special schedule and will have a Homecoming pep fest after period 2. Unfortunately you will need to be at Kennedy for period 3. ;( It will be broadcast via video to the 9th and 10th graders and I can try to get you the recording. On the bright side you won't need to leave class early or get to class late that day. JHS Homecoming Schedule for Monday, 9/27 PERIOD 1 7:50 – 8:42 PERIOD 2 8:48 – 9:40 Get on the bus at JHS to come to KHS at 9:45 am. Pep Fest (Turf Field) 9:50 – 10:16 PERIOD 3 10:22 – 11:14 PERIOD 4 11:20 – 12:12 Get on the bus at KHS @ 12 to come to come back to JHS for lunch. 3rd Lunch/Passing Time 12:12 – 12:42 MAP testing for 9th graders: We are not allowed to test you at Kennedy even if you're classmates are taking the MAP tests during the DA class. So Mrs. Jarvis, the Assistant Principal, will invite you to take...

The gifted department offers a vareity of ways that we support teachers. Below is what I shared with teachers at KHS and JHS today.

Dear DA Sophomores, The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) is a program co-sponsored by the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). It's a standardized test that provides first hand practice for the SAT®. It also gives juniors a chance to enter NMSC scholarship programs and gain access to college and career planning tools. The Gifted and Talented Dept will pay for you to take the PSAT to help you practice your test taking skills as a part of the DA program. If you are interested in taking the test it will be offered IN PERSON and there is not an online version. Jefferson is holding the PSAT on Wednesday, October 13th. Students will need to be at JHS by 7:50 am and will need to wear masks. Kennedy is holding the PSAT on Tuesday, October 26th. Students will need to be at KHS by 7:50 am and will need to wear masks. I have already reserved an exam for you. If you do not wish to take the PSAT that is fine. Pleas...

Welcome to Dimensions Academy High School! We are excited to work with you in our program. Throughout the year if you have any questions about the DA program feel free to reach out. This email will have a lot of information about the 2021-22 school year. Feel free to email me with any questions you have. ;) Sincerely, Meredith Aby-Keirstead Gifted and Talented Coordinator maby@isd271.org 952-806-7811 Schedules for Week 1 The two high schools have different schedules for the first day of school. The good thing is that this will allow us to be able to make sure the DA kids have a smooth transition back and forth between the schools. The bad thing is the KHS STEM students will miss meeting their advisory teacher and the JHS Humanities students will miss their Pep Fest. KHS First Week Schedule DA STEM students will miss their advisory time the first 2 days. I believe I am the advisor at KHS for all the DA students. ;) I will email them any information they will miss...

Dimensions Academy High School Graduation This year we have two cohorts completing our program for the first time! Congratulations to our DA STEM graduates who completed 34 college credits during a global pandemic! These students have been doing online learning since last March and continued to complete their program at Normandale Community College. Kennedy: Ahmed Dualeh Malachi Martichuski Jefferson: Elias Caspari Isabelle Janey Olivia Knight Amelia Lodwick Ben Lodwick Adam Lueth Snezhanna Medvedovski Abigail Pearson Arielle Swanson Tiffany Tian Abigail Valladolid Thy Bao Vu Congratulations to our DA Humanities graduates who completed 3 college writing and literature classes and 4 AP classes during a global pandemic. This was our first cohort to go through our program and we are very proud of what these students were able to accomplish! Jefferson: Olivia Busch Autumn Fuller Isabelle Janey Olivia Knight Abigail Pearson Arielle Swanson Tiffany Tian Abigail Valladolid Thy ...

Dear DA students, I hope your finals week at NCC is going well.  You have successfully completed two years of calculus this year.  Congrats!  If you are taking the AP Calc BC exam I recommend getting some tutoring so that you can be ready for the exam.  While you have learned a lot of content you haven't learned the nuances of the exam and what the College Board is looking for.  Therefore I have recruited Ben Harste to help get you ready for the AP Calc BC exam.   The exam is on Monday, May 24th.   Mr. Harste will tutor you from 7:50 - 9am on Tuesday 5/18 and Thursday 5/20 on Zoom.   On Monday 5/17 I will give some example Free Response Questions for you to work on so that you can practice with the College Board  format and have that experience when you meet with Ben.  On Wednesday 5/19 I will give you a previously released multiple choice exam.  I have reserved the red flex space at Jefferson for us each morning.  You can participate in the tutoring and FRQ practice online or in ...

Dear DA families - I am meeting with the principals and Director Boltik on Monday afternoon to talk about the recent Tri 3 announcement. My goal is to be able to answer your questions about how these changes affect DA by Tuesday. Thanks for your patience as we navigate this change in our planning. Sincerely, Meredith

Congrats to Jefferson's National Merit finalists! Alexander Carpenter Benjamin Carpenter Joseph Carpenter Amy Wang Xiaoxin Zeng

This is a video I made to replace the meeting we normally have in January. We can't meet this year because of the Corona virus so I'm hoping this can help parents and student who are trying to figure out which classes to register for. Feel free to email me any questions at maby@isd271.org. https://youtu.be/MEqx8jF1JN0

Thank you to everyone who came to the DA College Panel on Thursday. I'm sharing it below in case you didn't get to come and want the info. Meredith https://youtu.be/nz9FTQ9L5LM