Academic Pathways
The Academic Pathways program offers motivated students an opportunity to identify and focus on an interdisciplinary area of study or thematic concentration in their Upper School career.
Students complete their pathways through a combination of coursework and experiential learning opportunities in grades 9-12. In meeting these requirements, students earn diploma distinctions that make visible their passion, dedication and self-motivation in their chosen area of study.
Academic Pathway Options
Students may choose from these six Academic Pathways
- Excellence in the Visual Arts
- Excellence in the Performing Arts
- Environmental Sustainability
- Technology and Society
- Global Perspective
- Social Justice and Community Engagement
Academic Pathways: Three Unifying Components
Each Academic Pathway consists of three components
- FOUNDATIONS (Required courses): Students must successfully complete coursework that demonstrates their proficiency in the foundational knowledge, skills, and methods necessary for their area of study.
- On average, each pathway requires a student complete 2 full-year (or 4 semester-long) elected courses.
- Students must receive a grade of B or higher in these courses.
- SCHOLARLY CONNECTIONS (Portfolio of intra-curricular academic work that is outside of foundations courses): Students must engage in academic work that demonstrates critical and interdisciplinary thinking within their chosen area of focus. These connections must be intentional and student-driven, rather than prompted or required by a specific course or assignment.
- A student must include the Humanities 11 Research Paper as one scholarly connection, along with 3 additional summative projects from other courses.
- Students will compile these pieces of work together into a digital portfolio and provide a published reflection as to how each piece of work connects to the essential questions of their chosen pathway.
- EXPERIENCE (Extra-curricular): Students must engage in out-of-the-classroom learning that provides firsthand, practical experience in their area of study beyond required coursework.
- Collectively, these experiences should address or prompt reflection on all of the essential questions tied to their pathway of choice.
- Experiences must include both one leadership component and one professional component. A single experience may satisfy both components if it meaningfully demonstrates each.
- All experiences will be documented in the same digital portfolio as the scholarly connections, along with a student's reflection on each experience.
Sample Pathway
Environmental Sustainability
Sample Coursework in Foundations
- Climate Action* (10 or 11)
- Literature & the Environment* (12)
- Advanced Biology (12)
* Proposed course under development
Sample Scholarly Connections:
- Visual art final project: Climate Change
- Humanities 11 research project: Indigenous Conceptions of Nature
- Computer science project that focuses on the mining industry, powered by digital tech demands
Sample Experience
- Internship with local organization (e.g., Tilth Alliance)
- Student manager of Northwest School farm + garden
- Participation in the school's Climate Action Team
- Organizing school-wide clothing swap
