Update from Health Education (Jan 08)
To View Pictures of AT Art History and AT Studio Art (Dec 07)

Update on AT Art History and AT Studio Art (Dec 07)

What's New in the Social Studies Department Advanced Topics Classes (Nov 07)

From the Art Department: Maria DeAngelis (Oct 07)

From the Science Department: Tom Conrad (May 07)

From the English Department: Mr. Chris Renino (Feb 07)

From the A-School: Howard Rodstein (Oct 06)

From the Psychologist:  Dr. Ernie Collabolletta (Sept 06)

From the Foreign Language Department: Daniel Doak (Feb 06)

From the Math Department: Carol Desoe (Nov 05)

From the ART Department: Maria DeAngelis (Sept 05)

The Health Education department continues to evolve through the introduction of a new program for our freshman and sophomores and an elective class for juniors and seniors.  In our ongoing effort to educate and inform students about substance abuse, we implemented Alcohol Edu, an interactive, web-based program providing information about alcohol and its effects and the consequences of underage use. This program has provided an opportunity to reach out to the incoming freshman class.  A typical freshman would have a one year lapse between health in the 8th grade and the required health education class in 10th with no formal classroom experience regarding underage drinking.  We scheduled the students to begin the program in their Social Studies classes and they continued or finished the survey in their physical education classes.  In addition, the conversation about alcohol was sustained during freshman seminar.  This gave them more than one opportunity to have a conversation with an adult about alcohol.  During the fall of 2007 approximately 97.9% of the freshman class has completed part 1. With renewed motivation to complete Part 2, students will return to the computer center to finalize a 15 minute follow up survey.  During the spring 2008 semester, the other half of the total number of 10th graders will have an opportunity to complete the survey.  We are looking into the most effective way to reach upperclassmen.  The data will be compiled toward the end of the 2008 school year.

Another way in which we inform students about underage drinking is with a dynamic power point presentation from the Nurses Network of America. Their contemporary slide show offers students very clear information on how to respond to a friend who may have consumed an excessive quantity of alcohol.  This information follows the content of the alcohol poisoning cards that most students have received courtesy of the Task Force on Drugs and Alcohol.   

We are working closely with the Coalition on Scarsdale Family Violence to bring to our students original stage performances with role-plays that depict typical events in teen relationships.  These short vignettes place students in an environment where they can observe how their peers interact when there may be the potential for teen relationship violence.  Students have an opportunity to question the actors and enter into a conversation about what they observed.  Following the performance, students will have additional information provided in small group discussions led by Civ-Ed advisors.  In addition, selected classes will hear from a representative from My Sister's Place who will provide additional information specifically targeting power and control in teen relationships.

All classes will hear the very moving real life story of an individual whose life was saved by an organ transplant.  He informs students of the facts about organ donation and dispels myths and inaccurate notions that students may have about organ donation. In the local newspaper this fall there was a compelling story about a seventeen-year-year old girl whose life was also saved by an organ donation and we come to realize that it can happen to anyone.
 
In addition to bringing our students current, relevant, accurate and timely information about health, the newly developed course, Nutrition and Sport Science, taught by Registered Dietitian Jessica Levenberg was launched this fall. This class has the potential to benefit all students.  It is designed with the students as active participants in the selection of topics and areas to be included in the course of study. Ms. Levenberg engaged a motivated group of students in the first class which began in the fall 2007.  With students sharing their enthusiasm for the course and through word of mouth, we hope many more students will take advantage of this new course offering.

While the comprehensive discussion regarding the methodical transformation of AP classes to AT classes was taking place, we realized that there was no opportunity for students to demonstrate their knowledge and expertise in the area of health through an AP/AT class.  Recognizing that our students are genuinely interested in many areas of health, we recommended that an additional new class be offered as an elective for upperclassman.  This new course, Global Issues in Health, will be presented in the 2009-10 course catalog and will be taught by Candiss Cowan.   

Although we are a small department we maintain a very active level of involvement in all of our coursework and in many aspects of life at the high school including individual listening sessions and serving as advisors to many after school clubs and activities.   

Emelie Sciarpelletti, District Health Coordinator, Candiss Cowan, Jessica Levenberg, MS, RD

(Maria DeAngelis, Chair, SHS Fine Arts Department)

In the AT Art History classes, students work with primary sources of art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other NYC art museums. Their research into subject matter has less to do with memorizing names and dates and more to do with placing  students in the role of art historians, investigating and comparing primary sources and art objects as representative of a culture in a given time and place.

Thus far, typical projects assigned have included investigating the origins and iconography of a chosen Egyptian work in the collection, working with essential questions about the object’s purpose and meaning, gender representations, funerary practices, and stylistic changes of the Amarna period.

A lesson in Greek art, based on the collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, asked students to choose works representing the Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic styles.  Students investigated the similarities and differences among the periods and  located works that show the contrast between Greek idealism and Roman realism, the hallmarks of the two respective periods and styles.

In another branch of the Museum, Dutch Baroque still life and genre paintings were analyzed to see what insights they provide into the culture and the values of the affluent merchant class in Holland in the seventeenth century.

As part of the Early Renaissance unit, students viewed and discussed how Ghiberti’s bronze gilded panels from the Gates of Paradise (as they were first called by Michelangelo) are consummate expressions of that style in Florence, capturing the new mastery of perspective, space, and the classical figure.  Students had the unique opportunity to view these art treasures on loan to the Metropolitan for the very first time. 
 
In Advanced Topics Studio Art, the curriculum has been extended to include problems dealing with creative investigations of three-dimensional works, Students are no longer limited to creating two-dimensional works of art as required by the AP portfolio. 

Students have just completed an assignment based on sculptural installations. They were each given a school locker in which to base their installations. Working with sculptural concepts and a variety of materials, students created an extremely diverse collection of installations based on themes that are personally meaningful to them. The completed installations included a mini-gallery, a winter landscape with ski slopes, a basketball court, and a street scene (click here to see photos).

Comparable to a college foundation curriculum, students keep daily sketchbook journals where they record their creative responses to their visual research, reflect on significant issues, and document their expressive directions.

As part of our continuing news about developments in Advanced Topics classes, we are featuring this summary of the work of Social Studies courses during the first quarter of this school year.  

What's New in the Social Studies Department Advanced Topics Classes 
First Quarter - 2007  

Comparative Government 

The Advanced Topics Comparative Government class has spent the last quarter in an intensive investigation of  globalization and its impact on India and within Europe.  In their study of India, the Comparative Government class has done extensive reading of scholarly periodicals such as Foreign Affairs and other publications as they examine the impact of outsourcing on India. In particular, the AT Comparative Government classes have investigated the impact that globalization has had on the Indian village system that is such a vital component of Indian political and social structure.  Furthermore, during the first quarter, the AT Comparative Government class debated the relationship between Britain and the European Union.  With the political ascendancy of Gordon Brown in the United Kingdom and Nicolas Sarkozy in France, the AT Comparative Government class conducted a number of spirited debates about the future of the European Union as both a political and economic force within Europe.         


AT Western Civilization 

The Advanced Topics course in Western Civilization over the past quarter has included a vastly expanded roster of readings including many primary documents such as Jonathan Swift's landmark essay "A Modest Proposal."  Further, the course now includes close readings of noted historiographic works written by experts in the field.  Most recently, AT Western Civilization students read excerpts from the work of the noted economic historian Joel Mokyr of Northwestern University.  As for the current events component of the curriculum, Advanced Topics in Western Civilization also included an expanded coverage with students writing two in-depth news analyses this quarter about current global economic and political events.      


AT United States History 

Advanced Topics U.S. History students in the first quarter have participated in activities that have deepened and enriched their learning. Some of these activities have included participation in the Lincoln Center Visiting Artists program which including a performance of the play "Fly" dramatizing the experiences of the Tuskegee Airmen and the civil rights struggles of the 1940s and 1950s.  Work with Lincoln Center program also coincided with the visit of Dr. Terrence Roberts, a member of the "The Little Rock Nine" who were the first students to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957.  Other AT United States History classes have done an extensive investigation of slavery.  Using over 80 primary documents, students wrote their own history of slavery in the United States.  Incorporating current events into the curriculum, some classes began the year with an in-depth investigation into the history of Iraq and U.S. involvement in the region. At the beginning of the second quarter, teachers and classes will also have an opportunity to meet and dialogue with Professor Virginia Drachman (SHS class of 1967) of Tufts University who is a noted scholar in American history.        


AT Economics 

Students in the Advanced Topics in Economics have addressed many of the current issues facing the United States economy.  Students have conducted in depth investigations of issues such as the federal minimum wage and the current state of the U.S. macro-economy.  In particular, students have studied the impact of the recent collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market and its impact on the U.S. economy.  The quarter ended with students writing a state of the U.S. economy paper which required them to synthesize the conflicting data from the third quarter of 2007.      


AT United States Government 

Students in the Advanced Topics course in U.S. Government have had a rich array of experiences this past quarter focusing closely on contemporary foreign policy issues facing the United States.  Students this past quarter studied the rise of Islamic militancy and the United States' responses to the threat posed by fundamentalist Islam.  To this end, AT U.S. Government students read the Pulitzer Prize winning book The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright.  Study of this text was then followed up by a lecture from Professor Fawaz Gerges of Sarah Lawrence College who is one of the most noted scholars on the rise of jihadism within the Islamic world.   This past quarter, classes have also expanded their study of campaigns and elections and drawn links to the upcoming Presidential primary elections in January.  


AT Psychology 

The Advanced Topics Psychology class began the year with an investigation of bio-psychology, neuropsychology and the role of perception and sensation.  As the first quarter progressed, students moved into the creation and execution of their own psychological studies.  Based on the seminal research of Abraham Maslow and Stanley Milgram on conformity and obedience, AT Psychology students have learned the necessary steps of formal psychological research, including the creation of a study that required a preliminary presentation to an institutional review board.  At the beginning of the second quarter, students have continued their study of psychology while also conducting the subsequent steps of their self-designed conformity and obedience studies. The class also continued close readings of contemporary psychological research in scholarly publications.
     

     This school year holds many promises of  exciting new initiatives and ongoing curriculum innovation in the art department. One area the community has been eager to learn about is our new Advanced Topics courses in Studio Art and Art History.
 In AT Studio Art, the students are already engaged in large scale drawings based on the figure.  They’re taking up the hallways, working on easels, setting up their models to create large loose contour drawings that are leading a unit on figure study that will bring them through several stages of drawings and will culminate in life size wire sculptures.  The new curriculum was designed to allow for larger scope and scale –and to allow for the investigation of a subject or theme, expressed through various media and artistic intent.
    For the first time, we have two sections of Advanced Topics Art History, with thirty five students enrolled.  An exciting semester awaits us with trips planned to the Frick Museum, the Cloisters, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  We will see and study the new Greek and Roman galleries and the Rembrandt and Baroque tapestry exhibitions. The Rembrandt show is especially interesting for the new AT focus, since the exhibition presents the work within the context of the history of patronage, art collecting and fluctuating tastes.
    The elective program is also going through some innovative changes as we embrace art educational trends and incorporate them into our curriculum. Visual Culture Art Education has been a buzz word in the field and for good reason. The basic philosophy of recognizing that our visual world, as we are influenced by it, is more and more becoming one of popular culture imagery – videos, video blogs, billboards, graffiti, computer generated images on websites, in commercials and ads are all equally valid now as sources of generating visual communication, and meaning, no longer confined to fine art images as seen in museums and art books.  We’re expanding curricula to allow for our students to view and respond to and find meaning in our visual culture and process some of that into their personal responses to their art solutions.
    The Art department members are enthusiastically reading A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink.  Many of us are incorporating Pink’s ‘six senses’: design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning into our curricula.  Pink was a featured speaker at National Art Education Association’s 2007 Annual Convention in New York City.  His book makes a compelling case for the essential role of arts education in the 21st Century – an era that Pink refers to as the Conceptual Age: “What’s in greatest demand today isn’t analysis but synthesis – seeing the big picture, crossing boundaries, and being able to combine disparate pieces into an arresting new whole.” (p.66)
    Daniel Pink does not write for an art education audience, his book pertains to the need of our present and future world for creative thinkers, for group problem solvers, for breaking present analytical paradigms, in order to succeed in a more conceptual world.  The implication for art education is great, in that art training provides experiences which depend upon and develop right brain strategies... the notion is that the MFA is the new MBA- .the more we develop right brain skills in students , the better prepared they will be to take o and successfully problem solve in  our future conceptual world.
    The foundation program remains strong, with freshman students choosing from the four foundations of Studio, 3-D Crafts, Media, and Design & Drawing for Production, each of them functioning as a foundation in Design and as introductions into the elective system following the same area of specialization if desired.
    This year the dept will start a Scarsdale Chapter of the National Art Honor Society, and as such, will enroll members from 10th – 12th grades. Membership and activities pertaining to community service and art will follow the philosophy of the National Board. We’re excited about the kinds of activities we can be involved in, from the aesthetics of the school (possible murals and indoor installations) to reaching out with our art and art activities to helping the community in ways that are unique to art.
    We continue to exhibit students’ works in shows outside of the building, at local arts centers and colleges, providing our young artists the opportunity of a public format for their work, as well as possibilities of acknowledgement, prizes and scholarships.
    The Positive Space Gallery (rm.277) remains an important feature in the department, providing an opportunity for all students to show off their work in the Student Choice exhibitions as well as the AT students displaying  their ‘retrospectives’ – in the portfolio show in the Spring.
    We are off to a great start, the art studios are buzzing with creativity and the gallery and display cases are filling up with beautiful artwork for all parents to see during our Open House nights.  

    Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" has alerted the nation and world to impending climate change, one of several issues that are addressed in Scarsdale High School science classes which deal with sustainability, the taking from and giving back to the environment in a way that reduces harm to a minimum, and which can be supported for the indefinite future.  All ninth-grade students in Biology learn fundamental ecological laws, including the Carbon cycle, and about the relationships of living things
with each other and with their environment.  This year, the Bio 512 classes will view "An Inconvenient Truth" in class.
    In Chemistry, a Regents course unit on Organic Chemistry introduces students to petroleum and hydrocarbons and their combustion.  Students actually calculate the mass of CO2 produced from burning a gallon of gasoline, for instance, and extend this into a conversation of the potential effects of carbon emissions on global climate.  A unit in Nuclear Chemistry includes an explanation of how a nuclear power plant works, an energy source promoted by some as an alternative to fossil fuels.  The short-term storage and long-term disposal of radioactive waste fuel is considered.  The Chem 512 classes have developed a relationship with, and take field trips to, Cabbage Hill Farm, which stresses non-chemical pest control, nutrient recycling, and sustainable food practices.  Small group research projects on alternative energies, such as Wind, Solar, Hydroelectric and Tidal, Biodiesel, Hydrogen Fuel Cells, and others, are completed in some of these Chem classes.
    Geology 514 students study the depletion of energy and mineral resources, and the environmental implications of extraction methods.  Another focus for the course is the risks of flood control along rivers and coasts, and the challenge of keeping surface and ground water from being contaminated. (The latter is an important part of the Chem 512 curriculum, with different students.)  Earth Science often holds an "Energy Symposium" of student reports, covering many of the topics done by the students in the Chem 512 research projects.
    Material covered in Physics classes connects to alternative energies like Solar and Nuclear, too.  By this time, students are prepared to tackle some of the "hard" science behind such topics as energy transformation and electrical generation theory, and the photoelectric effect, related to photovoltaic cells.  In this way the science curricula "spiral" so that all students are reconnecting with the issues of global climate, sustainable energy and waste management, resources, and more, throughout their individualized science sequences.  Through these different curricula, we hope to be meeting one of the science department's goals: to increase all students' science literacy and awareness while promoting the development of a better informed citizenry.

John Dewey, philosopher and reformer of American education, believed that an educational system must both facilitate a person’s individual growth and shape that person into a contributing member of society.  That philosophy describes well the thinking behind the design of Scarsdale High School’s ninth-grade English/social studies program and junior-year American Studies course.

Ninth-grade English and social studies classes at the High School are scheduled into blocks that allow the teachers of those subjects to share the same students for a year.  Since many of the themes developed in freshman English classes complement studies in the social sciences, teachers of the two subjects have the opportunity to plan and teach interdisciplinary units.  The study, for example, of ancient Greece in social studies class considerably enriches a reading of The Odyssey in English class.  Want to understand better the alien culture and perspective of Gilgamesh?  Then why not first study one’s own cultural biases and assumptions?  New to the High School, freshmen benefit from the work of teachers who collaborate in the planning of lessons and the coordination of workloads and due dates for assignments.  The pursuit of these opportunities and the application of these approaches, in a world of familiar faces — those of peers, teachers and deans —, helps all participants to develop a strong sense of community.

The junior-year American Studies course also enables English and social studies teachers to plan and organize instruction for a common pool of students.  Imagine the benefits of such an arrangement for students encountering these questions about Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener”: “In what sense might puritan values be said to influence the narrator?  Do aspects of Melville’s story echo any transcendental philosophies?”  Indeed, an insightful answer must be rooted in a close reading of the story itself, but a much richer and fuller response becomes possible with some significant grounding in the history of American ideas, ideals and institutions.

By working across disciplines to confront some of the key, common concepts and themes of these two important disciplines, students learn that historical events shape and contextualize literature and that literature provides insights into particular historical periods.  Better yet, they develop a sophisticated mode of thinking that encourages them to view the world of ideas through more than one lens.  Best of all, everyone — students and teachers alike — benefits from instructional continuity that joins idea to idea, links lesson to lesson, and connects person to person in ways that facilitate both the growth of the individual and the development of the community.

        Every fall in early November, a team of Scarsdale Alternative School teachers and students journey to a national conference, the Fall Forum of the Coalition of Essential Schools, to present a workshop on aspects of our award-winning program.  This year nine students will accompany three staff members to Chicago to model the way our democratically run school makes decisions, enforces rules, and resolves disputes.  Every year superintendents, principals, teachers, parents, and students from across the country attend our workshop.  In an age when Bill Gates and other philanthropists are putting substantial money into the small schools movement, our model for supporting students’ moral and intellectual development, a success story dating back to 1972, holds a powerful appeal.
        Indeed visitors to the A-School over the past year have included teachers, students, and administrators from two independent schools in New York City, Fieldston and Calhoun; a new charter school in Connecticut, the New Haven Academy; an alternative school, the Delta Program in State College, Pennsylvania; and two university programs, the graduate psychology program at Fordham University and Harvard University graduate school of education.  Consistently, our visitors note the level of engagement of our students in all school activities, their ability to articulate their ideas in public forums, and the way that “an overarching set of core values” inform work both in and outside the classroom.  In her book Kids and School Reform (1997), Pat Wasley argues that effective schools must be places where young people “acquire the capacity to care about the common good…learn to view others with respect and…develop the healthy independence of mind…to exercise responsible leadership.”    The A-School seeks to live by Wasley’s provocation.
        This past summer, the A-School received an e-mail from Rikki Santer, the new director of a new alternative school in Upper Arlington, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus.  She wrote, “We will be opening our doors as an alternative school this fall.  Our visit to your school two years ago still resonates and inspires.”  Ms. Santer first heard about the Scarsdale program at a Fall Forum three years ago.  Perhaps this year’s workshop will lead to equally exciting outcomes.

THE ROLE OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS IN THE HIGH SCHOOL

            By Dr. Ernie Collabolletta

    High schools in general, and Scarsdale High School in particular, are facing increasing and more complex needs of today’s adolescents.  The changing family structure (single parent families, two working parents who have less time to spend with children), reform movements in education as well as health care, and massive changes in society in general (gender issues, substance abuse, violence, teenage pregnancy, AIDS, child abuse, etc.) demand that psychological services in the school increase.  The scope of practice of school psychology must expand to meet the needs of all its students.  The Scarsdale community at large has recognized this and has increased its number of psychologist in the district as well as in the high school over the past several years.    
    For many years, the school psychologist was relegated to the job of psychological testing for Special Education. No one would deny that P.L. 94-142 has been both the bane and the boon for psychological services in the schools.   Indeed, our roles have been influenced by federal legislation for special education eligibility and we are the only “credentialed” personnel to provide psychoeducational assessment required by federal legislation and funded by the schools. But our expertise does not end there. School psychologists are trained in the science and the practice to contribute greatly to the health of children, families, and schools.  School psychologists play an integral role in advocacy, prevention, consultation, assessment, and treatment for children and their families.  So what do the psychologists in Scarsdale High School do?  They:
  

1.     facilitate groups whose themes revolve around typical adolescent issues (family and peer relationships, substance abuse, eating disorders, etc.)
2.     participate in C.S.E. evaluations
3.     consult with parents and teachers
4.     work with regular education students in individual counseling
5.     work with parent groups
6.     head the crisis management team and respond to school and community crises
7.     participate in the Pupil Study Team
8.     supervise psychology interns
9.     conduct Scarsdale Teachers Institute courses
10.     head special educational programs
11.     advocate for students, parents, and staff

Too often school psychologists have had too little direct contact with parents. It is equally sad to think that we have had too little time to spend with students in general.  We have made a conscious change to expand our role and be present for and work with ALL students and their families.  It is for this reason that I felt compelled to write this brief summary to inform you what we do, with the hope that you will utilize our knowledge base to play a role in the positive development of your son/daughter.  Both Samantha and I look forward to a strong working relationship with you and your children.  Feel free to be in touch with us: Dr. Samantha Loriar (721-2521) and Dr. Ernie Collabolletta    (721-2563).       

As I was skimming through the newspaper recently, one headline immediately caught my attention:  "U.S. Firms becoming tongue-tied:  Global trade requires foreign language skills".  I have heard similar stories on the public radio station that I listen to on my drive to school each day.  Foreign language education seems to have grabbed the national spotlight.  It's fairly easy to understand why this has occurred.   We have a changing geopolitical situation which has made knowledge of foreign languages and cultures increasingly important for our national security.  At the same time, America's dominance in the global marketplace is being challenged.    In addition, immigration trends have made knowledge of foreign languages a marketable skill here at home.  Career goals aside, knowledge of foreign languages and cultures is an important part of developing global awareness, which is so important in helping our students become citizens of the world. 

 

One of the greatest strengths of our foreign language program at Scarsdale High School is the expertise that each of our teachers brings to the classroom.  Each of our teachers has lived, studied, worked or traveled in areas of the world where the target language is spoken.  In addition, the foreign language faculty employs a variety of strategies to engage students in the learning process.  In our French and Spanish classes, the teachers and students use the target language to communicate in the classroom.  Several technological advances have made it easier for us to bring culture into the classroom. On-line data-bases available through the Scarsdale High School library give us access to the latest foreign language newspaper articles, providing students with another perspective on current events from around the world.  The internet also gives us access to various news programs from foreign television and radio stations. These resources are extremely valuable tools which help students develop a truly global perspective. 

 

The Scarsdale High School Foreign Language Department offers a rich curriculum in French, Spanish and Latin. The members of the foreign language department at Scarsdale High School are dedicated to helping students develop proficiency in a second language.  In fact, many of our students enroll in more that one foreign language.  Proficiency in a foreign language takes many years to develop and not all students advance at the same rate.  In recognition of this fact, our program is flexible, offering a variety of levels.  Teachers are also available to give students extra help outside of class.  Students who need additional one-on-one help can avail themselves of the tutoring services in the Foreign Language Center. 

 

Of course, the best way to learn a foreign language is to spend time in a country where the language is spoken.  The Foreign Language Department currently sponsors a French exchange program every other year.  This program has been very successful.  We plan to make a similar program available to Spanish students in the future. 

 

As I complete my fifth month as chair of the Foreign Language Department, I am energized by the positive learning environment of the Scarsdale High School community.  This truly is a special place.  I am excited to be able to contribute to the tradition of excellence that is the hallmark of Scarsdale High School.  Should you ever have a comment or a concern, please do not hesitate to contact me.

This past summer, while vacationing in Pennsylvania, I was pleasantly shocked to see a billboard picturing a clenched fist with the letters “MATH” written on the fingers.  The sign proclaimed:

“Demand it. “MATH” Math is Power”

 

This philosophy is embraced by Scarsdale’s Math Department and reflected in the course offerings at the high school and our commitment to excellence in teaching mathematics.  Each year brings a heightened sense of awareness that knowledge of mathematics and its related technology is essential for students in becoming functioning and productive members of society.

 

The Math Department believes that each student deserves high quality, engaging mathematics instruction.  The curriculum is tailored to the individual needs of students by providing a variety of levels of courses and approaches in instruction.  Since students mature mathematically at different rates, the program is flexible, providing students the opportunity to find a math experience at a level most appropriate for their mathematical ability.

 

The math curriculum offered at Scarsdale is rich and relevant, offering students the opportunities to learn important mathematical concepts and procedures with understanding.  The curriculum provides students with the knowledge and skills to succeed at college-level courses that require a solid foundation in high school mathematics.  Students are taught to recognize that there are unifying mathematical concepts common to all branches of mathematics.  Students’ problem solving experiences help them understand that topics from one branch of mathematics can often illuminate and be illuminated by topics from other branches of mathematics.  In addition, our teachers create opportunities that enable students to experience the beauty and structure of mathematics, appreciating how the structure and patterns that abound in mathematics are reflected in their everyday environment.

 

Scarsdale’s math teachers believe that technology plays an important role in the teaching of mathematics.  The graphic and computational capabilities of calculators provide powerful images and allow students to model problems involving applications of mathematics and to gain an understanding of ideas previously inaccessible to high school students.  The department also makes effective use of Excel spreadsheets and its Excel’s graphing utility, Power Point presentations, the Smart Board, the TI Navigator system, Geometer Sketch Pad, and Math Type.

 

So what’s new in the department?  This year the Mathematics Department was delighted to offer a new course, Computer Science, open to all high school students.  The course is an introductory course in the programming language, Java, and includes the following topics: program design, control statements, principles of object-oriented programming, basic data structures, basic searching and sorting algorithms, recursion, and other selected topics.  This course will lead to the AP Computer Science course, which will first be offered in the 2006-2007 school year. 

 

The AP Computer Science course is an introductory college-level computer science course.  Students will study the following topics:  program design, principles of object-oriented programming, constructs, testing and debugging programs, analysis of algorithms, standard data structures, standard algorithms, basic computer hardware and software, and the Marine Biology Simulation case study.  All work will be done using the Java programming language and will conclude with the AP Computer Science AB examination. 

 

Implementing and sustaining a mathematics program based on the principles stated above requires a solid mathematics curriculum, knowledgeable and compassionate teachers, school policies that enhance and support learning, classrooms with access to technology, and a school climate committed to excellence.  We are indeed fortunate that all of these essential components are in place at Scarsdale High School.

 

 There have been several exciting changes going on in the high school art department regarding our course offerings.  In the past couple of years we have fine tuned our program to establish three major areas of study: Two Dimensional Design, Three Dimensional Design and Media /Technology.  Our students have quite a variety of courses available to them starting with a choice of four different foundations to begin their study of art, continuing through several electives from each area and culminating in Advanced Placement courses.  All of our courses are fully described in the high school Course Catalog.  Following is a brief discussion of a few of our courses.

            Computer technology, in combination with the arts, is alive and doing well at the high school.  For the National School Board Association visit to Scarsdale, the technology programs of animation and video movie making were a main feature of the conference.  As you may know, Scarsdale won national recognition for its outstanding use of technology in the school system.  Some sixty school board representatives viewed six students demonstrating their expertise in both 3D animation and movie making.  The students showed past work created by them, and gave a demonstration of projects they were currently working on.  The use of technology has been a mainstay in the art program for the last several years.  At present we offer Media Arts Foundation to introduce students to several types of computer based technology offered in the art program.  Computer 3-D Animation and Advanced 3D Animation are designed to provide students creative experiences, skill development and insights into one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the U.S.  Computer Photography develops skills in digital photography and in the use of Photoshop software program.  Video is our newest elective in technology and it is designed to allow students to investigate all aspects of digital movie making from photographing images to individual computer editing.

            In Media Arts Foundation, students are involved with a digital moviemaking project as one of the areas covered.   Each student writes a short movie treatment inspired by the work of a famous photographer.  Photographs by Diane Arbus, Jerry Uelsmann, Dorothea Lange, Lewis Hine and William Klein are among the images interpreted by students.  After writing a treatment containing a conflict between two or more characters, each student has the opportunity to pitch his/her idea to a ‘production group’ of his/her peers. 

 

          Each group will turn a treatment into a full length script. During the course of this project, students will learn the basics of screenwriting, cinematography, and digital editing.  Perhaps the most valuable lesson might prove to be the challenges and rewards of learning to craft a collective vision from beginning to end.

 

           Students enrolled in Design and Drawing for Production Foundation (DDP) and Architecture classes learn to add a sense of realism to their creative project ideas with different types of models. Three-dimensional modeling is a form of presentation favored by many artists in a variety of design fields.  While properly prepared two-dimensional sketches and drawings can convey the designer’s intent quite clearly, a model adds a sense of form, volume and realism to a project proposal that is unachievable on paper.  The model allows the viewer to see and explore the idea in a way that makes the product come alive.  DDP students explore a different method of modeling in their study of concepts as applied to residential space design.  Students in both classes now use Adobe Illustrator as a means to easily facilitate design changes, and enhance the appearance of their project ideas.

 

            The College Board has re-organized the options for Advanced Placement Studio Art to better align with college foundation courses. There are now three offerings for AP Studio Art courses – Drawing, 2-D Design, and 3-D Design.  Drawing incorporates a variety of works done through mark-making using a variety of drawing materials and styles.  2-D Design covers all flat works that can include drawings, paintings, and various techniques of printmaking – intaglio, relief, monoprint, as well as collage, photography and computer design.  The 3-D course covers a broad spectrum of work including, ceramics, sculpture, jewelry, weaving, architectural model-making, literally any art that is three-dimensional.  All three options require students to take appropriate prerequisite courses in that particular area of study.   The courses are designed as portfolio development and culminate in the submission and evaluation of portfolios.  This system provides the students with the opportunity to make a strong commitment and accomplish more than the typical high school course.  These AP Studio Art portfolios encourage creative as well as systematic investigations of formal and conceptual issues, emphasize making art as an ongoing process that involves the student in informed and critical decision-making, and most importantly they encourage students to become independent thinkers who will contribute inventively and critically to their culture through the making of art.

 

            Art History is thriving at the high school. The course was designed as an art elective four years ago and has now developed into an Advanced Placement year long course.  Students may still opt to take the course as a non-AP elective, for either one semester or the year, however, for AP credit, the full year commitment is required. A key component of the course, in addition to extensive reading and rigorous study of the Gardner Art Through the Ages text, is the completion of art history analysis assignments done on site during field trips to some of the superb art collections and art locales in New York City. Last year the class  visited and studied the Impressionist and Modern painting collections at the Metropolitan Museum, of Art. Gothic architecture at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Medieval art a t the Cloisters Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo masterpieces at the Frick collection and Christo and Jean Claude’s Gates in

Central  Park. 

 

       The current flowchart of sequential art study in three major areas has been a work in progress over the past several years. Many influences have helped to shape the current program, from State Education Department mandates regarding art foundations, to the inclusion of the National Standards, to the overall changing world of art in our 21^st century culture. We are quite proud and excited to provide such a comprehensive art program to our students.