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What are the main differences between middle school and high school?1. Grades become credits in high school. You must earn a specific number of credits to

be “promoted” to the next grade level and you must earn at least 26 credits to graduate.

2. The schedule in high school is called a modified block schedule. You will have some classes every day and some classes every other day.

3. Generally, high school is less restrictive and students have more freedoms than in middle school. However, this means more responsibility is placed on the student.

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How does a student earn a credit? Students earn a half credit for each class he or she successfully completes each semester. Successful completion of a class means the student has passed the class with a grade of at least a 70 and the student has been in attendance at least 90% of the time. Students must earn a certain number of credits to be promoted to the next grade level and to graduate from high school. If a student fails a class that is required for graduation, he/she will have to take it over again until he/she passes it. One thing to note, each semester stands alone. Semester grades are not averaged.

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High School students are on a modified block schedule. This means students attend 1st

period and 5th period classes which are approximately 55 minutes long every day and 2nd, 3rd and 4th period classes which are approximately 90 minutes long meet every other day. This gives students a total of 8 classes. School begins at 8:50 and students are dismissed at 4:10. A 30 minute lunch is scheduled during third period class.

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The STARR/End of Course exams are also required for graduation. High school students will take an English 1, Algebra 1, and Biology end of course exam their freshman year. Students will take an English 2 end of course exam the sophomore year, and the US History exam the junior year. These scores are not averaged together. It is a requirement that each of these exams be individually passed.

(If the student took Algebra 1 in middle school, they took the EOC in middle school.)

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Denton ISD students will select an endorsement or major upon entering 9th grade. Just as in college, when students select an endorsement they are choosing an area of specialization. An endorsement can be changed at any time throughout the high school career. All endorsements require that students have an additional year of math and an additional year of science. Students may select any of the five endorsements offered and many students will graduate with more than one endorsement.

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It is important that students take rigorous course work while in high school to best prepare them for college and future careers. Students who graduate on the Distinguished Level of Achievement will have a more competitive transcript when applying for college or jobs. Also, students must graduate on the Distinguished Level of Achievement to be eligible for the Top 10 Percent automatic admission law.

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Additionally, students can earn a performance acknowledgement honor. A student can earn a performance acknowledgement through various avenues which include AP and IB Exams, dual credit, bilingualism and bilteracy, the National Merit Scholarship program, scores on the PSAT, SAT or ACT, and business and industry certifications. Students can earn multiple performance acknowledgements throughout their high school careers.

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The best way to ensure you are on the path to earn a performance acknowledgement is to take rigorous courses such as PreAP courses your freshman year.

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Pre AP classes are available to all freshmen who feel they are ready for rigorous course work. PreAP courses frequently go into more depth and breadth than other courses. Also, these courses often have summer reading and/or writing assignments. Pre AP courses are a great way to prepare for AP courses through which students can earn college credit.

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A verification letter will be mailed home in April with a list of the courses your child selected for 9th grade. Students can make changes to the 9th grade course selections by returning the verification letter with any changes or by contacting the 9th grade counselor at your assigned high school. Again, the last date to make changes is April 28.

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Edutopia.org “Transition Resources for Parents, Teachers, and Administrators” http://www.edutopia.org/blog/transition-resources-teachers-matt-davis“Middle and High School Transitions” Sylvan Learning - Parent Resource Guide

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Transition Into High School: Three Tools for Parents of 9th Grade Students (Posted

091015)

http://www.kristinetherapyla.com/transition-into-high-school-three-tools-for-parents-of-

9th-grade-students/

1. Help your teen create positive connections with teachers, peers, and mentors.

While much of the focus in high school is academic, these years set the foundation for future

adult relationships, both personal and professional. Also, developmentally your teen is creating

a social identity that will dictate and shape the way he or she operates in the world.

(*Development: in the journey towards autonomy they may “push the limits” in an effort to assert

their independence)

Empower your 9th grade student to be authentic and assertive with teachers who are willing to

provide attention and healthy challenges. Connect your teen with other adults who can offer

guidance, mentorship, and emotional support for forming life tools at this critical age. Prioritize

healthy peer relationships to help your teen feel valued and connected through the transition

into high school.

You can’t make these connections for your teen or force her to make them. In fact, pushing her to

reach out to students and teachers may cause her to withdraw and feel less capable. Invite your

teen to notice possible connections by asking who her favorite teachers are, where and when

she feels most comfortable at school and which new friends she thinks are trustworthy, etc.

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Give your teen new opportunities to connect outside of school through a sport or other group

experience. These methods of facilitating connections for your teen will empower her to build

beneficial relationships with friends and mentors.

2. Support a smart decision-making process

Talk with your teen (not at your teen) about the new decisions that emerge during the transition

into high school and the years soon to come.

Ask your teen what he thinks before you share your thoughts. Really listen to him rather than just

thinking about what you’re going to say next. You’ll learn about your teen’s frustrations,

capabilities, and intuition. Your teen will also begin to trust you and consider your input.

Help your teen take on more responsibility by allowing the available circumstances to be

opportunities for learning. Allow your teen to make mistakes. Focus on being available if he is

confused or hurt rather than trying to prevent anything negative from happening.

When this feels difficult, imagine how you want your teen to be able to think through decisions

when he is on his own in the future. You want him to connect to his own values and goals.

3. Do an exploration of strengths (*this will aid in your teen’s resiliency - being able to

bounce back from any type of situation)

The strengths within your 9th grade student can be highlighted in the areas where he or she truly

needs them. A generic high school experience may stifle your teen’s abilities and personality. A

stronger sense of self and of his or her goals will help your teen avoid negative situations and stay

motivated throughout tough classes and life experiences.

Find opportunities for your teen to think outside the box and identify meaningful goals. This will

save her from being burnt out at school and from following peers thoughtlessly. Help your teen

take charge of the transition into high school rather than falling into negative patterns

within a challenging environment. Resources are available for students who want to excel

socially, academically, or personally. Don’t wait for a problem to arise before searching for the

things that will help your teen connect to her goals, needs, and sense of self.

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Test Anxiety http://kidshealth.org/teen/school_jobs/school/test_anxiety.html#

What Can You Do?

Test anxiety can be a real problem if you're so stressed out over a test that you can't get past the

nervousness to focus on the test questions and do your best work. Feeling ready to meet the

challenge, though, can keep test anxiety at a manageable level.

Use a little stress to your advantage. Stress is your body's warning mechanism — it's a signal

that helps you prepare for something important that's about to happen. So use it to your

advantage. Instead of reacting to the stress by dreading, complaining, or fretting about the test

with friends, take an active approach. Let stress remind you to study well in advance of a test.

Chances are, you'll keep your stress from spinning out of control. After all, nobody ever feels

stressed out by thoughts that they might do well on a test.

Ask for help. Although a little test anxiety can be a good thing, an overdose of it is another story

entirely. If sitting for a test gets you so stressed out that your mind goes blank and causes you to

miss answers that you know, then your level of test anxiety probably needs some attention. Your

teacher, your school guidance counselor, or a tutor can be useful resources to talk to if you

always get extreme test anxiety.

Be prepared. Some students think that going to class is all it should take to learn and do well on

tests. But there's much more to learning than just hoping to soak everything up in class. That's

why good study habits and skills are so important — and why no amount of cramming or studying

the night before a test can take the place of the deeper level of learning that happens over time

with regular study.

Many students find that their test anxiety is reduced when they start to study better or more

regularly. It makes sense — the more you know the material, the more confident you'll feel.

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Having confidence going into a test means you expect to do well. When you expect to do well,

you'll be able to relax into a test after the normal first-moment jitters pass.

Watch what you're thinking. If expecting to do well on a test can help you relax, what about

when people expect they won't do well? Watch out for any negative messages you might be

sending yourself about the test. They can contribute to your anxiety.

If you find yourself thinking negative thoughts ("I'm never any good at taking tests" or "It's going to

be terrible if I do badly on this test"), replace them with positive messages. Not unrealistic positive

messages, of course, but ones that are practical and true, such as "I've studied hard and I know

the material, so I'm ready to do the best I can." (Of course, if you haven't studied, this message

won't help!)

Accept mistakes. Another thing you can do is to learn to keep mistakes in perspective —

especially if you're a perfectionist or you tend to be hard on yourself. Everyone makes mistakes,

and you may have even heard teachers or coaches refer to mistakes as "learning opportunities."

Learning to tolerate small failures and mistakes — like that one problem you got wrong in the

math pop quiz — is a valuable skill.

Take care of yourself. It can help to learn ways to calm yourself down and get centered when

you're tense or anxious. For some people, this might mean learning a simple breathing exercise.

Practicing breathing exercises regularly (when you're not stressed out) helps your body see these

exercises as a signal to relax.

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