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Chinese Immersion Information Fair
Update Hopkins Public Schools
The community’s guide to the District. XinXing Academy draws a global crowd
November 2016
Considering enrolling your child in Hopkins’ XinXing Chinese immersion program? Join us at our Immersion Fair! Thursday, Nov. 10, 6-8 p.m. Eisenhower Elementary Media Center, 1001 Highway 7, Hopkins
com m u ni t y Once Upon a Mattress: A Royal Production
ECFE Family Stay and Play
Hopkins High School Royal Productions presents Once Upon a Mattress! Nov. 10-11, 7 p.m. Nov. 12, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Nov. 14, 2 p.m. Hopkins High School, 2400 Lindbergh Dr., Minnetonka
Participate in a special playtime with your little one in this parentchild class starting on Nov. 28! Mondays, Nov. 28-Jan. 9, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
hhstheater.org
Harley Hopkins Family Center Register: 952-988-5000 HopkinsSchools.org/early
In a Class of Their Own
ALM class allows the District’s most exceptional junior high students to discover their own paths XinXing Academy welcomed researchers, educators, and administrators from all over the world on Oct. 19. The visitors were in Minneapolis for the International Conference of Immersion and Dual Language Education. XinXing was chosen as a model Chinese immersion program by the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition. Those who attended received classroom tours at all grade levels, listened to a presentation about the media center, and participated in a Q&A session.
Al Nuness inducted into U of M hall of fame
Around Hopkins High School, supervisory paraprofessional Al Nuness is a familiar face. But outside of the school, he’s also well known for his contribution to collegiate basketball. The sport is a lifelong passion of his, and for that he was inducted into the University of Minnesota Athletics Hall of Fame. Nuness was one of 11 inductees honored at a ceremony at TCF Bank Stadium Thursday, Oct. 20. As a Gopher, he was a two-time All star Big Ten player and served as the basketball team’s captain. After college, Nuness was hired on as the first African American fulltime coach.
Regina Johnson’s job is to make life a little tougher for her junior high students. She is one of two Gifted and Talented teachers who teach the ALM (Autonomous Learner Model) class, which is offered to the top-achieving seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-grade students. “I set the bar really high,” Johnson said. “A lot of my students are used to doing well in school, and my job is to push them to their highest potential.” Between North Junior High and West Junior High, about 230 students qualify for ALM by demonstrating that they are in the 95th percentile in the nation in reading and math. There has been a slight uptick in enrollment as XinXing Academy students enter junior high because immersion students test into gifted classes at a higher rate. Also on the rise are “twice exceptional” students, or students who are on the autism spectrum but also qualify for Gifted and Talented services. Despite their academic abilities, seventh-graders can be hesitant about joining ALM. For starters, it’s hard. Really hard. Both Johnson, who teaches at West, and her counterpart at North, Kristin Lee, make sure of that. But it’s not just the increased rigor that is intimidating. The goal of the class is to push students outside of their comfort zones at a time when they are craving experiences that help them fit in.
ALM students at West Junior High provide feedback on a peer’s presentation.
engineering, humanities, passion projects, student seminars, and a ninth-grade service project. These units help students understand themselves, their roles, and the impact they can have on the world. In every assignment, students are asked to carve out an academically unique path by thinking critically. By the time they reach ninth-grade, ALM students are well-versed in independent learning.
Although the emphasis is on self-led learning, there are also group projects, but even in these settings, students are required to find unique solutions to problems. Last year, North students worked in small groups to create life-sized canoes made of unconventional materials that could hold two students. The canoes were then My favorite thing raced across the North pool. Regardless if the boats floated or sank, students were able to about being an ALM experience and learn from the success or failure of their engineering. teacher is watching
Research project At the end of the year, all ALM students participate in an in-depth research project year to year into that requires them to pick a topic they are autonomous learners. passionate about, come up with a question, and find a mentor in the field to help shape They can do amazing their conclusions. Both Johnson and Lee continue to be amazed by what their students things! A place to just be are able to create. Last year’s crop of projects At the junior high level especially, it’s included a documentary on what it’s like to be autistic, a important for gifted students to have a place where they presentation on the different methods for controlling can interact with like-minded peers. ALM was created type 1 diabetes, and what the government can do to keep more than 30 years ago to be that space for students. ocean coral healthy. Rather than pulling them out of other classes, ALM creates
students grow from
a community that is embedded into students’ schedules. This is crucial because junior high students have different social and emotional needs than younger or older students. They can understand global events, like the crisis in Syria, but they don’t always have the skills to process those events emotionally. In the ALM class, students have these conversations with others who understand them. “This is a place where students can be comfortable with who they are, at a time when it’s really hard to be comfortable,” said Johnson. “This is a place where they can be themselves.” Learning through trial and error The ALM class is broken into a variety of units including
“My favorite thing about being an ALM teacher is watching students grow from year to year into autonomous learners,” said Lee. “They can do amazing things!” Part of the allure of the research project is that students are able to choose a topic that they have a personal connection to and present their research however they like. In the past, students have presented their findings with art, multimedia, an essay, or even a play. Gifted and Talented at the secondary level Not every student will have the opportunity to participate in ALM. As a prerequisite, students must demonstrate that they are in the 95th percentile in reading and math. This see In a Class of Their Own on pg. 2