SERVICE LEARNING

Service should be a journey with our brothers and sisters in need. As one enters into this journey with people whose life experiences are different from our own, both participants and society are transformed. Service is internalized and becomes a mission. Villa Maria wants our students to joyfully take this journey and, in doing so, to reach the following objectives:

• to provide further opportunity for students to discover and use their God-given gifts and to share these gifts with others,

• to connect the academic curriculum with an educated, meaningful response to the needs of the community so that students use their academic and social abilities to improve the community,

• to educate students on and encourage reflection on issues of social justice and their responses to them in accordance with Catholic social teachings

• to provide further opportunity for students to develop as leaders, problem solvers, and women of God, and as such to remember the words of St. Alphonsus Liguori: “He who trusts himself is lost. He who trusts in God can do all things.”

905-908 Service Learning 9, 10, 11, 12

Grade 9-12

Pass/Incomplete/Fail

Service Hour Requirements

FINANCIAL LITERACY

876 Financial Literacy Seminar

Grade 11, 12

Credit 0.25

College Prep

This pass/fail seminar will meet one day a week for a "skinny" for 12 total class meetings. On days when the seminar does not meet, the student will have RFT. This seminar comes to us from Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union through their Community Education Department and is taught by them. The objective is to help individuals make informed financial choices. Topics include advanced money management, selecting a financial institution, credit cards, budgeting, investing, identity theft, credit and debt, workplace etiquette. You can learn more of the lessons via FMFCU's informational flyer.

SENIOR CAPSTONE

Senior Capstone is a culminating learning activity that encourages critical thinking and research, promotes conversation and problem solving, and results in real-life application of prior and acquired knowledge. Students will concentrate on areas of personal interest. Using an inquiry-based method, they will connect their acquired knowledge to life experiences, thus deepening their awareness of what they have learned. The goal of this learning activity is not only to sharpen and expand the students’ method of research but to develop interpersonal and communication skills and to encourage personal growth. Ultimately, the students will learn how to learn, and hopefully will enjoy the process. The senior Capstone Experience takes the place of final end-of-year subject-area examinations and includes completion of the Capstone project as well as participation in the Business Etiquette Conference and week-long mentorship.

873 Capstone Experience

Grade 12

Credit 1.0

An inquiry-based experience, driven by student interest, the Senior Capstone Experience is required for graduation. It involves critical thinking, investigative research, problem solving, written summary and application of prior and acquired knowledge through documented field experiences and/or service. Fulfillment of a graded assignments, a culminating assessment, and participation in the Business Etiquette Conference and mentor experience is required for graduation. This course must be fulfilled to meet all graduation requirements.

DUAL ENROLLMENT PROGRAM WITH

IMMACULATA UNIVERISTY

Dual Enrollment 1 (902)

Dual Enrollment 2 (909)

Dual Enrollment 3 (903)

Dual Enrollment 4 (911)

Dual Enrollment World Religions (904)

• Grades 11, 12

• Credit 1.0 (per course)

• AP Credit awarded

Immaculata University offers dual enrollment courses onsite at Villa Maria for a fee of $300 per course. The following one-semester courses are offered here by Immaculata University faculty. Some of these courses are scheduled during Block 1 on both A and B days, but will follow a calendar schedule (meeting Monday & Wednesday or Tuesday & Thursday); others will run on a single letter day during 2nd or 3rd block. Grades earned in dual-enrolled courses are incorporated into the student’s VMAHS GPA and are recorded on the transcript as being college level work with our AP quality point weight. Participating students will have an Immaculata University transcript indicating completion of any classes. Students interested in any of these dual enrollment courses are instructed to discuss first with their Counselor during the course selection process. Starting in the 2020-2021 school year, some of these dual enrollment courses became part of an academic exchange program with Devon Prep and Malvern Prep, in which their students will attend the dual enrollment courses on Villa Maria’s campus. Course approval/signature required from Ms. Henderson, Director of Curriculum & Instruction.

The following courses will be offered for the 2022-2023 school year:

• THE 314 - World Religions (Fall semester)

Denoted in PowerSchool as 904 Dual Enrollment World Religions

Prerequisite: A student wishing to register for Honors Theology 4 must have earned a grade of at least an “B+” in her last two semesters of Theology, maintain an “A-” through the end of Theology 3, and receive a recommendation from her current teacher.

This semester course will explore the nature and philosophy of the worldviews that make up the various religious traditions, especially those of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam and Christianity. Students will examine the elements of each religion and the ways in which humans have experienced the sacred and how they attempt to answer the big questions of life. This rigorous course will help the student not only to understand the doctrine, history, and philosophical foundations of other religions but also provide her with another lens to examine Catholicism in the context of a pluralistic and ecumenical world. Having already completed a course in social justice, this course will help students to recognize the need for mutual understanding and respectful dialogue among members of the world’s major religions as vital to seeking and maintaining world peace. Students will have the option to take dual enrollment college credit for this course.

This course will run 1st semester during 1st block but will not be part of the exchange program with Devon Prep and Malvern Prep.

• CIS 224 – Database and Information I (Fall semester) * NEW !!! *

Denoted in PowerSchool as 902 Dual Enrollment 1

Introduces the fundamentals of database, including: development life cycle, data modeling, SQL, architecture, and a survey of new developments. Hands-on projects give the student practical experience with these concepts.

This course will run 1st semester during 1st block on Mondays & Wednesdays and will be part of the exchange program with Devon Prep and Malvern Prep.

• PSY 357 – Sport Psychology (Fall and/or Spring semester) * NEW !!! *

Denoted in PowerSchool as 909 Dual Enrollment 2

Exploration of a wide variety of subject matter that focuses on enhancing athletic and training accomplishments. Emphasis is on the description of relevant psychological techniques that have proven to augment readiness and improve performance in exercise and sport settings.

This course will run during 2nd or 3rd block but will not be part of the exchange program with Devon Prep and Malvern Prep.

• ACC 201 - Accounting & Budgeting (Spring semester)

Denoted in PowerSchool as 903 Dual Enrollment 3

An introduction to accounting information and the basic accounting cycle. Techniques of accounting for business transactions, preparation and interpretation of financial statements for internal control and external reporting and for use in making sound business decisions, forecasting and budgeting methods.

This course will run 2nd semester during 1st block on Tuesdays & Thursdays and will be part of the exchange program with Devon Prep and Malvern Prep.

• INFO 103 - Introduction to Data Analytics (Spring semester)

Denoted in PowerSchool as 911 Dual Enrollment 4

Introduces the fundamentals of data analysis. Students learn to gather and interpret data in order to gain insight into possible future trends and strategies. Research and case studies exemplify how data analytics is being used in business and industry.

This course will run 2nd semester during 1st block on Mondays & Wednesdays and will be part of the exchange program with Devon Prep and Malvern Prep.

SCHOLARS DIPLOMA SEQUENCE

Students who earn an academic scholarship to Villa Maria Academy and demonstrate cognitive aptitude, intellectual curiosity, and a thirst for learning are invited to participate in the Villa Maria Academy Scholars’ Diploma sequence. Students pursuing this distinction will take coursework at the highest level of attainment, while simultaneously participating in scholars’ seminar programming that provides authentic experiences and research. Students in the Scholars’ Diploma program are provided opportunities to showcase their interests in a way that demonstrates each individual’s unique story and passions. Each Scholar will declare a “focus” of either STEM or Humanities and this determination will serve to guide the student’s course selection over her four years at Villa. Continuation in the Scholars Program from one year to the next requires annual maintenance of a 3.8 cumulative GPA.

872 Scholars Seminar 1: Introduction to Academic Research

Grade 9

Credit 0.5

VMA Scholars Year 1 supports, supplements, and extends the skills taught in other 9th Grade courses. Through individual and collaborative inquiry, students will discover the contribution of multiple viewpoints, discern bias in various types of communication, recognize unreliable sources, and support opinions adequately and logically. The content and instruction of the course will aim to enhance and further develop the following skills: critical thinking and reading, scholarly research, effective and responsible collaboration, written and oral communication, and the formation of logical arguments. In addition, students will explore the factors which influence the formation of decisions and use inductive and deductive reasoning by studying a variety of sources drawn from literature, the media, and pop culture. The students will also discover the advantages and drawbacks of various forms of communication. Advanced research skills will be taught, skills not typically taught until junior year. A final collaborative activity will utilize a pro/con approach to explore a topic of interest to the participants. This team project will be presented as a scholarly research paper and also in a visual format in a visual format such as film.

874 Scholars Seminar 2: Investigating Interests

Grade 10

Credit 0.5

VMA Scholars Year 2 supports, supplements, and extends the skills taught in other 10th Grade courses. To encourage personal curiosity and focus student interests for the greater communal good, students inventory their personal interests, understand how their own passions and talents can be used for the benefit of the larger community, and develop a plan to use their skills in a global context. As they ponder and plan for the completion of a personal project, second year Scholars students also continue to hone their critical thinking skills through a Socratic Seminar that focuses on defining the concepts of beauty and value. Students build upon the knowledge they gained about truth and bias in Scholars Year 1 and add to it by defining beauty, goodness, and value after careful consideration of the works of ancient and modern philosophers. At the conclusion of Scholars Year 2, students should be able to discuss philosophical concepts such as truth and beauty and apply their understanding by contributing to the welfare of others around them. Students will complete a large scale personal project that showcases their ability to plan, organize, and lead.