Miss Fran Parziale - St. Francis Preparatory School



Mrs. Fran Jiménez                                                        (718) 423-8810 x 231

Advanced Physical Science (APS) email: fjimenez@

COURSE GUIDELINES AND EXPECTATIONS

COURSE GOALS

·         To implement the scientific method in order to address our curiosities.

·         To enhance our academic skills through critical analysis and problem solving.

·         To develop our ability to visualize and test multiple possibilities and explanations.

·         To develop necessary skills to effectively communicate as scientists.

·         To acquire a concrete understanding of chemistry and physics topics so as to excel in later coursework.  

OVERALL COURSE SCOPE

            The emphasis in this course will be on the mastery of selected topics in the field of chemistry and physics. There will be emphasis on both content and process. Students are expected to further develop their skills of problem solving, critical analysis, scientific writing, and even memorization. This course will create a foundation so that students can be successful in years to come in higher level science courses.

CLASSROOM RULES

1) Class starts immediately at the bell with a prayer. This means that you are already in your seats and quiet.

2) You must be prepared every day with the appropriate books, ipad, calculator, and something with which to write.

3) Use the bathroom before class or at lunch time. Excessive use of the lavatory will be questioned.

4) Disruptions to the class will not be tolerated and may result in a grade deduction, detentions, and/or the notification of your parents.  This includes calling-out of comments or answers.

5) The SFP dress code will be enforced and you are expected to adhere to it at all times. Failure to comply will result in detention and/or a deduction in the student’s class participation grade as penalty for having caused a delay in class.

6) Respect for each other is expected, especially when a student may be answering or asking a question.

7) Cutting class will result in a 25 point grade deduction in your quarter average. This will obviously make it very difficult, if not impossible, to pass for the quarter. Don’t do it. There will be no exceptions to this rule. 

8) The school has a policy on cell phones that clearly states that not only must they be in the off position, but they may not be visible.  Please adhere to these rules. 

9) No make-up, chapstick, mirrors, or hairbrushes should be visible in the classroom once the bell rings.  This includes even if you finish classwork early. 

10) There can be NO food or drink visible in the classroom or lab.

IMPORTANT ACADEMIC POLICIES

1-) Make-up exams/quizzes:  Unless specifically told otherwise, small quizzes will not be made up – simply dropped. For comprehensive unit exams, students must take a make-up exam either the morning of their return or the next morning, either at 7:40 a.m. or earlier if involved in H period. This of course will need to be scheduled with Mrs. Jiménez by email since the make-up may happen before meeting for the next day’s class. If a student misses both opportunities for a make-up, he or she will automatically take the exam during class time on the second day after return. This will result in missed class or lab material and is not at all encouraged. After school make-up exams are generally not available. If a student is absent for 3 class days before the exam or 3 class days after the exam, a make-up may not be given, but rather an appropriate home assignment and/or an oral exam based on the home assignment in order to replace the grade. Students in this situation should email in advance of their return to school to determine a plan.

2-) Extra –Credit:  As a rule, there is no individual extra credit allowed.  It is difficult to fail this class if all of the homework and lab reports are done well and effort is put into studying and taking notes.  In some circumstances, extra credit opportunities may be extended to the entire class.

3-) Absence and the Buddy System:  Students must obtain all contact information for at least two other students in their class.

If a student is absent, he/she must take responsibility and therefore the absent student must:

a) email, call, and text (as needed) his/her homework buddies as soon as possible until reached.

b) check the class website several times during the day/evening of absence. The teacher will often although not always post worksheets used and/or homework assignments. This is a good tool but should not be counted on.

c) email the teacher to inform about absence. While Mrs. Jimenez does not play the role of homework buddy, this is extremely helpful so that the teacher might be able to respond with an important message or answer a question you may have.

d) return to school with all assignments completed whenever possible. If a student doesn’t understand the material or there is some other problem, then he/she or a parent must email Mrs. Jimenez to indicate this on the night of the absence and to schedule extra help of some kind. Turn in homework when presenting an absence pass. Some homework assignments will be “dropped” if no longer relevant upon return.

e) Present an absent pass BEFORE CLASS STARTS – so get there early!!

*** 4-) Cheating Policy:   SFP has an honor code that will be strictly upheld in this class. As fair warning, I consider cheating to be the worst offense that you can commit in my class. In the case that I suspect cheating or academic dishonesty, there will be severe consequences. These will include, but are not limited to: a grade of zero on the assignment in question, parental notification, and referral to the deans. These consequences are in addition to those stipulated in the SFP calendar. To be clear, cheating does include, among other things, copying homework, attempting to get test questions from your friends who have already taken an exam, falsifying lab results, plagiarizing the internet in lab reports and taking answers or using "cheat sheets" on an exam.  Students are never to see any portion of each others’ ungraded lab reports.

5-)  Struggling Students and Options: It would be wonderful if every student grasped the material the first time and scored in the 90s, but that is just not the reality especially in such a difficult course as this. Therefore, I strongly encourage struggling students to consider:

A) Extra Help From Me – I am available most mornings starting at 7 a.m. by appointment and many freshmen lunch periods by appointment. I am also available many Wednesday afternoons, also by appointment. On some occasions, especially around mid-terms or finals, I may post special additional extra help sessions. Always check the class website for updates about this.

B) Extra Help From Other Teachers – Starting in late September, there is an APS teacher available in W017 at least two mornings from 7:50-8:15 and two afternoons from 2:50 – 3:20. He/she will help any student who stops by for extra help. Try to stop by these sessions regularly even if just for a few minutes. This may be a necessity for a student who was absent from class and wants to properly catch up. This schedule will be posted on the class website once finalized and announced in class.

C) Textbook, Notes, and Worksheets – We will roughly follow the textbook and in most cases, it can be used to clarify something from a lesson a student may have misunderstood. Students should avoid cramming from a textbook the night before an exam. The text is best used along with a unit to fill in class notes. Class notes, home notes while using the text, problem sets, and class worksheets are best when studying for an exam.

D) Study Groups – Even though I am not available afterschool every day, many of my successful students in the past have gotten together and helped each other with homework, done extra problems together, exchanged notes, and studied together for upcoming exams. Go to the library. If you have a serious study group, you will do better in this class. It would be wise to have someone from class or at least someone who also has Mrs. Jimenéz, but it would be almost as helpful to study with any other APS student who is also serious about doing well. Please feel free to use the class website forums to set up study groups especially for exams.

E) Tutoring –There are some upperclassmen who were successful in APS who will be available through W-101 Guidance Office as tutors. I feel I should warn you that you may not be guaranteed a tutor. However, you should surely try! Get on the waiting list!! If a student is significantly struggling, obtaining some kind of outside professional home tutor may be a good idea. Professional tutors, however, are often very expensive and so students will wish to exhaust all other options for success first. If student peer tutors are limited, students who are friends and who have similar schedules may wish to share a tutor.

F) Library Homework Help – There is some help offered by honor society students in the SFP library during the day at the homework help desk. But freshmen tend to have very few free periods so this may not be a feasible option.

6-) Ipads: We are excited to have this resource students and Mrs. Jiménez will learn together to make best us of the ipads to enrich our curriculum and lessons. Students are of course expected to adhere to the SFP acceptable use policy at all times. Students may not take photos or videos of any classmate or teacher without explicit consent given. Students will be severely penalized in their class participation grade if found to be using the ipads in class for something unrelated to the lesson

6-) Communication:  If students wish to speak to me about anything, I am available.  I just ask that these conversations don’t occur in a hurried manner before or after class.  If possible, email is great way to communicate or just schedule a time to meet in person. Early mornings or lunch time are probably best for the discussion of any issue.  Progress reports will be sent home with the students around mid-quarter or possibly a bit past mid-quarter. However, student grades are available continuously online through Parent Portal. The same is true in regards to parent/teacher communication. It is certainly easiest to reach me through email, but telephone is also acceptable. Additionally, many notices, due dates, extra help schedules, etc. are posted on the class website so please check it often, available through .

Please continue on the next pages to learn more about grading and assessments in this class.

Mrs. Fran Jiménez                                                                    (718) 423-8810 x 231

Advanced Physical Science (APS)                            email: fjimenez@

GRADING POLICIES

Students will be graded using a point system.  All points are equal regardless of the type of assignment.  Each component of the student’s work and performance will be assigned a point value appropriate to the difficulty of the assignment and the amount of effort needed to complete the assignment.  At the end of the quarter, the student’s average may be calculated by dividing the total number of points earned by the total number of possible points available that quarter.  The students will be assessed using the following tools (all point values are approximate):

                       

Exams/Mini-Exams:         300 - 400 pts.

                        Quizzes:                  100 - 150 pts.

                        Lab Reports/Assignments: 250 - 400 pts.

                        Classwork/Homework:  100 - 200 pts.

Projects 0 – 150 pts

Class Participation:         50 - 50 pts            

                        Total                                800 - 1200 pts. 

Below is a description of each component of the grading scheme:

A) Exams/Mini-Exams: There will be between 3 and 5 exams per quarter. They will be difficult exams that cover material from class mostly. These exams may also cover material from any lab activities that have taken place during that term. Students must study by practicing worksheets and by reviewing class notes. Textbooks are not a good source from which to study. They will vary in point values appropriate to the amount of material covered since the last exam.  “Exams” are comprehensive whereas “mini-exams” may be given to evaluate comprehension of a much more isolated topic.  There are no dropped exams.

B) Quizzes: These may be announced or unannounced.  Announced quizzes may be given on memorized material such as vocabulary, theories, equations, or they may be given to assess student mastery of particular problem types in advance of larger exams.  Unannounced quizzes are rarely used but may be given to check that students have done an assigned reading or prepared in advance for a lab exercise. The goal of quizzes is to help students to understand their weaknesses and to encourage gradual mastery as opposed to attempting to cram the night before larger exams.   

C) Lab Reports: There will be typically be 3-5 lab exercises per quarter. 2 or 3 of these exercises will be written up as extensive lab reports. These reports must strictly follow the guidelines that will be distributed to the students within the first cycle of the year.  These reports are demanding, yet extremely useful to the students as they pursue further education.  We will be following a format that is used in college and by professionals in the scientific field.  Students who do not complete these reports diligently typically fail the class, regardless of their performance on other assessments. The official lab reports will be graded using a rubric for content, format, appropriate citation, writing style, grammar, accuracy, creativity and correctness.  It will also be important that students show improvement from one report to the next. Lab reports will usually be worth about 100 points.

Other lab exercises will lend themselves to a more abbreviated lab report and in these cases, students may be permitted to deviate substantially from the official lab report guidelines. Instructions will be given for the assignments to accompany these exercises. These lab assignments will have lower point values than the official more extensive reports.

Official lab reports must be turned electronically using and (unless later told otherwise) they are due also as hard copies at the beginning of class. Late lab reports will be penalized 15 pts if 1 minute to 1 day late and after that, the maximum credit that can be received is 50% - accepted until 1 week before the quarter ends.

D) Classwork/Homework: Students may be asked to turn in assigned nightly homework on occasion (this may not be announced) and in some cases the work will be graded for completeness only and in other cases, it will be graded also for accuracy. The same may be true for classwork. Students working on class assignments may be asked to either turn in some portion of their work for a grade or it may be checked by the teacher during class. Point values will vary. Late homework is not accepted at all (except for absence) – a 0 will be given for an assignment even though students are still encouraged to make up the work and check it with a friend or in extra help in order to best prepare for exams.

E) Projects:  Some quarters will include a project(s) and others will not. They will be rather lengthy and therefore will be assigned well in advance of a school break. Students will have close to a month to complete these assignments. If a student will be away for a break, he/she can plan accordingly to complete the assignment in the weeks prior. Projects will generally be accepted late at a penalty of 10 points per day late up to 3 days late (-30).

G) Class Preparedness/Attitude:  All students will receive a grade for class preparedness/attitude out of 50 points. It will be broken up into two 25 point halves at mid-quarter and at the end of the quarter. All students will start with a 21/25. This grade is affected by punctuality, having materials and books in class, being ready to start class on time, good behavior, taking notes, and working on task both individually and in groups.  Any time a student is late, unprepared, off-task, not taking notes, or violates any of the classroom rules, points will be deducted from this grade. Students WILL NOT be told when these deductions are taking place. This grade is up to the teacher’s discretion and at times will be based on memory rather than documentation. Class time is simply too precious to interrupt for every behavior correction. Students may earn the other 4 points by participating in class, asking and answering questions and talking in groups and in lab effectively.

SOME ADDITIONAL COMMENTS ABOUT GRADING

Please keep in mind that there are often big adjustments as the students transition from 8th grade to high school.  One of these adjustments is often the new expectation that high school students think more critically than was previously required.  Some students are quite diligent and yet still find themselves struggling in the beginning because their past science class experience relied quite heavily on memorization and simple comprehension skills.   I hope to help the students ease into this transition, but please encourage your student to develop new skills and get help if needed. 

            Grading is also generally a transition for new freshmen students.  At St. Francis Prep., anything in the 90s in considered an extremely good grade (A), the 80s is a good grade (B), and 75-80 (C) is acceptable.  Anything else at St. Francis is considered failing so in a sense, we don’t have a D grade. 

           

PARENT CONNECT

            Please make sure that you are signed up for and have received your password for Parent Portal.  Parent Portal will allow you to see the students’ grades in a timely fashion.  In addition, it allows you to see many of the upcoming assignments.  Please encourage students to use Student Portal as well so that they can see their grades and their assignments.  I will try to post fairly quickly to this site with the exception of lab reports that take an exceedingly long time to grade.  Parent Portal sends out notices of failure regardless of the importance of an assignment. Please do not automatically panic if you receive one of these. A student may receive a 10/15 on homework, for example, which will cause this notice to be sent. In reality, the student got one question wrong out of three on a very small assignment and is doing fine. Please note the assignment’s point value and type before worrying.

I realize the length of these initial class documents and appreciate you taking the time to read them.  They will remain on the class website for review during the year.  We have just a short time to meet on Back to School Night but I certainly do hope to meet you then!  I’ll be happy to answer any questions that you have that night or if you prefer, please email me at fjimenez@ with any questions that may have already sprung up. 

Please sign below and print only this page to turn in to Mrs. Jiménez:

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I have read all of the information (7 pages) regarding APS class. I understand what is expected this year in Mrs. Jiménez’s class. I agree to adhere to the policies or to accept the consequences. I have also reviewed the grading policies and understand how I/my child will be assessed in Mrs. Jiménez’s class.

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(student signature)                                                 (parent or guardian signature)

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