Upper School
Students emerge from the Upper School with a true liberal arts education. The academic core is a three-year survey of human society from prehistory through the present day. Learning to analyze history from political, economic, social, religious, and artistic perspectives lays the foundation for college-level electives in the senior year. Humanities courses highlight social justice issues by examining the effects of political decisions across the world.
Humanities > Teachers collaborate closely with other departments in cross-disciplinary studies. Tenth graders study Darwin in the context of Biology and Humanities simultaneously; seniors in Philosophy and Primate Biology join to consider the origins of ethical behavior. Using primary sources rather than text books develops sophisticated reading and analytical skills, along with a high level of independent inquiry. Small groups of students discuss their writing with teachers each week.
Math > Rigorous training in mathematical skills, reasoning, and logic prepares students for college-level programs in Math and the hard sciences. Advanced Calculus enables students to take Advanced Placement exams for college credit, and our students are invited to sit for the prestigious American Invitational Mathematics Examination.
Sciences > Open-ended lab work teaches students to devise their own ways of exploring and testing concepts. The resulting skill in framing salient questions led three teams of NWS students to design experiments that won nationwide NASA competitions and were launched aboard the Space Shuttle. Science classes provide unusual opportunities for field research in fossil prospecting, photochemistry, and field ecology. NWS alumni pursue careers in the sciences and math, win prestigious National Science Foundation grants for graduate research, and present their work at professional conferences around the U.S.
International Languages > Classes in Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and French prepare students to function independently in foreign countries and to understand international points of view. Advanced language skills and cultural study produce unique results, such as a bilingual production of Federico Garcia Lorca's Blood Wedding / Bodas De Sangre. NWS students travel to Spain, China, Cuba, France, and El Salvador, where many have been trained as international election monitors.
Senior Electives > In the fall, seniors study the U.S. Constitution and electoral system while working as volunteers in political campaigns. They also choose from a variety of seminar courses: Art and Social Justice, Asian Studies, Comparative Literature, Games and Play, Global Issues, Latin American Studies, Law and Society, Media Studies, Philosophy, and Senior Writing Seminar. *
In the context of the Senior Humanities Electives, students do a substantial Senior Project on a topic of their own choosing.
* Global Issues introduces students to International Relations by exploring worldwide environmental issues, the emergence of China as a global power, and international economics. The class uses original sources to examine the complexity of establishing international laws, from Immanuel Kant's To Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch, to publications by the Council on Foreign Relations.
To enhance our effectiveness in working with students with special needs, the school contracts with an independent learning specialist who consults regularly with teachers.
"Instead of taking a diverse group of students where the school wants them to go, The Northwest School asks, 'Who can this student be?' and helps each one get there."
— Matthew Sutton, Parent '10 & '12
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