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Putnam Valley HS Launches Freshman Orientation Program
The Putnam Valley Central School District (PVCSD) is proud to announce that Putnam Valley High School (PVHS) is launching a brand new Freshman Orientation Program in September of 2007.
Veteran English teacher Angela Capodanno is coordinating the program in conjunction with Interim Principal Richard Herlihy and faculty members who teach ninth grade students. Program planning has involved teachers from English, Social Studies, Languages Other than English (LOTE), Health, Technology, Math, Science, the Performing and Visual Arts, and Library Media Studies in an ongoing effort to provide a solid orientation for the incoming freshman class.
Faculty members met several times last year to determine the contents and theme of the program packet, and teachers Frankie Gutierrez from Social Studies, Jerry Zupan from Science, Gerard Micera from Performing Arts/Music, Alexis Thornton from LOTE, Keith Fiore from Technology, and Stella Mouyios from the Library Media Center, met for over eight hours on August 28 and 29 in Ms. Capodanno's classroom in order to put the finishing touches on the program.
Ms. Capodanno was inspired, she said, by her own and other teachers' experience with previous classes of incoming freshmen.
Components of the program include:
* Making a smooth transition from middle school to high school * Study skills * Note taking * Time management * Nutrition * Sleep * Recommendations from "seasoned freshmen"
"The first month of school can be daunting for even the most mature of ninth graders, and having a formal program in place to acknowledge their concerns should provide a strong measure of reassurance and give these students a head start," Ms. Capodanno said. Although PVHS is geographically only a few yards from Putnam Valley Middle School (PVHS) on the same campus, she noted, the schools are worlds apart in terms of the way students and staff interact, the work and study expectations, and many other aspects of school life.
One of the most obvious differences is that the high school operates on an earlier time schedule, requiring students to be at the high school nearly 45 minutes earlier than at the middle school. This raises issues not only of time management but also of sleep. Study skills need to be more sharply honed for high school than for middle school because the course load is heavier and teacher expectations are higher. There are many new pressures related to college. There are also nutrition concerns, different behavioral expectations, and new rules and regulations to absorb.
Ms. Capodanno and her group will offer information booklets to all of the freshmen, with reinforcement of the information to take place in all of the ninth grade Academic Skills Classes throughout the year. Additionally, Library Media Specialist Stella Mouyios, and Math teacher Linda Cefaloni filmed a conversation in one of their Academic Skills classes at the end of the 2006-07 freshman year and invited the students in the class to talk about what is important for incoming freshmen to remember. This film will be part of the ninth grade program.
Ms. Capodanno will give an overview of the program at the first PVHS faculty meeting in September, and a parent involvement piece, supported by the PVHS Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA), will be presented at the high school's Back to School Night on September 18.
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