Heartbeat Article Sept 2009

FROM THE DESK OF THE DIRECTOR OF ACADEMICS: DR JAMES R. DEMPSEY

The School year has begun and it is a pleasure to work with your daughters.  The performance of Sacred Heart Students on Regents exams was again superior.  Ninety seven percent of all Regents exams were passed with fifty nine percent scoring at the mastery level.  These figures are up 3 % from last year in each category.  English, French, Spanish, US History, Geometry, Algebra, and Math “A” all had a 100% passing rate. Biology and Global Studies were at 99%. While Math “B”, Earth Science and Chemistry were all in the mid 90% passing range.

Several subjects did well with distinction as Chemistry has progressed from a 68% passing rate several years ago to 95% for this past year. The mastery (85 and above) level for several subjects was outstanding.  English scored at a 95% mastery level, US History registered an 86% rate, Spanish scored at 85%, Geometry rose to 70%, Global Studies came in at 68% and French tallied a 64% rate. Biology also did well at 54% while Physics had the highest mastery percentage in its recorded history.  All of our young ladies and faculty members are to be commended for a job well done.

We are also proud of two other ratings. Our Regents diploma with Advanced Distinction was 86% for the

class of 2009. This is up from 56% in 2007. While 131 of 396 students sat for Advanced Placement Exams last year. This means that one in every three Sacred Heart students took an AP course last year.

The school year is now several weeks old with strive for 85 (plus) is our cry. Several new courses are now being taught, with college level courses in foreign languages and Math leading the way.  More will be written in the future about those courses. Extra assistance in Algebra is also occurring. Welcome back and thank you for the good turnout at the Parent Go Back to School Night. Have safe and interesting days.

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