Francis Scott Key Middle School

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Middle Years Programme (MYP)

 

 Coordinator: Treva Coates 
Phone: 301-422-5614 

Francis Scott Key  Middle School is an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School authorized to offer the Middle Years Programme (MYP).  The Middle Years Programme is one of three programmes offered by the Intermational Baccalaureate Organization (IBO).  MYP is a flexible instructional framework designed for students in Grades 6 through 10 that encourages students to become critical thinkers, life-long learners, and responsible global citizens. We offer the IB Middle Years Programme to all students in grades 6-8.  The programme is defined by three Fundamental Concepts:

Intercultural Awareness

 

Students are given increased opportunities to learn about their own culture and the cultures of people from around the globe. By viewing issues from multiple points of view, students learn the values of tolerance and empathy.

 

Holistic Learning

 

Learning is made more meaningful for students by focusing on how new learning connects to students’ own experiences, topics in other school subjects, and situations in the real world. Instruction and assessment become more authentic as students realize how the knowledge from each class relates to their total understanding of the world.

 

Communications

 

In order to be successful in the modern world, students must be able to communicate their ideas in multiple forms. This focus helps students to develop competency in reading, writing, speaking, listening, design, and technology. All students also have the opportunity to learn another language.

 

Areas of Interaction 

Five broad themes provide the basis for interdisciplinary and real world connections:

Approaches to Learning

• Teaching students how to learn by explicitly teaching learning strategies, organization, note taking, time management, critical thinking, collaborative skills, and self reflection.

Environments

• Building awareness of local and global environments and encouraging responsible use of resources

Human Ingenuity

• Studying how and why people create and evaluating the consequences of human innovation.

Health and Social Education

• Gaining awareness of self and others in order to make decisions that will contribute to students’ overall social, emotional, and physical well being.

Community and Service

• Deepening understanding of local, national, and global communities and encouraging positive contributions to these communities.

 

 

 

 

A Balanced Curriculum Model

The Middle Years Programme offers a comprehensive, well-rounded program of study. All students are given exposure to the programme’s eight content areas, which include:
 

 

Arts	Math
Humanities (World Studies)	Physical Education
Language A (English)	Science
Language B (French or Spanish)	Technology

 

The Middle Years Programme requires that each student study each content area for a minimum of fifty hours per year. Most students in Grade 6 & 7 will take World Studies, English, Math, Physical Education/Health, and Science for the full school year, Awareness of Language and Culture for one semester and Arts for one semester. Technology instruction will be infused into the other content areas. In addition, students are expected to complete a self-directed Personal Project on a topic of their choosing in Grade 10.
 

 

MYP at Key

Francis Scott Key Middle School will offer MYP as an inclusive, whole-school model. We believe that all students are capable of achieving at high levels when they are both challenged and nurtured. MYP provides a healthy balance of academic support and extension that will help all students perform to their full potential.

MYP students will articulate into Springbrook High School for the final two years of the programme. Students can earn an IBO Middle Years Programme certificate if they take all eight subjects areas each year of the program, score well on MYP assessments, and complete a personal project in Grade 10.

The Middle Years Programme will benefit Francis Scott Key in several ways:

• Increased rigor and emphasis on critical thinking skills
• Student centered learning
• Coherent, relevant, and engaging curriculum
• Variety of teaching and learning methods
• Systematic approach to learning how to learn
• Understanding and appreciation for diverse cultures
• Community investment and pride in the neighborhood school

Click here for more information about IBO.