Curriculum

Math | Science | Technology | Humanities |Fine Arts |World Languages
Health & Fitness | START: Students & Teachers All Reading Together

Humanities

Humanities courses combine literature and English language arts with social studies to broaden our students' understanding of what it means to be human. Special emphasis is placed on the lives, work and history of women and people of color.  

Middle School Academy

Students learn about ancient civilizations in 7th grade. We take a close look at the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, and ancient China, with a close look at the daily lives of ordinary people as well as legendary historical figures and their influences on modern times.

Eighth graders take a reading- and writing-intensive course focusing on the history of the Americas. We study how the earliest groups of people arrived in North and South America and how they shaped the development of the United States and its government. We analyze historical documents that give insight into the nation prior to the Revolutionary War. In analyzing our history, we look at various groups' points-of-view and their roles in influencing the formation of the U.S.

Junior Academy

Ninth graders examine notions of self and community, focusing on their own Chicago neighborhoods. Last year’s freshmen did ethnographic studies of several ethnic Chicago neighborhoods. 

In 10th grade, students return to the study of American history from 1880 to 1945, focusing on thematic issues of Race and Membership, Immigration, the Harlem Renaissance, and a study of World War II. 

Senior Academy

In 11th grade, students take a more in-depth look into early American history, focusing on the historical development of the divisions of people by race, class, and gender and the influence of religion in our country’s history. The 11th grade class also includes a focus on the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Our seniors take a thematic course on Civil Wars, focusing on three case studies.  Past students have examined the American Civil War, the Indian war for independence from Britain, the South African struggle against apartheid, genocide in Rwanda, and the Zapatista Movement in Chiapas, Mexico. 

Reading and Writing

Students at every grade level take a separate reading and writing class, in addition to Humanities and START, which meets 2-3 times per week (depending on the grade level). Reading and writing classes focus on building solid language skills and developing strategies that can be used in every subject area to better understand textbooks, novels, word problems, and real-world reading.  Writing instruction focuses on helping students communicate their ideas clearly in school, in the workplace, and in everyday life.

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Fine Arts

Visual arts play a key role in bringing academics to life. Art projects are designed to increase students’ understanding of the expressive qualities of the arts, and how artists and their works shape culture and increase understanding of societies past and present.  While students will develop technical skills through projects in a variety of media (pencil, pen and ink, watercolor, ceramics, collage, papier mache, printmaking), the real focus of art instruction is to develop students’ capacity for creativity and their ability to see the world in a new way.  Art projects are frequently integrated with studies in other classes such as science and humanities

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World Languages: Spanish

Students strive to understand and interpret written and spoken Spanish well enough to be able to use the language both within and beyond the school setting.

We use the Rassias method as an integral part of our language instruction. From the Rassias Method website:

The aim of the method is to provide a non-competitive atmosphere where the second or third language student is highly motivated and feels comfortable with the language in as short a time as possible. This goal is achieved through a series of specific teaching procedures, techniques, and tools that:

• Create and maintain a dynamic classroom pace and atmosphere, thus capturing and holding student attention.
• Foster spontaneity and creative expression, eliciting an extremely high rate of student response from the earliest to the advanced stages of language training.
• Eliminate the learner's natural self-consciousness and fear of mistakes.
• Emphasize the relevance of the language to the student's own life experience.
• Engage the student on an emotional level.

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