Kemps Landing Magnet School

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Kemps Landing Magnet School
Kemps Landing Magnet School will provide a challenging and rigorous program, based upon the unique needs of identified academically gifted learners, which allows these students to be risk-takers as they develop their potential through the pursuit of original and innovative curricula.
School type	Magnet School
Established	1995
Principal	Randi R. Riesbeck
Faculty	appx. 70
Students	600
Colors	Maroon & Gold
Mascot	Phoenix
Location	4722 Jericho Road Virginia Beach, VA 23462
Information	(757) 473-5665
Website	Official KLMS website

Kemps Landing Magnet School is a school for the gifted and talented—more commmonly referred to as those who are academically inclined. It is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and opened in 1995. It is an alternative program to which students may choose to apply. The curriculum is known for being academically challenging. Students mainly pursue traditional topics at an accelerated pace, but there are also course topics in great depth and detail. At present (2007), the principal is Mrs. Randi Riesbeck, and the Assistant Principal is Mr. Charles Foster.

1 Students
2 Afterschool Activities
3 Art program
4 Language
5 Teams
6 External Links

[edit] Students

The students are also diverse, coming from all parts of Virginia Beach. Since there is no specific zone for Kemps Landing, students ride buses that can take an hour or more to reach their homes.

[edit] Afterschool Activities

Kemps Landing has few extra-curricular activities in which the students participate; those which do exist include Academic Challenge, Math Counts, and Destination Imagination. The school's debate and academic challenge teams are among the best in the city. While there is diversity in extracurriculars (ranging from Helping Hands, which takes part in community service, to Critter Club, Art Club, and Colorguard), Kemps Landing does not offer competitive sports. Its extracurriculars, like its curriculum, focuses mainly on academics, and students consistently do well in competitive extracurriculars. Intramural Sports is another afterschool program where the students may stay and play sports with their peers, and is the only sports-related extracurricular offered at Kemps Landing. Students wishing to participate in other sports must return to their home schools in the afternoons to play for their zoned middle schools.

When these activities finish at 4:30 PM, students may choose to ride the activity bus home, or be picked up by a trusted adult.

[edit] Art program

Kemps Landing does offer an art and dance program in conjunction with Old Donation Center to provide artists and dancers with an opportunity to practice their talents in a comfortable and supportive environment.

[edit] Language

In 6th grade, the new students are required to take Latin I as a high school-level language course, in order to provide a firm background in both English and the Romance languages. The Latin I classes are taught by either Mr. James Karle, or Mrs. Susan Senechal. Upon reaching the 7th grade, students may choose to take a different language, although they may decide to continue on with Latin II. The upper level Level Latin classes are taught by Mrs. Seagle. The other languages offered at KLMS are offered Japanese, Spanish, or French.

[edit] Teams

When the students enter a new grade, they are divided into two teams, with roughly 100 students per team. Team placement is dependent on elective classes, often music electives. For 6th grade, the teams are Pegasus and Tigers; in 7th grade, the teams are Panthers and Silverbacks; and in the 8th grade, the teams are Explorers and Flames. Each team is comprised of four teachers, each of whom teaches a core subject (math, language arts, science, or social studies).