The Upper School curriculum is tough, and it pushes students to study harder, reach higher, and learn for the sake of truly understanding the world.
All Upper School students at the Academy are college-bound, and they and their families have high aspirations for the future. Consequently, college placement and counseling are high priorities and significant effort goes into ensuring that all students are fully prepared academically, socially and emotionally to meet the admissions standards of America’s most highly selective institutions of higher learning. The entire Upper School program is designed to accomplish this goal.
selection of electives gives students access to a wide range of subjects and the opportunity to experience interrelations among the disciplines.
The Mathematics curriculum, materials and methodologies allow students to discover, understand and predict arithmetic patterns, creating models of inquiry so that results may be analyzed and generalized. Students are expected to challenge hypotheses and discover concepts and formulas by truly owning them. Multi-sensory teaching strategies support various learning styles. Students study three or four years of mathematics in either a regular track or the POWER TRACK, which concludes with two years of calculus.
The science program prepares students with the skills and knowledge necessary to understand and appreciate scientific theories, concepts, and laws governing and pertaining to the living and physical worlds. A rich variety of course offerings integrate historical knowledge into the present context to encourage students to examine, organize, test and communicate information coherently. Physics, chemistry, and biology are required, and individual research projects are encouraged and supported.
The History program inspires a respect for the past and an appreciation for cultural diversity through the examination of evidence, the fostering of debate and the articulation of conclusions. A rich variety of offerings provides a curriculum that promotes community and global awareness, stimulates independent and creative thought, and instills ethical leadership and good citizenship in students who live in a rapidly changing and complex world. Three years of history are required.
This curriculum enables students to acquire a working language in which to understand and express themselves within the range of their experiences and needs. In that process, students also gain a better understanding of language in general. Students are placed according to their level of proficiency in the language, not necessarily by grade. They are required to study three consecutive years of a foreign or classical language, as well as to understand the way of life of people of another culture (contemporary or from the past) and its history. Students may take more than one language at a time. Teaching of the modern languages is done in the target language.
The Department of the Arts fosters self-confidence and artistic expression in all students while developing their unique talents. Building on a strong foundation of skills, students learn to think creatively and understand that risk-taking is a natural part of the artistic process. Through exposure and experience, students develop a life-long love and respect for the arts.
In the Upper School, two years of formal arts classes are required, one being in Grade 9 and the other to be fulfilled during any other year of the Upper School. In Grades 10-12, students may elect to take classes in the department as they wish. Students with a strong desire to pursue arts study and arts-related careers after school make that evident in the college admissions process, and the College Guidance team in tandem with the Arts faculty work with students to find the college program that fits best.
The Computer Science Department uses current and emerging technology to foster 21st century learning skills. Our offerings, as well as the tools and resources we provide, help students develop skills in critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration and creativity. Grade 9 students take a year long Computer Science Principles course. Students in Grades 11-12 may take Advanced Placement Computer Science with departmental approval. The integrated use of technology in all disciplines is supported by the Computer Science Department.
The mission of the Physical Education and Health Department is to promote a healthy lifestyle. Exposure to and proficiency in all aspects of the curriculum ensure that students leave Staten Island Academy prepared to lead healthy lives in mind, body and spirit. Physical education is required every year.