Words from Secondary

Upcoming Dates:  

• May 1st - May 12th: AP Testing 
• May 16th - May 18th: MAP Testing

High School AP Tests

AP testing has arrived!  Testing will take place starting Monday, May 1st through May 12th.  During testing, it is important for students to have a full night's rest, eat well, and take time to prepare. For clarification of dates and times, please follow the link below:

AP Test Schedule.pdf

Middle School MAP Testing

CDS students in Grades 6-8 will take the Spring MAP Assessment on May 16-May 18. This standardized assessment will assess students’ literacy and math skills and is given twice per year.  MAP scores are a helpful data point for CDS staff to use in identifying areas for additional instruction, the performance and progress of a specific grade level, or whole school trends in learning and growth. MAP Growth scores are just one data point that our instructional team uses to determine how a student, or group of students, is performing. If a student is absent during a scheduled MAP testing session he/she will be able to make-up the test on another date.   

Below is the MAP Testing Schedules for students in Grades 6-8. 

Middle School students will use their own personal computer devices for the MAP assessment.  Windows PC, MACs and Chromebooks will all work for the MAP assessment.  For specific operating system requirements, please click here and scroll to ‘Browser Only Testing.’ Some key pieces for personal computer devices: 

• Please make sure that students come with their devices FULLY CHARGED for MAP testing. Plug devices in overnight prior to coming to school.  
• Please make sure that your students have the CHROME BROWSER on their computer device. MAP works best with CHROME. 
• If you know how to disable popup blockers on your students’ device prior to Monday, you can do that too. Linked here is a CDS Tech Cheat Sheet to assist. We will need to disable popups for MAP, but our team can help your student if needed.
• Students do not need anything else for MAP (no calculator, etc.) - just a fully charged computer with CHROME installed.  Other specific specifications can be found at the link above. Most computers will have these specifications enabled.  We will have tech support on hand to assist all students, and we will have extra devices available if your student’s device isn’t work (limited supply). Students will have an opportunity to practice accessing the testing site prior to test day to ensure that devices are working, popups are disabled, and any technical issues can be resolved.   

Questions about MAP testing? Please contact Liz Cotter, Director of Teaching and Learning: elizabeth.cotter@cds.ed.cr

Thank you! 

Math Competitions Winners

We are very proud to announce that we won five awards in the University of Waterloo Pascal, Fermat and Cayley Math Competitions that we did in February.  A Certificate is given to any student in the top 25% worldwide, and a medal is for the best student in their grade as long as they rank in the top 50% worldwide.

Here are the awards:

• Haoran (David), 8th grade: Medal and Certificate
• David, 10th grade: Medal
• Gabriela, 11th grade: Medal and Certificate

Thank you for your support and now we’re looking forward to the first round of the Costa Rican Math Olympiad at the beginning of June. 

8th Grade Field Trip

Eight graders will be exploring Renewable Project and Energy project in Guanacaste.  The itinerary is attached with the following link.  Payment information and deadlines will be attached the following week.   

8th grade Field Trip Itinerary

From the College Counselor:

One week of APs has gone by. Our students are hard at work, studying, and aiming for those 5s. Let´s wish them a successful second week of APs. 

Meetings for the 2023-2024 course selection will resume after May 15th, once our AP Exams are over. I am looking forward to working with our high school students and being able to guide them down their professional paths. 

Did you know that many UK universities require 3 or 4 APs with scores of 5 on them. This is the case of Oxbridge, King College of London, University of Bath, and many others. 

If you have any questions, send me an email and we can meet after May 15th.