Academic Office Announces New Courses & Policy Changes

The Academic Office has had a busy summer scheduling students and preparing for the upcoming school year. The 2013-2014 school year saw the academic program working on initiatives that included classroom innovations, piloting online learning, and developing course competencies. Competencies are the skills and knowledge that a student must demonstrate to successfully complete a course. This year faculty will continue the effort to integrate competencies into their courses and will spend the year focusing on student writing across the curriculum.

 

In addition to these two initiatives there are a couple of policy changes for the 2014-2015 school year. One change is to our Honor Roll Policy. For the upcoming year, to earn Honor Roll recognition, a student must have a minimum of a B- (80%) in each of their courses, in addition to an overall GPA of 3.0 or higher and average effort score of 2.5 or higher. This change raises the expectations for our students and is a recognition of the strong academic program New Hampton School offers.

Another policy change is to our Academic Integrity Policy. All first time violations of the policy will be brought to the Academic Office where the Director of Studies will meet with the student, teacher, and advisor. If it is determined that an offense has occurred the student will be issued a warning that is kept on file. It will be at the teacher's discretion if the student will be allowed to make up the assignment for partial credit. All second violations of the Academic Integrity Policy will be brought to the School Life Office and treated as a violation of a major school rule. There is no distinction made between types of assignments because we value respect and responsibility in all matters at New Hampton School. All academic policies, as well as descriptions of courses, can be found in the New Hampton School Curriculum Guide online.

 

There is a lot of excitement about the start of the new year. Several new courses will begin in September including Coding, CAD with 3D printing, Creative Writing, and Issues in History: WWII. In January AgroEcology will be introduced, along with a new course in leadership. Faculty have remained busy throughout the summer working on curriculum, attending classes and workshops, and analyzing data from the previous school year. The History Department and Academic Support Department are excited to move into new space in a renovated Meservey Hall and everyone is excited to welcome our new students to campus!

 

This week all students will receive their schedule for the upcoming year. This schedule will list classes and the blocks in which classes are scheduled. Students who are intending to ski or snowboard competitively in the winter should review their schedule to ensure that they have "G Block" open to participate in those activities. Any 11th or 12th grade student interested in taking IB Chemistry must enroll in the course this year due to the course becoming a two-year course in the 2015-2016 school year. Please note that AP and IB courses have additional fees associated with them. If parents or students have any questions they should contact the Academic Office at (603) 677-3431.

We hope that everyone is enjoying the summer months and taking the opportunity to relax and read (information about the summer reading program can be found at https://www.newhampton.org/summerreading). Reading for as little as twenty minutes a day has shown to have a significant impact on student academic performance so we encourage everyone to kick their feet up and enjoy a good book.

Have a great August and we look forward to welcoming everyone to campus in September!

 

Matthew Fisk
Director of Studies
New Hampton School
70 Main Street
New Hampton, NH 03256

(603) 677-3554