Online Academic Enrichment Program

This course focuses on building fundamental reading and writing skills. Students read from a variety of sources and online class discussions stress the critical approach to literature; in these discussions students learn about the elements of fiction as they learn to read closely and carefully. A review of grammatical principles lays the foundation for studying expression at the level of the sentence, and particular attention is paid to effective use of coordination and subordination and to correcting common sentence faults. Concurrently, students learn to write focused, purposefully developed expository paragraphs or short essays. Significant time is spent approaching systematically the various steps of the writing process, including brainstorming to generate ideas, selecting appropriate organizational strategies, outlining, and revising and editing a rough draft in order to produce a polished expression. Those who take this course can expect to enter the ninth grade having become more disciplined and more confident readers and writers.

This course strives to make students more disciplined, effective writers and more careful, thoughtful readers. Online class discussions, focused on the close reading of specific passages, teach the students to read carefully and critically. Their analytical skills become more finely tuned as they learn about the elements of fiction and about specific literary devices. This critical approach is complemented by regular short written exercises in which students learn to express clearly their reactions to what they read. Finally, as they write papers on specific topics, students are systematically exposed to the various stages of the writing process. The course reviews the techniques of brainstorming, organization (outlining and "mapping"), and editing, and it stresses the importance of detail to clear expression.

This course is designed for students wishing to improve their English skills in preparation for future study in an international environment. Writing assignments stress organization and grammar. Students write compositions frequently, and they are expected to develop a clear and organized writing style, free of slang and awkward construction. During the course, students read from a variety of sources. Significant time is spent approaching systematically the various steps of the writing process, including brainstorming to generate ideas, selecting appropriate organizational strategies, outlining, and revising and editing a rough draft in order to produce a polished expression. Class sessions will be held entirely in English, and students learn about the elements of fiction as they learn to read closely and carefully. To complement this endeavor, students regularly write short paragraphs in which they closely analyze passages from the reading.

This course will be offered in two sections; one for middle schoolers entering grades 7 and 8, and one for high school students entering grades 9 and 10.

Creative Writing provides a variety of opportunities for those students with a special interest in and a flair for writing poems, scenes, and stories-that is, for using language for effect. The assignments are technical and sequential, designed to develop talents in both writing and editing. Major creative pieces are polished to be evaluated by the instructor and particular attention is given to vivid characterization, varieties of narrative techniques, and principles of "affective" writing, such as appeal to the senses, objectivity, understatement, ellipses, and pace.

This course is open to any student who is reasonably confident with and interested in writing.

This course will be offered in two sections; one for middle schoolers entering grades 7 and 8, and one for high school students entering grades 9 and 10.

Creative Writing provides a variety of opportunities for those students with a special interest in and a flair for writing poems, scenes, and stories-that is, for using language for effect. The assignments are technical and sequential, designed to develop talents in both writing and editing. Major creative pieces are polished to be evaluated by the instructor and particular attention is given to vivid characterization, varieties of narrative techniques, and principles of "affective" writing, such as appeal to the senses, objectivity, understatement, ellipses, and pace.

This course is open to any student who is reasonably confident with and interested in writing.

The primary focus of this course is to increase students' academic performance by teaching effective time management, organizational, and reading comprehension. Students will learn how to set goals, minimize social media distractions, make choices, and establish priorities. The course focuses on organizing work space, binders and notebooks, and how to effectively use a daily planner. Training will be provided in the art of taking College Board and achievement tests, including development of speed and reading comprehension. Vocabulary development is accomplished by the study of prefixes, roots, and suffixes and by teaching students how to use context clues. Students are also taught how to develop greater skill in writing coherent paragraphs. Students who are not currently maximizing their academic potential can benefit from this course.

The Pre-Algebra course is designed to prepare students for an elementary algebra course by reinforcing the skills necessary for success in secondary school mathematics. In addition to an intensive review, this online course previews topics from Algebra I, including operations with numbers and variables, powers and exponents, order of operation and solutions of first degree equations. Other topics will be included as time permits.

This online course is designed for those who need to strengthen their command of numerical techniques, arithmetic, and number systems before beginning a formal study of algebra. Some of the most important topics from a first course in algebra are also introduced to give the student a firm foundation for later work. Linear equations and word problems are studied to give training in the skills needed for a thorough understanding of algebra.

This online course prepares students to the subject of geometry by introducing the more important aspects of the studies of shape and logic. Many of the important properties of geometric figures are studied so that they will be better understood when encountered in the more formal structure of Euclidean proof. These topics include symmetry, angle, length, proportion, and parallelism. The fundamentals of logic and proof are presented to give a foundation in the skills of writing proofs.

The first half of this course reviews many of the topics of a first course in algebra, including graphing, solution of equations, word problems, fractional expressions, and radicals. The second half of the course expands on these topics and presents some of the new topics of the early chapters of a course in second year algebra. This online course is designed to give students greater facility in the skills of algebra by requiring them to work on those techniques which improve with practice.

This course is designed for a student with little or no experience in Latin who intends to pursue Latin at the secondary level. This online course provides a foundation in the forms, grammar, and vocabulary of the Latin language and it works so that students can read original passages of Latin prose and poetry. Because the class stresses Latin's influence on English, students gain a heightened understanding of English vocabulary and grammar.

This elective course gives an introductory look into several topics in the discipline of psychology. Particular attention will be paid to the brain and biological bases of behavior, personality theories, learning theories, and abnormal psychology. Students in this online course alternate between learning new material and also applying their knowledge by analyzing case studies and conducting experiments. This course is ideal for middle school students with little to no previous exposure to the subject of psychology.

Introduction to Psychology will cover several major topics in the discipline of psychology. Major emphasis is placed on research methods, the brain and biological bases of behavior, stages of human development, sensation and perception, cognition and consciousness, learning theories, personality theories, and abnormal psychology. Students in this online course alternate between learning new material and also applying their knowledge by analyzing case studies, conducting experiments, and completing questionnaires to learn about themselves. This course is designed for high school students and requires advanced reading and critical thinking skills as well as previous experience with biology.

Course description coming soon.