American Heritage Middle and High School Programs, 2010-2011

From the time that we launched our inaugural high school class in the Fall of 2007, we have been actively planning for a unified 7-12th grade program that will afford our middle school (7th and 8th) and high school (9th through 12th) graduates with every benefit of the finest secondary education program possible. We have grown our high school carefully – one grade level each year – and are pleased to offer 12th grade, and a full 9-12 high school program, beginning in the Fall of 2010.  

We have carefully considered feedback from parents, students, and board members, as well as from other outstanding private and public school administrators and educators – and we are pleased to share with you more highlights of what you can expect at American Heritage School next year and in years to come!    

High School Graduation Requirements. In order to graduate from American Heritage High School, 27 credits will be required according to the attached “High School Graduation Requirements” list. The vast majority of students enrolled in our High School for the 2010/2011 academic year will be receiving 7 to 8 credits per year for their coursework, depending upon their specific class schedule.

Core and Specialized Instruction. All students in grades 7-12 will have the benefits of a combined core and specialized instruction model that includes both an integrated core class taught by a single instructor as well as specialized instruction in math, science, art, foreign languages, and electives.  Core instructors will integrate the subjects of Language Arts, Literature, and History/Geography (in high school, the subjects of Language Arts and Literature will be offered as one combined course referred to as “English” for transcript purposes).  As in previous years, grades 7-8 will also have devotional as a separate 30-minute daily subject taught by their core instructor. Currently, we anticipate course offerings and teacher assignments as set forth on the attached list of “Course Offerings 2010-2011”.   

Mathematics. Math will continue to be an area of particular focus in 2010-2011.  We plan to add a fourth math instructor to our middle and high school math department in a continuing effort to meet students at their various individual levels. Saxon Math will continue to be used through Calculus.  Also, we have instituted a volunteer after-school math lab and will expand the lab to the extent that we feel it is being regularly used by students and families.  

Science. Over the last four years, the School has made tremendous progress in increasing student achievement in science, averaging near the 90th percentile nationally on last year's standardized science assessments in middle and high school.  Still, we are planning various improvements to our science program, including an additional faculty member (initially for physics instruction), more chemistry and biology lab equipment, and continued participation in high school regional science fairs. The curriculum committee is actively considering supplementing the middle and high school science curriculum, including with more source texts and different text books, which will provide added rigorous science instruction for both the middle and high school students.  We will also continue to leverage optional science projects and field-learning opportunities to provide students with instruction and experience outside of the classroom.  AP Biology and AP Physics will also be offered beginning with the 2010/2011 academic year (some students are already being mentored in preparation for the AP Biology exam in May).     

Curricular Electives. Beginning with the 2010/2011 school year, we anticipate offering the following curricular electives, primarily for high school students (grades 9-12). Most of these electives will satisfy certain high school graduation requirements in fine arts, foreign language, and physical education. Grades 7 and 8 will be included as possible and appropriate.  (See attached “Course Offerings 2010-2011” for more details.)

• Spanish (expanded to include grades 7-8)
• French
• Orchestra
• Choir
• Chamber Choir (audition only)
• Drama/Debate (includes Constitution Bowl)
• Art
• Ballroom Dance
• Fitness for Life
• Journalism (high school only, will include yearbook)
• Family Science
• Self-Directed Study & Internship

Please note that high school students desiring to take most or all of the above-listed electives AND complete the seminary program may elect to take early-morning seminary one or more years in high school (see more on seminary below).

Seminary. CES is looking forward to providing at least three sections of seminary at American Heritage School beginning in 2010/2011, depending on the number of enrolled students. Currently, CES is tentatively planning to hold an early morning seminary section at American Heritage School  (pending interest and enrollment numbers) from 7:10 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. five days per week.  In addition they will offer two or more seminary classes at AHS during the class day.      

Extracurricular Programs. We will continue to offer extracurricular basketball and soccer for both boys and girls, which will satisfy graduation requirements in physical education. We will also continue to offer extracurricular orchestra and choir (beginning, intermediate, and advanced) for any student or non-student conditional upon successful audition.  We anticipate adding Cross-Country (boys and girls) as a new extracurricular option in the 2010/2011 year (high school students only).  Additionally, certain curricular electives such as choir, orchestra, drama, constitution bowl, science bowl, and other events do require some extracurricular rehearsals and meetings. 

Student Government. High school student government will continue to operate with class officers from the 7th through 12th Grades. The elected Student Government will continue to have access to administration through attendance of a semi-monthly Student Government meeting that includes Mr. Beckwith and other administrators.

Uniforms and Dress Code. We have generally been very pleased with the dignity and maturity with which our middle and high school students have approached the uniform standards this year and feel that we can continue to recognize that maturity through implementing additional uniform options, in conjunction with feedback from parents and Student Government.

Calendar and Daily Schedule.  The daily schedule will remain basically unchanged for grades 7 through 12, the school day will still begin at 8:10 a.m. and end at 3:10 p.m., not including designated early-out inservice Fridays, early morning seminary, and extracurricular programs. By way of comparison, the total in-class hours for middle and high school continue to exceed the total in-class hours of the Alpine School District middle and high school calendars. 

For those families that have elementary school students as well, the daily schedule for grades K-6 will also remain unchanged (begin classes at 8:30 a.m. and conclude the day at 3:05 p.m.). As is currently the practice in most classrooms, beginning at 8:15 a.m., teachers in grades K-6 will provide supplemental enrichment activities for students who arrive early and are awaiting the 8:30 a.m. bell. As always, if families have special circumstances pertaining to arrival or dismissal, we will be as flexible as possible to accommodate those schedules.

Technology Initiative.  Recognizing the vital role of technology in education, we will continue to provide the option for high school students (9th through 12th grades) to use personal laptops at School for notetaking, research and writing purposes related to School curriculum. We will also be integrating technology into our foreign language programs by providing licenses to Rosetta Stone, one of the leaders in foreign language tutorial software, which will supplement our live teacher instruction. Any non-approved use of a personal laptop computer at School (including but not limited to video games, e-mail, or text messaging) will result in the temporary or permanent loss of laptop privileges for the student at School. If you choose to purchase a laptop, we recommend that you purchase one that will meet the suggested minimum requirements set forth below:

A PC operating system is strongly recommend for compatibility and on-site trouble-shooting purposes; however, to our current knowledge, most programs that we will be using are Macintosh compatible or have special Macintosh versions of their software.
   
Academic Probation. The academic probation policy of the school affects high school transcripts as well as all students participating in extracurricular programs. We hope that all parents and students will take a moment to familiarize themselves with the policy, as follows:

Students will receive an “academic warning” when their overall grade falls below a C- in any single course. These students may participate fully in all curricular and extracurricular activities.

A student will be placed on “academic probation” for any of the following:

• remaining on academic warning for longer than 30 days, or
• receiving two or more grades below a C- on any end-of-term report card, or
• receiving a single F on any end-of-term report card.

Students who are on academic probation may not participate in any extracurricular activities sponsored by the school for 30 days. A student will be removed from academic probation at the end of the 30-day probation period if no course grade is currently below a C- average for the current term.

At the conclusion of the course (whether a full year or shorter than a full year), students averaging less than a C- overall will receive no credit for the course and must coordinate with the teacher to repeat the failed term(s) or the failed assignment(s) necessary to receive credit.   

Repeating Terms and Making Up Credit. For a variety of reasons, students may from time-to-time encounter the need to make up credit that was not received as a result of one or more incomplete or failed terms.  In such cases, the teacher will provide a packet of materials and assignments for the incomplete or failed term that must be completed by the student to receive the make-up credit.

Accreditation.  We are pleased to announce that American Heritage School recently hosted a successful site visit with representatives of the Utah State Office of Education (USOE) and the Northwestern Association of Accredited Schools (NAAS).  The visiting team, which included the USOE director of accreditation and NAAS Utah Chair, Georgia Loutensock, was very impressed with our School.  We met or exceeded all major standards, and have been approved by the Utah NAAS state board as a provisionally accredited NAAS school effective retroactively beginning August 2009 and forward.  Accreditation does NOT require AHS to compromise its mission, philosophy, curriculum, or methodologies in any way whatsoever (we would abandon accreditation if that ever became the case).  On the contrary, accreditation is a benefit to all students at AHS, who now have immediate transferability of credit to public and private K-12 schools statewide and nationally.  As a result of NAAS provisional accreditation, AHS students are now treated identically with public school students as they are evaluated for admissions by colleges and universities.  In addition, AHS teachers will receive accredited hours for purposes of Utah State Licensure if that is something that is important to them.  NAAS accreditation does not replace the accreditation we seek through PNAIS, but provides for all intents and purposes full accreditation benefits for us until the PNAIS process is complete.  By the conclusion of the 2010/2011 school year, we expect to be dually accredited by both PNAIS and NAAS. Congratulations to everyone involved in our accreditation efforts!  It has been a tremendous amount of work that will benefit our students in many ways.  

In April of 2007 American Heritage School was formally inducted as a candidate member of the Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools (PNAIS) – an accreditation association that is well respected in Utah and around the country. Assuming all goes as planned, fully accredited diplomas will be offered for the first graduating class of 2010/2011.  Although we have every expectation of full accreditation (expected as early as December of 2010 and not later than April of 2011), we cannot promise that American Heritage School will ultimately be  fully accredited at that time. For high school transfer-credit, prior to the 2009/2010 school year the question of transferability remains largely a function of policies of individual high schools. Please note that most college admissions offices are far less concerned about accreditation than they do about the capability of the individual student, as measured by the student's academic performance, the array of classes taken, and, most importantly for most colleges, the standardized test scores of the student. See the attached article from a national private school trade journal, Independent School Management, on prevailing views of accreditation from the perspective of most private schools and college admissions offices.

Advanced Placement Courses. Advancement placement (AP) courses are generally offered by public schools beginning in 11th Grade. For students in grades 9-12, we anticipate offering elective AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition, AP U.S. History, and AP Calculus AB, AP Biology, and AP Physics based upon preference, preparation level, and interest level of the particular students enrolled.  A student who elects an AP course will be in the “AP Track” of an integrated course that includes differentiated homework and instruction for both AP and non-AP students.  We do not plan to offer concurrent enrollment courses, which require adoption by the School of the concurrent enrollment text and curriculum.  AP credit, on the other hand, may be received by successfully passing an AP exam regardless of whether an AP course, text, or curriculum was actually taken or provided.  In connection with the American Heritage School AP program, we will provide subject-specific mentors, college advisement services, information pertaining to AP test dates, locations, and preparation opportunities, and we will also provide all requisite AP study guides and materials.     

Standardized Testing. This year we administered ACT preparation exams and practice ACT exams to our students in 9th, 10th, and 11th Grades. We will continue to administer standardized tests as necessary and appropriate to provide parents, teachers, and college admissions offices with the benefit of comparable and credible performance data for each of our students. Based upon our research and consistent with the trend of various other private schools in Utah, we plan to administer the PSAT NMSQT to 11th Grade students and continue administering the practice ACT to 10th and 11th grade students, the ACT PLAN exam to 9th and 10th Grade students, the ACT EXPLORE exam to 8th Grade students (both in place of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills). Both the ACT EXPLORE and ACT PLAN have value not only as norm-referenced national standardized exams, but also as preparatory exams for the ACT, which is now accepted by all universities in the nation. We will also continue to offer practice ACT exams each term to all high school students.

Distance Education.  American Heritage School receives ongoing requests from families looking for courses or curriculum based in the Restored Gospel. Their searches for such curriculum have produced few suitable results and, in most cases, these families live in remote locations prohibitive to attending the American Heritage School, whose curriculum they find suitable. Out of a desire to make the wonderful educational opportunities afforded the students attending American Heritage School more widely available, American Heritage School will be expanding its resources to include online courses via the World Wide Web, beginning in September of 2010.  These courses will be available to students within and without the current school community. They will provide opportunities for credit advancement and credit recovery.  Within three to five years we hope to have all current courses (K-12) available online in a multi-media rich format. More information will be forthcoming via our website.

Qualification for High School and College Athletics. For families that are serious about high school and college athletics, please be aware that particular academic requirements may apply to you depending upon the high school or college that you want to attend. At least two organizations that you should be aware of include: (1) the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) http://www.uhsaa.org/info/ and, (2) National Collegiate Athletic Association- (NCAA), http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal.

College Admissions. We have confidence that our high school program will produce outstanding students that will be sought after by some of the finest colleges in the country.  Obviously, we cannot guarantee that a student graduating from American Heritage High School will be accepted to any school of his/her choice; however, we are confident that our students will be well qualified for great colleges and universities – and that if they will diligently apply themselves not only to their coursework here, but also to the spirit and mission of American Heritage School, they will prove to be some of the most successful college students, community members, husbands and wives, and fathers and mothers in their national graduating class.  American Heritage School provides advancement, high school credit, and college entrance counseling for all high school students.  We have also assembled and are circulating an detailed packet of information related to college entrance planning. This information will also be posted online under the “High School” link (under “About Us”). All high school students are encouraged to review this packet with their parents and begin planning early. Administration will have interviews with each student (and their parents when possible) each year.

This year we have been truly astounded by the performance and the spirit of our middle and high school students. This truly is a school with a mission that only the Lord fully comprehends – and that we continue to strive to fulfill. We appreciate the support and enthusiasm of so many in our school community who have provided (and continue to provide) input, ideas, people, and resources to help make this endeavor an overwhelming success and to further bless the lives of the rising generation! 

Sincerely,

Grant Beckwith