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Reach a Student is a website established to give students direct communication access to student mentors in various grade levels. Students will be able to reach out to other students and ask any questions they have regarding student and campus life. The site will also stream videos of students sharing their experiences at Windermere Prep as well as activities around campus. Find Out More
Deciding which classes or program to take is certainly a big
decision to make when students move from middle school to high school and from
underclassmen to upperclassmen. As a senior, I have seen it all: IB, Honors,
Standard, AP. Although the information is definitely available for everyone to
research, I have found that after sitting for 4+ years as a New Student
Ambassador that sometimes the best way to explain the options is to hear about
them from someone with personal experience. So, without further ado, here are some tips and points to
note for each option.
Standard:
The majority of electives at Windermere Prep are classified as
Standard classes, however some Core classes are also Standard. They are
weighted on a 4.0 scale. One of my favorite classes that I have ever taken at
WPS was Creative Writing my freshman year. PE is also Standard. Use Standard
classes to explore topics that you would not normally expect yourself to study
in high school. Sports Medicine, Yearbook, Life Management Skills, Class Piano…
the list goes on and on. These classes are extremely enriching and the more you
can take, the more you will get out of your high school experience. Test your
limits and step outside of your comfort zone. You never know if the Standard
class you take during your freshman or sophomore year will turn into a passion
of yours later on.
Honors:
There is a wide array of Honors classes in the high school (most of
which are concentrated for 9th and 10th graders as part
of the normal course load). These
classes are a little more challenging than your Standard options and encompass
many Core class options as well. Your freshman and sophomore year nearly ever
class has the option of being Standard. It should be noted that Theory of
Knowledge (TOK) is weighted as a Standard class even though it is a requirement
for the IB Diploma. This will be discussed below.
AP:
Although Windermere Prep is known for offering IB classes, its AP
program is extremely strong as well. AP classes are on a 5.0 scale. You can
sign up for these classes are early as your freshman year, but do not overload
yourself with challenging classes as you transition from middle school to high
school. I took these classes sophomore year on. From what I recall, we offer AP
European History, AP Human Geography, and AP Environmental Science. However,
students can take additional AP classes on Florida Virtual School. If you are
interested in pursuing additional AP classes, speak to your guidance counselor
and see if this is possible. The AP program is definitely a time commitment.
There is a good amount of work associated with these classes. This applies to
all course options, but make sure you take classes you really love and are
interested in. Explore your horizons but make sure that you are doing something
you are interested in. This will make your work more enriching and easier to
tackle.
IB Certificate:
The IB Certificate is an option for juniors and seniors in high
school. You can either take IB Standard Level (SL) or IB Higher Level (HL)
classes. Some IB classes that are offered are Mathematics, English, Spanish,
Latin, French, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Film, Art, Music, History,
Psychology, and Economics. For foreign languages (Spanish, French, Latin),
there is the option to take Ab Initio (from the beginning) courses. This means
that during your junior year you can begin to learn a foreign language from the
very beginning and complete this class your senior year. IB Certificate
students do not have to take all IB classes, but can take Honors, Non-Honors,
or AP classes in addition to the Certificates they wish to pursue. This track
is still challenging. Many athletes or people who are extremely busy outside of
school opt to take Certificate classes.
IB Diploma:
I am an IB Diploma candidate. The IB Diploma has a series of
requirements that are more comprehensive and immersive than the Certificate.
Students must take 3 SL classes and 3 HL classes within the IB, take Theory of
Knowledge, write and Extended Essay (EE), and complete 150 Community, Action,
Service (CAS) hours. Make sure to sign up for IB Diploma classes you are
thoroughly interested in and would likely enjoy pursuing in college. This
program, along with Certificate classes, is two years long and the classes you
choose junior year have to be completed in your senior year.
Although
3 SL and 3 HL classes are offered, I take 2 SL and 4 HL classes. This is very
challenging, and I suggest you speak with a guidance counselor before pursuing
this option. I am enrolled in IB SL Economics, SLMathematics, HL Chemistry, HL Biology, HL English, and HL Spanish. In the
future I hope to attend Medical School with a focus on global health and humanitarian
initiatives in developing countries. For this reason, I took two HL science
classes, Economics (the Developmental portion of the syllabus is fascinating),
Spanish (both for cultural enrichment and because I love Spanish literature),
and English. Normally students take one social science, science, math, English,
and foreign language with the IB Diploma, and they have the option to take an
Art class or double up in one of the pre-requisite disciplines.
The Theory of Knowledge class is an extremely enriching facet of the
Diploma. This class asks students to question what they learn and become more
engaged in their academic and personal pursuits. I firmly believe that this
class was the tipping point for me to truly be able to call myself a scholar. If
you take the Diploma, this class will change your life. It also comes with the
requirement to write a TOK essay and give a presentation. Organization and
open-mindedness is key.
The Extended Essay is essentially a Senior Thesis for IB Diploma
students. You can write an EE in any of your IB classes and it is due right
after your first semester of senior year. It is a capstone for the IB and truly
the time to explore research and immerse yourself in one of your favorite
classes. I'll quickly add on here that CAS hours are basically community
service hours with the added component that you have to create a project that
includes Community, Action, and Service components.
Please feel free to email/message/comment/stop me in the hallway if
you have any questions about the information above. Speak to your guidance
counselor and teachers to decide which route is best for you. Do what you love
and you will completely fall in love with what you do.
It's been said that to be successful, you have to be organized. Well,
whoever came up with that probably didn't have to deal with three tests, an
essay and a project all due the next day after they got home from practice or
rehearsal at 7pm. Welcome to High School.
Sometimes, you just get swamped with so much work that you really don't
know where to start and, consequently, you don't end up doing any of it. This
is where organization can calm you down and prevent you from, say,
stress-eating. So how do you get organized? Confusingly, you must first
organize your organizational process. Let me explain.
1.Establish a Home Base
A
home base is essentially where you'll log all of your tasks. This can be a
giant whiteboard in your room, a planner, or your hand (though that is not
advised). Most often, your home base will be an app on your computer or phone.
Having an app on all your electronic devices that syncs your tasks is extremely
helpful, though if you're a more hands-on person a physical home base will work
fine as well.
I
personally use the application Things, which is available on Mac and iOS. It's
not cheap, but it works really well and syncs promptly across its various
platforms. I have a master list of tasks on my computer that also appears on my
phone, and I can add and edit tasks from both devices. Other notable apps are
iProcrastinate, Wunderlist, and Clear, which are all decidedly less expensive.
Of course, there's always good ol' iCal if you like the calendar feel.
Whichever platform you choose for your home base, make sure it's something that
you'll always have with you.
2.Prioritize
Once
you have a home base, start adding your tasks to it. Order your list of tasks
by priority. For me, tests come first, projects second, quizzes third, homework
fourth, extracurriculars fifth. If you have multiple tests, quizzes, homework
assignments, etc, order them by class. So it should work out something like
this: a test in your hardest class (or class that requires the most studying)
will be the first thing on your task list, while a set of questions for your
easiest class will come last. You should also save the fun stuff (yes-
amazingly enough, there are enjoyable projects and assignments in High School)
for last, that way you have something to look forward to after all the hard and
boring stuff.
Another
tip (and you're not going to like me for this): start your assignments EARLY. I
know how excruciating it can be to sacrifice your free time for something that's
not even due tomorrow, but trust me; when you finish an assignment three days
early and stuff starts piling up as the week progresses, you'll have one less
thing to do on Thursday night. And once you start doing stuff early, it gets
easier and easier every time you do it. Proactivity, my friends. Proactivity.
3.Focus
When
it's time to actually start doing your work (yes, this will inevitably happen),
make sure you're as focused as possible. That way, you'll get more stuff done
in less time. Tip number one: spend as little of your time on the computer as
possible- the temptation to check Instagram or Facebook or play online games
might be too great to resist, and that squashes your productivity. Of course
most assignments have to be typed and/or researched online, so it's not always
possible to avoid the machine.
If
you have to be on a computer, take advantage of the numerous programs and
applications available to keep you focused. If you're writing a paper, try a
distraction-free writing program like iA Writer or OmmWriter for a full-screen
page without any app icons or formatting buttons. If you're doing anything else
online, I recommend using FocusAtWill. It's a free online music service with
songs selected specifically for getting work done (with genres like classical,
acoustic, and new age), and I find that it actually helps me focus.
Your
environment can also help you focus. Always pick a spot to do work where you
don't feel distracted by anything (for most people this is somewhere quiet,
like a library or their bedroom). It's rarely a good idea to do homework on
your bed, especially if your assignment is particularly boring and it's 9:30 at
night- you might just fall asleep, and that's totally not what we're going for
here.
That
doesn't sound too bad, does it? Just have a singular place where you write down
everything you have to get accomplished, arrange all your tasks by difficulty
and importance level and create an environment conducive to focusing, and you'll
be ready to own all your work. Of course if you have any questions about
organization or good study habits, feel free to ask me a question.
Too often, as students
fall back into the swing of a new semester, a certain degree of monotony begins
to seep each week. We are familiar with our own patterns: wake up, put on a
permutation of our school uniform, drive to school, class-to-class lessons with
quick hallway chats in between, after school activities, homework, sleep. Rinse
and repeat. However school does not have to be a re-run of Saved by The Bell (or for our younger readers, Ned's Declassified). I am writing about two true and tested ways to
help you embrace the now and love
every day (even Mondays).
1) Be a human being, not a human doing.
We
have all had rough days. Those days when you get home and when your parents ask
how your day went you flippantly respond, "it was ok". Perhaps you were
preoccupied with friend problems, a test that didn't go very well, and/or
copious amounts of homework. We may not realize it, but it shows. Last year I
was having one of those days, my feet dragged a little more than usual between
my classes and I wasn't smiling and greeting everyone that walked by as normal.
One of my best friends, Manny, lightly grabbed my arm and what he said
completely turned around my day (and has still clearly stuck with me now). "Valentina,
why are you sad? Look around you: life is so beautiful!"From then on I have made a conscious effort to realize just how
much I have, how blessed I am, and how beautiful life is. Things that seem life
shattering in middle school and high school are so trivial in the long run. We
should all look around us and realize this.
2) Live with your eyes open.
Cross-country
promised not to be an easy sport, but that was why I joined it. Dr. Williams
coached our team and each practice was an extremeworkout. I remember one particular practice in which consisted of a 2-mile
ladder following an intense warm-up. After the first mile, I will admit, I
wanted to give up. I paced around the track with my hands on my hips and looked
up, rather than solely in. My teammates were all surely thinking the same
thing: their eyes were glazed over with a mixture of tears and sweat. But when
Dr. Williams blew her whistle for us to get back on the starting line, we all
did without hesitation. Sometimes when school and personal activities seem
overwhelming we shut out those around us. We do not take the time to notice
that others are struggling too. Furthermore we do not look up to see our own
personal Dr. Williams, standing with a whistle and tacit support for us to keep
moving forward. Keep your eyes open and realize you aren't the only person
standing at the starting line of your second mile.
As
always talk to your family, friends, and teachers when life feels overwhelming
or repetitive. Fill each day with what you love. Embrace the now and I wish you
all the best of luck for this last semester!
If I had the chance to go
back to middle school and high school there would be some things I would do
differently. Although I am a teacher- and teachers love learning- we all didn't
start off perfectly and I am certainly one of those. Here are some pieces of
advice that I think will help you capitalize on your chances of making the most
of your education and the time and resources in front of you all.
Don't be afraid to ask questions/make
mistakes. Nervous that the teacher will think you are weird
for asking a question? Afraid of taking a more difficult class because you
might not get an A? Shy because of what you are going to look like in front of
your secret crush? Your education is yours and you have every right to ask
questions, challenge yourself and make mistakes; whoever makes fun of you for
this or criticizes you is not on the true path to learning.
Read!Read as much as you can about whatever topic you are interested in. I know you
have heard this before but the truth is that so much of our productive time is
wasted on doing unproductive tasks. Instead of reading a magazine, a book for
school/pleasure, or researching world events, we watch TV, surf the Internet
for meaningless things or worry about superficial nonsense. Get off of Facebook,
don't worry who is dating who, don't worry about whatever reality TV show's
next episode may bring, or if someone has a nicer car than you. All of that
time can instead be used for discovering something new and bettering yourself.
So get out there and read!
Push yourself to read outside of your interests. If you love
science, try reading something about art. If you love theater, try reading
something about history. You never know just what you might stumble upon and
how it can benefit and change you. I believe we should all strive to be
comprehensive learners and learn many topics from the whole gamut.
Gain discipline Not only should you push yourself to read and to read other topics,
but push yourself to learn and see the value of other subjects. Don't think
that just because something is boring, or not 'your thing' that you can't learn
from it. Be open and give it a chance. This requires discipline and patience.
Too often I see students who lose interest, motivation and respect for a topic
because it does not offer instant gratification like an IPAD or a play station
would. Learning can be fun but its not all entertainment. And yes let me point
that out…you are not in school to be
entertained. Learning requires
discipline to be able to appreciate these moments of diversion.
Think of the bigger world. You
must start to realize that the more you learn about the bubble outside of
yourself, your school, your neighborhood, your state, your country, and even
the earth, the more you will discover your own place and purpose. There are
people just like you in other parts of the world…learn about them! This world
and universe is a neat place so take interest in it all.
During my time in middle
school, everything seemed easy. Now there were a couple exceptions like TAP, but
for the most part it was a breeze. I could go home do my homework in an hour
and then watch TV or do something else. I had a lot of free time on my hands.
At the beginning of the 9th grade year, I didn't think that 9th grade could be
much harder than 8th grade. You would not believe how wrong I was. Now, most of
the hard work came from my AP Human Geography class (which required at least 2
hours a night) and I was forced to learn how to manage my time well so I could
have time to do some of my extracurricular activities, and other homework. The
most efficient way to clear up time is to make use of your weekends. This may
seem hard at first because your weekends are your only time off from school,
but to manage an AP class with other activities you must utilize it. Utilizing
the weekend can reduce the workload. You must stay organized during your 9th
grade year or you will fall behind on your assignments. There are a few
different apps that I recommend to get organized as they have helped me in the
past. Using technology was a big help in knowing what is due and when.
iCalendar
Wunderlist
Todoist
Things
Outlook Calendar
Another big difference between school and high school is that
you go from the top of the food chain, to the bottom. In 8th grade you were the
"big man on campus", the apex predator, you had gotten pretty used to the
campus and the teachers knew you very well. In 9th grade you flip sides, you
become the "little man on campus" and are put into a totally different
environment. With all the different teachers and classes, high school can look
overwhelming. But know that by the end of the first semester, you will be used
to it. Another big fear most 9th graders have are the seniors. They are
expected to be big and bad, but they are actually friendlier than you think.
They will assist you in pretty much anything, whether it is directions or
advice for a certain class.
The final difference between 8th and 9th grade is the immense
pressure put on by college. When entering high school, you will have a moment
of realization that now everything matters. Each test, each project, each
choice that you make in high school will affect college. So in May, when you
are looking at your course selection actually look at what classes you choose
because those decisions can come back and haunt you. Make sure to pick classes
right for you, not too hard or too easy but just right. You must put all your
effort into each an every assignment because every grade matters and one grade
can affect your quarterly grade in a positive way or negative way.
Hi
my name is Bella and I am an 8th grade student at Windermere Prep. One
of my greatest passions in life is dance. I find myself dancing almost
everywhere I go. It is something that I could not live without. Each week I
dance for about 10+ hours. I also attend certain dance competitions every few
months, which means a lot of extra rehearsals. Sometimes I find it a little
tricky to maintain a 4.0 GPA as well as attend all of my dance classes and
rehearsals. However I seem to always find a way to make it work.
One
tip I would give others who are struggling to juggle all of their extra
curricular activities along with school is to stay organized. I would suggest
keeping a planner to write all of your assignments down on. As well as keeping
a few folders to organize any papers you receive from teachers. This way you do
not lose any time due to searching for a lost paper or assignment. Another tip
would be to get lots of sleep and eat healthy as well. Being tired or getting
sick would only lead to more schoolwork piling up, which will make it much
harder to balance school and your extracurricular activities.
My
last tip is to get some of your schoolwork done over the weekend. If you wait
until the week everything is due it will be extremely hard to complete everything
on time and attend your extracurricular activities. Even spending an hour on
your work over the weekend can make a huge difference. I know that all of these
tips have definitely made it a lot easier for me to keep up with my schoolwork
as well as dance, which is very important to me.
I
truly do not know what I would do without dance. It has provided me with so
many great opportunities that I am so thankful for. Through dance I can express
myself and teach others. I have even gotten to work with an incredible
nonprofit organization known as Dance Out
Bullying and got to educate others about bullying through dance. I hope to one-day
dance on Broadway as well as eventually own my own dance studio and teach
others. I hope to have a positive impact on someone's life through dance. I also
hope that all of my tips will help you maintain your busy schedule and allow
you to follow your dreams and achieve your aspirations
and goals.
During my time at Windermere Prep, my biggest challenge was definitely
time management. Seeing that we are all surrounded by technology, it is easy to
get carried away, and I am certain that others struggled with this issue as
well. On the other hand, many of us become preoccupied with other extracurricular
activities that take up more time than expected, and it seems now often
forgotten that perhaps we have spent too much time with extracurriculars that
it becomes near impossible to even cope with school work. However, with the
right planning one can successfully manage their time between multiple
activities and not have to stress out about school.
The greatest challenge may be allowing your extracurriculars cut into
precious time that could be used studying. So create a schedule that revolves
around how long these activities will take. Plan out a schedule of each
subject. Assess how much time they will take to complete. Then prioritize. It
would be useless to spend most of your time in a subject that you are already
very familiar with, so I suggest quick reviews of the easy content (just enough
to get you by for the time being, don't put it off so much to the point you
fall behind). Then spend most of your time looking at the content that troubles
you. Try to understand it. If you don't understand, be prepared to ask your
teacher for help. Your teacher is your friend and will always be willing to
help you out, so long as you make it clear to them that you need help.
Of course, too much studying can overwhelm one, so make time just to
relax. Don't give yourself too much time, because then you will eventually come
to regret it. Just give yourself the right amount to de-stress and do whatever
pleases you. However, once it comes time to work, then work. Don't stop until
your next planned break. And should a big test or exam be right around the
corner, and then you must not take any breaks. You will need all the studying
time, and doing anything other than studying will do you no good. You will have
plenty of time after the exam to do whatever you want; until then, work!
If
you utilize your time and these methods properly, then you will be successful.
I will not pretend that it will be easy; it will not be easy, but this will
help you tremendously.
I hope everyone has an amazing
New Year! I would like to thank Valentina G., a 12th grade student
mentor on our site, for suggesting blogging which will add a unique aspect to
Reach A Student. This already proves the importantance of peer to peer
help and support.
Our goal at Reach a Student is to
help the students at Windermere as much as possible by providing tips and help
from a student's perspective. Answering questions is a great way for
students to connect and share with one another, however, the knowledge shared
is limited by the questions asked. Blogging allows students to share
their thoughts more freely and anyone can provide their peers with whatever
information they think would be beneficial.
Since I believe that every student
has some kind of insight that could be useful to others at WPS, anyone can
contribute their own personal entries to the blog. I can even make your
entry anonymous if you choose to. I also believe that the WPS teachers
have valuable experience from when they were students (for example, how they
faced and overcame an obstacle that a student might be facing today), so I
reach out to all WPS faculty and hope you will contribute to our blog.
