Designed for learners ages 11–16 by the IB, the Middle Years Programme at MacDowell Montessori School spans seventh through tenth grades.

• MYP Guide for Parents
• Frequently Asked Questions about MYP
• IB MYP Academic Honesty Policy
• IB MYP Assessment Policy
• IB MYP Inclusion Policy
• IB MYP Language Policy

MYP 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.

Students who successfully complete MYP coursework, the MYP Community Project, and the MYP Personal Project are ideal candidates for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, offered during a MacDowell student’s junior and senior years.

MYP Projects

The MYP Community Project and MYP Personal Project are student-centered, age-appropriate, and they enable students to engage in practical explorations through a cycle of inquiry, action and reflection:

• Helping students develop the attributes of the IB learner profile,
• Providing students with an essential opportunity to demonstrate approaches to learning (ATL) skills, and
• Fostering the development of independent, lifelong learners.

Seventh- and Eighth-Grade MYP Courses

• Reading (Design/Project-Based Learning)
• English
• Social Studies
• Science
• Math
• Spanish
• Physical Education
• Art (Visual)
• Music (Choir or Band)
• Intervention

MYP Community Project

At MacDowell Montessori School, eighth graders participating in the MYP complete a 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.

Ninth-Grade MYP Courses

• 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)
• Personalized Math
• IB MYP Design/Tech: 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.

Tenth-Grade MYP Courses

• 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

MYP Personal Project

At MacDowell Montessori School, tenth graders participating in the MYP complete a 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 Personal Project Guide

Grading/Assessment Criteria

Milwaukee Public Schools has an online gradebook system (Campus), so that parents and students are able to access their grades. Continuous monitoring of student progress is available through the Campus Parent Portal. Printed interim reports with comments and snapshot grades are sent to parents/guardians every four to six weeks. 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.

*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 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.

MYP Assessment Objectives and Strands

Campus Parent Student Portal Guide

Campus High School Parent Guide to Standards-Based Report Cards