Geometry
The agreement between scholar, family, and instructor for the 2026–2027 school year at Beta Academy.
Instructor Information
Your guide through the year.
- Instructor
- Dr. Goodluck Ijezie-Desbois, PharmD
- Course
- Geometry — Mathematical Architects
- School
- Beta Academy
- Room
- Room: TBA
- gijezie-desbois@betaacademy.org
- Family App
- ParentSquare (primary channel for announcements & messages)
- Office Hours
- By appointment — reach out via ParentSquare or email to schedule.
Course Overview
What Geometry asks of a scholar.
Geometry is the study of shape, space, and the logic that ties them together. This course asks scholars to do three things again and again: construct figures precisely, justify claims with proof, and connect the visual world of figures to the symbolic world of algebra. We work from the TEA Bluebonnet Learning Secondary Mathematics curriculum across five modules — from reasoning with shapes, to formal proof, to proportionality and trigonometry, to circles and solids, and finally to probability and informed decision-making.
The Texas process standards (G.1A–G.1G) run through every module: scholars apply mathematics to real problems, choose appropriate tools and representations, and communicate their reasoning in writing and out loud. A scholar who finishes Geometry should be able to look at a figure, ask "how do I know that?", and answer with evidence — for example, recognizing that a right triangle relates its sides through \( a^2 + b^2 = c^2 \) and explaining why.
State assessment: There is no STAAR End-of-Course exam for Geometry. Mastery is assessed locally through teacher-built unit tests and benchmarks aligned to the Geometry TEKS.
The Studio
How our learning environment is organized.
Our classroom runs as a studio with three working zones. Scholars move between them every day.
The Drafting Table
Direct instruction. New ideas, worked examples, and modeled reasoning. Notebooks open, eyes up, questions welcome.
Build Teams
Collaboration. Scholars work in small teams to construct, conjecture, and critique one another's reasoning.
The Proving Ground
Independent practice and assessment. Where a scholar shows what they can do on their own — drills, exit tickets, quizzes, and tests.
The Blueprint Wall
Anchor charts, worked proofs, and exemplar constructions stay posted so scholars can reference the reasoning we've built together.
Required Materials
The drafting kit every day.
- Compass
- Protractor
- Straightedge / ruler
- Patty paper (tracing paper)
- Graph paper
- School-issued Chromebook (GeoGebra & Desmos)
- Interactive notebook
- Pencils & erasers
Grading Policy
How a grade is built.
| Category | Weight | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Assessments | 60% | Unit tests, quizzes, benchmarks, and major proof/construction projects. |
| Classwork | 40% | Daily practice, notebook entries, exit tickets, build-team work, and the syllabus pop-quiz. |
Course Itinerary
Modules across the four grading periods (Beta 4-day calendar, ~144 scholar days).
| Grading Period | Dates | Focus | ~Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| GP1 | Aug 19 – Oct 8 | Module 1 — Reasoning with Shapes (begins); coordinate geometry & rigid motions. | 31 |
| GP2 | Oct 12 – Dec 17 | Finish Module 1; Module 2 — Justifying Mathematical Ideas & Arguments (proof, congruence). | 36 |
| GP3 | Jan 5 – Mar 4 | Finish Module 2; Module 3 — Investigating Proportionality (similarity & trigonometry). | 36 |
| GP4 | Mar 15 – May 20 | Module 4 — Circles & 3D Shapes; Module 5 — Making Informed Decisions (probability). | 40 |
A detailed day-by-day map of every module and topic lives on the Pacing Guide.
The Scholar's Code
Three expectations that hold the studio together.
- Build with precision. We measure twice, label our work, and show the reasoning behind every answer. A guess is a starting point, never a final draft.
- Defend with respect. We critique ideas, not people. Every claim deserves a "how do you know?" and every scholar deserves a fair hearing.
- Persist through the hard part. Geometry rewards the scholar who stays with a problem. Struggle is the work, not a sign you're failing at it.
Scholar Leadership Roles
Every Build Team runs itself. Roles rotate so every scholar leads.
Technology & Platforms
The tools we use and how they fit together.
| Platform | Used for |
|---|---|
| Bluebonnet Learning | Core curriculum — readings, problems, and module structure. |
| IXL | Targeted skill practice and spiral review aligned to the Geometry TEKS. |
| Khan Academy | Video re-teaching and at-home support for any topic. |
| Google Classroom | Assignment posting, turn-in, and announcements. |
| Desmos | Dynamic graphing, geometry activities, and coordinate work. |
Parent Communication
Staying connected throughout the year.
- ParentSquare is the primary channel. Announcements, reminders, and direct messages all flow through ParentSquare. Please make sure your account is active and notifications are on.
- No-cell-phone campus. Beta Academy is a phone-free learning environment. Scholars store phones during the school day; families reach scholars through the front office in an emergency.
- Syllabus pop-quiz. A short pop-quiz on this syllabus will be given in the first two weeks and counts toward the grade (Classwork category). Reading this document together as a family is the best preparation.
Academic Integrity
The reasoning has to be yours.
In Geometry, the work is the reasoning — so the reasoning must be your own. Collaboration is encouraged in Build Teams, but copying another scholar's proof, sharing answers on the Proving Ground, or using an outside tool to generate work you submit as your own is a violation of academic integrity. When in doubt, ask: "Could I explain every step of this to Dr. Ijezie-Desbois?" If not, it isn't ready to turn in. Integrity violations are addressed per Beta Academy's student handbook.
Procedures & Norms
How a class period flows.
- Entering: Pick up materials, begin the warm-up posted at the Drafting Table, and have your notebook open before the bell.
- During instruction: Eyes up, pencils ready, questions welcome. We take notes in the interactive notebook every day.
- Build Team work: Use your assigned role, stay on task, and keep your voice at a working volume.
- Materials: The Materials Manager returns every compass and protractor before the team is dismissed. We treat the kit as shared property.
- Exiting: Complete the exit ticket, return your area to order, and wait to be released by the instructor — not the bell.
Parent Involvement
Families are part of the Build Team.
- Ask your scholar to teach you one thing they constructed or proved each week — explaining it is how the learning sticks.
- Keep ParentSquare notifications on and reach out early if something feels off; small check-ins prevent big gaps.
- Encourage Khan Academy and IXL at home when a topic needs another pass.
- Celebrate persistence, not just speed. The scholar who wrestles with a hard proof is doing exactly the right work.
Coursework, Deadlines & Late Work
Every graded assignment this year lives in the Assessment Center. Chapter assessments, Do Nows, exit tickets, graphic organizers, and labs are all assigned, completed, and scored there. If it counts toward your grade, that is where it is.
Scores appear in your portal once I release them. A missing score usually means I have not released that assignment yet — not that your work vanished.
Assignments are due when they are due. Late work is not accepted.
The one exception is a documented, excused absence. If you were legitimately out and it is on record, you may request to complete the assignment. Requesting is not the same as being granted: bring me the documentation and I will give you an answer and a date. Forgot, Wi-Fi died, phone died, thought it was Friday — those are not exceptions.
⛰️ The Summit Grade — one earned safety net per grading period.
The no-late-work rule stands. But every grading period you can earn up to 100 engagement points through sustained, weekly work across the learning platform — the Practice Gym, Notes Studio, Resource Studio, the Mental Picture Strategy, the learning games, and genuinely reviewing your My Ascent progress page. That engagement grade goes in the gradebook, and I may drop your single lowest assignment grade and let the Summit Grade stand in its place. It is not a free 100: it is capped daily, it requires work spread across most weeks of the nine-week period, and cramming the last weekend will not move it. Struggle all you want — what I am grading is that you kept showing up and doing the work. It can never replace an assessment grade.
Accommodations (IEP & 504)
If you have an IEP or a 504 plan, you receive every accommodation in that plan. All of it. Automatically. Extended time, read-aloud, dictation, reduced question sets — whatever your plan names. This is your legal right. It is not a favor, it is not something you have to ask me for, and it does not depend on how busy I am. You never have to justify it or thank me for it. It is simply how this class runs.
How it works in the Assessment Center:
- Extended time is applied to the timer for you. On a timed assessment the countdown is already lengthened before you start. You do not click anything.
- Reduced question sets are applied automatically when your plan includes them.
- Read-aloud, speech-to-text, large text, high contrast, a dyslexia-friendly font, wider line spacing, and a reading focus guide are in the accessibility menu and are available to every scholar, plan or no plan. Use them freely.
- Bilingual glossary and Spanish translation are enabled through your plan rather than the accessibility menu.
Two practical notes so nothing surprises you. First, the portal lengthens timers; it does not by itself move a due date. If extended time on assignments is part of your plan, that is honored too — come see me so we set the date together rather than assuming the system did it. Second, if an accommodation does not appear when you start an assignment, tell me the same day. That is mine to fix, not yours to work around.
The firm part begins only after your accommodation has been fully honored. Once you have had your rightful extended time, that time is the deadline. Work turned in past it is treated like any other late work and is not excused — unless you arranged something with me in advance.
In advance means before the deadline passes. Not that night, not the next morning, not after you see the grade. If you can see a problem coming, come to me while there is still time to do something about it. None of this is aimed at you: your accommodations are not a loophole and I do not treat scholars with plans as though they are looking for one. This is the same line every scholar stands behind. Your plan simply moves where that line sits, in your favor.
Your Sign-In & Your PIN
You sign in with your class period, your Scholar alias, and your own
8-character PIN (letters and numbers, for example B7K2M9RD). You never
use your real name and never a shared password. The first time, you set the PIN yourself — using
either a one-time setup code from me or an open enrollment window for your period. I will tell you
which applies on day one.
- Write it in your planner and your AVID binder the moment you create it.
- Never share it. Anything submitted under your PIN counts as your work, and you are responsible for it.
- Do not reuse a password from Google, school, or social media.
- Five wrong tries locks the account for a few minutes. That lock is protecting you; the site is not broken.
Your PIN is your responsibility. I reset PINs during school hours, in person — not by text or email at 10 p.m. If you cannot get into your work the night before something is due because you forgot your PIN, the deadline does not move and the grade stands. Plan around it: do not leave an assignment until the last night.
Retakes & Regrades
Retakes are requested in the portal — not verbally, not in the hallway, not by email.
- Sign in to the Assessment Center.
- Open the Retake tab in the top toolbar. It is always there; you do not need a particular score to unlock it.
- Choose Standard or Special. Special asks for a category: illness, family emergency, concept gap, mastery push, or other.
- Choose the assignment type, then tick the assignment(s) — between 1 and 10 in one request.
- Name the root cause: what actually went wrong.
- Write your reflection and commitment — study hours, the one thing you will do differently, and what support you need. A few words will not be accepted.
- Tick the ownership box and Submit.
How you learn the outcome. The My Retake Requests panel in the Retake tab lists every request and its status: pending, approved, or denied. An approved request shows my terms — time limit, score cap, how many days you have — plus a note. A denied one shows my reason. You also get a bell notification. The panel does not refresh by itself; reload the tab.
- Standard retakes are limited to one per grading period. After that, the Standard option locks and you must file under Special.
- An approved retake may carry a score cap. You will see that number before you start.
- A retake replaces the work it was approved for. It is your real attempt, not a free extra try. Study first.
- Filing the same request twice does nothing.
A regrade is not a retake. A retake means “let me attempt this again.” A regrade means “I think one question was scored wrong” — open the graded result, find the question, and tap Request Regrade. A regrade never changes a score by itself; it changes only after I review it. You get one regrade request per question, ever, even if I deny it. Do not spend it on a question you have not re-checked.
Locked assessments watch for tab switching. Switching away warns you; doing it again asks for a teacher password; continuing voids the attempt. A voided attempt burns an attempt and freezes you out until I review it in person. Most assessments allow one attempt. Stay in the tab.
Syllabus Acknowledgment
How to confirm you've read and understood this syllabus.
By the end of the second week of school, each scholar and a parent/guardian confirm they have read this syllabus together. The acknowledgment is submitted through the Assessment Center digital form (primary method). Families without device access may instead print the one-page acknowledgment, sign it by hand, and submit a clear photo of the signed page as a fallback.
Learning Platform Consent
The acknowledgment covers your scholar's use of The Scholar's Ascent Assessment Center — the custom learning platform built and operated by Dr. Ijezie-Desbois — alongside the other digital learning applications the school has approved. By acknowledging, you consent to its Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and the data-use, data-retention, and cookie practices described there, and you take ownership of reviewing them. Those documents live on this STEM Studio website, drijezie.com (spelled D‑R‑I‑J‑E‑Z‑I‑E).
The Assessment Center is a required part of this course, not an optional add-on, and there is no opt-out — every scholar is assessed on the same work, in the same place, on the same terms. If you have questions about the platform or how scholar data is handled, you are encouraged to reach out.
Want the full picture first? Read About the Assessment Center — what it is, who built it, how scholar information is protected, and every policy that governs it, in plain language.
Contact information: I use the parent/guardian contact details on file in Skyward. Please confirm your phone number and email there are current so course communications reach you.
⏱ The Geometry digital acknowledgment form opens in the Assessment Center for the 2026–2027 year.