Shanghai Livingston American School Welcome to the 2015

Shanghai Livingston American School Welcome to the 2015– 2016 School Year

Middle School Program In Middle School, students take Music and the 4 CORE classes which consist of English/ESL, Math, Science and History. Students will take either On level, Pre AP or ESL courses. All Middle School students will take the following subjects either in the fall or spring semester: Physical Education (P. E) Information Technology (I. T)

Middle School students may select from many different electives such as: Foreign languages: • MS Chinese 1, 2 or 3 • MS Japanese 1, 2, 3 • MS Spanish 1, 2, 3 • Home Language Chinese and Japanese Fine Arts: • Art , Drawing, Drama, Pottery, Dance, Choir & Orchestra/Band Career: • Cooking, , Speech & Newspaper Science: • MS Science Creative Lab & Horticulture

High School Program In High School, students take the four CORE classes which consist of English/ESL, Math, Science and Social Studies/History. Students will take either on level, Pre AP or ESL courses. High School students will take 3 to 4 elective courses each year. Students taking AP courses may be assigned a study hall to provide extra study time. Only Grade 12 students may take a study hall if they have completed all other graduation requirements.

Pre AP & AP courses (courses offered each year depend on student preference surveys) Pre AP English Grade 912 Pre AP Biology Pre AP Chemistry Pre AP Physics Pre AP Pre Algebra Pre AP Algebra 1 & 2 Pre AP Geometry AP English Language AP English Literature AP World History AP Chemistry AP Environmental Science AP US History AP Human Geography AP French Language AP European History AP Spanish Language AP Psychology AP Chinese Language AP Government and Politics AP Calculus AP Biology

Electives (courses offered each year depend on student preference surveys) Career Technology Fine Arts Computer Applications Art I, II Photography/Film/ Editing Fashion Design Graphic Design / Web Page Asian Art Python Drawing AP Computers 3 D Art Cooking Pottery Science Drama Psychology Dance Hip Horticulture Dance Latin/Salsa Ecology Orchestra/Band Choir Foreign Language Spanish I, III Chinese I, III Home Language Chinese AP Chinese Japanese I II III Home Language Japanese Language Arts Newspaper Speech/ Debate

Graduation Plans Subject Advanced Diploma Accelerated Advanced Diploma LAS Diploma English 4 credits Standard English (a maximum of 1 credit is granted for ESL courses)** 1 credit AP English required 4 credits (a maximum of 2 credits are granted for ESL courses)*** English 11 and 12 required Social Studies 4 credits 1 credit of an AP social studies class required US History required Econ/Government required 3 credits US History required Econ/ Government required Mathematics 4 credits Algebra 1 required Geometry required Algebra 2 required 3 credits Algebra 1 required Science 4 credits 1 credit of an AP science class required Biology required 3 credits Biology required Foreign Language 4 credits 3 years the same language 2 credits 2 years the same language 3 credits 2 years the same language Health & Phys. Ed. 2 credits 2 credit Fine Arts 3 credits 2 credits Electives 4 credits 2 credits 5 credits Career/Technology 1 credit Total Units 30 credits 24 credits 26 credits

Grades 6 -12 COMMUNITY SERVICE projects Each year, secondary students go to a rural area of China to perform community service, camp with their team mates and build bonding relationships with staff and students. Our expectation is that all students will participate in this week long experience either here in Shanghai or on the field trip.

Community Service 25 hours required each year Shanghai Trip will earn 5 hours Rongshui Adventure will earn 20 hours

Standardized tests Students in grades K-12 will take the Measurement of Academic Progress test 3 times a year. Students in grades 3 through 8 will take the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) each year in October. The ITBS is a progress monitoring tool that allows us to track the growth of our students in order to adjust our curriculum according to their needs. All Students in grades 9 -11 will take the PSAT in October. The information from the test will be used by staff to monitor students academic growth in comparison to students in the same grade in the United States. The ITBS and PSAT will also help us to determine placement for the coming year courses. All students in Grade 12 must take the SAT in order to graduate. SLAS is a testing center for both the SAT & ACT.