Achievement testing
Each year, Mt. Helix Academy middle school students are administered the Standford Achievement Test, version 9 (SAT-9). In recent testing, 63% of our middle school students scored in the top quartile of the SAT on at least one subtest; 32 % scored in the top decile.

Literature
On graduating from Middle School, Mt. Helix Academy students read and comprehend literary works that students typically would not see before high school.  Their writing skills are equally impressive.  Students complete written compositions in a variety of genres, including creative writing, poetry, and exposition.  Our students conduct research on issues of their interest by formulating problems, gathering evidence from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, interviews), evaluating and synthesizing the evidence, and then communicating their findings to their intended audience.  Their resulting essays, which involve comparing and contrasting, persuading, and exposition, are of consistently high quality.  Because writing is an important component of all areas of the curriculum, the writing process becomes fluent and effortless for our students.

Mathematics
Middle School students who are ready for advanced mathematics are taught at that level and go on to more advanced courses in high school.  Mt. Helix Academy Middle School students participate in a variety of challenging supplemental math activities, such as the on-line World Math Day contest.

Physical Science 8^th Grade-MHA’s eighth graders reviewed the scientific method, standards of measurement used in science, and communicating and interpreting scientific data in a variety of graphical forms.  They furthered their understanding of the scientific method by completing the preliminary steps of their science fair project for the upcoming San Diego Science and Engineering Fair.  Each student developed a research paper, hypothesis, and experimental procedures.  Students also learned a breadth of concepts from physical chemistry including: atomic particles, charges and atomic structure; molecules, energy levels and types of bonds; identifying organic compounds and writing chemical formulas.

Life Science-7^th Grade-MHA’s seventh graders learned to: apply scientific methods to problem solving; distinguish between living and non-living things; identify what living things need to survive; describe experiments about spontaneous generation; explain how scientific methods led to the idea of biogenesis; explain the system of binomial nomenclature and how similarities are used to classify organisms; identify the names and functions of each part of a cell; compare tissues, organs, and organ systems; compare simple, compound, and electron microscopes; summarize the discoveries that led to cell theory; explain how a virus makes copies of itself; identify the benefits of vaccines; investigate some uses of viruses in medical applications.

Earth Science-6^th Grade-MHA’s sixth graders learned to: describe scientific methods; define “science’ and “earth science”; compare and contrast scientific laws and theories; explain why science is always changing; discuss the limits of science; distinguish among the common phases of matter; identify phase changes and the temperatures at which they occur; explain heating by conduction, convection, and radiation; describe the earth’s movement through space; relate the earth’s position to changing seasons; differentiate between orbit and rotation; describe pressure areas caused by moving substances; explain movement caused by dynamic pressure; identify the relationship between density and temperature; trace movement through a convection cell.

Mt. Helix Academy students are carefully taught many important study and organizational skills which support their academic achievement both in Middle School and later in high school.  Our graduates frequently report back to us that the study skills they learned at Mt. Helix Academy have made completing their assignments in high school easy for them.

At Mt. Helix Academy, students in Middle School receive instruction in Spanish five days per week.  Most of our students place into advanced Spanish classes when they enter high school.

Our Middle School students also take a computer applications class five days per week throughout 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grades.  In addition, students use their computers to facilitate learning in all areas of the curriculum.  Students demonstrate the skills they have acquired through a variety of computer projects, including Power Point presentations (link to samples), webquests, multimedia presentations, and digital photography portfolios. (link to digital photography samples)

Students at Mt. Helix Academy also demonstrate strong achievement in the critically important area of social skills.  As a part of the Middle School character education and social skills program, being a good citizen is promoted and recognized.  For example, students who are observed doing good deeds for others and acts which help promote our positive environment are awarded a star.  The stars are entered into monthly raffles and the homeroom with the highest number of stars for the month also receives recognition.  In September, 37 stars were awarded, and in October students earned 116 stars!

Melissa Hagen
11-16-09
Language Arts
Loch Ness Monster Essay

The History of the Loch Ness Monster

The beast known as the Loch Ness Monster has been a form of popular mythology and research throughout the years since the nineteen-hundreds, and has been depicted in stories dating all the way back to the sixth century. There have been many supposed explanations to peoples’ “sightings”, such as that the Loch Ness Monster is really a wave, a log in the water, or a rock. But there are many more open possibilities, like the suggestion that the monster is actually a prehistoric Plesiosaur, an ancient water dinosaur, that has somehow survived the supposed extinction of its kind.

The controversy began in the sixth century in the lake of Loch Ness, near Inverness, Scotland. A monk in that time called St. Columba reported having been traveling near the lake when he saw some people burying someone nearby. He inquired the reason for this, and they told him that he had been attacked by a beast that rose up from the water. He supposedly sent one of his men out into the lake, and the monster appeared to drag him under, but he dispelled it with a prayer. This is the earliest story of the kind, and it started all the stories and media popularity in this area.

There have also been many more sightings in the more recent times, such as claims from the Spice family, where they said they were driving along the road near Loch Ness when the Loch Ness Monster actually walked right across the freeway in front of them and into the lake. But the most famous of all claims has been the picture officially dubbed as “The Sculptor’s Photo”. This photo was popular because it depicted a long neck rising up out of the waters of Loch Ness. It set off a huge wave of activity around the loch, but it subsided when the creators of the photo admitted that it was a fake creature, just a 14-inch toy submarine with a piece of cut wood fastened to it to look like a monster.

Since this picture was revealed as a phony, the tourism around Loch Ness has faded, but there is still a famous observatory station there where scientists study year-round, and plenty of cameras and sonar are set up around the loch, searching for answers. But as of today, the whereabouts of the Loch Ness Monster are unknown and its existence is unproven.