PYC Arts & Tech High School

Check out this YouTube video of PYC Arts and Technology Discovery Crew working with Three Rivers Parks forestry managers on a Buckthorn clean up project at Silverwood Park. Discovery Crew members perform service learning projects throughout the community.

Winter is a busy time of year at PYC. Here are some important events in the coming weeks as we honor the accomplishments of our PYC scholars.

Jan. 24 – Feb. 16          Measures of Academics Progress (MAP) Testing

Feb. 6 – March 23       ACCESS (ELL)

For more information on these events, please contact Kathleen Butts, Education Director, at 612-643-2025

Students worked on Fall harvesting and preparing the PYC community garden for the winter season. Students learned the importance of eating a variety of fruits and vegetables.

Erick Williams

 

What is your favorite book you have ever read and why?

“My favorite book I have ever read would have to be The Hunger Game Series by Suzanne Collins because it was a real interesting book. It’s about the future where the government rules and the government becomes a tyrant to all the citizens and makes the kids fight to their death.”

What was the last book you finished during Sustained Silent Reading at PYC?

“I just finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling.”

Why do you think reading is important?

“Reading is important because it helps give you an imagination and it helps with increasing your vocabulary.”

What do you do to improve your reading skills?

“I read it and if I do not know a word i re-read the sentence and see if I can make out what it means.”

Who has influenced you to read and how?

“My granny got me into reading when I was four years old. She was the first person that got me to read. Every time I went to her house she made me read something.”

 
Ariel Hawkins

What is your favorite book you have ever read and why?

“My favorite book that I ever read was The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah.”

What was the last book you finished during Sustained Silent Reading at PYC?

“I just finished California Connection 2 by Chunichi.”

Why do you think reading is important?

“I think reading is important so that you can understand what is going on in school and the text books.”

What do you do to improve your reading skills?

“I try to read as many books as possible.”

Who has influenced you to read and how?

“Myself, because the first book I read it caught my attention and it got me to read other books that got my attention.”

As PYC students leave school for the day, staff members often send them off with high fives and cheers saying, “Be safe and dream big!” This year, we have added one more line to this: BE SAFE, DREAM BIG, AND READ A BOOK!

This is just one small way PYC students are being encouraged to reach our school’s goal for the year of having an overall increase in reading scores of at least 12% on MCA tests. Like many Minneapolis schools, PYC is not making adequate yearly progress (AYP) on MCA tests and we need to do something about this! As PYC’s new Director of Education, I am firmly committed to raising our standards so that we can keep raising our test scores:

*PYC students will now learn from bell to bell with teachers starting and ending all classes on time. If classes start 5 minutes late because students are late or talking too much, then that class misses nearly  30 minutes of education every week and nearly 18 hours of education in a school year—and this is only for one class. There are 7 classes in a day and this can add up to a loss of over 156 hours of education in a school year.

*PYC students will now be getting homework in all of their core academic classes.

*PYC students will now read entire books, not just pages or chapters of books.

*PYC students who are taking their MCA tests for the first time and attend school regularly will be scheduled in two reading or math classes per day. Students who are taking their tests for the second or third time, will set learning goals with their teachers and can be scheduled for one-on-one help in the classroom or with tutors from the University of Minnesota. If you would like your student to receive tutoring, please call me at (612) 643-2025.

Teachers have their work cut out for them too. Teachers have been working in Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s) to improve their teaching strategies in building academic  vocabulary, reading comprehension, and learning assessment strategies. Teachers also have set both team and individual goals to increase their skills in teaching in order to prepare your students for college. We view your students as scholars who will not just get “to” college, but who will gain the skills  they need to get “through” college and move forward on the paths they choose for success.

Please ask your student about our 12% goal in reading and ask them what it means to be a scholar at PYC. With your support, each and every scholar at PYC is capable of academic success!

Kathleen Butts

PYC Director of Education

 
PYC scholars are participating in the American Graduate Project with KMOJ. The American Graduate is a public media initiative funded by the Corporation of Public Broadcasting to help local communities across American find solutions to address the drop out crisis.
The initiative builds on public media’s long standing commitment to education by convening conversations and strengthening partnerships between public radio, television stations and local schools, as well as businesses and community organizations to help students stay on the path to a high school diploma.
KMOJ is putting out the word that dropping out of school is not cool…PYC has been elected to be a part of this project.
If you have questions or would like more information about this project, please contact Sarita Turner at 612-865-4111.

HELP STUDENTS STAY ON THE PATH TO A HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA!