Oak Avenue Middle School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Oak Avenue Intermediate | |
| School type | Public |
|---|---|
| District | Temple City Unified School District |
| Grades | 7–8 |
| Principal | John Frason[1] |
| Students | 976[2] |
| Colors | Royal Blue and gold |
| Mascot | Royals |
| Location | Temple City, CA |
Oak Avenue Intermediate School is a middle school in the suburban town Temple City, California.
Contents |
[edit] Things different in Oak Avenue Middle School
Different from most other middle schools Oak Avenue only has six periods as opposed to the normal seven period day. To accomplish this, there is only one English period (as opposed to having two English periods). Another oddity is that in a "regular" week, on Wednesdays and Thursdays there are only three periods. This is accomplished by having periods twice as long as normal. On Fridays the school day starts later than normal so that students may get more sleep, seeing that on Monday through Thursday, according to the Temple City Board of Education, starts too early (thus depriving sleep from their students). Yet another oddity is that the school is separated into teams. For example, the seventh grade teams consist of the Adventurers, Seekers, and Voyagers. All the students in a certain team have the same teachers (not including your elective or if you are in an honors class). The reason for the school having teams is that around 1980 there were an excessive amount of fights. The Temple City Board of Education seeing this came up with an idea. They put students in teams with the same teachers. The rooms in which the teachers taught would be near each other. The idea was that since the students didn't have to walk far to get to the next class, no student would be hurt passing periods.
[edit] Bell schedule
As mentioned above, Oak Avenue has an odd system when it comes to bell schedules.
The normal school day at Oak Avenue starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 2:40 p.m., consisting of six periods, a reading period called "silent reading", and lunch.[3]
| Period 1 | Period 2 | Period 3 | Period 4 | Lunch (7th Grade) | Silent Reading (8th Grade | Lunch (8th) | Silent Reading (7th Grade) | Period 5 | Period 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:35 a.m. to 9:25 a.m. | 9:30 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. | 10:20 a.m. to 11:05 a.m. | 11:10 a.m. to 11:55 a.m. | 11:55 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. | 12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. | 12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. | 12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. | 1:05 p.m. to 1:50 p.m. | 1:55 p.m. to 2:40 p.m. |
During Wednesdays, in order to have a more productive period time, all the odd periods (periods 1, 3, and 5) are doubled in time, while all the even periods (periods 2, 4, and 6) are postponed to Thursday as to not have a very long school day. Conversly, during Thursdays, periods 2, 4, and 6 are doubled in time, while periods 1, 3, and 5 are skipped. There is also a break time for socializing and snacks.[3]
| Period 1 | Break | Silent Reading (all grades) | Period 3 | Lunch (all grades) | Period 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:35 a.m. to 10:05 a.m. | 10:05 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. | 10:15 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. | 10:50 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. | 12:20 a.m. to 1:05 p.m. | 1:10 p.m. to 2:40 p.m. |
| Period 2 | Break | Silent Reading (all grades) | Period 4 | Lunch (all grades) | Period 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:35 a.m. to 10:05 a.m. | 10:05 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. | 10:15 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. | 10:50 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. | 12:20 a.m. to 1:05 p.m. | 1:10 p.m. to 2:40 p.m. |
The Friday bell schedule starts off late in order to give Oak Avenue's students more time to sleep. It consists of all six periods, lunch, but excludes silent reading[3]
| Period 1 | Period 2 | Period 3 | Period 4 (8th Grade) | Lunch (7th Grade) | Period 4 (7th Grade) | Lunch (8th) | Period 5 | Period 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9:10 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. | 10:05 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. | 10:55 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. | 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. | 11:40 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. | 12:15 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. | 12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. | 1:05 p.m. to 1:50 p.m. | 1:55 p.m. to 2:40 p.m. |
[edit] Different levels of mathematics
Oak Avenue Intermediate School also sees, at least with mathematics, that different students are at different levels of learning and because of this, Oak Avenue has three different levels of math for each grade level. There are two regular classes, one for below average students and one for average students, and one honors class for the highly accelerated students who are one year ahead academically in comparison to a normal student in which they are better students. The three different levels of math for seventh grade studens are Math 7, Pre-Algebra, and Honors Algebra. The three different levels of math for eight grade students are Algebra Fundamentals, Algebra 1A, and Honors Geometry.
[edit] The music program
The music program at Temple City is considered to be one of the best in Southern California. Students can begin their instruments as early as fourth grade, either choosing to be in the orchestra, by playing a string instrument, or in the band, by playing a wind instrument. From grades four to six, students are given a head-start to Oak Avenue's music program. A big accomplish for all the musical groups at Oak Avenue in March 2007, was that for the first time in Oak Avenue's history, all the bands and orchestras recieved a supieor rating in a SCBOA (Southern California Band and Orchestra Asociation) festival.
[edit] The bands
There are three different bands available at Oak Avenue. The first, Band 1, is designed for absolute beginners (who did not start in primary school), who want to learn how to play a band instrument such as flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, French horn, trombone, and tuba. Band 2, previously called the Intermediate Band, is for people who do know how to play an instrument but could use a little more practice before going into Band 3. It is in Band 2, that people can switch from their instrument to percussion, or to a more advanced instrument such as french horn, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, and oboe. Band 3 (or the "Royals Band") is for the best wind players and percussionists in the whole school. Different from the other two bands, the Royals Band marches in various parades throughout the second semester of the school year. One accomplishment in 2006 was when the band they won their first sweepstakes under the direction of their current director, Jack Taylor, with a score of 92.2.
However, as of February 22, 2007, the Royals Marching Band has not been able to practice on their normal steet where they march because of a complaint filed by an unknown person, most likely living on that street, to the Los Angeles County. Whether or not this will terminated the 2007-2008 marching season for the Royals Marching Band is still being debated.
[edit] The orchestras
There are also 3 orchestras at Oak Avenue, for beginning, intermediate, and advanced musicians. the orchestras are composed of violins, violas, cellos, and basses. Every year, they participate in different events under the direction of Richard Meyer.
[edit] Electives
Oak Avenue also has many different electives ranging from art, student aid, graphic design to auxiliaries, band, and orchestra. The electives are mostly taught by regular teachers who teach English, math, science, or history, who give up one period to teach an elective. Some exceptions to this would be to band, orchestra, auxiliary and drill, and art who have dedicated teachers to teach the elective.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Temple City |
| California | San Gabriel Valley | Temple City | Temple City Unified School District |
| Schools |
|---|
| Oak Avenue Middle School | Temple City High School |
