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Welcome to Highlights, Colegio Americano's quarterly
publication that keeps you up to date with activities
at the American School of Puerto Vallarta - people,
projects, programs and upcoming events. Sign up for
our free newsletter today so you won't miss a thing!
Do you have some news you'd like to share? Contact
the Editor, Elena V. de Garza - egarza@aspv.edu.mx
We also prepare Weekly Parent Bulletins containing
notices, important school events, and other information
relevant to The American School of Puerto Vallarta.
If you are not receiving your weekly Parent Bulletin
via email, you can read itHERE and sign up to be added to our
mailing list.
Leer Y Crecer
 This school year, the National Honor Society has continued to work on our Project “Leer y Crecer”. This time, we managed to take it a step further by organizing two workshops throughout the year for teachers from public schools within the Bay of Banderas. Besides that, 1100 books were distributed amongst 11 schools in our community to enlarge their libraries or in some cases get them started. Each member of NHS had their own community service project that varied from puppet making to giving English lessons at Los Mangos Library, as well as supporting larger organizations such as Operation Smile and the Bosch Eye Clinic. We also had group activities such as a retreat at El Colorado where we got a chance to get to know each other better, cook and discuss project ideas for the year to come. This year there was a lot of participation from members outside of NHS encouraged and aided by Ms. Schalla. Although the grant given by the Rotary Club from Canada for “Leer y Crecer” some years ago is used up, NHS is open to new ideas and propositions for next year`s main project, and hopes to involve many more students, parents, and teachers within the CA community.
Map Directed Instruction at ASPV
 This last year ASPV saw the birth of an innovative new instructional approach called Map Directed Instruction (MDI). MDI is an idea that was brought to life by Paul Brocklehurst and Mariano Montes de Oca as a means to effectively use the school's MAP scores to differentiate learning. With MDI students that have very similar skills in a particular area are placed in unique groupings, allowing teachers to instruct students in their exact areas of weakness. MAP guides the teacher to customize the curriculum for each student so that instruction is never too basic nor too advanced - it is always on target. During an MDI session all ASPV students get appropriate material, everyone is challenged, and no student is in over his or her head.
Since Jan 2008 we have had the opportunity to use MDI in both primary and high school. High school had a six-week MDI campaign that showed some very promising signs of success. At the end, MAP tests showed significant growth in the subject areas covered by MDI, more than in areas not covered. Also, overall growth in scores was higher than the year prior to implementing MDI. MDI has also been utilized for the last four weeks of the school year in the primary school. We eagerly await next year's MAP tests to see the impact it has made. During these promising initial trials, our approach to MDI has evolved, and we expect to see even further gains as we incorporate it into next year's curriculum. MDI is a very exciting project that has brought us closer to our students, our curriculum, and in turn ultimately our goals. For more insight into this innovative new instructional strategy, please visit
www.mapdirectedinstruction.com.
Grease is a triumph of talent and creativity!
Grease WAS the word on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night as junior and high school students performed Miss Renee Perez's version of the well-known Broadway musical Grease. The array of energetic dancers, talented singers, colorful costumes and comic dialogue made for a terrific performance!
Grease is a well-known comedic tale of high school students in the fifties who are going through changes and having fun. The leading love story between Sandy, played by Gabriela Bodek, and Danny, played by Rodney Ingram, both top performers, drives the play, while a number of sub-plots add humor to the story.
Tenth grader Lolita Davis was amazing as Rizzo, the tough, yet vulnerable leader of the "Pink Ladies".
The other pink ladies, played by Kristina Guzman, Jessica Kurtz, and Andrea Aragon, showed their combined talents of comedic timing, great singing, and dancing as well.
The "Burger Palace Boys" played by Nicky Perez, Nick Poulsen, Chris Watters, and D'Michael Williams, were equally entertaining. Teen Angel Guy Garber showed us once again his flair for the stage as did Alex Riviere as Vince Fontaine and Luna Oceguera as Miss Lynch. We shall never forget the performances of the over-enthusiatic Patty played by Camilla Gangoiti, and class nerd, Eugene, played by Jorge Martinez.
Taylor Belisle, Miriam Ramirez, Julian Bodek, and Jordan Kurtz rounded out the cast with their high energy and antics.
The choreography of the play came to life with the spunky energy of the dancers, especially Cha-Cha, played by Jimena Perez. They made it hard for us to take our eyes off the action onstage. It was evident that this play had been well-rehearsed and every actor was giving it their all onstage, which never fails to take a musical like Grease from great to fantastic!.
$4,000,000 In Scholarships For Senior Class
The American School of Puerto Vallarta is proud to announce that the 23 students graduating with this year’s
senior class have set a new school record for university acceptances and scholarships. Our students will once
again be going to some of the best universities in England, Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The complete
list is available in the College Guidance section of this website. According to Dr. Robert Nation, our College
Guidance Counselor, many universities which our graduates attend accept only a small percentage of applicants,
so students must apply to multiple schools to have a chance at acceptance, especially if they need a scholarship.
This year’s graduates submitted 102 applications, or an average of 5 each. An astounding 76% of the applications
resulted in a letter of acceptance, and they were offered a grand total of about $4,000,000.00 US dollars in
scholarships and financial aid for their four years of university study! Join us in congratulating this fantastic group on their success.
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