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Eighth Grade

Janet Whitmore

Janet Whitmore

Eighth Grade and Junior High English-Language Arts

Janet Whitmore

Janet Whitmore

Eighth Grade and Junior High English-Language Arts

Janet Whitmore received her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from UC Santa Barbara in 1984. She has been in education for 27 years as an instructional aide, substitute teacher, and teacher. She currently teaches Junior High English Language Arts and is the Eighth Grade Homeroom teacher. Mrs. Whitmore chose Catholic education because she wanted to help others. Her two boys went to St. James School and, in her words, she “never left”.

Paul Agnew

Paul Agnew

Sixth Grade and Junior High Religion

Paul Agnew

Paul Agnew

Sixth Grade and Junior High Religion

Mr. Agnew holds a California Clear Credential in K-12 Math and received his Masters in Educational Administration from Santa Clara University in 1997. He has been an educator for 39 years with 37 of those years in Catholic schools and two as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone.

Mr. Agnew’s two children attended St. James School. He was drawn to Catholic education for his love of teaching and the joy of seeing someone understand a new concept for the first time.

Mr. Agnew is our Junior High Religion teacher.

McKenna Purdy

McKenna Purdy

5-8 Grade Science Seventh Grade Homeroom

McKenna Purdy

McKenna Purdy

5-8 Grade Science Seventh Grade Homeroom

McKenna Purdy is St. James School’s Fifth-Eighth Grade Science teacher and the Seventh Grade Homeroom teacher. She graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science.

Prior to joining St. James School, she was an educational summer camp instructor and a Marine Science educator at Mission Bay in San Diego for two years.

Miss Purdy chose education because of her love of working with young people. As the daughter of a Catholic high school educator, Miss Purdy witnessed her dad’s love of working in a Catholic environment. She especially loves our tight knit and supportive community.

Jack Dapkewicz

Jack Dapkewicz

Junior High Math and Eighth Grade U.S. History

Jack Dapkewicz

Jack Dapkewicz

Junior High Math and Eighth Grade U.S. History

Jack Dapkewicz received his Associates Degree from Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, his Bachelor of Science degree from UC Riverside, and his Administrative Credential from Sacramento State University.

Mr. Dapkewicz, also known as “Mr. Dap”, has 20 plus years in education as a teacher, math specialist, and vice principal. He is St. James School’s Junior High Math teacher. Mr. Dap has three children and enjoys swimming, running, and biking. Teaching is a second career for him. He started out of college as an investment banker, but was drawn to teaching. Interestingly, Mr. Dap says he was “a poor math student who had to work harder than most.” This experience gives him insight into and compassion for those learners who also struggle. Catholic education is his third career and he loves it!

Shelly Dirksen

Shelly Dirksen

Educational Academic Specialist

Shelly Dirksen

Shelly Dirksen

Educational Academic Specialist

Shelly Dirksen received her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with a Minor in Reading Instruction from Dordt University, Sioux Center, Iowa in 2001. She has been in education for 23 years serving as a Special Education paraeducator, teacher, reading and writing tutor, substitute teacher, and Children’s Ministry Director grades TK-12 for Christ Church in Davis. Mrs. Dirksen is our Education Achievement Specialist (EAS), a position she has held for 3 and a half years. She is currently working toward her California Clear Teaching Credential.

Mrs. Dirksen has always known her skill set was geared toward teaching and working with children. She loves to help students reach their goals and realize how capable they truly are. She feels it is a true privilege to participate in the moment a child learns something new.

St. James is Mrs. Dirksen’s first experience teaching at a Catholic school. She loves Catholic education and finds it a joy to combine her two loves: faith and teaching.

Kari Fisher

Kari Fisher

School Counselor

Kari Fisher

Kari Fisher

School Counselor

Kari Fisher received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Sociology from UC Davis in 1995 and her Masters in Counseling from UC Davis in 2002. She has over 20 years of experience as a psychotherapist working in private practice, community, and school settings. She has additional training in emotionally focused therapy, trauma therapy, and therapies with children and families.

Mrs. Fisher is in her first year as our School Counselor. She chose Catholic education because her son attended St. James and she fell in love with the community as a parent. She has always loved working with children as a psychotherapist and feels blessed to be able to combine her work with a community she holds great fondness for.

Our curriculum is driven by the Diocesan Standards which align with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

Religion

The focus is on the preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation which occurs in the spring. As servant-leaders, students are expected to complete a minimum of 21 service hours to the school and the greater community. In addition, students participate in weekly school Masses, Liturgical events such as the Christmas Pageant, Lenten Passion Play and May Crowning, retreats, reflective prayer services, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

English - Language Arts

Eighth Grade utilizes a vocabulary and spelling program designed to prepare students for the SAT and ACT exams in high school.

The Literature program’s focus is exposing students to various writing genres including fiction, non-fiction/primary source documents, plays, short stories, the novel, mysteries, poetry, autobiographies, and historical fiction. Authors include: William Shakespeare, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Julius Lester, William Faulkner, Edgar Allen Poe, Ann Rinaldi, and Robert Fisher among others.

In addition, students practice various ways to respond to text, identify literary themes and terminology, participate in class and small group discussions and projects, and perfect presentation skills.

The goal of the Eighth Grade Writing and Grammar curriculum is preparation for high school success. Students continue to develop and expand language mechanics and conventions of language skills by writing in a variety of styles. Writing styles include persuasive arguments with counter-arguments, research, and proper citations; multiple page essays with Modern Language Association formatting; research reports and formal bibliographies on the Holocaust; story narratives utilizing plot diagrams, character development, dialogue, themes, and descriptive imagery; personal narrative modeling NPR’s “This I Believe” style, and poetry forms and analysis.

Students continue to practice and personalize note-taking strategies, study and organizational skills, and ways to respond to text. Oral speaking and presentation skills are perfected. Formal grammar instruction continues with an emphasis on complexity, depth, and integration into writing.

Mathematics

Number and Quantity

The Real Number System

  • Extend the properties of exponents to rational exponents.
  • Use properties of rational and irrational numbers.

Quantities

  • Reason quantitatively and use units to solve problems.

Algebra Seeing Structure in Expressions

  • Interpret the structure of expressions.
  • Write expressions in equivalent forms to solve problems.

Arithmetic with Polynomials and Rational Expressions

  • Perform arithmetic operations on polynomials.

Creating Equations

  • Create equations that describe numbers or relationships.

Reasoning with Equations and Inequalities

  • Understand solving equations as a process of reasoning and explain the reasoning.
  • Solve equations and inequalities in one variable.
  • Solve systems of equations.
  • Represent and solve equations and inequalities graphically.

Functions Interpreting Functions

  • Understand the concept of a function and use function notation.
  • Interpret functions that arise in applications in terms of the context.
  • Analyze functions using different representations.

Building Functions

  • Build a function that models a relationship between two quantities.
  • Build new functions from existing functions.

In addition, St. James School follows the California Common Core Math Practices:

  1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
  2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
  3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
  4. Model with mathematics.
  5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
  6. Attend to precision.
  7. Look for and make use of structure.
  8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

History

The focus this year is to recognize the common threads that tie together the facts of American History: Multicultural Nation, Spirit of Democracy, Changing Economy, Environment, and Global Interdependence. Our study encompasses the creation of a new republic, an expanding nation, the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Science

St. James School educates the whole child. Therefore, Eigth Graders also attend classes in Music, PE, Art, and Library.