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Secondary School Overview
Secondary School Overview
The Middle School (Grades 6 – 8) and High School (Grades 9 – 12) offer programs, subjects and opportunities that are designed to meet the academic, social and developmental needs of our students within a safe, supportive and encouraging environment, utilizing the resources available to PAS POA.
The Middle Years Programme (MYP) of the International Baccalaureate is implemented from 6th to 10th grade at PAS POA. The MYP seeks to enable our students to:
Understand that all are global citizens and work to develop the skills necessary to live and achieve in this digital world
Be engaged and excited about learning inside and outside of the classroom
Achieve and support learning that reflects a multitude of abilities
Develop the ability to meet deadlines in an organized manner
Exhibit appropriate behavior and respect towards all others
Foster independence and critical thinking
Acquire and extend Approach to Learning (ATL skills) and IB Learner profile behaviors
High School Program
High School Program
Students who meet PAS POA’s graduation requirements earn two diplomas: the US High School Diploma and the Brazilian Ensino Médio diploma. Additionally to the dual diploma program, students may opt to work toward a third diploma: the AP Capstone Diploma.
In order to meet the graduation requirements and receive their US high school and Brazilian Ensino Médio diplomas students are required:
40 hours of service learning
90% attendance in each course
Pass all required courses
Additionally to the aforementioned MYP aims, PAS POA’s High School program seeks to enable our students and/or parents to:
Develop and support increasing responsibility for personal learning goals and achievements
Participate actively and successfully in an expansive academic curriculum and a wide variety of courses to meet student academic and personal goals
Become part of/support the development of collaborative communities within the classroom, developing problem solving abilities and academic inquiry while demonstrating mutual trust and respect
Have/Foster a unique vision for a student's place in the world and sacrificing and striving towards making it a reality, regardless of whether a financial profit is involved
Work towards common goals, and act as an ethical leader in any role assumed, regardless of whether it meets the classical definition of a leader.
Acknowledge that together with communication, emotional intelligence is essential in building and maintaining relationships in both the school environment and the workplace.
Acquire/support information literacy skills for the community, namely the students, to intellectually understand purpose, aim and audience within messages/texts/visuals whether they are: positive, negative, factual, fictitious, deceiving, articles, tweets, likes, photos, and videos or other types of communications.
High School Requirements and Course Descriptions
Brazilian Program at PAS POA
Brazilian Program at PAS POA
The Brazilian Program of our school has as its teaching philosophy the belief that it is through the development of verbal expression abilities that the students are able to take the floor and the critical attitude towards life. Therefore, the teachers of the program view language as a social institution, a means of interaction and dialogue that, when transmitted among the peers, provides the knowledge of the world necessary to give meaning to experiences and embody reality.
Our program prioritizes encouragement for students to take the floor and, consequently, a critical attitude towards life, thus having the freedom of opinion as a value and the development of the capacity for evaluation and investigation as the necessary foundation for the construction of his intellectual growth. For us, these are crucial elements of education of excellence: the constructivist approach and the formation of character.
Following the vision and mission of the PAS POA, as well as the constructivist teaching philosophy of the International Baccalaureate, we are committed to collaborate decisively in the formation of the integral and participative student, assisting him in the development of his capacity for critical-reflective perception of a concrete reality so that, in this way, the student can be active in his social environment, responsible for his choices, aware of his actions and capable of building his future. To this end, our program uses the problematization of Brazilian reality as a motto of the Portuguese Language, Brazilian Literature and Brazilian Social Studies classes, so that the student, with a questioning attitude, is able to read critically the facts conveyed by the media and produce texts that express his thoughts and opinions in a balanced way. Tomorrow's leaders, our students are prepared to become citizens with thorough analytical and critical skills capable of bringing about change in their own lives and those of others.
The Brazilian Program is composed of the subjects of Portuguese Language, Literature and Brazilian Social Studies, having as its main core literature and social sciences. Our curriculum, in accordance with the National Law of Guidelines and Core of Education, established by the Ministry of Education (MEC), is based on the National Curriculum Parameters and the National Curricular Common Core, from Preschool to High School. In addition, it is aligned with the requirements of the Primary Years Program (PYP) and Middle Years Program (MYP), contemplating the development of the IB student profile.
Our foreign students also have the opportunity to learn Portuguese as an Additional Language (PAL). During PAL classes, the student will learn the basics of the Portuguese language and develop oral and writing skills, as well as build connections with the local culture through Brazilian social studies. This allows them to immerse themselves deeply in the Brazilian culture.
The MYP is a challenging framework that encourages students to make practical connections between their studies and the real world. The MYP is a five-year programme, which begins in Grade 6 and ends in Grade 10 at PAS POA.
The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world. The learner profile is the IB’s mission in action. It requires IB learners to strive to become inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced and reflective.
Advanced Placement (AP) and Capstone Program
At PAS POA students in G9-G12 are able to take several different advanced placement courses. In May students taking AP courses take the AP Exams which can grant college credit and enhance the students college application portfolio for universities in the USA and around the world.
In G11 students are able to take the AP Seminar course and in G12 the AP Research course, which are part of the AP Capstone Program. In addition to these two courses, students must also pass four other AP Exams in order to obtain the AP Capstone Diploma from Collge Board.
Service learning is a graduation requirement for HS students and an expectation for MS students. High school students are expected to complete 10 hours of service per year. At the end of high school (G12) students are required to have completed 40 hours of service learning throughout high school. Middle school students are expected to complete two service activities per year.
PAS POA promotes Student-Teacher-Parent conferences twice a year and with two distinct formats: Three-Way and Student-Led Conferences (SLC). Conferences are a celebration of student learning and an opportunity for teachers, parents and students to discuss the student’s goals and progress. The Teacher-Parent-Student Conferences also promote a connection between family and school which positively impacts on the students. This event is so relevant that we cancel classes and reserves the whole Friday in addition to Saturday morning for conferences. The Teacher-Parent-Student Conference is a mandatory event and a requirement for students to successfully complete the grade level.
The Teacher-Parent-Student Conference is a very important moment in the students’ learning process. They allow students to take an active role in their learning, set goals, analyze progress, take ownership and responsibility for their work, become more aware of their own learning processes and reflect on the Learner Profile traits that they are developing as IB students. They also promote a connection between family and school which positively impacts on the students.
This event is so relevant that, years ago, PAS POA cancels classes and reserves the whole Friday in addition to Saturday morning for conferences. Thus, the Teacher-Parent-Student Conference is a mandatory event and a requirement for students to successfully complete the grade level. Students with pending Teacher-Parent-Student Conference are not eligible for participation in any club and extra-curricular opportunities, including Honors Awards, NHS, NJHS, MUN events, Friendship Festival, ISSL, the School Musical.
We believe that continuous assessment is an integral part of the educational process, providing students, parents, and teachers a comprehensive picture of educational achievement. We encourage students to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways, guiding them through essential elements of learning by making connections between concepts and knowledge and their reality, developing higher-order thinking skills and taking ownership of their learning. But most importantly, we aim to inspire our students to participate in their own educational process responsibly, successfully and with integrity.
Standardized Testing: In Grades 6-10 Secondary School students participate in MAP, CESGRANRIO, TILP, and PSAT tests. The MAP and PSAT tests are designed for students whose first language is English. They provide comparative information of how the PAS POA student’s knowledge and skills in Reading, Language Usage, Math, and Science compare with those of American and international students in the same grade level. High school students will be encouraged to take the ACT, PSAT, SAT, SAT Subject exams in mock format as well as the actual exams. The exam dates are offered through the testing agency web sites and the exam(s) that should be chosen, should be done so in conjunction with a counselor. The Brazilian Studies department will also be supervising TILP, Cesgranrio and some courses may include mock vestibular practice. More information on these exams can be found on the testing agency websites, with the college counselors and the Brazilian Studies department staff members.
Determining Achievement Levels and Final Grades The PAS POA assessment system is based on a criterion related model. All criteria must be assessed a minimum of twice per semester. All students will be provided multiple opportunities to demonstrate achievement on each criterion. A single low score should not have the ability to drastically affect the final grade. Except for extenuating circumstances, no students will be permitted to retake assessments.
Assignments not submitted by the due date will receive an initial score of 0. If a student misses an assessment and the absence is excused, it may be taken for full credit. Students who miss an assessment due to an unexcused absence receive an initial zero. They must take the summative assessment, and their performance will be taken into account at the end of the semester when the best-fit level is determined. After an absence from school, the student has five school days to turn in projects due or take a scheduled summative assessment. The final grade for a class will be the result of the student’s achievement in all four criteria for that class over the course of the semester.
Passing the Course: PAS POA considers a grade of 3 or above to be a passing grade (IB 7-point scale). Should a student fail to gain a final grade of 3 for the semester, he/she will be required to undergo a period of recuperation in that subject area and will have a second opportunity to attain a passing grade through the completion of an additional period of study and a second assessment. If a semester MYP grade is below 3, the student must attend school during the recuperation period immediately following the semester exam period. If a student does not have a passing average for the year, or if a student has excessive absences in a specific class, the student must complete Winter School Recuperation scheduled during June/July.
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