Dock middle school students displayed the results of some of their learning to family and friends at Dock Project Fair 2019. Projects and demonstrations included 6th grade Tiny House and Social Studies projects, 7th grade Health and Computer Projects, and 8th grade Innovation Arcade, Reading/Writing, CO² cars, & Phys Ed games. All work showcased at the fair reflected sustained student inquiry, creativity and deep learning.

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Eden Loux, Kaitlyn Good and Corbin Tenney have been selected to participate in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association District 11 Elementary Band Festival. They will be joining over 100 of the top music students from Bucks and Montgomery Counties, and will rehearse and present a concert on Friday, January 25 at Upper Perkiomen High School. Congratulations to these outstanding musicians! 

Dock students now have a hands-on learning opportunity about alternative energy right in their Environmental Science classroom, thanks to a generous donation from Bergey's Electric. Over the Christmas break, Bergey's installed a solar panel in Ms. Valerie Metzler's classroom that will provide real-time data so that students can learn more about solar energy as an alternative to fossil fuels and other energy sources.

While Bergey's donated the panel itself and the labor to install it, other equipment for the installation was purchased with the David Souder Endowment Fund. Souder was a member of the Class of 1963, which funded the endowment and continues to oversee its use. In previous years, the endowment has funded science projects ranging from a rain garden that protects the tennis court side of Groff Pond, to lab kits that allow students to study a wide variety of environmental events, including heat and climate change, groundwater, physical and chemical properties of soil, and others.

"We are grateful for Dale Bergey’s commitment to this project and the generosity of Bergey’s Electric," said Dock Director of Advancement Robert Rutt.

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Financial Aid and College Planning Information

FAFSA

Parents of seniors, it is time to start the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) process. It is essential that you fill out this form for your student to qualify for need-based loans, grants, and scholarships. The state deadline is May 1, 2019 and the Federal deadline is June 30, 2019. We highly recommend that you complete the FAFSA as soon as possible.  The electronic version can be found at www.Fafsa.ed.gov. You may request a paper copy of the FAFSA by calling: 1-800-433-3243.

Funding Higher Education

Beyond High School:  www.studentaid.ed.gov/guide. This website gives comprehensive details about federal student aid programs.

Students with a Disability
According to Clark in U.S. News 2010, there are 8 steps for a child with disabilities to use to prepare for college.  Along with diligence, creativity, and resilience, the student should:

1.  Prepare early by taking college prep classes
   1. Study strategies
   2. Test-taking
   3. Time management
2. Have knowledge of technology
   1. As simple as spell check to diction pens
   2. Screen readers
   3. Diction software
3. Be creative (If a student struggles with taking a foreign language, perhaps sign language could work.)
4. Take charge
   1. Advocate for self
   2. Be prepared to know what to ask for
5. Research college options
6. Formal documentation should be 3 years old or less – Plan ahead!
7. Focus on the positive
8. Consider extra help- this may be included in the college tuition or it may be an added cost.

 

Students with Disabilities Preparing for Post-Secondary Education: Know your Risks and Responsibilities: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transition.html

Need Cash for College? Now is the time to start thinking about applying for scholarships! Check out our Scholarship List  on the Guidance Office page of our school's website. It includes college scholarships and scholarships available to the public.

A good resource for scholarships is the college you plan to attend.  Ask your college admissions counselor what scholarships you qualify for. Research the college site and actively look for information relating to scholarships. The college financial aid office is also a good place to obtain information.

 

PSAT Results

PSAT results are available online at www.collegeboard.com. Mr. Kabakjian and Mrs. Leaman spent time reviewing test results with students the week prior to Christmas break. Please see your counselor if you have not received a copy of your results or if you have questions about them.

Quick Start from College Board

My College QuickStart is an easy-to-use, online, personalized college and career planning kit available free of charge to all students who take the PSAT/NMSQT. The information and answers your child provided when they took the test are incorporated into this useful tool. It presents their data back to them in four main parts:

My Online Score Report – an enhanced score report that allows the student to review each test question, the student's answer, and the correct answer with answer explanations.

My SAT Study Plan – a customized SAT study plan based on student PSAT/NMSQT test performance, highlighting skills for review and practice.

My College Matches – a starter list of colleges based on the student's state and indicated choice of major.

My Major and Career Matches – major and career matches that are compatible with the student's general interests and personality type.

Access is available using the access code printed on the student's PSAT paper score report; This tool can be utilized throughout high school. Using My College Quick-Start together with your child is a great way to introduce and guide your child through important aspects of the college selection process. To access, visit www.collegeboard.com/quickstart.

 

SAT Information

The SAT should be taken by college-bound students in the spring of their junior year or fall of their senior year. The easiest way to register for the SAT is online at www.Collegeboard.com. Students should set up an account with College Board. This will give them access to many tools that are available to support SAT preparation and the college search. There are also helps for parents. This is a recommended site for college-bound students and their parents.

SAT testing dates and registration deadlines are as follows:

Test Date                      Registration Deadline

March 9, 2019              February 8, 2019

May 4, 2018                 April 5, 2019

June 1, 2018                 May 3, 2019 

Any sophomore or junior in learning support who has not been to the guidance office to request the paperwork for SAT accommodations should do so as soon as possible. The process with the College Board can take as long as 8 to 12 weeks. Current educational testing is a requirement for the accommodation request to be approved. It is recommended that educational testing be no more than 3 years old for college services.

 

AP Testing

Any student who is not currently enrolled in an AP class and wishes to take an AP exam, should see Mr. Kabakjian in the Guidance Office for more information and to register.

Dock held its first-ever Experiential Learning Day on Friday, January 4, for grades 9, 10, and 11. Students had both half-day and full-day options for on- and off-campus learning experiences, and were able to sign up for the activity of their choice.

"At Dock we realize that significant learning happens outside the traditional classroom, so we planned a day for experiential learning," said Dr. Sharon Fransen, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction. "We know students learn about the world and other peoples through innovative experiences, play, and reflection. We envisioned a day where teachers would share areas of expertise or passion, and students would learn something not found in our formal programming."

Experiential learning is the process of learning through participation rather than by listening to a lecture or reading about a topic. Learning opportunities for Dock students ranged from Spanish language immersion to tours of the National Liberty Museum and Penn Museum in Philadelphia, sustainable farming practices, shooting and editing better photographs, creative writing workshops, and many others.

Dock's first Experiential Learning Day was held the same week that seniors were off campus doing some experiential learning of their own during Senior Experience—a full week of job shadowing and/or service opportunities that help many seniors discern college and vocational interests.

Dr. Fransen said it's possible that Experiential Learning Day could be expanded in the future.

"Some schools have a 'mini-term' with several days of experiential learning in which activities are planned around one topic," she said. "We may try that in the future, but this year we got a taste of what that could be like for us as a school community. It was exciting to learn together."

View an Experiential Day slide show

 

Dock's high school episode of the game show, The ClassH-Room aired on Thursday, December 20 on Philly Fox 29. If you missed our edition of the popular game show, you can now watch it at the link below—as well as the episode featuring our middle school students, which aired two weeks ago.

The ClassH-Room is a trivia-based game show for teachers and students in grades 7-12. Each episode features students and teachers from the same school, competing against each other to try to win funds for their chosen charities. The show airs weekdays at 12 noon.

As a result of our participation on Philly Fox 29's The ClassH-Room, Dock shared our $1,000 winnings from both episodes with two charities, Keystone Opportunity Center and Mennonite Disaster Service. That's what you call a "win-win"!

Watch Dock Middle School on the ClassH-Room

Watch Dock High School on the ClassH-Room

Did you read our blog post about the ClassH-Room? 

 

The EC-Grade 8 library is collecting gently used books for its Spring 2019 Book Fair. We are looking for books for age 3-14; no board books please. Books may dropped off at the EC-Grade 8 campus during regular school office hours.

Every year, in Mrs. Lambright's Fabrics and Fashions I and II classes, students do a service project. Sewing school kits in Fabrics and Fashions I works well because students can learn to use their sewing machine while they help others. In Fabrics and Fashions II, Mrs. Lambright encourages students to try something a little more complicated. This year the class made layettes that were given to the Mennonite Resource Center for relief distribution. Sharon Swartzendruber, executive director at MRC, has been helpful in partnering with Mrs. Lambright's classes.

Dock Middle School Student Council officers and ClassHroom contestants took a field trip December 12 to shop for health and beauty care items and cleaning products for those in need in our community. After their shopping spree, students proceeded to Keystone Opportunity Center and presented the much-needed items they had purchased, along with another check for $250. The donations were made possible with the $500 prize money students received from their appearance on Fox 29's ClassHroom game show. It was exciting to see our students decide to donate to those in need in our community, and reporter Bruce Gordon FOX 29 did a great job covering the story!

Watch the Fox 29 report

Photos from the field trip

Nestled chronologically between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Dock Cooks 2018 culinary competition found the perfect seasonally appropriate theme: Anything and Everything Pumpkin. Dock Cooks features teams of student chefs competing to create scrumptious (and beautiful) dishes that will win over the taste buds of faculty judges.

Once again, our student chefs did not disappoint, serving up an eclectic mix of goodies that made the judges' job extremely difficult—in a good way! There were pumpkin bars, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin donuts, pumpkin pie (in a jar!), pumpkin soup, pumpkin dip, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cinnamon rolls, pumpkin cake, pumpkin crisp, pumpkin tart, and even pumpkin dumplings and pumpkin fried rice. It may have been one of the most creative Dock Cooks competitions ever.

In the end, however, the judges' numbers yielded these results:

·      Winning a 3rd place ribbon for their delightful Pumpkin Donuts with Salted Carmel Glaze were Regan Zehr and Makenna Rodriguez.

·      The runners up, with a 2nd place ribbon for their innovative Pumpkin Soup and Deep Fried Pumpkin Dumplings, were Peter Liang and Leo He.

·      And the winners of the 2018 Dock Cooks competition, for their sensational No Bake Pumpkin Pie in a Jar—which was as pretty to look at as it was delicious to eat—were seniors Macy Balmer and Laura Bergey.

Congratulations to ALL of our student chefs for their hard work and creativity. You helped make Dock Cooks 2018 a competition to remember!

More photos from Dock Cooks 2018