Perry Hall

All academic classes are held in Perry Hall. There are three timesters. The first trimester runs from August to the end of October. Second trimester goes until the begining of February and the third trimester seems to end in April. Each student is tested at the begining of the school year to determine which level of instruction would be the most appropriate. All courses are designed to push the envelope of their abilities.

To determine placement in one of the three different levels, the academic department supervisors and their staffs review pertinent information that comes from several sources which includes the following:

• Background information from the academies
• High school or college transcripts
• Prior military schools
• Tests or assessments administered at NAPS
• SAT or ACT scores
• Self reported information
• Performance profiles from prior NAPS years

The supervisor makes the initial placement. Program changes do occur during the academic year. Among those who can initiate a program change is the student, the Academic Panel and Academic Board. Students who are moved up in program levels almost always do as well as they did before the move. Guidelines to help us determine whether a program change is warranted include the following:

• All homework is done and in on time
• Quality preparation for class
• Participation in class
• Regular attendance at extra instruction
• 20 - 30 hours outside of class spent studying per week

Academic performance gets NAPS attention and triggers the need to review a student's record when the performance is at both achievement extremes. They make program changes to more challenging as well as less challenging programs. They're primarily concerned with providing a challenge that causes the student to recognize the need to improve learning skills. Combining that with a rigorous content tailored to the curriculum at the USNA provides the climate best conducive to the student's academic development at NAPS.

Last year over 100 program changes occurred. Nearly 30 changes have occurred so far this year. Some students could receive program changes in more than one program.

Regardless of the program, NAPS endeavors to ensure that each student is in a challenging program that requires further development of their learning skills. Since all programs are designed to provide a successful transition to the curriculum at the USNA, their placement is slated to tailor the student to that program that will provide them with the greatest challenge. The record of success with this model has been effective and affirms the practice of respect for the student's background, optimal academic development, and academic success.

Chemistry placement is highly dependent on mathematical background. The text is the same for all 3 programs in chemistry, and the material is of a similar nature. Foundation covers about five chapters in a marking period, intermediate about 5.5 and advanced about six, so the pace is not VERY different. In physics, there are nine sections of foundation, three of intermediate and one of advanced. Each section has about 24 students. Placement in the intermediate and advanced sections is done on a competitive basis.

Questions and Answers

Q: Can students change from foundation to intermediate or from advanced to intermediate?
A: Students can get downgraded from higher to lower classes but the student must prove that they are trying by going to EI (Extra Instruction), showing concern for their grades, etc. This prevents students who are putting forth little effort or not studying from being downgraded. No one seems to be petitioning to upgrade to a harder level. No surprise there!

Q: How structured are the classes? Is it straight, silent and formal or is it more interactive like high school or college classes?
A: Once the class starts, students participate and share ideas like they have always done in high school or other institution. The formal parts are when they must stand at attention at the begining and end of each class. They also march in formation to and from classes at the begining and end of each school day.

Q: What do I do when my student is struggling academically?
A: For the last couple of years, I have been sharing tutorial information with NAPSter parents around Thanksgiving. When the first semester ends some parents find out their children are not doing too well in Math, Physics and/or Chemistry. My NAPSter was having a lot of trouble with Physics and, fortunately, I was able to find a Physics tutor during his Xmas vacation. Then, in 2002 I found a very interesting Internet article that talked about science for college students with a story of a single mother who had a tough time with Math. Here is an excerpt of the article:

"…Camp was a newly divorced mother of an infant and a 4-year-old when she enrolled at community college at 25. At first, overwhelmed by college algebra, she aced the class and decided to launch a Web site to help other students who felt as lost as she initially did. Mathematics Help Central.com, with lecture notes and 14 kinds of printable graph paper, gets 5,000 hits on its busiest days, with links from Texas Instruments and Rutgers University."

Have your NAPSter try the link: www.MathematicsHelpCentral.com (They may have to use upper and lower case, as shown here.) Your NAPSter may have found an accessible, free online Math tutor here. In addition, I got the email below that provides some advice about how to get some good Web tutorial help for Chemistry. From now until NAPS graduation in May have your NAPSter keep in mind the most important number: “2.0.” In order to graduate from NAPS and continue to their corresponding academies, NAPSters must maintain a GPA of 2.0. In my son’s year one of his best friends, a prior, ended with a 1.9 GPA and, although he tried to get a waiver, he lost and had to return to the fleet.

Continue supporting your NAPSters and provide them with all the tools that will help them reach their goal: USNA/USCGA/USMMA.

Adrian Garcia
Fairfax, VA
James NAPS ’00, USNA ‘04

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There are some online helpful links you should know about...
For physics you could check out...
http://www.fearofphysics.com/
And this one is from Cornell University
http://milou.msc.cornell.edu/fpublic.html

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From: Phil Smith
Subject: Chemistry Made Easy

"Our son was having difficulty with a subject, so I went to Google, found some "easy" help and sent him that info in a private e-mail. Go to Google, type in "chemistry made easy", and take a look as some of those Internet entries.

Send him some of the addresses, or tell him how to get there himself. A few of these quick reviews pulled it together for our son, he did it during his free time. I hope this suggestion helps."

Phil & Carol Smith
Lucien C2/P2
Lacrosse”
NAPS ‘02