User:Kye1969/sandbox

The Utica Academy for International Studies (UAIS) opened in the fall of 2008, and is a fully authorized International Baccalaureate World School. UAIS is a public high school program belonging to the Utica Community Schools (UCS) district, which is Michigan’s second largest school district. Located approximately 7 miles north of Detroit, in Macomb County, the 25 elementary schools, seven junior high schools, and four high schools within UCS serve 29,000 students from a 66- square mile suburban area. The community is largely residential with strong economic ties to the automotive industry. UCS has enjoyed a long-standing tradition of exceptional citizen support, which has resulted in numerous innovative educational programs.

Students
UAIS students are drawn from the four Utica Community Schools high schools and also school of choice students from within, and adjacent to, Macomb County. Our students are socio- economically, ethnically and religiously diverse. Approximately 14.5% of students qualify for free and reduced lunch. The students run on an A and B day schedeule with four classes per day that last around an hour and thirty minutes.

Extended Essay (EE) and Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS)
All students are expected to produce a 4,000 word Extended Essay, which is a capstone project based on their original research. Students must also complete 150 hours of Creativity, Activity, and Service, including an extended service project that requires collaboration and leadership, and is focused on the local community. These IB requirements are in addition to their other coursework. Along with IB requirements the students have to pick 3 higher level courses and it is a possiblitiy to take 4 but it is strongly discouraged.

Faculty
All faculty members hold a Master’s, Specialist or Ph.D. degree. Faculty members have been extensively trained in brain/mind research in conjunction with the Caine Learning Institute of Idyllwild, California. Faculty members have also received special training in Reading Apprenticeship by West Ed. A few of the Faculty Members and their emails are as follwed.


 * Shaun Green-Bebe (Principal)
 * SHAUN.GREENE-BEEBE@uticak12.org
 * CHRISTOPHER.KUHLMAN@UticaK12.org
 * Christopher Layson (IB Coordinator)
 * CHRISTOPHER.LAYSON@UticaK12.org
 * Justin Spear (Director/CAS Coordinator)
 * JUSTIN.SPEAR@UticaK12.org

Grading Scale
The UAIS grading system is based on a weighted 4.0 scale. Semester grades are based on a 40/40/20 model wherein each of two quarters counts for 40% of the final semester grade and the exam counts for the remaining 20%. Grades are weighted (.50) for all courses that conclude in a national reported course exam (IB or AP). This means that if a student got straight A's at an IB school for the entire four years of highschool it would be seen as a 4.5 GPA as opposed to a regular highschool courses with a 4.0 GPA.

Olympics
The Olympics were created as an alternative to the typical pep rallys at regular high schools, they were designed for the entire schools participation and not a select group. Thee olypmics are biannually during the school year, one before winter break (Winter Olympics) and one beforee the senior class leaves (Summer Olympics). Each student ranks their most and least favorite games and are put in an algorithm to give everyone their choices fairly. Each student competes in only two of the 10 games during the Olympics and the 10 games are interchangable.

Co-Cirricular Activities
UAIS offers numerous extracurricular clubs and activities. Students wishing to participate in high school athletics or activities not offered at UAIS, may return to their attendance area high school. Participating in base school sports and activities requires considerable student initiative and represents a serious commitment. The list of all current clubs are as follows; Spanish Club, French Club, Art Club, Forensics, National Art Honors Society, Japanese Club, Robotics, AAP, Debate (1st semester), Key Club, Quiz Bowl, Academic Games Club, Forensics, Medical Club, HOSA, Gender Equality Club, National Music Honor Society, Student Senate, Ultimate Frisbee, Challenge.gov, She's The First, Coding Club, Film Club, Student Voice, Amnesty International, Soccer Club, Chess Club, Ski Club, Video Game Club, Cultural Club, AP Study Club, Muslim Student Association, Jazz Band, Student Advisory Board, French Honor Society, Fashion Show, and IASA.