IPM

Hamilton is a school for students "choicing in" to the International Preparatory Magnet program (IPM) across the District.

Applications due by December 12, 2008                       

IPM is a rigorous academic program emphasizing knowledge, skills, experience, and critical thinking along with active and responsible citizenship.  Application, interview, testing and acceptance is required.  Applications are made in January for the following school year.

About IPM at Hamilton
IPM covers sixth through eighth grades.   Each grade features a team of five teachers teaching in their areas of expertise.   In addition to core IPM subjects, students have two electives classes each session.  Elective classes are a mix of students from all programs within the school.

Each fall, approximately 150 spaces will be available for the sixth grade program IPM program. There also will be some spaces available in the seventh and eighth grades.

The Right Fit
To be successful in this program, students must be motivated to produce high quality work and must be achieving above grade level in reading, writing, and math skills. They also must be focused and able to work well with other students. Appropriate classroom behavior is always a requirement for high academic success. Parent support is vital in this program.

Students may apply to the IPM program if they have demonstrated that they scored proficient or advanced on the reading, writing and/or math sections of the CSAP test. Students may also submit ITBS scores if available. They also must have a positive teacher evaluation. Selection for this process will be based on the CSAP scores, teacher evaluations, a writing sample, and a math test. The writing sample and math test will be given prior to an interview being granted.

What’s Unique about the IPM Program?
In addition to offering a rigorous academic focus, the International Preparatory Magnet program:  

• Builds a strong foundation of study skills, organization, note taking, researching, study and test-taking strategies.
• Emphasizes critical thinking and problem solving.
• Requires that students learn Spanish, providing a strong foundation of language skills, as well as the geography and culture of the Spanish-speaking world.
• Provides students with a stimulating atmosphere where they learn with their academic peers.
• Requires in-depth study of the curriculum with a focus on mastery of subject matter.
• Incorporates hands-on activities in subject areas, primarily science.
• Includes comprehensive projects, such as National History Day,  that are related to classroom study.
• Incorporates other core subjects as well as arts into daily classroom activities.
• Relates the classroom to the world as a whole.