School might be out for the summer, but the faculty and staff at Lynn Camp Schools are busy making preparations for what awaits students this fall.
The addition of Advanced Placement and career preparation courses and the transitioning incoming sixth graders to the middle/high building are some of the changes have school leaders looking forward to students returning on August 14.
“This is an exciting time for Lynn Camp Schools and we want our school community to know all of the work going on behind the scenes to ensure student success in the upcoming school year,” said assistant principal Anthony Pennington.
New rigorous courses to prepare students for college and career
Rigorous and demanding coursework may not be on every child’s wish list, but Lynn Camp is preparing just that in an effort to increase the number of students who graduate college ready.
New Advanced Placement (AP) courses will be offered in the upcoming school year, a welcomed addition to the curriculum according to district AP coach Cathy Sue Smith.
AP Government, Calculus, Spanish, Biology, Chemistry, and English will be offered to students in 2013-2014.
According to Smith, the addition these courses will help students prepare for college both in coursework and on their applications. AP courses signal to admissions officers that a student has undertaken the most rigorous classes their high school had to offer. Students can also earn college credit by completing AP exams at the end of each course.
For students on track to be career ready at Lynn Camp, the addition of new business and marketing education classes will help prepare students for the workforce. Longtime Knox Central educator Gina Martin will be joining the Lynn Camp staff to provide instruction in computer applications and general business skills and concepts. Students will be eligible to take the KOSSA (Kentucky Occupational Skill Standards Assessment) after completing the business and marketing pathway and earn a certificate stating that they are prepared for an entry-level job in the field. Martin will be working alongside Selina Deaton, present marketing teacher at the school.
“Our teachers are spending the summer attending professional development sessions to better prepare them to deliver a challenging curriculum to students,” said Frank Shelton, who will be overseeing various college and career readiness initiatives for the district this fall.
“Our ultimate goal is college and career readiness at Lynn Camp, and the addition of these classes will strengthen our school and better prepare our students as we move forward.”
New middle school configuration allows for enhanced learning opportunities
Lynn Camp will have several new, but familiar, faces in the halls this fall as incoming sixth graders will now attend classes at the school’s middle and high building.
“This is one of the most important steps the school can take to ensure a seamless transition in curriculum at the middle school level,” said Shelton.
Sixth grade students were previously attending classes at the elementary school building even though most traditional middle school programs have sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students together.
School principal Amy Bays sees this move as an opportunity to get tools and resources in the hands of students at an earlier age.
“Students will have access to science labs and unique programs that we were unable to provide at the elementary,” said Bays.
Those programs include taking career and technical classes such as the new business and marketing ones added, and already established exploratory classes in agriculture, family and consumer sciences, and technology that will prepare them to follow a career pathway later at the high school level.
The school hosted an open house earlier this spring for parents to address any questions or concerns that they have about their child transitioning to the middle and high building. At the open house parents were given a tour of the facility and were shown the classrooms that will be used for the sixth grade students. To ease the transition, several teachers from the elementary have been reassigned to the middle and high building to teach the sixth grade classes.
Pre-registration for the upcoming school year will be held on Wednesday, July 31 and Thursday, August 1 from 9am to 6pm and on Friday, August 2 from 9am to 7pm. Doors will close 30 minutes prior to the end time each day to allow parents sufficient time to accurately complete all paperwork. Additional details about pre-registration will be released later this month. Students and parents who have questions about the new courses or would like to make changes to their class schedule for the upcoming school year may do so during pre-registration.