Four times a week, selected students in grades 3 and 4 experience mathematics education at a level one or two steps above their regular classroom instruction. Two math teachers invite small groups to the upper school Math Room to challenge the students in new ways. The students learn complex mathematical ideas and advanced problem solving.  

The focus of this program is to provide accelerated, targeted math instruction designed to deepen the students’ understanding of number sense, computation, algebraic concepts, measurement, geometry, data analysis. Students still attend regular math classes, but the enrichment program provides an opportunity to accelerate. Students are selected based on teacher recommendations and their latest Scantron performance scores. The content, lessons, and activities are constructed around the small group and the standards related to the current mathematical strand. When the content has been sufficiently covered and checked for understanding, a new group is chosen based on a different area of the math curriculum, new strands, and new Scantron scores. This enrichment program encourages students to think critically and to work efficiently, and it exposes them to new content in an exciting way.  

In grades 5-8, classes are divided so that students receive small-group math instruction each day. Students in grade 7 receive pre-algebra instruction at different rates of acceleration and levels of complexity, and students in 8 receive algebra instruction and advanced algebra instruction. Students who need a greater challenge and a more accelerated pace are placed in an independent mathematics course, which is planned, coordinated and graded by our math director. In the independent course, the student is limited only by the challenge of the content.  SJB has the capacity to provide geometry and Algebra II/Trigonometry. Currently, there are four students on three different tracks in independent mathematics courses with the math director, Mr. Lucey.

Our primary goal in middle-school mathematics instruction is to prepare our students for success in freshman math courses in the Catholic high schools and to give our advanced math students the best opportunity to test out of freshman math and into an honors or higher-level math course at the start of high school.

In attaining that goal, we have been successful -- 94 percent of our students succeeded in testing out of freshman algebra, according to a survey of the last three graduating classes conducted over the winter.

The students were accepted into the honors math program, 10th grade geometry course, or 11th grade trigonometry/algebra II, according to the survey.

The honors placement tests are taken at the end of 8th grade at the students' new Catholic high schools, or the placements are made based on admissions test scores.

SJB will always strive to improve its math program. Our 7th and 8th grade algebra and pre-algebra textbook curriculum is receiving an upgrade for next year. Our math teachers regularly attend professional conferences with the aim of learning the most effective, evidence-based teaching methods. We seek alternative and online instructional options to meet particular needs and challenges of individual students.

 

SJB student math scores compare favorably to average math scores of students in Montgomery County and students statewide in Maryland.

 

Private schools hit Blue Ribbon marks when average math and reading scores of students in each grade meet or exceed scores at the 85th national percentile. SJB is represented by the solid light blue and solid dark blue. The blue ribbon marks are represented by the lighter patterned bars.

SJB 8th Grader Awarded 1st Place Scholarship in Essay Competition

Congratulations to Riley Langan. She has received the first place award in the Catholic Business Network's annual 8th grade essay competition. The Catholic Business Network will award Riley a $2,500 high school scholarship at its awards breakfast on Friday. Riley plans this fall to attend St. John's College High School, where she has received a scholarship and entrance into the De La Salle Scholars Program. Eighth-grade students across the archdiocese were invited to write, in 250 to 500 words, an essay about the combat of hate with extraordinary love. 

SJB Eighth Grade Students Show High School Colors

If you see a couple of 8th grade students walking to the library in their Holy Cross and Good Counsel sweatshirts, they're not out of uniform. We encourage the 8th grade students to proudly wear the sweaters and sweatshirts of the high schools they plan to attend, and we do this for a few reasons.

1. Eighth graders deserve privileges for their perseverance.

2. We have a fair number of buddy-class activities, and we want the  younger students to see where their older buddies will be in school next year.

3. We want the younger students to make the connection between the rewards and the dedication and hard work that our 8th grade students displayed.

High School Acceptances

Each spring, we give a brief rundown of how our 8th grade students fared in their applications to the Catholic and private high schools.

Of the 22 students who applied to Our Lady of Good Counsel, 16 students were accepted, and 6 were placed on the wait list.

Of the 8 students who applied to the Academy of the Holy Cross, all 8 students were accepted.

Of the 11 students who applied to St. John's College High School, 6 were accepted, 2 were placed on the wait list, and 3 were rejected.

Of the two students who applied to Georgetown Visitation, one was accepted and one was placed on the wait list.

Of the two students who applied to Stone Ridge, one was accepted and one was placed on the wait list.

Of the one student who applied to Sidwell Friends School, the one student was accepted. 

Of the two students who applied to St. Vincent Pallotti High School, both students were accepted. 

Thank you for Registering!

Thank you, SJB families, for registering in record time for the 2018-19 school year. Nearly everyone who is returning to the school has registered. And if you haven't, please register soon.

Here is a promising sign: 12 of the 15 "graduating" pre-k students are already registered for Kindergarten. We are excited to see that our preschool has established such strong roots and continuity in our SJB community.

Creative Writing Awards Assembly is Wednesday at 2 PM

The awards ceremony for the Creative Writing Contest is 2 pm today, Wednesday. Parents and relatives of the writers are invited to the ceremony in the Lyon Center.

Congratulations to all of the students who entered the Creative Writing Contest. Many of them dedicated several hours to their writing. Their hard work at editing, revising, and rewriting their poems and stories is evident to readers.

Thank you, teachers and parent volunteers who judged the entries.

Thank you, most of all, to our parent coordinator, Kristine Ribas (Anna 3rd, Caitlyn 5th), and our faculty coordinator and writing director, Mrs. Judy Jenkins, who launched and promoted the contest and encouraged the children to write.

Here's a list of the student writers and their grades:

 

TEGGY IGBE 1 

Great Brooks Program Starting Soon

Below is a letter from Great Books Coordinator Crystal Vinson (Issac PK, Sofia 3rd, Ian 5th):

 

Tuition Assistance