Homewood-FlossmoorHigh School’s

H-F Gifted Academy:

Four-YearOverview

For further information, contact Dr. Nancy Spaniak, Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Professional Development: 708-335-5330, nspaniak@hf233.org

The H-F Gifted Academy — a four-year program foracademically talented students — aligns with Home-wood-Flossmoor High School’s (H-F) mission to up-hold the highest standards of intellectual growth. Ingeneral, most schools do a good job of supportingstruggling students but do not provide enough enrich-ment for academically talented students. While H-F tra-ditionally has serviced students well through its honorsand Advanced Placement® (AP) program, the schoolwanted to do more for its highest academic performers.As a result, a committee of administrators and teachersworked for more than a year to develop the H-F GiftedAcademy.

Established in the fall of 2011, the H-F Gifted Academyis designed for students whose mathematical achieve-ment and scores on Homewood-Flossmoor HighSchool’s 8th grade entrance exam rank them at the topof their class. Via an application process, a cohort of ac-ademically talented rising 9th Graders is selected toenter the H-F Gifted Academy to experience honorscourses, along with an accelerated Advanced Placementprogram, during their freshmen and sophomore years.

AP, a pillar of Homewood-Flossmoor High School’snationally recognized curricular framework, is re-garded around the world for its rigorous preparationof students for high-level university work. Coupledwith experiencing the AP program, H-F Gifted Acad-emy members enter the International BaccalaureateDiploma Programme® as juniors. Thus, the H-FGifted Academy immerses its members in the twomost challenging and internationally recognized highschool curricula: AP and IB.

After an extensive multi-year application process, theInternational Baccalaureate Organization (IBO)granted IB World School status to Homewood-Floss-moor High School in the spring of 2013. As a result,H-F became the first public high school in the Chicagosuburbs to offer the IB Diploma Programme. Home-wood-Flossmoor High School proudly joined the ex-clusive group of approximately 3,000 IB WorldSchools that dot the globe across 138 countries.

A non-profit organization, IBO was founded in 1968 inresponse to the demands of European diplomats whowere seeking a rigorous, relevant, and consistent aca-demic program for their children as they traveled fromcountry to country. The IB Diploma Programme pro-vides upper-level high school students with an academ-ically challenging and balanced program of study todevelop students’ content knowledge in a systematicfashion as it fosters their maturity. IB Diploma Pro-gramme graduates are recognized internationally aswell-rounded, top students who possess strong criticalthinking, research, writing, and oral communicationskills.

An Introduction

to the

H-F Gifted Academy

1

As illustrated below, the IB Diploma Programme® cur-riculum framework consists of courses in six groups,which are offered either as one-year standard level(SL) courses during students’ junior or senior year, ortwo-year higher level (HL) courses during students’junior and senior years. Within the six groups, Home-wood-Flossmoor High School offers the followingcourses:

• Group 1 Studies in Language and Literature HL English

• Group 2 Language Acquisition: SL French and SL Spanish

• Group 3 Individuals and Societies: SL Economics• Group 4 Sciences: HL Physics• Group 5 Mathematics: HL Math• Group 6 The Arts: SL Art and SL Music.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

In addition to earning their H-F diploma, H-F GiftedAcademy students have the opportunity to earn an IBDiploma upon graduation. Highly prestigious, the IBDiploma is, in the words of the International Baccalau-reate website, “a passport to higher education” acrossthe globe. Students who wish to earn an IB Diplomamust take courses and pass rigorous IB assessments inall six groups. Additionally, they must enroll in the two-year Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course, compose a4,000-word Extended Essay (EE), and complete theCreativity, Action and Service (CAS) requirement out-side of the school day. (See pages 6 and 7 for furtherdescriptions of TOK, EE, and CAS.) The global passrate for the IB Diploma is 80%. Although H-F GiftedAcademy students are not required to seek an IBDiploma, as juniors and seniors, they all must take IBcourses in Groups 1-5. Non-IB Diploma-seeking stu-dents who earn successful scores on IB end-of-courseexams are awarded Certification of Mastery, which isrecognized by universities around the world for collegecourse credit. While encouraged to complete the TOK,EE, and CAS requirements, IB certificate students –students not working towards the IB Diploma – are notobliged to do so.

International

Baccalaureate

Diploma Programme

Curriculum

Framework

2

H-F Gifted Academy Course Schedule

1.2016

IB Graduation Requirements

Summer 1 Grade 9 Summer 2 Grade 10 Summer 3 Grade 11 Summer 4 Grade 12

IB Group 1 English

English 1 H #1900

AP Language & Comp. #1901

IB Group 1 HL English 1

#1902

IB Group 1 HL English 2

#1903

IB Group 2 Foreign

Language

Spanish 2H French 2H, or Mandarin 2H

Spanish 2H If needed:

FULL CREDIT

Spanish 3H, French 3H, or Mandarin 3H

Spanish 4H, French 4H, or Mandarin 4H

IB Group 2 SL Spanish #1920,

SL French #1921, or SL Mandarin

IB Group 3 Social Science

AP World History #1910

AP US History #1911

Civics OPTIONAL:

FULL .5 CREDIT

IB Group 3 SL Economics

#1917

Civics OPTIONAL:

FULL .5 CREDIT

Music Ensemble, Civics, AP Gov. &

Politics, or H or AP Elective

IB Group 4 Science

Biology H OPTIONAL: FULL

CREDIT

Biology H, Chemistry H, or H or AP elective

Chemistry H OPTIONAL:

FULL CREDIT

Chemistry H, AP Gov. & Politics, or

H or AP elective

IB Group 4 HL Physics 1

#1940

IB Group 4 HL Physics 2

#1941

IB Group 5 Math

Geometry H If needed:

FULL CREDIT

Algebra 2/Trig H #1930

Pre-calculus H

#1931

IB Group 5 HL Math 1: Calculus AB

#1934 Or HL Math I: Calculus BC

#1932

IB Group 5 HL Math 2:

Advanced Math Topics #1933

IB Group 6 Arts

STUDENTS NOT PURSUING IB

DIPLOMA CAN TAKE OTHER AP & HONORS COURSES

Music Ensemble, Art Studio, or

H or AP elective

Music Ensemble, Art Studio, or

H or AP elective

Music Ensemble, Art

Concentration, or H or AP elective

IB Group 6 SL Art #1961,

SL Music #1960, or H or AP elective

PE/Health/ Drivers Ed.

STUDENTS NOT PURSUING IB DIPLOMA ARE

ENCOURAGED BUT NOT REQUIRED TO TAKE TOK 1 AND

TOK 2

PE/Health PE/Drivers Ed.

Theory of Knowledge 1

#1914, or H or AP elective

Theory of Knowledge 2

#1915, or H or AP elective

During 9th Grade, all H-F Gifted Academy studentstake English 1 Honors*, AP World History, Algebra2/Trig Honors, one semester of Freshman Physical Ed-ucation and one semester of Health Honors. GiftedAcademy students who have not taken Geometry Hon-ors in junior high must do so in summer school priorto their freshman year. Gifted Academy students notenrolled in summer school Geometry are encouraged,but not required, to take Biology Honors in the summer.Those who take Biology Honors in summer school takeChemistry Honors during 9th Grade.

Freshman year cohort classes:• English 1 Honors (#1900)• AP World History (#1910)• Algebra 2/Trig Honors (#1930)

Only H-F Gifted Academy students are enrolled incourse sections with 1900 numbers. Additionally, onlyone teacher instructs each of these 1900 courses; there-fore, the freshmen all share the same teachers for Eng-lish 1H, AP World History, and Algebra 2/Trig H. Inaddition to collaborating with one another to establishcommon student expectations and norms, as well as tocoordinate major projects and exams, the H-F GiftedAcademy freshman teacher team members articulatewith their sophomore, junior, and senior year teacherteam counterparts in order to ensure a smooth transitionfrom one grade to the next.

Along with the above-mentioned courses, all H-FGifted Academy students take either French or Spanish.Most earn H-F French 1 or Spanish 1 credit from theirjunior high course work. These students all enroll in ei-ther French 2 Honors, Spanish 2 Honors, or Mandarin2 Honors as 9th Graders. Students who have not yet

taken a World Language course enroll in Spanish 1Honors as 9th Graders. Prior to 10th Grade, these stu-dents take Spanish 2 Honors in summer school in orderto be prepared to enroll in Spanish 3 Honors with theother H-F Gifted Academy students their sophomoreyear.

Finally, H-F Gifted Academy students seeking an IBDiploma must take four years of either art or music;therefore, IB Diploma-seeking students take art courses(Photography, Graphic Arts, or Art Studio) or music-performance courses (Band, Choir, or Orchestra)freshmen through junior year in order to prepare forsenior year’s IB SL Art or IB SL Music. IB certificatestudents – those not pursuing the IB Diploma – chooseother elective courses to fill each year’s art/music slot.

Exam taken at the end of freshman year:• AP World History

Homewood-Flossmoor High School pays for all APand IB exams taken by students in the required H-FGifted Academy AP and IB courses.

*For specific course descriptions, see the Homewood-Flossmoor Academic Course Selection Book, availableon the H-F website at hfhighschool.org/academics/cur-riculum/course-selection/

H-F Gifted Academy

Freshman Year

Overview

4

As sophomores, all H-F Gifted Academy studentsenroll in AP English Language and Composition,Spanish 3 Honors, French 3 Honors, or Mandarin 3Honors, AP U.S. History, Pre-Calculus Honors, onesemester of Sophomore Physical Education and onesemester of Driver Education. Students who havetaken Biology Honors in 9th Grade may take Chem-istry Honors either in summer school prior to 10thGrade or in 10th Grade. Students who take ChemistryHonors prior to 10th Grade are encouraged to take anAP or honors Science elective as sophomores, butthey may also use this slot to take an elective from an-other discipline. H-F Gifted Academy sophomoresseeking the IB Diploma must also enroll in either anart studio or music performance course. IB certificatestudents may use this art/music slot to enroll in eitherone yearlong elective or two semester electives.

Sophomore year cohort classes:• AP Language and Composition (#1901)• AP U.S. History (#1911)• Pre-Calculus Honors (#1931)

Exams taken at the end of sophomore year:• AP Language and Composition• AP U.S. History

H-F Gifted Academy

Sophomore Year

Overview

5

H-F Gifted Academy Students say...

“My courses are interesting and challenging.”

“ I feel that I can actually use what I’ve learned at school — not only for tests and quizzes — but in real-life situations, too.”

“The ... college trips we are exposed to ... give us information that’s important to our future.”

“I enjoy how many of our classes share inter-related topics. Government, for example, is reoccurring inboth AP U.S. and AP Language and Composition. As a result, we will have knowledgeable exposure.”

“The teachers are amazing — best teachers I’ve ever had!”

H-F Gifted Academy students begin their IB DiplomaProgramme coursework in the 11th Grade.

Junior year cohort classes:• IB HL English 1 (#1902)• IB SL Economics (#1917)• IB HL Physics 1 (#1940)• IB HL Math 1 Calculus AB (#1934) or IB HL Math1 Calculus BC (#1932)

In addition to the above courses, all H-F Gifted Acad-emy juniors also enroll in either Spanish 4 Honors,French 4 Honors, orMandarin 4 Honors. Additionally,IB Diploma-seeking students must also enroll in IBTheory of Knowledge (TOK) 1 (#1914), a fifth cohortcourse. Finally, they must take either an art studio ormusic ensemble course. IB certificate students may usethe TOK and art/music slots to take other electivecourses.

As stated earlier, H-F Gifted Academy students whoare not seeking an IB Diploma are encouraged to takeTOK because the course — as explained on the Inter-national Baccalaureate website — helps students “de-velop a coherent approach to learning that unifiesacademic disciplines.” TOK students expand their crit-ical-thinking ability as they “inquire into the nature ofknowing and deepen their understanding of knowledgeas human construction.”

During their junior year, IB-Diploma-seeking studentsbegin fulfilling their Extended Essay (EE) and Creativ-ity, Action, and Service (CAS) requirements. Throughtheir TOK course, students receive instruction in the in-dependent research required to conduct a thorough, in-depth study of an EE question, which each student

develops in regards to his/her personal interest in oneof 22 Diploma Programme subjects. For approximatelyone year, from November of their junior year throughmid-November of their senior year, the students re-search and write their 4,000-word EE. In addition to re-ceiving instruction from their TOK teacher, the studentswork one-on-one with an EE-trained faculty memberwho supervises their research and writing process.

According to the International Baccalaureate website,the purpose of CAS is to embark IB-Diploma-seekingstudents on “a challenging and enjoyable personal jour-ney of self-discovery.” As its name implies, CAS pro-vides a counterbalance to academic studies by engagingstudents in creative endeavors, physical activity, andcommunity service. Homewood-Flossmoor HighSchool’s CAS supervisor assists students with devel-oping and implementing their personal CAS programs.Students are expected to be involved in CAS activitiesthroughout their two years in the IB Diploma Pro-gramme and to reflect on their experiences, in writing,on a regular basis.

To prepare for junior year standardized testing, H-FGifted Academy 11th Graders are encouraged to enrollin Viking Test Prep. All H-F Gifted Academy students’Viking Test Prep courses are paid for by Homewood-Flossmoor High School.

Exams taken at the end of junior year:• AP Microeconomics• AP Macroeconomics• AP Calculus AB or AP Calculus BC• IB SL Economics end-of-course examExternal examiners mark both the AP and IB end-of-course exams.

H-F Gifted Academy

Junior Year

Overview

6

Senior year cohort classes:• IB HL English 2 (#1903)• IB SL Spanish (#1920)• IB SL French (#1921)• IB SL Mandarin (#TBD)• IB HL Physics 2 (#1941)• IB HL Math 2 Advanced Math Topics (#1933)

In addition to the above courses, IB-Diploma-seekingseniors take IB SL Art (#1961) or IB SL Music(#1960), and IB TOK 2 (#1915). All IB students havean open period during which the IB-Diploma-seekingstudents may fit a music ensemble or other electivecourse. As in other years, IB Certificate students mayuse one or both of the TOK and IB art/music slots totake further electives.

Exams taken at the end of senior year:• IB HL English end-of-course exam• IB SL Spanish, IB SL French, or IB SL Mandarin

end-of-course exam• IB HL Physics end-of-course exam• IB HL Math end-of-course exam• IB SL Art or IB SL Music end-of-course exam• AP Literature and Composition • AP Music Theory• AP Spanish or AP French• AP Physics 1• AP Physics 2

Along with the above end-of-course exams, students alsocomplete assessment tasks in their IB courses, which areeither initially graded by their teachers then marked byexternal moderators or sent directly to external modera-tors. Grades awarded for each IB exam range from 1(lowest) to 7 (highest). Students can also be awarded up

to three additional points for their combined results onthe TOK assessment and Extended Essay. The IB Diploma is awarded to students who earn atleast 24 points — subject to certain minimum levelsof performance across the whole Diploma Programme— as well as satisfactory participation in the Creativ-ity, Action, and Service requirement. The highest totala Diploma Programme student can be awarded is 45points. IB assessments are criterion-related, whichmeans student performance is measured against pre-specified assessment criteria based on the aims andobjectives of each subject curriculum, rather than theperformance of other students taking the same exam-inations. The range of scores that students have at-tained remains statistically stable, and universitiesvalue the rigor and consistency of the Diploma Pro-gramme’s assessment practice.

AP exams are graded on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5(highest). As colleges and universities often do withIB exam results, many award college credit for stu-dents’ AP exam scores of 3 or better.

H-F Gifted Academy

Senior Year

Overview

7

Because of the rigor of their four-year course plan, H-F Gifted Academy students are poised to graduate atthe top of their class. In order to rank students, Home-wood-Flossmoor High School uses a grade-weightingsystem that recognizes differences in the challenge ofcourses at the various levels of Academic Core, CollegePrep, Honors, and AP/IB. The following table repre-sents the 4-tier grade weighting system. Ultimately, thegrades a student earns, combined with the rigor of thecurriculum taken by the student, determine a gradepoint value that results in the student’s class rank. Thestudent with the highest weighted grade point average(GPA) is ranked number one in his or her respectiveclass (i.e. freshmen, sophomore, junior, senior classes).

All required H-F Gifted Academy courses – with theexception of Freshman PE, Sophomore PE, and DriverEducation – are taken at the honors or AP/IB level. AllHomewood-Flossmoor High School students must taketheir PE courses at the college prep level; however, ac-cording to school board policy, each school year, stu-dents may take one yearlong elective, or two semesterelectives (including Driver Education), on a pass/nopass basis. Courses taken in this manner do not affecta student’s GPA or class rank. While the Homewood-Flossmoor High School credits students earn in juniorhigh for Spanish, French, Algebra 1, and Geometrycount towards graduation, they do not affect students’GPA or class rank because these grades are recordedon their Homewood-Flossmoor High School tran-scripts as “P” for “pass.”

Grade Weighting

and

Class Rankings

HOMEWOOD-FLOSSMOOR HIGH SCHOOL’S 4-TIER GRADE-WEIGHTING SYSTEM

A B C D FAP/IB 7 6 5 2 0Honors 6 5 4 2 0College Prep 5 4 3 2 0Academic Core 4 3 2 1 0

8

8th Graders are invited to apply to the H-F GiftedAcademy based on their Homewood-Flossmoor en-trance exam scores. They should also meet the follow-ing application criteria:

m Have a history of high test scores and grades. Inparticular, students should have earned As and, perhaps,an occasional B during the first three quarters of 8thGrade in their English/Language Arts, Math, Science,Social Science, and World Language courses.

m Be on track to complete 8th Grade with an A orB in Geometry Honors or, at the minimum, an A in Al-gebra 1 Honors.

- Students who complete Algebra 1 Honors in 8thGrade must take, and earn an A or B in Geometry Hon-ors in summer school prior to freshman year.

m Be on track to complete 8th Grade with an A orB in Spanish 1 Honors, French 1 Honors, Mandarin1 Honors.

- Students who have never taken a foreign languagemust take Spanish 1 Honors in 9th Grade followed bySpanish 2 Honors in the summer prior to sophomoreyear.

m Be prepared to continue to earn high gradesthroughout high school.

m Be prepared to take seven classes all four yearsof high school and tackle at least two to three hoursof homework per night.

m Be prepared to get involved in at least one sportor activity each semester of high school.

Once accepted into the H-F Gifted Academy, students must maintain, at the minimum, a 3.0

unweighted grade point average in order to sustaintheir Academy enrollment. Additionally, to continuetheir Academy status as upperclassmen, studentsmust complete courses in at least five of the six

IB Diploma Programme groups.

Future H-F Gifted Academy students can look forwardto many group and one-on-one sessions with Home-wood-Flossmoor High School’s college counselorsthroughout their four years in the program. They canalso anticipate taking field trips to such prestigiouscampuses as Northwestern University and the Univer-sity of Chicago. Additionally, H-F Gifted Academy stu-dents receive a book — chosen by the H-F GiftedCommittee — to read each summer, and they are in-vited to participate in all special programs and eventshosted by the Gifted Committee. Ultimately, the H-FGifted Academy’s honors/AP/IB curricular experience– combined with unique field trips, programs, andevents – poises its students for high levels of post-sec-ondary academic and career success.

H-F Gifted Academy

Qualifying Criteria

9