Greeting Bluejay Parents and Students
As we prepare for the upcoming school-year, I would like to share with you some of the many and varied opportunities that are available to our seventh and eighth grade students. At GJHS your student has the opportunity to participate in multiple sports, fine arts, community service/leadership groups, FCCLA, robotics, agriculture, and Algebra I. Most classes are held here at the Junior High, but some may take place at the high school. In that case, transportation to and from the HS is provided.
In particular, our strong STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Program is continuing to grow. The program is coordinated and funded through a partnership between Career Tech and GPS. This year, we are offering a new class section: Robotics for both 7th and 8th grade. This new class information was shared with our students who participated in election selection sessions at the end of the year in May and many were very enthusiastic about participation in this one. This will be in addition to the STEM classes offered in previous years: Medical Detectives (7th) , Forensic Science (8th), and more. Also, students will have opportunities to learn aeronautics, 3D printing, code writing, laser cutting and make/racing an old-fashioned pine derby racer. Each year, we build on our program, taking advantage of teacher professional development and training along with completing grant applications which provide us with new equipment and supplies for our students. Our teachers are very qualified and enthusiastic to lead our students to learn through hands-on experience. However, this is not the end of our STEM program. We also offer an outdoor STEM class (7th). In this section, seventh graders are exposed to Oklahoma’s wonderful recreation and wildlife. Students in this class will learn about conservation and have hands-on lessons in archery and fishing. Students may also obtain their Hunter Education and Boater Safety certifications.
With regard to academic opportunities for students, here at the Junior High, we have three academic teams. Each team offers the same instruction to students. Two teams are the traditional model; one teacher per class. A third team is co-taught which allows multiple teachers assigned to each writing, reading, math, and science classes. This creates significantly smaller classes with single digit teacher to student ratios the majority of the time. I like to frame the teams into a “Big College” vs. “Small College” concept. As many of you may know from experience, each has its own advantages and we are very proud to be versatile enough to offer these in our schedule.
I hope this helps you understand the GJHS a little better. If you have any questions regarding the junior high, our administration team will be happy to help you.
Sincerely,
Todd Bramwell
Principal