9th Grade Transitions

    About| Brochure | Staff | Overview | Goals | Why Transitions? | Predictors of Success | Monthly Mentoring Lunches |  

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    What is Transitions?

    The Transitions Program at Paint Branch High School is made up of two classes. Students who are selected for the program take Career Awareness in the morning and Connections in the afternoon.
    Students Receive: 

    • Academic support system for select grade 9 students.
    • A structured shift from middle school to high school to college.
    • Empowering students with the behaviors, confidence and skills to succeed in rigorous, challenging academic courses and to prosper as global citizens

    Staff

     

    Bryan Walker

    Karl Schiffgens

    A Brief Overview

    • Introduction to the Cornell Note taking method
    • Organizational Skills to better track academic performance
    • Field Trips to College Campuses 
    • Guest Speakers 
    • Monthly Mentoring Lunches
    • Time Management Concepts
    • Peer tutoring in student identified area of opportunity
    • Consistent emphasis on content classes
    • Reduced distractions 
    • Each class is supported with a classroom teacher and a high school guidance counselor
    • Extended Time provided for all students
    • Chrome books available to all students 
    • Weekly grade reflections

     

    Overall Goals

     

    • To increase freshmen overall grade point average
    • Prepare freshmen for the rigors that await them their sophomore year in high school.
    • Increase freshmen opportunities for programs and grants that are based on overall grade point average.

    Why do students need Transitions?

    Nationally, a recent study of public school enrollment patterns shows that… 

     

    • There is a sharp increase in the number of students enrolled in ninth-grade over the last 30 years, indicating that an increasing number of students are being retained.
    • Also, the rate at which students disappear between ninth- and 10th-grade has tripled over the same time period (Haney, 2004).

    Predictors of High School Success

    • Each additional percentage point increase in attendance decreases the odds of repeating 9th grade by 5%.
    • The higher the number of credits a student attempts in 9th grade, the lower the odds of not being promoted to 10th grade.
    • Students attend class more often when they have strong relationships with their teachers, and when they see school and their coursework as relevant and important to their future.

    Monthly Mentoring Lunches

     
    Each month, all Transitions students will come together during lunch to work in small groups with mentors on a service learning project. These lunches not only help students see the importance of service in the community and giving back, but also give them a chance to talk and spend time with an adult mentor. Students have worked on making bagged lunches for the homeless, anti-bullying campaigns, cards for hospitalized children and more.

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    Dates for Mentoring Lunches:

    ·        10/25

    ·        11/29

    ·        1/31

    ·        2/28

    ·        3/28

    ·        4/25

    ·        5/30