Welcome! Hi, my name is Krista Wilcox and I have been with Breckenridge ISD for seven years. Before arriving at BHS, I taught at Amarillo High School and Cooper High School. The choice to come back to my alma mater was a great one. We are in a terrific school district with some really neat students! In addition to my teaching duties, I am also a volleyball, basketball, and track coach.

Every student is required to read an approved AR book each six weeks. The AR book test is 25% of the six weeks average. The students are tested at the beginning of the school year in order to find their reading level. The reading level determines the level at which the student will achieve success. If a student fails a book test, the student may read another book before the deadline in order to pass. The Accelerated Reader reading program has three parts to the grade which equals 25% of the final grade.
AR Book Test = 1/3
AR Reading Goal= 1/3
AR Book Test Ave= 1/3

The final AR grade is then calculated and averaged with the students average. Students are encouraged to read every day in class for the first ten minutes of class and the students are required to chart his/her progress on a reading log. Students will definitely benefit from reading everyday and every night.

Homework/Daily Quiz 25%

1. Must be turned in the next day for no grade higher than a 70.
2. Late homework will not be accepted after the 3rd late day.
3. Zero's will result in the assignment of ZAP period on Wednesday after school.
4. One daily grade will be dropped each six weeks.

Projects: All projects are due on exact deadlines and will not be accepted for a late grade.

Writing/Analyzing Literature policy:
1. The following list of infractions will result in an immediate zero:
a. Shorthand
b. Sentence fragments
c. Improper capitalization/punctuation
d. No support from the textbook

Any assignment that receives a zero will be corrected in order to gain points for that assignment.

Tutorials:
3:40 - 4:00 each day unless a scheduled practice will cause a conflict.



Retakes: Students may retake any test at 3:40 each day.

Progress Reports:
I send out progress reports every three weeks whether a student is passing or failing. These need to be signed and brought back to me for a daily grade of 100. If the student fails the six weeks, I will mail a report home and I will phone the parents to discuss the student's progress in my class. Our main goal is a diploma-remember!

Notebook Plan:
This plan requires that a notebook be organized in a particular order. The notebook plan states that a notebook is required as a part of the grade. Notebooks are due the day of or the day after the Six Weeks Test. The notebook plan is as follows:
1. Literature/Annotations
2. Rhetoric/Vocabulary
3. Grammar
4. Writing/Essays
5. AR/Novel Journal
6. TAKS

The focus for the upcoming school year will be more on the level of a Pre-AP Course. Each student will be working on every level of Bloom's Taxonomy in order to achieve more rigor in the classroom. The students will take the PSAT, PLAN test, and a THEA test before the end of the course. The students will be preparing to take Freshman College English next year with Mr. Clack, so we want to make every effort to ready every student for a more challenging course.