Halstead Academy

Helping today’s students become tomorrow’s leaders by preparing them for school, the future, and

life.

Statistics About Our School3-Year Average Mean for 2009-9011

• FARMS Services: 78.8%• LEP Services: * (≤ 5%)• Special Education Services: 14.7%• Absent > 20 days: 10.9%• Mobility: 37.2%• Title I: ≥ 95%• Demographic Impact Band: Very High

(low, moderate, high, very high)• Impact Index: 65 (Range = 37-67)

We are located in Baltimore County, Maryland, in the Herring Run Watershed Area.Run

Staff Buy-InGetting staff to buy in to the magnet program is crucial to the development of a magnet program. Staff worked over the summer to develop an enriching curriculum.

Authentic LearningChildren are able to learn outside the confines of the classroom.

Authentic LearningBeing on the East Coast in Maryland, we focus on the Chesapeake Bay and tributaries that flow into the bay.

Authentic LearningEach grade level went on an outdoor educational experience that enriched the existing science curriculum.

How can you find out about these types of experiences?

• Department of Natural Resources• Forestry Board• Department of Agriculture• Agricultural Educational

Foundation• American Chemical Society

Smithsonian Environmental Research CenterKindergarten visited the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, one of the few organizations that offer an outdoor educational program for kindergarten in the state.

Parent InvolvementParents helped run stations for kindergarteners at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. As a Title I School, getting parent involvement can be a challenge. Parents attended a training and ran stations during this field trip. Engage parents!!

Clagett Farm with the Chesapeake Bay FoundationFirst grade students visited Clagett Farm in order to learn how farming impacts the Chesapeake Bay. They learned where their food comes from and about healthy eating.

Skipjack Martha Lewis – Chesapeake Heritage Conservancy

Second Grade-onboard the Martha Lewis: Students helped to set the sails, they participated in a boat build to demonstrate buoyancy, explored the living creatures in the Bay, and utilized a watershed table to show the effects on the Bay.

Potomac River Trip – Chesapeake Bay FoundationGrade 3

A third grader describes her experience during the Potomac River field trip.

The Potomac River Trip

Living Classrooms

Living Classrooms Shipboard Program- students are transformed into captains, marine biologists and scientists for a day! Leadership and teamwork are key objectives as students work together to trawl for marine life, perform scientific tests, and explore the commerce, natural resources, and ecosystems of the Chesapeake Bay.

Living Classrooms Shipboard Program

Arthur Sherwood Study Center Fifth graders participate in the Arthur Sherwood Study Center program through the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

source

Curricular Connections

Make curricular connections with the authentic experiences providedthe students.

Follow Up to the Potomac River tripConnect the classroom instruction and make curricular connections with the learning that has taken place out from the confines of the school building.

Reef ballStudents work with staff from the BCPS Office of Outdoor Science to prepare for the Living Classrooms trip. Students are shown making artificial reefs.

Native American StudiesPainting reef balls with Native American symbols

Camp PuhtokParents joined their children at Camp Puhtok to learn more about local Native Americans.

Internship/Mentorship partnership program

Towson University professor Mary Stapleton prepares students for their first partnership visit with a local magnet high school for Internship/Mentorship program.

Welcome to the Mystery of the Crooked CellRandallstown High School welcomed us into the Magnet partnership program.

Think out of the Box and Develop a Partnership with another Magnet ProgramStudents work in chemistry lab at Randallstown High with biotechnology magnet students in the Internship/ Mentorship program developed with Randallstown High school.

The Partnership ProgramRandallstown High students visited Halstead for a predator /prey relationship investigation.

The partnership Program

Art Smart

• The Art Smart teacher collaborates with classroom teachers to improve deficit areas.

• Skills identified are then addressed using different modalities.

• Students work on basic curricular skills while also working on music, dance, art and drama objectives.

The Art Smart ProgramStudents are seen making cradleboards. They practiced making Native American symbols. They learned the history of Native Americans.

African Dance AssemblyStudents and teachers watched and participated in authentic African dances.

The Brain Dance The Brain Dance is comprised of eight developmental movement patterns that healthy human beings naturally move through in the beginning of life.

Breath

Tactile

Core-Distal

Head-Tail

Upper-Lower

BodySide

CrossLateral

Vestibular

Dance for PeaceStudents learn collaboration and communication skills while they exercise in the Dance for Peace program.

Department of Defense STEM InitiativeThird grade students work with Department of Defense STEM Initiative Program to create Bristle Bots during National Engineering Week in February.

Saturday Science Series at Towson University

• The Science of Archiving: Preserving our National Treasures• Reptiles: Diversity in Scale• Telescopes as Time Machines: The New James Webb Space Telescope“• Exploring Comets: The NASA EPOXI Mission• The Engineering and Construction of the Statue of Liberty• The Discoveries and Inventions of Thomas Edison• Living and Working in Space• The Magic of Chemistry• What Comes After the Space Shuttle?• Recent Discoveries in Our Solar System• We Choose Space!• The Life and Science of Albert Einstein• The Life and Science of Benjamin Banneker• The Science Behind Cyber Security

Staff Development OpportunitiesStaff Development at Science Center on Monarch Butterflies. Contact your local science center, aquarium, nature centers in order to learn about continuing professional development educator workshops.

Utilization of Institutes of Higher LearningPartnership with Johns Hopkins University and Cylburn Nature Center Aquaculture/Aquaponics

Johns Hopkins Aquaculture ExpertsAquaculture experts from John’s Hopkins work with Halstead students in order to transport Tilapia to Cylburn Nature Center for the summer. Halstead students will visit Cylburn in the fall for a further study of aquaculture/aquaponics in order to extend the partnership. A documentary is being made about the collaboration between Halstead and John’s Hopkins.

Agricultural Education Foundation Ag LabContact your local Ag Education Foundation or Department of Agricultural to learn about mobile Ag labs that can visit your school.

Getting the Word Out!

Halstead Happenings!Celebrate the happening in your revitalized magnet program by posting them in the front of the school.

Chemistry Nighthttp://animoto.com/play/yq2ROKjXSHUX2ZBlOxBKMw?utm_content=main_link

Reading NightHalstead celebrated a love of reading one evening. Students got to see a motivating performance by YoJo on the importance of reading in the classroom. Students also got to show off their reading skills by reading to our four legged furry friends! Students could also visit the Book Mobile and sign up for a library card.

Ben Carson Reading RoomCombining the environment and reading, the outdoor theme of camping drove the design of the Ben Carson Reading Room. Students are able to utilize the room through positive behavior incentives, whole class visits, and with book buddies.

Health and Wellness NightObesity is a major problem across the country. After attending the Obesity Summit at University of Maryland, Halstead Academy held a Health and Fitness Night.

Students Enjoy Healthy SnacksHigh school students from the culinary arts program at Carver Center for the Arts created healthy snack options for students and families to enjoy.

Recipe cards were given to families to enable them to prepare the healthy snacks at home.

University of MarylandUniversity of Maryland team physician, Dr. Yvette Rooks, spoke to Halstead families about the importance of staying fit and eating healthy foods.

Space NightHalstead was slated for the BCPS Star Lab in February. In conjunction with the Star Lab, a Family Space Night was held in which families could visit the Star Lab, meet an astronaut, work with the Director of Baltimore Science Center IMAX and Davis Planetarium and participate in hands-on space science investigations.

Building bright futures the Magnet Way!!!