Celebrating outstanding achievementMembers of the Class of 2011netted $4,856,950 in merit scholarships for college or more than $179,227 per recipient.

All of Seven Hills’ 11 semifinalists in the 2011 National Merit Scholarship Program—16% of the senior class—qualified as finalists. This continues a tradition for Seven Hills of having top percentages of semifinalists in the senior class among Greater Cincinnati schools. Of these finalists, two gradu-ates won National Merit® $2500 Scholarships, one graduate won a National Achievement® $2500 Scholarship, and five won college-spon-sored Merit Scholarship® awards.

Twenty-four of the 60 members of the Class of 2012—or 40% of the class—will earn National Merit recognition in 2011-2012! The students qualified for recognition with their scores on the 2010 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test and by meeting the requirements of the program.

Of the 221 Advanced Placement exams in 16 sub-ject areas taken in May by 107 students, 93% of the scores earned were 3’s or better on the 1-5 na-tional scale, qualifying our students for advanced standing in college. They scored an average of 4.2 (“Well Qualified”).

Ready for a great 2011–2012

The Seven Hills School august 2011

SEMESTER IN REVIEW

Twelve members of the Class of 2012—22% of the 55 who took SATs as juniors—have scored to date at least one perfect 800 on one of the three sections of the SAT or on one SAT Subject Test, including one student who scored a perfect 2400 and one who earned six 800s.

The Seven Hills Method

As we look forward to a new school year, we want to take one more look at some of the outstanding accomplishments

that marked the second semester of 2010–2011.

As part of an ongoing effort to ensure that a Seven Hills education continues to prepare students for success in a complex global com-munity, the Seven Hills faculty collaborated in Fall, 2009, on drafting a Portrait of a Graduate. The Portrait identifies the skills and the habits of mind we are seeking to foster in our students and ensures that we design curriculum and employ instructional techniques which best foster these 21st century skills.

Throughout 2010-2011, the faculty collaborated on developing the Seven Hills Method, which defines for each department what skills we hope to produce and delineates the pedagogical methods most con-ducive to those results.

The following are the main points of the Seven Hills Method. Examples of the Method in practice can be seen on page 2 in the curricular units that were funded by summer 2011 teacher grants.

We pose engaging questions that foster students’ passion for learning.

We focus on content that engages students in compelling global issues.

We design complex tasks that build logic, critical thinking and problem solving skills.

We structure learning activities that require creativity, independent thought and innovation.

We design opportunities for meaningful collaboration.

We craft opportunities for skilled and confident communication in a variety of media.

We emphasize the use of technological tools for research, analysis, and communication.

As of June, 55 rising seniors had these SAT results:Middle 50% of SAT Scores: Combined = 1750-2260 Critical Reading 590-750 Math 570-760 Writing 590-750

On the SAT Subject Tests taken in June, our students’ average score on the 200-800 scale was 722. SAT Subject Tests Average Score Math I 689 Math II 722 Chemistry 760 Environmental Biology 785 Molecular Biology 763 Physics 650 Literature 714 U.S. History 722 World History 703 French 698 Spanish 730 Latin 750 Chinese 740

Of the 18 rising seniors who took the SAT Chemistry Subject Test, the average score was 760 and there were five 800’s. Three others had 800’s in environmental biol-ogy, molecular biology, and physics. On the ACT, there were five perfect 36’s in science. In short, in this class of 60 students, 12 (20%) had a perfect science score on one of the SAT or ACT sections or on an SAT Subject Test.

For the second year, thanks to a generous grant from an educational foundation, Seven Hills was able to fund summer curriculum development and renewal grants for teachers. “The result has been an explosion of faculty creativity,” said Head of School Chris Gar-ten. In Summer 2010, 28 individual and group projects were funded, and this year, 30 teachers received grants. These summer grants have enabled our faculty to design ambitious interdisciplinary projects which engage students in utilizing instructional technology to research global issues of political, economic or environmental concern. The projects foster students’ criti-cal thinking, problem solving, and collaborative skills, preparing them even more fully for success in the global community. Just a few examples follow.

The World War I – Cold War unit in the Europe and the Modern World course will give students the opportunity to become “diplomats,” as they use their problem-solving skills to address the issues that contributed to both world wars and the Cold War, as well as current global issues. The goal is to engage students and deepen their understanding of historical events, the process of diplomacy, and the complexity of current issues.

A 3D modeling program will be added to the Time-Based Media and Graphic Design courses, allowing students to visualize 3-dimensional objects of any scale for video pro-duction, prototyping, virtual characters and environments, and pure creative ideation.

An Upper French teacher has completely rewritten the AP French Language curriculum, due to the “complete overhauling” of the AP French Language Exam for 2011-2012 and the course changes proposed by the College Board. For the first time, teachers of the AP French Language course are being given specific thematic units to cover, includ-ing Global Challenges, Science and Technology, Contemporary Life, Personal and Public Identities, Families and Communities, and Beauty and Aesthetics.

Several grants enabled teachers to redesign units to take advantage of the iPad pilot program in sixth and ninth grade courses, starting with the new school year.

Seventh grade science students will collaborate with Arctic scientist George Divoky on the new unit, Climate Change and the Carbon Cycle.

Lotspeich fifth graders will learn how the stock market works, research different stocks, and manage their own “portfolios” over several months.

Doherty and Lotspeich science teachers have collaborated on a new science unit on Inventions in which students will investigate past and present inventions/inventors and analyze their impact on various communities.

A new Systems of the Body unit for Unit II Health classes will explore the cardiovascu-lar, respiratory, digestive, muscular, nervous, and immune systems.

A new Immigration unit in Unit III will focus on issues surrounding Mexican immigration to the U.S., culminating with a student-produced podcast on the different sides of the issue, including that of the Mexican immigrant.

Second year of summer teacher grants results in exciting 21st century learning opportunities

“Our students ask why and what if. They habitually reflect on ideas. They know how to problem solve: how to ap-proach problems critically and creatively and how to ask probing questions.”

(Excerpt from Learning at The Seven Hills School: Our Twenty-First Century Competitive Advantage)

Investigating the carbon cycle

Middle and Upper School students earned top honors on the 2011 National Latin Exam: 84% of Middle students and 91% of Upper students earned an award on the National Latin Exam, including one perfect score.

Twenty-five Middle and Upper School students earned national rankings on their respective levels in the National French Contest, and one student ranked first and three students second in the state.

Upper and Middle School students earned high honors on their respective levels on the National Spanish Exam. Gold Medal winners included a sophomore who scored at the 99th percentile na-tionally and placed first in the state, and a junior who scored at the 95th percentile and placed fourth in the state.

Members of the Upper and Middle Latin Clubs earned top honors at the 2011 Ohio Junior Clas-sical League State Convention in Columbus in which 28 schools participated in academic, cre-ative arts, and graphic arts contests. The Seven Hills team ranked sixth in Total Sweepstakes and fifth in Academic Per Capita, and one junior scored tenth in Creative Arts Sweepstakes.

A team of five Seven Hills students took top honors in the state on the 2011 OCTM (Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics) competition. The Seven Hills team placed first in the state among schools the size of Seven Hills and 14th in the state among 98 schools of all sizes. Individually, a freshman tied for eighth highest scorer in the state, and a junior tied for 20th highest scorer in the state. The team members qualified for the Ohio High School Mathematics Invitational Olympiad at Capital University.

In the Ohio Math League competition, Seven Hills came in seventh in the state and second in region (Hamilton County) among schools of all sizes. For cumulative individual scores, a freshman came in first in the region and tied for 15th place in the state. This freshman also earned First Place for ninth graders in the KSEA/Wright State University Ohio Mathematics Contest. In the American Re-gions Mathematics League (ARML) competition at Penn State University in June, he was one of 45 high schoolers representing Ohio, and he earned the highest score for Individual Section in the state.

Middle Schoolers earned top honors in these math competitions: In MATHCOUNTS, the team placed third in the chapter and 17th in the state, and one individual placed sixth in the chapter. On the AMC

Outstanding academic achievement and more in 2010-2011

8 competition, 10 seventh and eighth graders earned Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals. On the OML competition, the eighth grade team placed 17th in the state, and one individual tied for 27th in the state. The seventh grade team placed 12th in the state and third in the region, and two team members tied for 18th in the state. The sixth grade team placed 14th in the state.

Two seniors were among 650 students nationally who were se-lected by the U.S. State Department to study a foreign language abroad for six weeks this summer in Shanghai and in Istanbul. The State Department’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) provides full scholarships to U.S. high school students and recent graduates interested in learning “less-com-monly-studied foreign languages.”

Three chemistry students earned awards in competitive tests offered by the American Chemical Society. A sophomore placed fourth on the first-year chemistry exam out of 150 students in the region, and two juniors placed in the top ten out of 106 students in the region on the second-year chemistry exam. One was invited to compete in a second tier of testing for qualification in the Chemistry Olympiad.

Seven Hills students took top honors at the Cincinnati Regional

“Our students enjoy learning and respect knowledge. They under-stand how they learn and can monitor their own learning. They have confidence in themselves and in their peers and the persistence to work together to solve problems.”

Learning at The Seven Hills School: Our Twenty-First Century Competitive Advantage

A few of our math scholars

Two seniors were members of the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestra, and one senior was a member of the May Festival Youth Chorus. Two Middle Schoolers are in the Cincinnati Junior Strings (training group for the Symphony Youth Orchestra).

Two seniors were selected to participate in Cincinnati Children’s Hospital’s High School Science Student Sym-posium, which was designed to stimulate outstanding science students’ interest in pursuing biomedical careers.

Three juniors are responsible for an environmental action website whose results are reaching as far as the Arctic, and their efforts earned them a trip to San Diego for behind-the-scenes tours of the San Diego Zoo and Sea World as a finalist in a bi-national contest sponsored by Polar Bears International. The regional-winning team was one of only four finalists out of 42 teams in the U.S. and Canada. MyActions.org encourages people worldwide to track the environmental impact of their actions and train themselves to develop environmentally sustainable habits.

A junior, who achieved the title of “National Master” (held by less than one percent of tournament chess play-ers), was invited to join Grandmaster Gregory Kaidanov

Science Olympiad tournament at Raymond Walters College. The students competed in a series of 23 events which tested their knowledge of science skills, processes, and applications in a wide range of sci-ence disciplines including biology, chemistry, physics, technology, earth science, and mathematics. Seven Hills medal winners placed first in Anatomy and Physi-ology, second in Remote Sensing, second in Disease Detectives, third in Sounds of Music, third in Chemistry Lab, fourth in Protein Modeling, and fourth in Disease Detectives.

The Seven Hills varsity Academic Team finished second in the Cincinnati Academic League, its best result in five years. At the year-end tournament, the varsity team finished second, and the reserve team finished first. The coaches voted one Seven Hills senior First Team All-Academic and another Second Team All-Academic.

One freshman was awarded a perfect score by the National Federation of Music Clubs for his rendition of Sonata No. 20 in G Major by Beethoven and Valse Brillante by Glenda Austin. He also received a Gold Medal at the Auditions Festival, sponsored by the Ohio Music Teachers Association, at the University of Cincin-nati. He played Valse Brillante by Glenda Austin.

and a few other grandmasters and masters in putting on “simuls” at the Annual Queen City Classic, a scho-lastic chess tournament that draws over 750 K–12 students from around the Midwest.

A junior was one of 17 top local high school program-ming wizards accepted into a six-hour master class sponsored by the INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati. The students were coached in Droid operation system coding techniques so they can build apps for the An-droid phone for local businesses.

A senior was named a candidate in the 2011 Presi-dential Scholars Program, one of the nation’s highest honors for graduating high school seniors. Presidential Scholars are selected on the basis of superior aca-demic and artistic achievements, leadership qualities, strong character, and service activities.

A senior was selected to be honored as one of 40 tri-state teen leaders at the 2011 YMCA Character Awards. The awards recognize 40 teens from the Greater Cincinnati area who have demonstrated out-standing qualities of leadership and character and are working to strengthen their schools and communities.

Twenty-nine students participated in Model UN at Earl-ham College, representing the UK, Brazil, Tanzania, Algeria, Jordan, Indonesia, Serbia, and Kazakhstan. Students debated subjects like water rights on the Nile, North Korean nuclear weapons, the Kashmir conflict, and child labor, and one junior won the award for Best Conflict Mediator in her committee.

The Upper School’s Mock Trial team participated in an all-day scrimmage at the Hamilton County Courthouse, placing tenth in the district (out of 44) and capturing a Best Witness Award and a Best Attorney Award.

“At Seven Hills, learn-ing is discovery-based, collaborative, and highly interactive.”

Learning at The Seven Hills School: Our Twenty-First Century Competitive Advantage

Exploring the basics of gravity-powered roller coaster design.

Examples of learning through inquiry, hands-on discovery, technology, collaboration

Environmental Science students collaborated with sixth grade science students to build nests and make eggs to replicate those of the birds that inhabit the Hillsdale Campus. Each ES student selected a bird to research from the sixth grade bird project. They learned about the bird’s appearance, size, food, migration range, nest, and eggs from the bird observation database established by the sixth graders and posted on the Life Science 6 wiki. The ES students partnered with sixth graders to share information about the bird, build its nest, make its eggs from clay, place their nest outdoors in an appropriate place for their bird species, then photographed and monitored the nests.

Fifth graders organized data collected from a survey of themselves and their first grade buddies about their “favorites.” After organizing the data, the students produced double bar graphs comparing fifth grade to first grade or girls to boys using the iWorks Number program.

As part of a colonial simulation game, fifth graders recreated the experience of sailing to America as inden-tured servants—cramped quarters and all. After viewing a “Voyage on the Mayflower” movie, colony groups gathered their “worldly possessions” and assembled in 7’ X 5’ rectangular areas. Food included homemade hardtack, sardines, sauerkraut and onions to ward off scurvy. It was washed down with water laced with vin-egar and oregano.

“Learning history by doing history” is particularly illus-trated by the study of colonial American history, which includes gathering natural materials to make dyebaths; using the wool from sheared sheep to card, dye, spin, and weave; forging a dinner triangle with a blacksmith; learning colonial “amusements” and lessons; preparing a colonial meal over a fire; and more.

Unit III students Skyped with students in County Mayo, Ireland, as the culminating activity of an iEarn project in which students shared events in their daily life through emails and photos. Seventh grade students Skyped with arctic scientist George Divoky, who was prepar-ing for his summer field season on Cooper Island in the Arctic Ocean. Seventh graders are sponsoring two of his polar bear-proof nest boxes this summer.

Ninth graders in Ancient and Medieval Civilizations researched and mapped important aspects of the Silk Road trade and the great Medieval travelers using Google Earth.

Seventh graders in Social Studies used the Boinx TV software to create TV newscasts on legal issues regard-ing technology and the law. Students gain a broader understanding of the applications of the U.S. Consti-tution today, and they develop their organizational, technical, creative, and critical thinking skills, as they collaborate with their team members.

As part of the new curricular unit, Design Your Own Country, second graders created two original coun-tries—complete with location, geography, government,

transportation, natural resources, educational system, national anthem, and national holidays—and intro-duced them to their parents in a special presentation.

Environmental Science students worked with fourth graders, exploring the interactive Smog City (www.smogcity.com), loss of biodiversity and bleaching of the coral reefs.

The Economics class created and operated three separate business entities that each showed a profit after one day of operation. The class chose to lend the entire collective profits of $150 through kiva.org to a restaurant owner in Paraguay who needed a non-secured loan to expand his business.

Geometry classes culminated their study of right trian-gle trigonometry with an application of these concepts to North American ski slopes. The students obtained data using Google Earth, did their calculations with Geometer Sketchpad’s built-in calculator, drew a visual representation of their findings using Sketchpad or Word, then posted these documents on our class wiki. A paperless endeavor from start to finish!

Eighth grade English students experienced a deeper understanding of Shakespeare as play-wrights, producers, and actors, as they collabo-rated by class period to create their own produc-tion of Romeo and Juliet. The students in the five classes worked with Cincinnati Shakespeare Company actor/teacher Billy Chace over five full Mondays to adapt, stage, and perform a repre-sentative piece from each of the five acts of the play. The eighth graders greatly impressed their Middle School audience when they presented their Romeo and Juliet.

Celebrating outstanding sports achievement Seven Hills had an outstanding varsity winter sports season with boys swimming winning the MVC (second time in school history), a female swimmer and a gymnast each competing at state, an All-League Player of the Year and District (Div. IV) Player and Coach of the Year in boys basketball, a Swimmer of the Year in the MVC and the Southern Ohio Swim League, and boys basketball playing in the district finals.

Recognitions included nine Enquirer All-Star recognitions for athletes in girls basketball, gymnastics, and girls swimming, including Div. IV Player of the Year and Coach of the Year for boys basketball, and All-District and All-League First Team honors for girls basketball, boys and girls swimming, and cheerleading.

The Middle School girls basketball team defeated both the number one and two seeded teams to win the Miami Valley Conference A Division championship.

The following is a glimpse at the Stingers’ successful varsity spring sports season:

The boys varsity tennis team captured the Miami Valley Conference (fifth consecutive year), the district and regional titles and was ranked #1 in the city from the start to the end of the season and #4 in the state. The team advanced to the Final Four in the state team tournament, where they finished third, and a doubles team also competed at state. Recognitions include GCTCA Doubles Team of the Year; All-League Coach of the Year and three First Team selections; and Enquirer All-Star Division II Coach of the Year and four First Team selections.

The baseball team had a record of 18-4, captured the sectional championship for the second consecutive year, and was a district finalist. Recognitions included All-League Scarlet Division Coach of the Year and two

First Team selections, as well as two Enquirer All-Star Divisions II-IV Honorable Mentions. One player was selected for the All-Star Game.

Two softball players received Enquirer All-Star Divisions II-IV Honorable Mention and were selected for the All-Star Game.

One male lacrosse player tied the Division II record of 10 points in a single game. Both male and female lacrosse players received regional recognitions.

Both male and female members of the track and field teams competed in the regional track meet. One male runner competed in the 800m at the state meet where he placed 14th and received Enquirer All-Star Honorable Mention in Division II. New school records were set in the high jump and the 100m hurdles.

“Our students believe in working hard and working together. They are courteous to and respectful of others. They are good sports on and off the playing field.”

Learning at The Seven Hills School: Our Twenty-First Century Competitive Advantage

Doherty’s year-end all-school art show included work from every student, and Lotspeich artwork from all grades filled every hallway.

Doherty fifth graders did a wonderful job of producing and performing the musical, Treasure Island.

Lotspeich class plays included second graders’ dramatic and musical performances on Japan and China Day; fifth graders’ Cinderella’s Secret Slipper; first graders’ E–I–E–I–OOPS, third graders’ A Tree in Tappen Wood, and more.

The Upper School Chorus’s trip to New York City in-cluded a performance at St. John’s Cathedral.

Members of the Directing class gave an outstanding workshop performance of A Rosen By Any Other Name by Israel Horowitz for Middle School students. The perfor-mance—a big hit with the audience—was followed by a Q&A session with the actors.

A wide range of student talent was on display at talent shows in Middle and Upper, at music and poetry recitals at Doherty and Lotspeich, at Open Mic events at Upper (which included Middle poets), and in rotating art dis-plays from all divisions in the Andress Art Gallery.

The Middle School theater department presented an elaborate, impressive production of Gulliver’s Travels.

“Our students affirm their individuality and celebrate the unique gifts of others. They have the courage to explore other points of view and the willingness to build bridges that connect them with others.”

Learning at The Seven Hills School: Our Twenty-First Century Competitive Advantage

Middle and Upper musicians performed pieces by JS Bach at Seven Hills’ first lunchtime Bachathon.

Spring choral and instrumental concerts wowed audi-ences at the Middle and Upper Schools.

Artwork by Upper School visual artists was prominent in an art show at the Kennedy Heights Arts Center.

Upper outstanding spring production of Anon(ymous) by Naomi Iizuka—an adaptation of Homer’s The Odys-sey—was produced, directed, and acted by the Directing class.

Sample of second semester highlights in the fine and performing arts

The arts played a significant cross-curricular role in classroom projects and special events in all divisions, including Global Education Days, Cultural Connections, Celebration of Birds, Insect Day, the visits of children’s book authors/illustrators, and more.

Upper School’s Coffee House offered a dazzling array of talent in the fine and performing arts, with an emphasis on visual art.

Art installations by Upper artists which range from ceramic leaves to a full-size plaster student showed up around campus, totally delighting the school community.

Intellectually vibrant, individually attuned, future-ready learning for students grades pre-K through 12.

SEVEN

SCHOOL

THE

HILLS

One more look at some of the outstanding accomplishments and special events that marked the second semester of 2010–2011

Now we’re ready for a great 2011-2012!

From left, Middle’s Celebration of Birds included preschoolers; Doherty second graders created new countries; a championship basketball season; talented Middle musicians.

From left, Lotspeich fourth graders’ Living Biographies; Doherty preschoolers’ “flight to Australia”; our newest alumni, the Class of 2011.