- What's the best way to communicate with your teachers?
- How does Ms. Mellea grade?
- How will I keep track of my homework?
- What is a PAS?
- How are First and Second Honors determined?
- How do I earn Plus Club in sixth grade?
What's the best way to communicate with your teachers?
You may contact us via phone, e-mail, via note or a note in your child's
planner. Please ask your child to bring their planner to us so that we can
promptly respond to your note. We will contact you as quickly as possible
and within 24 hours.
Mrs. Arntsen 771-7462 x128 arntsen@bethanyschool.org
Mrs. Bertke 771-7462 x127 barton@bethanyschool.org
Ms. Mellea 771-7462 x131 mellea@bethanyschool.org
Mrs. Felder 771-7462 x130 felder@bethanyschool.org
How does Ms. Mellea grade?
Ms. Mellea's Grading System
GRADES: All graded work is on a percent basis (% correct out of a possible 100 points).
GRADE WEIGHTING: SCIENCE
Category
Homework 25%
Class work/Labs 30%
Test or Quiz 25%
Class Participation 20%
Notes: A test and quiz are weighted equally. Class participation is a weekly grade. More
extensive labs are graded on a higher point basis.
Class Participation: I encourage students to participate in class by reading
aloud, answering questions during our class discussions, and contributing
relevant information from their own experiences. All of these increase a
student's level of engagement and learning. I grade participation as 100
(their hand is always up!), 95 (participate often), 90 (participates
sometimes), 85 (occasionally participates), 80 (does not participate unless
I call on them).
Category 6M Language Arts
Vocabulary 33%
Grammar 33%
Writing 34%
Notes: Vocabulary and grammar tests are weighted more heavily within their categories by
counting them as a 200 point assignment.
POWER SCHOOL NOTES: When you look at grades on Power School you may see the
following entries for my classes:
PENDING: I have not entered the grades for this assignment yet. It does not count toward the
average.
ABSENT: The student is responsible for this missing work and has additional time to complete
these assignments upon return to school. This assignment is not counted toward the average.
EXCUSED: The student is excused from this assignment.
RE-DO or INCOMPLETE: This assignment has been returned to the student for additional work
via the homework folder. If the work is not returned within a week, I will enter the original
grade.
LATE: This work is late and has not been received yet. A "LATE" assignment does not
count against the average until it is a week late. At that point NHI will appear for the grade.
Students lose points for late assignments (-5% for one day late, -10% for one week late, -20%
for more than one week late.
NHI: Not handed in. This counts as a grade of zero. NOTE: I will accept late work for three weeks
only.
How will I keep track of my homework?
Each student has a planner to record their assignments. We write the
assignments on the board each day and students should write them in their
planner as soon as we write them on the board. Students can also check
their homework on this website. Be sure to check Mrs. Arntsen's AND Mrs.
Bertke's or Mrs. Felder's, AND Ms. Mellea's homework pages. We are happy to sign student
planners during the day if this would help. It is the student's responsibility to bring their planner
to
us.
What is a PAS?
A 'PAS' is a Personal Accountability Sheet. Every Middle School student has a PAS stapled in their planner each week
as a visual reminder of their success at meeting academic and social expectations at Bethany School. It is an excellent
self-monitoring tool. It also provides information for you, as a parent.
If during the week, there is a missing assignment or a behavior problem
addressed by a teacher, it will be noted on the PAS. The student fills out
a 'caution' slip explaining what happened and gives it to their homeroom
teacher. Questions should be referred to the teacher assigning the caution.
The PAS is given to students on Monday and collected the following Monday.
A parent signature is requested over the weekend on all PASes, to verify that
the PAS has been seen at home at the end of the week. No signature will mean a
caution on the PAS for the new week.
If a student has no cautions all week, "a clean pass"; their name is entered
into a drawing for an end of quarter reward. The more weeks that a student
has a pass without cautions, the more chances that student will have to win
a reward at the end of the quarter!
If a student receives three cautions within one week, they will serve a
detention during recess. During that time, they will call their parent to
explain WHY they are in detention.
In the event that a student has five cautions within a single week, then
they will conference with their homeroom teacher to develop a plan to help
them meet academic and social goals.
How are First and Second Honors determined?
Refer to page 25-26 in the student handbook:
First Honors: grade point average of 3.5 or above in academic subjects.
Second Honors: grade point average of 3.0 - 3.49 in academic subjects.
Here's how the GPA is calculated:
The GPA is calculated on academic areas only. For fourth grade these are
Reading, Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Science.
The easiest way to generate a GPA is to let:
A+ = 13 A = 12 A- = 11
B+ = 10 B = 9 B- = 8
C+ = 7 C = 6 C- = 5
D+ = 4 D = 3 D- = 2
F+ = 1 F = 0
Add these numbers up for your child's grades.
Then divide by 5 since there are five subjects.
Then divide by 3 since the scale is expanded three times; in other words,
an "A" is represented by three possible values.
That should give you the GPA displayed in PowerSchool.
How do I earn Plus Club in sixth grade?
Plus Club: If your child receives a "plus" in 75% of all subjects, they have
earned Plus Club. A "plus" in each subject is determined by the teachers.
We (Mrs. Arntsen, Mrs. Bertke, Mrs. Felder, and Ms. Mellea) award Plus Club in a subject based on a
combination of effort, good behavior and homework performance (5 or fewer
cautions in our PAS system) and good character. Other teachers may base
their judgment on slightly different criteria.