Academics
Previously Offered Courses
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No Longer Offered
ARTS (Performing and Visual)
- Advanced Fiber Arts
Prerequisite: requires departmental approval
Term course: fall, winter, spring (students may enroll in one, two, or three terms)
Students create a more sophisticated body of integrated work that explores multi-layered techniques and design in greater detail. Students can choose between Shibori, batik, or silk painting to create a body of work.
- Fiber Arts
Term course: fall, winter, spring (students may enroll in one, two, or three terms)
This course will explore a variety of fibers related crafts including batik, silk painting, and Shibori. Students will explore several methods of dyeing cloth with a pattern by binding, stitching, folding, twisting, compressing it, or capping. Students will be able to pursue individual areas of interest.
Fiber Arts – Shibori (Fall) Shibori is an ancient Japanese resist-dye technique that involves creasing, folding, dyeing, binding and knotting, to create beautiful and well-defined patterns. One-of-a-kind textile designs will be created on various silk material.
Fiber Arts – Silk Painting (Winter) Silk painting produces beautiful results and allows for a lot of creative freedom. Experimenting with various techniques while also learning about surface design with natural dyes.
Fiber Arts – Batik (Spring) Batik is a technique that involves drawing on fabric with hot wax and then dyeing the fabric to see your image. This process can be layered and intricate, involving several different colors.
- AP Art History
Requires departmental approval
The Advanced Placement History of Art course is a full-year course. Students cultivate their understanding of art history through analyzing works of art and placing them in historical context as they explore concepts like culture and cultural interactions, theories and interpretations of art, the impact of materials, processes, and techniques on art and art making, and understanding purpose and audience in art historical analysis. Homework will be required during the prior summer, H-term and major breaks.
- Theatre Workshop
Term Course: Fall, Spring (students may enroll in one or two terms
This is a series of two term courses that will introduce students to the major facets of theatrical production; acting, directing, stagecraft, design, and management. Within the broad parameters of these courses, students will develop skills in improvisational acting, character development, stage movement, stage combat, stage lighting, scenic design, play selection, and advertising/promotion. The sequence, while taught by a principal instructor, will make use of existing theatre faculty and staff to offer workshops in specialized areas such as stage combat, mask making, prop, and set construction, vocal projection, makeup, and technical theatre, which will enhance basic instruction.
- Design Thinking for World Change
Term course: fall, winter, spring (students may enroll in one, two, or three terms)
This course offers students an opportunity to work on projects within our community and beyond. Through a human-centered approach to solving real-world problems by understanding users’ needs and developing insights that can impact individuals and communities. Through dialogue, observation, and empathy with the end users, students will learn how to ideate solutions that fit into the environment. This process is called Design Thinking. Students will research, interview, and connect with end users. Students will prototype and present projects to the end user. Emphasis will be placed on creativity, collaborative thinking, class participation, and oral presentation. Projects have included working with Sodexo to reduce food waste, redesigning the tech lab, and working with non-profit organizations such as Operation Backpack and the Ricketts Center Boys and Girls Club. Group and individual projects will be assigned.
- Digital Music: GarageBand+
Term course: fall, winter, spring (students may enroll in one, two, or three terms)
This course is designed for any student interested in digital music. By using software and apps like GarageBand, Sibelius, and Noteflight, students will create music through fun projects that will enable students to develop skills and concepts concerning: creating original songs using loops, basic recording concepts, MIDI recording, audio recording, podcasting, film scoring, basic audio mixing, and creating music for slideshows or multimedia presentation. Basic elements of music through composition, including melody, rhythm, harmony, timbre, texture, and form will be covered.
- Introduction to Singing: Build Your Confidence!
Term course: fall, winter, spring (students may enroll in one, two, or three terms)
This course is designed for beginner students who would like to improve their singing. This term class will cover strategies for singing in tune, learning songs, and how to perform in front of an audience. Basic music theory and singing theory will also be covered. No previous experience is required, but full participation from the student is required. If you like to sing, but have never pursued it, take the course! By the end, you will be more confident and will enjoy singing more.
COMPUTER SCIENCE
- Advanced Computer Science Seminar
Requires department approval
Prerequisite: Data Structures and Algorithms and departmental approval of project proposal
This full-year course is an open research and development time for highly motivated and creative students looking to explore complex projects. Students must submit project proposals for approval prior to acceptance into this course.
- Introduction to Computer Programming
This full-year course presents an introduction to computer programming Python and other programming languages on the popular hobbyist microcomputer the Raspberry Pi (RPi). Utilizing a variety of hands-on simulations and applications such as Minecraft Pi virtual block world, Sonic Pi music generation program, and controlling electronics via networks, students will explore programming in the context of virtual reality, media composition, and the Internet of Things. This course is designed to give students a solid foundation in common programming practices and conventions that translate across languages and development environments. Topics include conditionals, loops, arrays, data types, objects and classes, procedures, common algorithms, and other content – all with a strong focus on good programming technique and proper documentation. After completion of this course, students will be eligible to enroll in AP Computer Science A or Robotics and Physical Computing (Honors).
- Underwater Robotics and Physical Computing
Requires departmental approval
Prerequisite: Introduction to Web Design, Introduction to Computer Programming (or equivalent), Chemistry or Integrated Math 43 or higher
The Marine Advanced Technology Education Center (MATE) Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) competition challenges students to create an underwater vehicle company that develops and markets ROVs to accomplish underwater work too dangerous, dirty, detailed, or dull for humans to do effectively. In this course, students will learn the basics of robotics using various hardware and software components and systems. Starting with learning electronic circuits, students will move on to understanding the Arduino microcontroller and Raspberry Pi microcomputer, and various other electronic sensors and boards as their understanding of robotics grows and evolves. Students will demonstrate their knowledge of robotics competing in the Marine Advanced Technology Education Center (MATE) Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) contest in April, with the chance of advancing to competing at the international level in June.
- Data Structures and Algorithms
Requires departmental approval
Prerequisite: AP Computer Science A or departmental approval
This full-year course focuses on the fundamental theories and topics of computer science. Students will study more advanced data structures such as stacks, queues, and binary trees; and dig deeper into AP topics such as searches, sorts, and recursion. Additionally, students will begin explorations into GUI-based programming. This course is recommended for those who aim to major in computer science in college.
ENGLISH
- English 4 Creative Writing
An English 4 Honors variation, Creative Writing is designed to help young writers experiment in order to find an original voice. To develop their stamina, students work over the terms toward a portfolio of pieces in genres including poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. Students are taught how to read texts not in terms of literary analysis, but in terms of their usefulness for writers, regularly work shopping their drafts with the rest of the group and studying new techniques and processes through a variety of assignments. Course requirements include: daily drafts or exercises in the particular genre; active participation in discussions of classmates’ work; craft essays focusing on what the student can learn, borrow and personalize from a published writer of particular concern or interest as a fellow writer; a class presentation on a specific aspect of writing such as characterization, tone, point of view, scene and summary, rhythm, line, and etc. that interests or challenges the student. Reading will include both instructor and student selections of relevant authors in the focus genre. Admission to the course requires a portfolio submission of no fewer than 10 pages of work in any genre or combination of genres. This course requires summer reading assignments.
NCAA Approved Course
HISTORY
- Comparative Government and Politics AP
Prerequisite – US History, US History (Honors) or US History (AP)
This course introduces students to the fundamental concepts of political science in order to study the governments of a variety of countries. The course aims to illustrate the rich diversity of political life, to explain differences in processes and policy outcomes of governments and institutions, and to emphasize the importance of global political and economic changes. The objectives of this course go beyond a basic analysis of how governments “work”. Students will do this by developing a critical understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of different political systems, and studying concepts and methodologies that comparative politics emphasizes. Specifically, students will study the United Kingdom, Russia, China, Mexico, Nigeria and Iran. Further, the course aims to assist students in using political framework to understand and deconstruct current events and the rapidly changing 21st century world. The culmination of this course is to prepare students to succeed on the AP Comparative Government & Politics exam administered in May.
NCAA Approved Course
MATHEMATICS
- Statistics
Requires departmental approval
Prerequisite: Integrated Math 33 or equivalent
This course in probability and statistics covers a wide range of statistical material, including displays of quantitative and categorical data (e.g. boxplots, scatterplots, contingency tables), measures of spread, relationships between quantitative variables (including linear regression), randomness and probability, data collection (experiments and surveys), random variables in probability models, and statistical inference (hypothesis testing and confidence intervals). This course does not prepare students for the Advanced Placement Exam.
NCAA Approved Course
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Personal Finance
Term course: winter term only
This real-life simulation course will allow students to learn about various financial decisions that have to be made at various stages of life by living through those stages each week of the course. Students will learn about personal finances including credit cards, debt, insurance, savings and investments accounts, housing, investment, family planning and retirement. Students will maintain accounts for the duration of the course and have to make major financial decisions that will determine whether they will be able to retire at the end of the course. Students will become fluent in the use of Excel spreadsheets. Students will also have a physical or virtual folder of financial resources for future use.
RELIGIOUS STUDIES AND PHILOSOPHY
- Philosophy Seminar: Can Virtue be Taught?
This course provides students with an introduction to the formal philosophical study of Ethics. Topics covered will include the basics of ethical inquiry, the relationship between the self and society, as well as more focused examinations of racism, non-violence, war and peace, and other specific exercises in “applied ethics.” All will be taught from various perspectives in both Western and Eastern religious and philosophical traditions. In addition to the specific problems examined, the course will attempt to bring students to an understanding of the vital importance and relevance of the formal study of Ethics. To this end, the course methodology will be primarily Socratic, and students will be expected to be active, informed and engaged participants at all times.
This course is a writing and discussion focused class. There are no tests and only infrequent quizzes, and daily homework typically consists of ungraded reading; in any grading period, a student’s grade is determined by class participation as well as three or four formal writing assignments. Students are expected to keep up with readings as assigned and be fully prepared daily for in class discussions.
After the opening three weeks of school, students may, with approval from their adviser, College Counselor (for fifth and sixth formers) and the instructor, elect to pursue an embedded honors curriculum. Acceptance will be based upon the student’s performance, competencies, and ability to balance well his/her complete academic schedule. The embedded curriculum demands greater depth and commitment in all aspects of the course, including demonstrated classroom leadership. Unlike the broader Hill policy for drops/level changes, changing from honors to regular means that averages from completed terms, and scores from individual assignments in incomplete terms, shall carry over after the change, as though they had been earned under the regular course expectations.
NCAA Approved Course
SCIENCE
- Environmental Science AP
Requires departmental approval
Prerequisite: Biology 1 and Chemistry 1
A college level course with the purpose of preparing the student for success on the Advanced Placement Test in Environmental Science. Students will engage in appropriate level labs culminating in formal write-ups. The course will cover basic ecological concepts, topics in energy, populations, sustainability, as well as topics on soils, water, and air. This course fulfills one Science Lab requirement.
NCAA Approved Course
Renamed Courses
ARTS (Performing and Visual)
- Filmmaking and Visual Storytelling (previously Video Production)
- Musical Theatre and Performance (previously Introduction to Musical Theatre)
HISTORY
- Power and Identity in World History (previously World History/Modern Europe, World History/Middle East, World History/Latin America)
MATHEMATICS
- Higher Mathematics and Proof Seminar (CL) (previously Graph Theory and Proof)
- Introduction to Calculus (previously Integrated Mathematics 44)
Currently Not Offered (2024-2025)
CLASSICS
- Advanced Latin Seminar: Religion & Philosophy
Requires departmental approval
Prerequisite: Advanced Latin Seminar Honors and Greek 3 Honors
This course is open to students who have completed three full years of Latin with distinction in their study. For those students studying another foreign language simultaneously at an advanced level, this course will satisfy the school’s Religious Studies and Philosophy graduation requirement, pending the approval of the academic dean and language department chair. The course material will focus on religious and philosophic texts and themes, examining the relationship between the human and the divine, views on death and the afterlife, the problem of evil, similarities and differences in religious belief and ritual, and questions of ethics and morality. The course will place a heavy demand upon a student’s knowledge of Latin vocabulary, grammar and syntax. The texts to be studied will be translated, interpreted, and analyzed, with extensive reading from secondary literature. Material concerning Roman culture, society, and politics and will also be integrated into the course. Students will take the National Latin Examination and the SAT subject test in Latin.
- Greek 3 (honors)
This course is open to those students who have completed two years of Greek. For those students studying another foreign language simultaneously at the upper level, this course will satisfy the school’s Religious Studies and Philosophy graduation requirement. As such, this course will examine the relationship between the human and the divine, views on death and the afterlife, the problem of evil, similarities and differences in religious belief and ritual, and questions of ethics and morality. The reading selections will contain a mixture of Greek prose and poetry, from a range of genres. The course will place a heavy demand upon a student’s knowledge of Greek vocabulary, grammar and syntax. The texts to be studied will be translated, interpreted, and analyzed, with extensive reading from secondary literature. Besides developing skills of close reading in Greek prose and poetry, the course will also demand of students, skills in critical thinking, as they assimilate prominent secondary scholarship, take part in expository writing, and participate meaningfully in class discussion. Students will take The National Greek Examination in the spring term.
- Greek 4 (honors)
This course is open to students who have completed three years of Greek. The course material will expand upon the literature and themes developed and introduced in Greek 3 Honors. Students will continue to develop skills of close reading in Greek prose and poetry, while reading secondary scholarship and writing extensively. Students will take The National Greek Examination on Greek Prose and Tragedy in the spring term.
MATH
- Advanced Mathematics Seminar (CL)
Requires department approval
Prerequisite: completion of or concurrent enrollment in BC/Multivariable Calculus AP
Topics in undergraduate mathematics will be studied as chosen by the instructor. Topics may include, but are not limited to, Chaotic Dynamical Systems, Logic and Set Theory, Abstract Algebra, Number Theory, Advanced Geometry, Stochastic Processes, Mathematical Modeling, Complex Analysis, Linear Algebra, and Differential Equations.
NCAA Approved Course
RELIGIOUS STUDIES AND PHILOSOPHY
- Religious Radicals
This course will focus on the ways in which diverse religions traditions conceive of and practically respond to the critical issues in the building of a just society. The topics to be covered will include civil rights movement, peace and anti-violence initiatives, responses to poverty, racial and gender justice, and interfaith efforts towards building positive relationships across religious, racial, and ethnic lines. Fall Term will focus on the Foundations of Religious Radicals. Some leaders covered in the fall will include Gandhi, Jesus & Roman Empire, the Hebrew Prophets, Buddha & Mohammed. Winter Term will focus specifically on leaders within the Civil Rights Movement such Martin Luther King, Kasturba Gandhi, Malcolm X and Abraham Heschel. Finally the Spring Term will focus on Post Civil-Rights Movements and leaders and will provide more practical and service learning through projects. Overall, the course will seek to engage sources from Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, and other religious traditions, ranging from selections from their foundational texts to the writings by contemporary religious activists and thinkers who have shaped the social and spiritual landscapes of our country and the entire world.
WORLD LANGUAGES
- Arabic 5 Seminar (CL)
Requires departmental approval
Prerequisite: excellence in Arabic 4 Seminar (or equivalent)
This course will use a wide range of authentic texts and multi-media to prepare students for the National Examination in World Languages (NEWL). The course will follow the communicative approach to help students attain a high functional linguistic proficiency or performance in Arabic within interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational modes of communication. Students will also be introduced to a wide variety of narratives and sub-cultures within the major countries in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region with the objective to help students attain a mid-advanced intercultural competency.
- Advanced Arabic Seminar (CL)
Prerequisite: excellence in Arabic 4 Seminar and Arabic 3 (or equivalent) or departmental approval
This course focuses on visual media using a project-based learning pedagogy. The objective of the course is to help students acquire conversational competency in the major Arabic dialects, and cultural competency of various sub-cultures in the greater Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Students will explore contemporary life in the MENA region through films spanning various countries. Through film and accompanying critical essays, the course will explore topics such as colonialism; ethnic, religious, and national identities; civil conflicts; gender relations; authoritarianism and democratization; and socio-economic disparities. The final project-based products will primarily be short video productions from 1 to 5 minutes on topics focusing on environmental sustainability; migration; cultural, ethnic, and socio-linguistic diversity; economic and social inclusion; as well as xenophobia. One of the goals of students will be to submit their best work to Plural +, a youth video festival on migration, diversity, and social inclusion: https://pluralplus.unaoc.org/
- Chinese 6 (Honors + CL)
Requires departmental approval
Prerequisite: excellence in Chinese 5 (Honors), (or equivalent)
This class will be an extension of Chinese 5 (Honors and will be conducted entirely in Chinese. We will be shifting from modern Chinese to reading several types of classical Chinese literature. In order to deepen students’ literary competence and linguistic sophistication, we will read from different time periods and different genres. Students will be doing projects such as translating the classical articles, and comparing the writing of modern and classical Chinese.
- French 6 (CL)
Requires departmental approval
Prerequisite: French (AP)
This upper-level French course is offered for those who have completed AP French coursework and demonstrate superior speaking and writing skills. With fewer class meetings per week than a regular language course, it will require considerable self-direction on behalf of the student. Course topics will be selected through consultation between the instructor and the class at the beginning of the year. The course will be reading and writing intensive.
NCAA Approved Course