Based on academic achievement and/or teacher recommendation, students will enrolled in one-semester Humanities and STEM Enrichment courses that will be held during an access period on one of the four letter days, in place of a study hall. These courses will appear on a student's schedule. Humanities Enrichment will be taught during the first semester, and STEM Enrichment will be taught during the second semester; each course will meet approximately 22 times. Student performance will be communicated in the form of comments, and Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory quarterly grades on the report cards. While students are automatically scheduled for classes based upon academic achievement and/or teacher recommendation, they may choose to drop one or both classes prior to the start of a class or after the first few sessions.
Humanities Enrichment engages students in critical thinking through ideas in philosophy, literature, and history. Units of study relate to concepts like Change, Conflict, Thinking, or Choices. We look at the ideas of philosophers, short literary excerpts, and historical events through primary source documents linked to each concept. Students think about how ideas are reflected in historical events and how they relate to the world today. Through this engaging and challenging experience, students will improve their thinking, reading, writing, and inquiry skills; additionally, they will develop their vocabulary and gain background knowledge that will transfer to other courses. Most of the work will be accomplished during class, but occasionally a short homework assignment may be given in order to extend student learning.
STEM Enrichment will engage students in higher-level problem-solving. A problem-based learning project will allow students to integrate and use their math and science knowledge in the investigation of a real-world problem. This will help them to more fully understand the importance and application of math and science in the real world. This class uses project based learning to help students to understand their own abilities, create a growth mindset that will enable them to reach for their own goals, and build their self-confidence. Coursework will be challenging and inquiry based. Most coursework will be accomplished during class, but occasionally, parts of project work or short assignments to extend students learning may need to be finished at home.