Plaza Vista School

Plaza Vista School
Address
670 Paseo Westpark Irvine , California 92606
Information
School type	Elementary & Middle
Motto	P.R.I.D.E. Partnership-Respect-Integrity-Determination-Empathy
Founded	July 1999
School board	Irvine Unified School District
Superintendent	Dr. Gwen Gross
School number	(949) 936-6950
Principal	Mr. Seymour Butts
Grades	Elementary: K-5, Middle: 6-8
Enrollment	900 (2007-2008)
Language	English
Area	Paseo Westpark
Color(s)
Mascot	Stars
Website	Plaza Vista School Website

Plaza Vista School is part of the Irvine Unified School District in Irvine, California. It serves K-8 and is a year round school.

Music Program

At Plaza Vista, music is a required course for 4th-8th Grade students. Students in 4th Grade have the chance to either participate in Orchestra (choosing from playing the violin, the viola, or the cello), or to join the Choir. 5th-8th Graders have the same privileges, as well as choosing to join the Band (choosing from playing the flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, baritone, tuba, percussion, etc.) Once in middle school, classes are divided into Concert & Symphonic for orchestral & band players. Sixth Graders and up can also choose to play the Bass if they have previously been in Orchestra. The 7th Graders are either grouped into Concert or Symphonic, depending on grade and at the teacher's discretion. All the 6th Graders are put into concert while not all 8th Graders are put into Symphonic. Same thing goes for the choir; there are two groups in middle school: Choir I & Choir II. Choir II therefore, is the advanced class.

Middle Schoolers have music everyday for either 1st or 2nd period, while 4th & 5th Graders have music every Tuesday & Thursday.

Honor Choir/Orchestra

In 2007, 2 Elementary School Students & 8 Middle School Students made it into the IUSD Honor Choir. 5 Elementary School Students & 6 Middle School Students made into the IUSD Honor Chamber Strings & Honor Orchestra. All 21 students performed at the 25th Jubilee Irvine Unified School District Donald Brean Honors Concert which was held at Calvary Church on March 13, 2007 (Choir) & March 20, 2007 (Orchestra). In addition, all these students also performed at Disneyland Resort.

Physical Education

All middle schoolers are required to do P.E. twice a week (Monday & Thursday) or (Tuesday & Friday). P.E. begins with stretching, running the mile, and then going to their P.E. sport classes. Some examples of the sports are: basketball, softball, soccer, field hockey, street hockey, volleyball, stretching & flexibility, dance, golf, track and field, flag football,and many more.

Fifth Graders also have P.E. every Wednesday, yet don't have designated activities.

Exploratories

All middle schoolers are required to choose an Exploratory on the days that they do not have P.E., either on Mondays and Thursdays (6th graders) or on Tuesdays and Thursdays (8th Graders). Seventh graders are split and assigned P.E. days. Some examples of Exploratories are: Sewing, Cooking, Art, Yearbook, Photography, Spanish, French, Sign Language, and many more.

California Physical Fitness Test

7th Graders take the California Physical Fitness Test which consists of 6 categories. The first category is Aerobic Capacity which is running the timed mile. Plaza Vista's standards is that all mile times should be below 10 minutes. California's standards, however, allow you to pass if your mile time is under 10 minutes. The second category is Body Composition (the easiest one to pass!) in which your height and weight are taken into account. The Healthy Fitness Zone for Body Masses is between 14.9-24.5. The third category is Abdominal Strength in which Abdominal Curl-ips are performed. The minimum requirement is at least 18 curl-ups. The fourth category is Trunk Extension Strength in which a trunk lift is performed. The minimum requirement is 12 inches. The fifth category is Upper Body Strength in which the Flexed Arm Hang is performed. The minimum requirement is to able to keep you chin above the bar for 8 seconds. The sixth and last category is Flexibility in which the Back-Saver Sit and Reach is performed. In order to pass this, a student must be able to put both arms behind the back and touch the two together.

In addition, 5th Graders are also given this test.

Exploratories

Elective courses are also required and are offered to all middle schoolers twice a week (Monday & Thursday) or (Tuesday & Friday). Therefore, the two remaining days are P.E. days left over with Wednesday, which is a short day. A wide range of electives are offered such as: Yearbook (7/8), Student Aide, Structural Engineering, Multicultural Arts, Journalism, Photography, Sewing, Cross-Age MAth Tutoring, ALEKS (required for all 7th Graders in 1st trimester), Mind Games, French, Spanish, and many more. Due to a grant from Toshiba, the school also has a Robotics Exploratory! You get three electives in each school year; one for each trimester (same thing also goes for P.E activities).

GATE Program

The Gifted and Talented Education Program (GATE) is offered at this school. To qualify to be in GATE in 4th Grade, they must pass their OLSAT's (Otis Lennon School Ability Test) with at least a minimum score of 95%. Students can either be invited to take the test due to their state testing scores, or can take the test without invitation for a fee. It is required to pass the test with at least a 95% score in order to qualify for GATE in 4th Grade. In 5th Grade, sometimes students can be nominated by their teachers to be GATE students; though they are not considered official GATE students, they can still take classes with them. There is no GATE in 8th Grade.

For 4th & 5th Graders, GATE usually takes place once a week during class time, where all the GATE students gather and learn a whole different lesson, that does not pertain to the grade's curriculum. These students are expected to be widely involved in the classroom discussions and set a good example when they return to their original classes.

For 6th & 7th Graders, GATE usually is just a separate selected subject that involved higher level thinking and advanced topics; many of the activities being derived from 8th Grade and high school curricula. Some examples of GATE classes are GATE Language Arts, GATE History, or GATE Science. Selection always depends on the year. In addition, 6th Grade GATE students are the only 6th Graders who take the nation-wide Wordmasters Tests (see #8). For 7th Graders, all students, GATE or not are required to participate.

GATE offers many benefits to students and GATE students have a higher chance for getting into AP classes in high school.

APAAS (Alternative Program for Academically Accelerated Students) is not offered at Plaza Vista. It is offered at the nearby schools Westpark Elementary School and Deerfield Elementary School for students in grades 3-5.

Advanced Math Programs & Placement

5th Graders: Selected students are given the opportunity to take a test to skip 6th Grade Math, & study 7th Grade Pre-Algebra when they enter 6th Grade.

6th Graders: Towards the end of the year all students are given a test, and those who score 80% or higher have the opportunity to take the Algebra Readiness Test to skip 7th Grade Pre-Algebra and take 8th Grade Algebra during 7th Grade.

7th Graders: All 7th Grade Pre-Algebra students are required to take the Algebra Readiness Test to determine their math placement in the following year. An 85% efficiency or higher is required to enter Algebra in the 8th Grade. Those who receive a 60-84% on their test may enter Algebra with parental approval. Anything below 60% results in taking Transitional Algebra. 7th Grade Algebra Students must receive a 92.5% or higher in the second and third trimesters to take Honors Geometry at one of the local high schools during 8th Grade. College Prep (CP) Geometry is not offered to 8th Grade students

8th Graders: All 8th Grade Pre-Algebra Students must get a 70% or higher on their Algebra Readiness Test, in order to study Algebra in high school. 8th Grade Algebra Students must receive an 82.5% in at least two of the three trimesters to take Geometry in high school. And, lastly, 8th Grade Honors Geometry students must receive an 82.5% in the second semester to continue on to Honors Algebra II in high school, and a 72.5% to continue to CP Algebra II

Mentors Program

The Mentors Program is a program offered to all 4-8th graders. 7th & 8th Graders have the opportunity to become a mentor and tutor a child twice a week (Monday & Thursday) or (Tuesday & Thursday) for one hour after school each session. 4-8th Graders can become a mentee through Teacher & Parent Recommendation if wanted. In addition, Mentors may be given Community Service Hours for a wide range of programs, such as NJHS (National Junior Honors Society).

Wordmasters

In the 2005-2006 school year, the 6th Grade GATE students participated in the Wordmasters Competition and were tied for third in the nation. In the 2006-2007 school year, all the 8th Grade Students participated in the Wordmasters Competition and came in second in the nation. The Wordmasters Program is an analogy nation-wide competition.

Student Council

5th Graders are allowed to run for Homeroom Representative. 6th & 7th Graders are allowed to run for Homeroom Rep., Officer at Large, Activities Director, Secretary, Treasurer, & Vice President. 8th Graders can do all this, as well as run for President.

The Student Council meets once a week every Wednesday and discusses various school issues. They put together Spirit Days, Charity Drives, Fundraisers, & Middle School Dances. In addition, the Student Council has a recycling program.

PTA (Parent Teacher Association) & SSC (School Site Council)

PTA Membership is usually $12, and meetings are always held by the executive board. The positions are President, Executive VP/Historian, VP/Ways and Means (2 Spots), VP/Membership, Treasurer, VP Programs (2 Spots), Secretary, Financial Secretary, Parliamentarian, & Auditor. Elections for the board are held towards the end of the previous school year. The PTA sponsors all school-wide activities, and is responsible for running various fundraisers to raise money for new school materials.

The SSC consists of the School's Principal (Mrs. Phillips) 4 Parent Reps., 4 Teacher Reps., and occasionally, 1 Student Rep.

Major Field Trips

There are four major field trips offered through 4th & 8th Graders at Plaza Vista. 4th Graders have the opportunity to fly to Sacramento, stay in a hotel room with three to four other friends, go ferry riding, and visit the Capitol Building (tying in with the grade's unit). In 2007, the 5th Graders' field trip to Dana Point and stay on a replica Pilgrim Ship overnight was changed to a trip to Riley's Farm. They do all the same jobs, eat all the same food, and talk the same as sailors once did. This also ties in with the 5th Graders' history unit. 6th Graders have the opportunity to go to Outdoor Education (casually know as Camp) for 3–5 days in Big Bear where students go on hikes, learn about wildlife, and experience all the perks of being in the wild. 8th Graders fly across the country to Washington D.C. (sometimes, and also optional) learning a variety about American History, just like the 4th grade Sacramento trip. These four field trips are pretty much the most enriching & costly field trips offered at Plaza Vista. At the end of the year, 6th graders head to Seaworld tying in with their science unit, 7th graders head to San Diego Zoo tying with their Life Science unit, and 8th grade goes to Knott's Berry farm which ties in with their US History unit.

References

1. http://www.camphightrails.com (for info on 6th grade outdoor education)
2. http://www.wordmasterschallenge.com (for info on Wordmasters)
3. http://www.plazavista.org (school info)
4. Secondary Students of Plaza Vista from 2003-2007

External links

• Plaza Vista School Website
• IUSD Website
• My IUSD Portal