The Upper Division (Grades 9-12)Students entering the Upper Division find teachers who are passionate about their subject matter and eager to engage their classes in a learning dialogue. Our faculty prepare our students to be the leaders of the next generation — accomplished, well-rounded citizens and life-long learners who make the best of their skills, talents, and opportunities.
Hallmarks• Leadership Development Program addresses character development with grade-specific curriculum:
9th grade – Ethical Decision-Making and Public Speaking
10th grade – Leadership Skills
11th grade – Service and Mentoring
12th grade – Life Skills
• new Upper Division building, Landy Hall, includes art room with a patio connecting to visual arts cottage; a state of the art computer lab; a college center; and a closed circuit TV system
• new annual "Service Week” provides opportunity for all students to participate in a local, national or international service trip
• comprehensive college counseling program provides individualized attention beginning in 9th grade. Counselors offer advice on test preparation, constructing curriculum, developing list of colleges to research, and financial aid/scholarship application processes
Highlights• Upper Division students participated in 7,000 hours of community service last year
• 100% of students are accepted to college
• Students received $3.5 million in scholarship aid last year and enrolled in institutions including Harvard, Notre Dame, Parsons School of Design, University of Florida, Vanderbilt, and Princeton.
Upper Division Daily Schedule (revised Jan. 2010)
Upper Division Test and Project Calendar Upper Division Teachers' Pages (login required)
Seven-Day Rotation CalendarCourses Offered 2009-2010 Concise List | Detailed InformationService Week Mini-Mester detailsGraduation Requirements
22 Credits are required for graduation according to the following distribution:
- English - 4 (1 per year)
- Mathematics - 4 (1 per year)
- World Language - 3 (in the same language)
- Science - 3 (Physical Science, Chemistry, Biology)
- Social Studies - 3 (1 Western, 1 World, and 1 U.S. History)
- Arts and Humanities - 1
- Physical Education - 1 (Health, Personal Fitness and Ethical Decision Making)
- Electives - 3
- Satisfactory Completion annually of the Leadership Development Program
- Satisfactory Completion annually of the Service Week/Mini-Mester Program
- Community Service – 20 hours per year, beginning with the Class of 2012
Courseloads
Ninth
and tenth graders are required to take a minimum of six credits each
year.
Eleventh and twelfth graders must take a minimum total of eleven
credits over those two years with no fewer than five credits taken in
either year.
Thinking of the eventual college process, the ultimate
objective for each student is to build a curriculum which enables the
student to achieve at a high level and which challenges him or her
academically.
Honors and Advanced Placement Courses
Twenty-two Advanced Placement courses and twenty-three Honors courses will be
offered in the 2009 - 2010 school year. The actual offering of some
courses is contingent on enrollment.
Students are enrolled in
Honors and Advanced Placement courses based on the student's
performance within a department in the preceding year and faculty
recommendation. Shorecrest's course recommendation process allows a great deal of flexibility in
scheduling as a student who excels in one discipline may well be in
Honors and eventually AP courses in that department while pursuing a
regular course in some other discipline. Similarly, a student who
excels in a regular course during one year is very likely to be
recommended for Honors work in that discipline for the following year.
Most AP courses are only open to students in grades 11 and 12.
Why APs?
Shorecrest offers a wide selection of Advanced Placement (AP)
courses because we believe that such courses teach not only
discipline-specific skills and knowledge but also more generalized
skills and habits of mind that are critical components of informed
participation in the 21st century's global society. Developing
comparisons and contrasts (of people, historical periods, cultures,
ideologies and the like); evaluating the applicability of a given
hypothesis to a specific situation or problem; analyzing for evidence
of authorial point of view; drawing conclusions from various forms of
data (tables, graphs, maps, works of art, editorial cartoons); sifting
and prioritizing information for relevance — all are essential skills
for thoughtful decision-making and participation in today's society.
Print Page
