NCP:Budget Cuts

ok, so i don't know if i've already ranted about this, but CPS is getting a huge budget cut because we are short money. you can read more about it here.

our varsity sports are being cut, which is completely ridiculous! (even though i don't play sports, it's just ridiculous--some seniors depend on them to get grants and scholarships into college!)

and now, i got an email on thursday saying that "all CPS drivers ed centers are closed until further notice."

i admit. i was in denial. i said to myself, "i wonder if this was a planned event everyone knew already, or was it all of a sudden. b/c last sat. i made an appointment w. them for this sat. now, the guy wouldn't have made an appoit. with me if he knew they would get cut off on friday..."

so i waited until friday to call them. thursday comes, (read the other part of my friday happenings here) and i had the surprize dental appointment in china town that absolutely could not be re-scheduled. so i went, and on the way there in the car, i called mather.

and i was SO surprized that their answering machine actually picked up!! (normally they let it ring until eternity.)

and it's true. CPS has cut ALL driver's ed centers until further notice. they are aiming for July 7th to re-open. suuuure.

IL is on the verge of bankruptcy right now! suuure we'll belive you.....(O_o)

but anyway.

so i really need you to vote for my school so we can get the $250K we desperately need.

here's the link: http://www.refresheverything.com/21cc

it's SO simple! you just have to register once, and you get 10 votes per day, and you can vote on an idea once per day!

25% of all teachers will be laid off the coming school year, meaning ~30-40 students per class!! if there's one thing i love about northside, it's the small class sizes.

varsity sports are cut. it's devastating. so many ppl are on the teams!

now Driver's Ed is completely cut. so the only option is for us to go private and pay for a driving school to teach us. and we would prob hafta start all over again since they would claim that "CPS standards may not meet their standards".

it's really amazing how far we've climbed.

we were previously 200th, and now we're #40!! but that's FAR from good enough. only the TOP TWO ideas get the 250k grant. we still have a long way to go!!

NCP: Pepsi Grant!

so, recently, via FC, my school notified me that they were in the running for a Pepsi Grant worth some couple thousand dollars, and i would like to put up this link to help them out (you can vote daily!!)

http://www.refresheverything.com/21cc

our school is getting budget cuts this year, and i will rant about that... right... now.

so, this year, we are more then a few thousand dollars short for funding.

every year, we have our cubby walk, which raises money for the school, but apparently that's not enough. at all.

our JV teams got cut this year, meaning no varsity sports.

many, many teachers will be let go of (i belive it was every one out of four teachers), so our class sizes will get bigger. which sucks, because one of the things i LOVE about NS is that our class sizes are relatively small.

and we were hoping for PCs for the entire school next year--i don't know how that is gonna happen. this year freshmen could choose to have them for an extra couple hundred bucks. and they are placed in their own classes so they do not have a priviledge over other students. nice. and they even use them for PE!!

i would love to get one for school. they would help out so much since i always forget hmwk @ home.

i mean, we seem like a new, rich-people school, but that's just cause our shool is new (it's only 10 years old! it's prob the newest CPS HS!!). that's why.

but our pepsi ranking went from 200th to 46th in a week, and we are far from being close to winning, so i will for sure do my part and vote daily.

it's SO easy!!

APUSH stuyding...aka crammin

sooo.... this week will be ALL about APUSH. b/c

1. thursday i left my txt book @ skool. so i couldn't read chapter 42. so i coursnoted it.
2. so i read chapter 42 today. saturday.
3. i need to move onto chapter 43. and FINISH it b/c...on 4/19 i need to study for the mock exam.
4. so... 4/18 (2morrow) i need 2 study 4 the first DBQ part of the mock exam (4/20).... 1550-end of civil war
5. on 4/22 i don't have skool, so i'll study 4 the multiple choice part of the exam.
6. i need to do the 70s RRJ!! due ON 4/19!! so cruel!! searcy still gave us hmwk when she KNEW we had to cram and study 4 the exam... !! (TT_TT)

ADGENDA......................
4/20: 1st day of mock exam/ AP registration/ chem make up!!/ RRJ due!!
4/23: 2nd day of mock exam
5/7: (two weeks later) REAL AP exam

I herd from my friends JUST NOW that apparently, the Kaplan & Princeton AP Prep Books are the best. when i've been using the Fast Track To a 5 prep book for 3 weeks already. nice. the reason why i chose it was b/c it was the newest one...@ my skool library (2009) (the librarian was like, "We just got this yesterday!") it had quizes on the end of every chapter, it was compatible w/ American Pagent (the 14/15 edition, and i was using the 11th edition, so it's a bit off, but still compatible....)

but the stupid thing w/ it is that it's due in 2 weeks, and non-renewable. i checked it out 5 weeks before the real AP exam. but the librarian was kind enough to extend it 4 one week... still, it's not enough... 10 cents/day... (TT_TT) i'll just have to give them up, or find a new one from my local library... which i hope is well stocked...

last time for mid-terms no one checked out the APUSH prep books, so i hope this time no one checked them out either... as in, "gee, I hope that no local H.S. teaches APUSH...therefore no one would check them out".... but no luck... only one copy left... and i'll only get it if no one else checks it out before i do...(TT_TT) misery...

NCP: Freshmen & block scheduling

visit wikipedia! i edit the page for northside!

I should have started writing this as a freshman, but i didn't, so here i am now.

 

maybe cause i'm a nerd, but i found myself one day on wikipedia.org and saw northside's page. how little info on there surprized me.

 

So, options for freshmen:

 

• MATH (IMP): 1 (algebra) or 2 (geometry) you can skip into IMP2 by placement testing or getting credit from your previous school. only approved programs can give credit--i was so surprized and maddened by this: all of us in algebra that year knew algebra. we just didn't get credit. so unfair.
• LITURATURE: Survey of Lit. or Speech & Debate: only can be skipped by credit. only option when i was a freshman, but know, you can aparently skip to British Liturature (Lit. 3)! so unfair. last year's freshmen HAD to take speech & debate. (normally it is an elective for lit. credit)
• P.E.: not optional. you HAVE to take health/physical education. it works like this: 1st quarter: you either do P.E. or health; next quarter you would do something else. (ie, you have P.E. 1st quarter--next quarter, you'll take health)
• SOCIAL SCIENCE (social studies) WORLD STUDIES or APUSH. not by placement testing.
• SCIENCE: physics. YOU HAVE TO TAKE PHYSICS FRESHMEN YEAR. no other choice.
• ELECTIVE: any elective is open to freshmen:
• art (I or II: only skip by putting together a art portfolio and submitting),
• music (chorus [singing], band [wind instruments], orchestra [strings]),
• computers (either computer science [basic computer stuff] or alice [softwear programming]).

 

... so yea.
HOW THE DAY WORKS:
7:55am-8:05am:Advisory (A.K.A. homeroom) for 10 min. they do take attendence!
TARDIES: line up. have IDs out. if you don't have it, they need to print one out for you. $1.
8:05am-8:10am: Passing Period. they *normally* put on music to signal end/start of passing period. 8 min. for all except for advisory-->1st block (it's only 5 min.)
8:10am-9:50am: 1st/5th block (all full blocks are 100 min: ~2 hrs)
9:50am-9:58am: passing period
9:58am-11:38am: 2nd/6th blcok
11:38am-11:46am: passing period
11:46am-1:26pm: 3rd/7th block
1:26pm-1:34pm: passing period
1:34pm-3:14pm: 4th/8th block last block of the day. we get out @ pi. lol. 3:14 nerds.
there are such things has 1/2 block!!!
so: half block. lunch is one of them. you get ~50 min to eat lunch. or do homework. they only serve food the first 15~20 min of lunch.
2a & 6a lunch/block
3a & 7a lunch/block
so this is how it works: you get either a 2A, 3A, 6A, or 7A lunch. that takes up 1/2 block. the nest block is a class. so that class (whatever it may be, like health/P.E. or any other class) you will have everyday.

visit wikipedia! i edit the page for northside! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northside_college_prep

northside offers: (used to offer Korean, but b/c of budget and small classroom size, the course was dropped in the 2009-2010 school year)

• Mandarin Chinese
• French
• German
• Japanese
• Latin
• Spanish

English:

• English I-IV
• AP Lit&Comp
• AP Lang&Comp
• Jornalism I-IV
• Creative Writing I & II (must be at least a sophomore, complete an application, and be approved)Shakespeare & Contemporary Fiction (must be at least a sophomore)
• Multicultural Lit.
• Reading & Writing Across Disciplines (must be at least a junior and receive approval)
• Drama (must be at least a sophomore)
• Speech & Debate I & II (must submit an application and receive approval)
• Topics in World Lit: Existential Lit (must be at least a sophomore)

Social Science

• World Studies
• HUSH
• History of Chicago
• Soc/Psych
• APUSH
• AP Psych
• AP US Gov
• AP Micro
• AP Europ
• Sustainable Engineering & Economic Development

Science:

• Physics
• Chem
• Bio
• Marine Sci
• Enviro

Math:

• IMP I-IV
• AP Stat
• AP Calc
• Multi-variable

Open House

So. Today we had open house, and I was one of the tourguides. A lot of my friends were there. What we did was just take a group of interested parents/future-NCPers and show them what we have to offer.

a lot of the parents wandered off during the tour, which disapointed me. a lot of them didn't ask questions, which is exactly what I would have done, except i now realize how much you can get from asking questions. so, it was a bit awkward the entire time... it was just a lot of fact-rattling, but thing is, i really do feel proud of being a northsider.

i would love to do this next year!!

i remember this one azn mother bringing in her 7 year old sons to see the school--talk about wow! it's like getting into standford or ivy league!

but getting into hs in chicago IS like getting into college--applications, grades, reccomendations, tests, entrance exams, registration, rejected credits...

but now that CPS does not enforce the desegregation law as of the next school year (2010-2011), the school will FOR SURE be ruled by asians--30% of it ALREADY IS azn--the same as whites.

i know that this is racist, but i KNOW that a lot of the minority students did not meet academic standards, but they were admitted because of the de-segregation law.

walking around in NS hallways, you know for sure that this is a predominately white/asian hs. you see few and rare african american students.

even on the faculty, you only see a few african american teachers. (but there are also few latino teachers, and a few handfull of asn teachers, so it's not directed towards racism i guess)

the regimine is VERY rigorous here @ NS, but nothing we can't handle.

all classes are honors or AP (except P.E., health, sex ed, & driver's ed)

all-honors sounds SO intimidating, but it isn't. honors is VERY easy.

by junior year, ALL students are expected to take on @ least ONE AP class (**this is only what i feel, not what was expressed by the faculty**)--i say this b/c sophomore year, you can choose wether to take AP or Honors US History, but junior year, you can choose an AP science, AP social science, AP english course--EVERYONE has a chance to get an AP class of their strength.

and by senior year, you HAVE to take all AP classes (**once again, it is what I feel, not as expressed by faculty) since you have SO many oppertunities in every subject to go AP.

NCP: Websites YOU HAVE TO KNOW.

so. northside founctions very heavily on technology, as you can see.

teachers have HP tablets.

the library has 35 student-use flatscreen PCs (1st & second floor, first come first serve; usu. busy during passing period & lunch periods; right before/right after school; early in the morning and late in the afternoon sports many free computers)

every classroom has an EPSON projector. speakers. wireless printers. (PRINTING: 10 cents/page. black & white. color is 20 cents. every student is given $30 at the beginning of each semester. money left over from last semester will carry over. money from last year will not.)

the science department has Smart Boards. so cool! you have to see it for yourself to believe that a chicago public school has this stuff. amazing.

freshmen this year have their own laptops. part of the movement towards the rumored 'text-book free' thing, instead using laptops. LoL. so: a new way of identifying freshmen. they're the ones w/ laptops. lol.

but i'm jealous. when i was a freshman, i didn't get that.

WHAT ARE THE WEBSITES?

so. back to the websites. LOGIN. THEY ARE ALWAYS THE SAME. FIRST NAME INTIAL + FULL LAST NAME (& a number) (ie, Sammy Clarke would be: sclarke)

EMAIL (FIRST CLASS): http://fc.cps.edu/

• LOGIN: usu. first name initial, (middle name intial, if you have one) , & full last name (& a number if the login was already previously taken. ie, Lana Blake would be lblake. BUT if someone later had the same initial+last name (ie, Lorry Blake), then they would be lblake1
• IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU CHECK YOUR EMAIL. not to sound like a teacher, but it's important. it's not only trash you know. IT ANNOUNCES CLUB MEETINGS. SPORTS GAMES. SERVICE LEARNING HOUR OPPERTUNITIES. so it's like a daily newspaper.
• your email adress: firstnameintialmiddlenameitialfulllastname@cps.edu (example: marrie anna lobb will be most likely malobb@cps.edu. but if there was another malobb@cps.edu already, then you will be malobb1, malobb2, ect. @cps.edu
• ADVISORY: this is where the daily announcements are. shows club meetings, ect. these are emails blasted for the entire school.
• INBOX: your personal emails sent & recieved. includes emails sent for specific classes (ie, Ms. Simbulan's 4th block health class)
• DIRECTORY: looks up people's emails. anyone's on CPS. (teacher emails can also be found on http://www.nscollegeprep.cps.k12.il.us/)

FOR GRADES: http://students.cps.edu.k12.il.us/

• What is it? it shows your grades as your teacher enters it into her computer.

FOR HOMEWORK: http://moodle.northsideprep.org/ or: http://www.nscollegeprep.cps.edu.k12.il.us/


TO TURN IN PAPERS: http://www.turnitin.com/

• with this website, what it basically does is checks for plagiarism. so if your essay was something online, it will be found. something that someone BEFORE HAS SUBMTTED ONTO TURNITIN (so a friend who had the class last year's essay will still be stored on the database)
• LOGIN: email. password, your choice.
• YOU NEED THE CLASS ID # AND THE PASSWORD. to sign up for that class

SCHOOL WEBSITE: http://www.nscollegeprep.cps.edu.k12.il.us/

this is the most important. many teachers post their homework there.

HOW TO DO IT:

HOW TO GET TO YOUR HOMEWORK via NCP WEBSITE:

1. go to the school website http://www.nscollegeprep.cps.edu.k12.il.us/
2. go to the DEPARTMENT tab. click on appropriate subject (math, science, liturature, ect)
3. find the TEACHER tab. click.
4. click on your teacher's name. it should go to another division to show the classes he/she teaches. click on the appropriate one. (ie, IMP1 instead of IMP3)

TO GET HOMEWORK via MOODLE:

1. go to moodle. link available through northside's main website. (http://moodle.northsideprep.org/)
2. click LOGIN. 99% of all classes require that you log in to see the information.
3. LOGIN with your first name's intial, and full last name. (ie, Frank Trobb would be 'ftrobb')
4. on the LEFT SIDE BAR (red) click on your class.

FOR MOODLE, YOU NEED TO KNOW THE PASSWORD YOUR TEACHER PUT ON THE CLASS. it's a one-time register.

TURNING IN HOMEWORK via TURNITIN.COM

1. go to http://www.turnitin.com/
2. login. (this log in is not controlled by CPS. meaning it can be your personal email, school email, whatever password you choose.)
3. to the left are your classes. click.
4. click on correct class in which you need to turn in your paper.
5. name of assignment is shown. click in the submit picture icon next to it.
6. upload & title the paper.
7. the next screen is a preveiw. **you still have not sumitted you paper in yet!!
8. click submit. you have. your teacher has recieved it.
9. a reciept will be sent to your email. KEEP IT!! to prove that you did turn it in, in case there is a glitch in the system.

NCP: Colloqium.

so. next thing on your schedule. the thing that is labeled 'colloquium'. so what it is:

• non-credit class, but they do take attendance
• SHORTER DAY (9:30AM-12:45PM)
• pass/fail grade
• classes are chosen by students themselves on Sound Programming. the topics are not typical school topics (sewing, art, red cross, motorcycles, ect.) some are semester-long (typical), some are year long...so choose wisely.

YOU GET TO SCHOOL @ 9:30 PEOPLE!!!! they do not have searches on colloquium, like on normal days.

****COLLOQUIUM IS ONLY ON 5 DAY WEEKS. (ie, if you have monday off, you will not get colloquium this week because attending your normal classes are more important then colloquium)

they often do not let people get into the library. you are not allowed to go anywhere beyond the 1st floor (so that means the lunchroom or the 1st floor atrium). the doors are locked.

if you get there early, and the library hasn't filled up yet, you can get up and chat/use computers.

9:20AM: they let people up the stairs.

9:45AM-12:45PM: colloquium. there is a break the teachers give students, but it is their choice what time. normally 15 min. break. homework is dependent on the teacher. colloquium is normally considered a blow off class.

lunch is served after colloquium.