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C L A R K   M O N T E S S O R I   S C H O O L

2007-2008 High School Profile
SCHOOL CODE : 3 6 0 - 9 5 8
WEBPAGE : http://clark.cps-k12.org/

 5425 Winton Ridge Lane
Cincinnati, OH 45232
Ph: 513.363.7100
Fax: 513.363.7120

Rupa Townsend, Principal
Maria Lagdameo, Assistant Principal
Marta Donahoe, Program Coordinator

 Steffanie Gentile College Advisor
Phone: 513.363.7153
Email: gentils@cps-k12.org

THE SCHOOL

Clark Montessori, the first public Montessori high school in the nation, graduated its first class of 22 students in the spring of 2001. Students are admitted on a first come, first serve basis from the public and private Montessori elementary schools in the area. Clark has earned the highest possible rating, excellent, from the Ohio Department of Education. Clark has been identified by the William Gates Foundation as one of five model high schools in the United States.

MISSION

Our school's purpose is to seek not only the highest and most complete academic environment, but also to form a community that nurtures an atmosphere of caring and sets a thoughtful social climate. We strive to be a community of adults and teenagers who respect each other's deepest personal and human qualities.

COMMUNITY

The student population is representative of the socioeconomic and racial mix within the Greater Cincinnati area. Students residing outside the district pay tuition to attend Clark Montessori.

QUALITIES NURTURED

Students sign a school contract each year in which they promise to work to build community within the school, and to work collaboratively in teams with other students and faculty.

EDUCATION

Students learn to manage long-term projects including an intensive year-long research project in senior year. Students are coached in leadership skills such as group development, decision-making models, and conflict resolution. Students and teachers engage in an alternative assessment of the student's knowledge, such as self-evaluation of work based on clearly defined objectives, presentations, and cumulative portfolios. Clark's environment clearly acknowledges diversity and the adolescent need for greater autonomy. In this setting students succeed in learning and decision-making situations that minimize rote learning and encourage independence. This approach cultivates student ownership in his or her education. Clark’s well-designed academic program challenges students to work responsibly and perform well on standardized tests.

ACCREDITATION

Ohio Department of Education and Member of Ohio Association for College Admission Counseling

FACULTY

All teachers are certified by the state of Ohio, and depending on the specific position, have earned Montessori Certification or Montessori coursework as required by the school. There are 15 men and 13 women on the high school faculty and over 86% have a master’s degree or beyond.

ENROLLMENT

Clark currently has 714 students enrolled in grades 7-12. The student population is 51% Caucasian, 43% African-American and 6% a combination of Asian, Hispanic and multi-racial. Typically, in each class 30-50% of the graduates are first generation in their families to attend college.

Class of 2008 - 84
Class of 2009 - 89
Class of 2010 - 114
Class of 2011 - 113

THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM

The school year is comprised of two semesters, each lasting 18 weeks. The school day begins at 8:45 A.M. and ends at 3:45 P.M. Students attend eight periods a day which meet three times per week, and beginning in 2006-07, we have a block schedule two days a week. On block days, half of a student’s schedule is covered each day, extending class periods from 50 minutes to 96 minutes.

Clark students need a minimum of 24 credits for graduation. Teachers clearly communicate objectives to students to more actively engage them in taking responsibility to achieve the grades they choose to receive in each class.

GRADING SYSTEM

A traditional (A, B, C, D, F) four point grade system is used.
A  90 – 100
B  80 – 89
C  70 - 79
D  60 - 69
F    0 - 59

GRADE POINT AVERAGE

All courses are averaged for GPA. Students are not ranked because the class has fewer than 100 students. Both the weighted and unweighted GPA are listed on the transcript and are cumulative from the first semester of ninth grade. The weights for the GPA are as follows:

1.0 for Academic

1.5 for AA (Honors) and AP courses

INTERSESSION COURSES

In addition to traditional academic studies, each Clark student must complete eight two-week intensive field study courses. Each “intersession” course includes rigorous academic requirements paired with hands-on learning experiences, often including travel and/or community service. Subjects range from marine biology to early American literature to Appalachian culture and hiking. Each grade level has one required intersession and one elective field study. A listing of elective field studies is on the next page. Students receive .5 credit for each intersession, and passing all eight is required in order to receive a Clark diploma. The required intersessions are: Freshman Orientation (9 th grade), Community Service (10 th), Post secondary/College Prep & Tour (11 th), and Career Internships (12 th).

COMMUNITY SERVICE

200 hours (50 hours per year) of service with a social service agency outside regular school hours is required of each student

CLARK MONTESSORI HIGH SCHOOL

2007 - 2008 CURRICULUM

All core courses are honors level, denoted by “AA” on transcript. Beginning in 2006-07, we have a block schedule two (2) days a week. Half of a student’s schedule is covered each day, extending class periods from 50 minutes to 96 minutes.

* Required for Clark Montessori diploma

ENGLISH – 4 credits or 8 semesters required

* English AA - 9, 10, 11, 12 - integrated with Social Studies for a blocked schedule Humanities course to create greater depth in the curriculum.

Literary analysis and writing skills are emphasized. Also:

MATHEMATICS – 4 credits or 8 semesters required

SCIENCE – 4 credits or 8 semesters required

SOCIAL STUDIES – 4 credits or 8 semesters required

** Extended Essay AA and Theory of Knowledge AA combine for the Senior Project curriculum.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE – * 2 credits or a minimum of 4 semesters required

French I, II, III, IV Spanish I, II, III, IV

FINE ARTS – * 1 credit or a minimum of 2 semesters required

** Dig Imag/Photogr reflects visual arts courses offered through Cincinnati Arts and Technology Center.

INTERSESSION COURSES (appears as EOP on transcript)

SENIOR PROJECT

Senior Project is a yearlong course for seniors at Clark Montessori. Students must pass Senior Project in order to graduate from Clark. They complete research on a topic and write the Senior Paper (typically 15-20 pages typed) by the end of the first semester of senior year. They spend the third quarter editing the paper and the first part of the fourth quarter formally defending the project before Clark teachers and parent-student community. Previous Senior Products include portfolios of photographs, paintings, sculpture, dance performance, and scientific experiments. During Senior Project students become proficient in using a college library for research, organizing research information, evaluating different sources for accuracy and bias, developing a formal research paper to support a single thesis, incorporating non-written presentation aids into a research paper, and making an oral defense of one’s research. The Senior Project courses appear on the transcript as Theory of Knowledge AA and Extended Essay AA. Both are honors level courses.

COLLEGE TEST SCORES Class of 2007 (88 students)

Average scores: SAT ( Critical Reading) 486 SAT (Math) 472 SAT (Total) 958

ACT (75 th percentile) 25 ACT (25 th percentile) 17 ACT (Median)20

AP Results for 2005-2007 (2004-2005 was pilot year)

42 students completed 67 exams with 68.6% receiving a score of 3 or higher

COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES FOR THE CLASSES 2001-2007

Agnes Scott College

Alabama A & M University

Alabama State University

Allegheny College

American University

Anderson University

Antioch College

Appalachian State University

Arcadia University

Auburn University

Aurora University

Baldwin- Wallace College

Baldwin–Wallace College , Conserv. Of Music

Ball State University

Barry University

Beloit College

Bennett College

Berea College

Boston University

Bowling Green State University

Butler University

Calvin College

Capital University

Case Western Reserve University

Central State University

Chicago State University

Cincinnati State Technical and Community College

City College of New York

CUNY – Brooklyn

CUNY – Hunter College

Clark University

Clark Atlanta University

Clarkson University

Cleveland State University

Coastal Carolina University

Colby-Sawyer College

College of the Atlantic

College of Charleston

College of Mount Saint Joseph

College of Wooster

College For Creative Studies

Columbus College of Art & Design

Cornell College

Curry College

Denison University

DePaul University

DePauw University

Drew University

Drury University

Earlham College

Eastern Kentucky University

Eastern Michigan University

Eckerd College

Elmhurst College

Eugene Lang College, New School University

Fairfield University

Fisk University

Florida A&M University

Florida State University

Fordham University

Georgetown College

George Washington University

Georgia Institute of Technology

Goucher College

Grambling State University

Green Mountain College

Grinnell College

Guilford College

Hampshire College

Hampton University

Hanover College

Hartwick College

Heidelburg College

Hiram College

Hofstra College

Howard University

Indiana University at Bloomington

Ithaca College

ITT Technical Institute

Jackson State University

John Carroll University

Johnson & Wales University

Kalamazoo College

Kent State University

Kentucky State University

Kenyon College

Knox College

Lake Erie College

Lake Forest College

Lakeland Community College

Lawrence University

Lewis & Clark College

Loyola College Maryland

Loyola University Chicago

Loyola University New Orleans

Manchester College

Marion College

Marquette University

Marshall University

McGill University

McDaniel College

Miami University, Hamilton

Miami University, Middletown

Miami University, Oxford

Michigan State University

Morehead State University

Morgan State University

Muskingum College

New England College

North Carolina A&T University

North Park University

Northern Kentucky University

Northeastern University

Northland College

Northwestern University

Oberlin College

Oglethorpe University

Ohio Northern University

Ohio State University

Ohio State University, College of Engineering

Ohio University

Ohio Wesleyan University

Otis College of Art and Design

Otterbein College

Paine College

Pennsylvania State University

Philadelphia University

Point Park College , Conserv.of Performing Arts

Pratt Institute

Prescott College

Purdue University

Rhode Island School of Design

Rhodes College

Rochester Institute of Technology

Saint Louis University

Saint Xavier University

Salem College

School of Visual Arts

Shawnee State University

Skidmore College

Smith College

South Carolina State University

Southern Illinois University

Southern University A&M

Southwestern University

Spelman College

St. John’s University

St. Lawrence University

Taylor University

Temple University

The American Musical and Dramatic Academy New York

The College of Santa Fe

The College of Wooster

The School of Advertising Art

Theil College

Thomas More College

Tougaloo College

Transylvania University

Tulane University

Tusculum College

Tuskegee University

University of Advancing Technology

University of Akron

University of Alabama at Birmingham

University of Arizona

University of Charleston

University of Cincinnati

University of Cincinnati Business Scholars Program

University of Cincinnati , Honors-PLUS Program

University of Cincinnati, College of Business

University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music

University of Cincinnati, College of DAAP

University of Cincinnati, College of Engineering

University of Cincinnati, College of Nursing

University of Cincinnati , Pre-Pharmacy

University of Cincinnati, Raymond Walters College

University of Dayton

University of Delaware

University of Denver

University of Findlay

University of Georgia

University of Indianapolis

University of Kentucky

University of Louisville

University of Maryland

University of Miami

University of Michigan

University of Missouri, Columbia

University of New Orleans

University of North Carolina, Asheville

University of South Florida

University of St. Andrews

University of Tampa

University of Tennessee

University of Toledo

University of the Arts

University of Vermont

University of Virginia

University of Washington

University of Wisconsin

Ursuline College

Valparaiso University

Villanova University

Warren Wilson College

Webster University

Western Kentucky University

West Virginia Wesleyan University

Western Michigan

Wheaton College

Wilberforce University

Wilmington College

Winthrop University

Wittenberg University

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Wright State University

Xavier University

Youngstown State University

Clark graduated 99 % of the seniors in 2007.

Since Clark’s first graduating class of 2001, 96% of the graduates have chosen to attend a post secondary educational institution.