HISTORY:  Wednesday mornings at 7:45 a.m., Learning Center.  In this course, you will choose a topic, research, and create a product for National History Day competition.  The product can be a paper, exhibit, website, performance, or documentary.  This project is very time-consuming and requires a lot of effort, but will teach you research and presentation skills that will lead you to success!  Many of our students have made it to the national level of this competition.  See the Links page for the National History Day website, and download the file below if you would like to know more about this program.  Independent study option is available.  Meetings will begin October 7.  

VERBAL CHALLENGE: Thursday mornings at 7:45 a.m., Learning Center, October-January.  This course will prepare you to take the Verbal SAT.  You will expand your vocabulary, learning hundreds of new words.  You will also learn Greek and Roman roots that will help you to guess the meaning of words you do not yet know.  You will spruce up on grammar and learn how to edit sentences and paragraphs on a test, which is something that will also be helpful in language arts assessments.  Games and activities will make this course fun, but it will also require work outside of class.  If you approach this course seriously, it will pay huge rewards in the future.  Independent study option is available.  Meetings will begin October 15.  

FUTURE ENGINEERS AND ARCHITECTS:  Thursday mornings at 7:45 a.m., Learning Center.  You will learn basics of architectural modeling and some basic engineering principles.  This class is a hands-on experience with engineering projects, but you will also learn about city infrastructure by designing and creating a SimCity. There will be a tryout project for this class – once you sign up, you will receive more information in December.  Meetings will begin in January for those who are selected. 

MATH COUNTS:  Location and time TBA.  This course consists of coaching sessions that will build skills/concepts to handle the challenging math content in the Math Counts Competition.  This course will take you a step above what you thought was possible in math.  Homework will be required to prepare you to compete to become a member of our school’s team.  A runoff will be held in December to choose the four team members and four alternates who will represent our school at the regional contest.  Once team members have been selected, coaching sessions will be expanded to 3:30-5:00 during January, February (and part of March if we make it to State level). For more info, visit www.mathcounts.org.   Meetings begin October 13 in Room 252.

PHILOSOPHY:  Tutorials or access.  Philosophy is guaranteed to be an eye-opening, thought provoking experience.  You will engage in discussions about the nature of the universe and the meaning of concepts, ideas, or words that you have always taken for granted.  It will make you think harder than you ever thought possible!  Grades 6/7 classes begin in October or November.  8th Grade classes begin in January.

SIXTH GRADE MATH:  Tutorials or access.  This course will take you beyond classroom math to explore topics that are above-grade level.  You will learn some basic algebra, challenge your problem-solving skills, and develop a geometric eye through completing projects in origami and polyhedron-building with manipulative kits.  Begins after December break.