Through the Grades

Grade 9: What?

Ninth grade is a year of transition. It’s a time of orientation—not just to a new schedule, a new cast of teachers, and a new group of peers, but also to a new way of thinking. With grade school firmly in the past, new horizons come into view. Students find themselves part of a whole high school, often engaging in activities across the grades. The core question of the ninth-grade year is simple, but profound: What?

What is happening? What do I observe? What is and what isn’t? What am I a part of? What are the expectations in high school? What am I going to do with these newfound freedoms? What are my responsibilities?

The ninth-grade question of what? is a grounding experience—dealing with facts, a sorting out, a settling in, and finding out. Students begin to develop a critical eye, learning to distinguish what is from what isn’t. This critical eye develops through immersive study—what is happening in Moby Dick, in African Literature, in Plant Chemistry, in Thermal Physics, in U.S. History, in the Constitution?

Grade 10: How?

In tenth grade, students have found their footing. They know the terrain and are ready to dig deeper. With the what in hand, they begin to engage with: How?

How does this work? How are things connected? How do I engage more deeply with the world?

The question of how makes for a busy and inquisitive year. Many of our students take part in international exchange in tenth grade, building global perspectives and real-world insight, while also serving as hosts for their international visitors. The tenth grade curriculum continues to mirror this energetic questioning: Physics of Motion, Anatomy and Physiology, Environmental Science, Acids, Bases & Salts—beginning to see the mechanics behind the mystery. Through the historical roots of human civilization, the creative lenses of short story and poetry, and the epic adventures of The Odyssey students start to understand the systems and organization that underlie human and natural life.

Grade 11: Why?

By eleventh grade, students have learned to observe and inquire—now they turn to the deeper question: Why?

Why are we here? Why does the world work the way it does? Why do ideas endure across time? Why do unseen forces shape what we can feel but not see? Why do we question at all?

Eleventh graders know that why is a question we’ve been asking since we were three, but it takes a different shine this year. It’s not superficial. In fact, this why is downright existential at times: standing on the precipice of adulthood, testing the waters of independence with driving and jobs. The eleventh-grade curriculum invites students into deeper exploration. Through Shakespeare and Parzival, Medieval and Renaissance History, and History through Music, students trace the human search for meaning across centuries. Electricity and Magnetism, Projective Geometry, Atomic Chemistry, and Developmental Biology reveal the hidden structures that shape life and reality. It is a year of looking beyond appearances to question not just what matters, but matter itself.

Grade 12: Who?

By twelfth grade, the journey of observation, inquiry, and exploration has brought students to the most personal question of all: Who?

Who am I? Who do I want to become? Who am I in relation to the world around me? Who will I be when I step into the wider world?

Twelfth grade is a time of reflection and emergence. Students stand at the threshold of adulthood, ready to weave together everything they have seen, questioned, and discovered into a deeper sense of self. Our expansive curriculum, having wended from observable phenomena to hypotheses and exploration, down to the unseen, blossoms forth individuals asking the question, “How do I fit into the grand family of individual beings inhabiting this one wild earth together?” In Zoology and Biochemistry, students explore the complexity of life. Through Transcendentalism and Drama, they learn to hear and express their inner voice. The History of Architecture shows how human ideals take physical form in the world. Senior Projects and Internships help students open their windows to feel the collective breath of society, supporting them as they determine their own paths forward. It is a year of becoming—of stepping forward not just with knowledge, but with purpose.

Senior Internship

Seniors gain real-life experience in the working world through a three to four week internship in the spring. Students immerse themselves in a field that interests them, under the mentorship of a working professional.

Senior project

The capstone of our high school experience is a year-long senior project – a commitment to study an area of interest in depth and then offer a presentation to the school community at year's end. Recent projects have included learning to pilot an airplane, studying nutrition and meal preparation for endurance athletes, beekeeping, and building a tiny house.