(April 01, 2019)
YA Colleagues,
Now that our WASC visit has concluded I would like everyone to know that the Visiting Team gave us and our students many accolades and have offered us a few areas in which we should continue our improvement efforts.
I’m expecting a written draft report back in 7-10 days. The Visiting Team will then send their recommendations to the WASC people in California. That group meets on June 24 and will render their decision sometime in July.
The Admin team wants to give all of you a big Thanks for all your work and thoughtfulness in this extensive and demanding process.
We have come a long way in the last 2-3 years. As you know in our business of education our work is never really finished. We continue to try to get better every day at what we do, both individually and as an organization.
Good luck with PTC and Thingyan. It shapes up to be a great week and end-of-the-year with a wonderful bunch of parents and students, pulling together with such a committed and talented collection of teachers and back office staff. We are very lucky to all be together at this point of our varied lives while living on this little dot of a place, Yangon, on a very big planet. Amazing!
Ad astra! To the Stars!
David Miller
Director — Yangon Academy; Yangon, Myanmar
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AP Exam Results 2017 | 27 YA students took 54 exams in 8 subjects. | ||
Mean (Average) Scores 2017 | |||
Macroeconomics (14 students) | Psychology (18 students) | Human Geography (1 student) | |
YA | 3.29 | 3.83 | 4.00 |
Global | 2.89 | 3.06 | 2.54 |
English Language (5 students) | Chinese (1 student) | ||
YA | 4.00 | 5.00 | |
Global | 2.77 | 4.38 | |
Biology (5 students) | Calculus AB (3 students) | Physics 1 (7 students) | |
YA | 3.60 | 3.00 | 2.43 |
Global | 2.89 | 2.93 | 2.40 |
Note: four students independently studied, with following results: | |||
Chinese - 5, Human Geography - 4, Physics 1 - 2 and 2. |
Math | Language Usage | Reading | ||||||
Fall | Spring | Fall | Spring | Fall | Spring | |||
Grade 3 | 2014-2015 | YA | 198 | 205 | 203 | 206 | 193 | 196 |
2015-2016 | 198 | 208 | 198 | 204 | 188 | 196 | ||
2016-2017 | 204 | 211 | 203 | 210 | 196 | 203 | ||
2016-2017 | All Int | 190 | 188 | 185 | ||||
Grade 4 | 2016-2017 | YA | 213 | 224 | 210 | 215 | 203 | 208 |
2016-2017 | All Int | 200 | 195 | 193 | ||||
Grade 5 | 2014-2015 | YA | 218 | 225 | 213 | 215 | 206 | 209 |
2015-2016 | 222 | 230 | 215 | 218 | 210 | 216 | ||
2016-2017 | 220 | 229 | 215 | 218 | 211 | 216 | ||
2016-2017 | All Int | 210 | 203 | 201 | ||||
Grade 6 | 2016-2017 | YA | 229 | 233 | 220 | 226 | 218 | 222 |
2016-2017 | All Int | 216 | 209 | 207 | ||||
Grade 7 | 2014-2015 | YA | 236 | 242 | 222 | 225 | 219 | 223 |
2015-2016 | 233 | 240 | 223 | 225 | 221 | 224 | ||
2016-2017 | 237 | 242 | 223 | 227 | 221 | 222 | ||
2016-2017 | All Int | 223 | 213 | 212 | ||||
Grade 8 | 2016-2017 | YA | 247 | 248 | 228 | 229 | 226 | 228 |
2016-2017 | All Int | 231 | 218 | 217 |
This is the poem by Carl Sandburg that I read to the graduates and guests. I think it has good advice and applies easily to both boys and girls.
A Father Sees His Son (from the People, Yes; 1936)A father sees his son nearing manhood.
What shall he tell that son?
'Life is hard; be steel; be a rock.'
And this might stand him for the storms
and serve him for humdrum monotony
and guide him among sudden betrayals
and tighten him for slack moments.
'Life is a soft loam; be gentle; go easy.'
And this too might serve him.
Brutes have been gentled where lashes failed.
The growth of a frail flower in a path up
has sometimes shattered and split a rock.
A tough will counts. So does desire.
So does a rich soft wanting.
Without rich wanting nothing arrives.
Tell him too much money has killed men
and left them dead years before burial:
the quest of lucre beyond a few easy needs
has twisted good enough men
sometimes into dry thwarted worms.
Tell him time as a stuff can be wasted.
Tell him to be a fool every so often
and to have no shame over having been a fool
yet learning something out of every folly
hoping to repeat none of the cheap follies
thus arriving at intimate understanding
of a world numbering many fools.
Tell him to be alone often and get at himself
and above all tell himself no lies about himself
whatever the white lies and protective fronts
he may use against other people.
Tell him solitude is creative if he is strong
and the final decisions are made in silent rooms.
Tell him to be different from other people
if it comes natural and easy being different.
Let him have lazy days seeking his deeper motives.
Let him seek deep for where he is born natural.
Then he may understand Shakespeare
and the Wright brothers, Pasteur, Pavlov,
Michael Faraday and free imaginations
Bringing changes into a world resenting change.
He will be lonely enough
to have time for the work
he knows as his own.
Some of may be unaware that Yangon Academy for the last two years has been hosting a challenging math competition called the American Mathematics Olympiad (AMO -- http://www.amo.sg/) for Yangon Academy students in Grade 3 through Grade 8. Students from all over Myanmar compete at their grade level. This year we again had quite a few participants and award winners. Thanks to Ms. Susan, our MS math teacher, who helped organize the practicing sessions.
Our 2016-2017 winners:
Name | Nickname | Grade | Award |
Zeyan Htet | Zeyan Htet | Grade 3 | Bronze Award |
Simon Htut | Simon Htut | Grade 3 | Silver Award |
Kaung Htet Lynn | Tut Tut | Grade 4 | Gold Award |
Hein Htet Nay | Daniel Wu | Grade 5 | Silver Award |
Nan Thiri Htet | Nan | Grade 6 | Bronze Award |
Hein Min Htet | Peti | Grade 6 | Gold Award |
We also had Yangon Academy students win awards at a second international math competition recently – the Math Kangaroo Competition.
Name | Nickname | Grade | Award |
Kaung Htet Lynn | Kaung Htet Lynn | Grade 4 | Silver Award |
Nan Thiri Htet | Rosy | Grade 6 | Bronze Award |
Hein Min Htet | Peti | Grade 6 | Gold Award |
Going forward for next year, we intend to add even more opportunities for students to challenge themselves in various competitions, to include science as well.
Congratulations to all student participants and award winners! And good luck next year!
The 2017 College and University acceptances are beginning to roll in. Our current Seniors have done very well. I do see a tendency for a University of California preference. These are all great schools, as are the others around the U.S. and world-wide. Congratulations to our YA students, teachers, and Mr. Willard for contributing to such successes. Please see the growing list below. We celebrate their successes!
College/University Acceptances – YA Graduating Class of 2017
11 Graduating Students; Australia and a few U.S. schools not reporting yet
College/University | Student | College/University | Student |
Bishop's U. | 1 | U. of California, Davis | 2 |
Pennsylvania State | 1 | U. of California, Irvine | 1 |
Purdue U. | 1 | U. of California, Los Angeles | 1 |
Savannah School of Art and Design | 3 | U. of California, Merced | 1 |
SUNY, Stony Brook | 1 | U. of California, Riverside | 1 |
U. of Denver | 1 | U. Of California, Santa Cruz | 1 |
U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign | 1 | U. Of California, San Diego | 2 |
U. of Manitoba | 1 | San Diego State | 3 |
Valparaiso U. | 1 | ||
Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen Netherlands | 1 |
I want to announce to both students and parents that Mr. Willard (our counselor) and I will soon be opening up discussions concerning HS course choices for next year. We will be coming to the individual homerooms during our morning reading times to talk about possibilities; shortly thereafter we will distribute course sign-up sheets for each HS student to take home for parent conversations and signatures. As the HS continues to grow, we anticipate again extending our elective choices for students, like we did this year.
Grade 10 will again have one elective choice equal to 1.0 credits. Possibilities might be taking a second science course (additional to the regular Biology); perhaps general Chemistry or general Physics. Or may be a second Social Studies class (in addition to our regular World History Americas); perhaps general Psychology or general Economics. Or even another set of Art, Music, or P.E. classes.
Of course, Grades 11 and 12 will have many elective choices to add to their required courses in English, Math, Social Studies, and Science. Please check the school website for a listing of graduation requirements.
I welcome parent input for ideas about electives for our students. Please feel free to drop by my office to offer suggestions.
Thank you.
Firstly, I’m happy to announce that we have hired a new Elementary Principal to join us next year. Mr. Mark Robertson has many years of experience, both as a teacher and in school administration. He will be coming from Kent, Washington, U.S.A. with his non-teaching wife and two young children.
We also have hired a new Assistant Secondary Principal joining us from Boston – Mr. Michael Gordon. Mr. Gordon is single, and has been deeply involved with his current school, both as a teacher and in administration, for many years too.
Please welcome them to Myanmar and to Yangon Academy. We will be distributing more details of their individual biographies soon.
Ad astra! To the stars!