MacDowell is an MYP Candidate School.
What is the Middle Years Programme?
The MYP is a challenging framework that encourages students to make practical connections between their studies and the real world. The Middle Years Programme (MYP) is a curriculum framework designed for learners aged 11–16 by the International Baccalaureate (IB). The MYP is a five-year programme, which can be implemented in a partnership between schools or in abbreviated two-, three- or four-year formats.
Frequently Asked Questions about MYP
IB MYP Academic Honesty Policy
Curriculum
The MYP curriculum framework comprises eight subject groups, providing a broad and balanced education for early adolescents. Students take the core courses of language and literature, individuals and societies, mathematics, sciences, physical and health education, language acquisition, arts, and design.
MYP Courses Offered:
7th/8th Grade
- Reading (Design/Project-Based Learning)
- English
- Social Studies
- Science
- Math
- Spanish
- Physical Education
- Art (Visual)
- Music (Choir or Band)
- Intervention
9th Grade
- IB MYP Biology
- IB MYP Algebra
- IB MYP English 9
- IB MYP Spanish 1
- IB MYP World History
- IB MYP Physical Education (Semester 1)
- IB MYP Health (Semester 2)
- IB MYP Design/Tech
- Personalized Math
10th Grade
- IB MYP Chemistry
- IB MYP English 10
- IB MYP Lifetime Sports
- IB MYP Geometry
- IB MYP Spanish 1
- IB MYP U.S. History
- IB MYP Art Foundations
- IB MYP Personal Project
- Personalized Reading
8th Grade Community Project
In this programme, the MYP community project and the MYP personal project are known together as MYP projects. MYP projects are student-centred and age-appropriate, and they enable students to engage in practical explorations through a cycle of inquiry, action and reflection. MYP projects help students to develop the attributes of the IB learner profile; provide students with an essential opportunity to demonstrate approaches to learning (ATL) skills developed through the MYP; and foster the development of independent, lifelong learners.
At MacDowell Montessori School, all 8th grade students (MYP Year 3) participating in the MYP are required to complete the community project. The community project focuses on community and service, encouraging students to explore their rights and responsibilities to implement service as action in the community. The community project gives students an opportunity to develop awareness of needs in various communities and address those needs through service learning. As a consolidation of learning, the community project engages in a sustained, in-depth inquiry leading to service as action in the community. The community project may be completed individually or by groups of a maximum of three students.
9th Grade Design
MYP design challenges all students to apply practical and creative thinking skills to solve design problems; encourages students to explore the role of design in both historical and contemporary contexts; and raises students’ awareness of their responsibilities when making design decisions and taking action. A well-planned design programme enables students to develop not only practical skills but also strategies for creative and critical thinking. The MYP expects all students to become actively involved in, and to focus on, the whole design process rather than on the final product/solution. MYP design also helps to prepare students for overall success in the DP, and connects directly with their participation in creativity, activity, service (CAS) and the extended essay. In CAS, students continue to develop skills in design and evaluation that they use to undertake new challenges, design and plan activities and solve problems in a creative way.
10th Grade Personal Project
The personal project encourages students to practice and strengthen their approaches to learning (ATL) skills, to consolidate prior and subject-specific learning, and to develop an area of personal interest. The personal project provides an excellent opportunity for students to produce a truly personal and often creative product/outcome and to demonstrate a consolidation of their learning in the MYP. MYP projects are student-centered and age-appropriate, and they enable students to engage in practical explorations through a cycle of inquiry, action, and reflection. MYP projects help students to develop the attributes of the IB learner profile; provide students with an essential opportunity to demonstrate ATL skills developed through the MYP; and foster the development of independent, lifelong learners.
Grading/Assessment Criteria
Milwaukee Public Schools has an online gradebook system (Infinite Campus), so that parents and students are able to access their grades on a daily basis. Continuous monitoring of student progress is available through the IC Parent Portal on the district website link. Printed interim reports with comments and snapshot grades are sent to parents/guardians every 4-6 weeks and printed semester report cards are sent home in January and May. Approaches to Learning (ATL’s) are highlighted in discussing the student’s academic progress and students are regularly asked to reflect on their own perception of their strengths and weaknesses while preparing for written reports.
Milwaukee Public Schools use the use standards-based grading scale, which consists of minimal(MI), basic(BA), proficient(PR), and advanced(AD) which are converted into a value of 1-4 and then translated into the traditional A, B, C, D, and U grades for report cards and transcripts. See the chart below.
| Standards-Based Grading Scale | Corresponding IB Achievement Level | Infinite Campus Value | Report Card/Transcript Letter Grade |
| AD = Advanced | 7-8 | 4 | A = 3.4-4.0 |
| PR = Proficient | 5-6 | 3 | B = 2.75-3.39 |
| BA = Basic | 3-4 | 2 | C = 2.15-2.74 |
| MI = Minimal | 1-2 | 1 | D = 1.6-2.14 |
| O = No evidence | 0 | 0 | U = 0-1.59 |
*Final letter grades are an average of all the entries over the course of the grading period.
MacDowell uses the IB Approaches to Learning (ATL), incorporated in Infinite Campus report card for all subjects.
The ATL skills reported are:
- Communication
- Research
- Self-management
- Social
- Thinking.
Student’s progress toward mastery of these ATL skills is indicated with the following criteria:
- Exceeding(4): The student consistently and effectively works above grade level learning objectives.
- Meeting(3): The student independently works at grade level.
- In progress(2): The student asks for minimal teacher support to meet grade level learning objectives.
- Limited progress(1): The student requires significant teacher support and has difficulty working towards grade level learning objectives.
Links:
MYP Assessment Objectives and Strands
Infinite Campus Parent Student Portal Guide
Infinite Campus High School Parent Guide to Standards-Based Report Cards