IN Brentwood-Baldwin-Whitehall Fall 2019 | Page 60

DISTRICT NEWS
Changes at Brentwood Middle/High School
for the 2019-2020 school year
NMSI Grant Makes Impact in Second Year
The Brentwood Borough School District partnered with the
National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) during the 2017-
2018 school year to increase the district’s capacity of offering
opportunities to students to increase achievement. During the
2018-2019 school year, Brentwood High School completed the
second year of a three-year grant. The mission of NMSI is to
significantly improve student opportunities and achievement
by advancing STEM teaching and learning. NMSI strives to
partner with school districts so that all students have the
knowledge and skills to thrive in the global economy of the
21st Century. They accomplish these goals by empowering
teachers, equipping students, and raising the academic bar
FACILITIES
1. Replacement and updating of the phone system and fire alarm system.
2. First phases of the replacement of the roof.
3. Renovations and repairs to the auditorium that were necessary due to water damage from last fall. Wallpaper was
removed and the auditorium walls were refinished and painted.
4. Renovations to the current middle school gym which will now serve as the main gym for varsity sporting events.
New bleachers will allow seating capacity to increase from 450 to 750. The former middle school gym (nearest
Brentwood Park) will now be known as the “BLUE Gym” while the former high school gym (in the 1972 building) will
be called the “GOLD Gym”.
on achievement. Over the past two years, teachers from Elroy
Elementary, Moore Elementary, Brentwood Middle School and
Brentwood High School participated in a summer professional
development titled “Laying the Foundations, which is a
collaborative, hands-on training that equips teachers to
implement classroom strategies to boost student achievement
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in rigorous course work, including Advanced Placement. The
Advanced Placement teachers at the high school attended
the College Readiness Program, hands-on interactive training
to better prepare them for teaching in their content area
and preparing students with skills that would transfer to the
specific Advanced Placement Exams. NMSI also provided
mentors, teacher training, and student study session with
other school districts to increase collaboration and support
among area schools.
During the 2018-2019 school year, Brentwood High School
offered 12 AP courses. We increased the number of students
who were taking Advanced Placement classes, increased the
number of students who took the Advanced Placement exams,
and increased the number of qualifying scores that students
earned on the Advanced Placement exams. In addition, we
had students attempt other AP tests based on their interest
and confidence in taking AP exams for potential college
credit. The NMSI grant has enabled more of our students to be
exposed to more rigorous and college-ready curriculum with
more supports. We are entering the third year of the grant
and we are looking forward to working with NMSI and expect
to continue to make gains district wide to the benefit of our
students.
CURRICULUM
1. 6th grade students will follow a 60-minute block schedule for their core classes.
2. Middle school students will be enrolled in Computer Science classes in grades 6 and 8. These courses will serve as a
foundation for the Computer Science program that was established at the high school in 2018-2019.
3. The middle school Advisory program was restructured for the 2019-2020 school year. Each middle school student
will be assigned the same teacher/advisor for all 3 years of middle school. The students and advisors were paired
based on positive relationships and common interests.
4. A Python programming course through a partnership with Carnegie Mellon University will be offered at the high
school.
5. A new Digital Media course will be offered at the high school. Digital Media is a combination of digital editing and
broadcasting that the students will be exposed to in order to create their own news stories and produce school
announcements.
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Brentwood Borough School District recognized as a
Common Sense District with 100% Educator Certification
Brentwood Borough School District has demonstrated its commitment to taking a whole-district
approach to preparing its students to use the immense power of digital media to explore, create,
connect, and learn, while limiting the perils that exist in the online realm, such as plagiarism,
loss of privacy, and cyberbullying. The recognition acknowledges our district’s commitment
to creating a culture where our district is invested in helping kids thrive as digital learners
and citizens. In fact, Brentwood is the first in the region and second in the state of
Pennsylvania to have 100% of its educators certified as Common Sense Educators.
“We applaud the faculty and staff of Brentwood Borough School District for
embracing digital citizenship as an important part of their students’ education,” said Liz
Kline, VP, Education Programs, Common Sense Education. “Brentwood deserves high
praise for giving its students the foundational skills they need to compete and succeed
in the 21st-century workplace and participate ethically in society at large.”
Brentwood Borough School District has been using Common Sense Education’s
innovative and research-based digital citizenship resources, which were created in
collaboration with researchers from Project Zero, led by Howard Gardner at the Harvard Graduate
School of Education. The resources teach students, educators, and parents tangible skills related to
internet safety, protecting online reputations and personal privacy, media balance, managing online relationships, and media
literacy. The free K-12 curriculum is used in classrooms across all 50 states, in more than 50,000 schools, by more than half a
million educators.
BRENTWOOD-BALDWIN-WHITEHALL
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FALL 2019
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