Academic Curriculum
Rigorous & Inquiry-Based
Developmentally intentional, our high school curriculum emphasizes depth and breadth of subject understanding at the age students are ready for the appropriate intellectual challenge.
Project-based and rigorous, all class curriculum, from science and math to social studies and language arts, is designed to draw questions out of students, inviting them to think for themselves.
This is how critical and creative thinking skills are developed at a Waldorf high school and it demands that students constantly and consistently follow their own line of reasoning, observation, comparison, analysis, and synthesis.
Through this approach, guided by the support of dedicated teachers, students arrive at their own conclusions, which are alive and ever-growing, and learn to trust the ideas, abilities, and perspectives most alive within themselves.
While honors courses are offered in many classes, our standard curriculum covers the equivalent content of AP courses while emphasizing depth of understanding over rote memorization. Many students find they already have a solid foundation for AP study if they choose to take the exams, through their own self-direction, elsewhere.
“The Waldorf curriculum is a road map. It poses the questions our students don’t even know they’re asking yet.”
The purpose of our curriculum is to provide a foundation in knowledge, thinking and action that our students can continue to draw on as they go forward in their studies and their lives.
Students rotate through in-depth, multidisciplinary topics of study every few weeks in what is called their Morning Lesson. These lessons occur alongside classes in world language, math, humanities, science, movement, and the arts.
9th Grade Asks “What?”
Students in their first year of high school are striving to understand the world as it is, therefore the age-appropriate curriculum for this year engages concrete thinking and objectivity. As their black-and-white thinking produces a strong “this, not that” point-of-view, 9th graders practice accurate observation and clear recollection in various contexts, fostering shades of grey as work through opposites.
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Morning Lessons: In-depth studies in Science, Humanities, and Math
Math: Algebra I or Geometry (all year), Combinations and Permutations Block
Sciences: Organic Chemistry, Anatomy, Geology, Thermal Physics
English: Comedy & Tragedy, Writer’s Workshop, Descriptive Writing
Social Studies: Revolutions, History of Art, Story & Biography, Ancient History
World Language: Spanish
Music: Orchestra, Choir, or Guitar
Movement: P.E. and Eurythmy
Arts: Fine Arts, Applied Arts, Handwork
Other Enrichment Courses: Life Skills, Study Hall
10th Grade Asks “How?”
In their second year of high school, students learn about the processes and developmental systems that produce the world around us. Where a younger student may see them exclusively as “either/or,” the sophomore curriculum presents the complexity of issues from multiple viewpoints, inviting students to compare and contrast various perspectives.
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Morning Lessons: In-depth studies in Science, Humanities, and Math
Math: Algebra II or Geometry (all year), Conic Sections block
Sciences: Human Physiology, Inorganic Chemistry, Mechanics & Motion, Meteorology & Hydrology
English: Epic of the Odyssey, History of English, Lyric Poetry, Art of Fiction
Social Studies: Global History from 1500, Ancient Greece, US Democracy & Civics, US History Civil War Era
World Language: Spanish or Mandarin
Music: Orchestra, Choir, or Guitar
Movement: P.E. and Eurythmy
Arts: Fine Arts, Applied Arts, Handwork, 10th Grade Play
Other Enrichment Courses: Life Skills, Study Hall
11th Grade Asks “Why?”
Existential and increasingly abstract questions begin to arise for our juniors, who are beginning to look both within themselves and out into the world as they consider the archetypal questions of humankind. Our curriculum meets this fiercely idealistic age with classes that offer opportunities to consider their developing personal identity and goals, as well as their responsibilities to the larger community.
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Morning Lessons: In-depth studies in Science, Humanities, and Math
Math: Algebra II or Pre Calculus (all year), Projective Geometry Block
Sciences: Astronomy, Physics of Electricity, Atomic Chemistry, Botany
English: Dante’s Inferno, Shakespeare, Poetry: Romantics & Modernists, Culture and Identity, Parzival & the Personal Journey
Social Studies: Comparative Religions, 20C History, History of Music
World Language: Spanish or German (Mandarin coming 2025-26)
Music: Orchestra, Choir, or Guitar
Movement: P.E. and Eurythmy
Arts: Fine Arts, Applied Arts, Handwork
Other Enrichment Courses: Life Skills, College & Career Guidance
12th Grade Asks “Who?”
Seniors wrestle with questions of identity and purpose as they envision their place in the world. The central curriculum questions of the year are related to studying thought and expression, in history to the present, and how these inform their individual quest and answer to, Who? Who am I? Who do I want to become? The new experiences of senior year—travel, senior projects, envisioning their future—offer opportunities to further perspectives on the questions of self and encourage students to answer these inquiries with intention and purpose.
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Morning Lessons: In-depth studies in Science, Humanities, and Math
Math: Practical Math, Pre-Calculus, or Calculus
Sciences: Zoology, Physics of Light, Biochemistry, Senior Science Electives
English: Philosophic Literature, Senior Writing Seminar, Faust Book 1, Senior English Electives, Russian Literature
World Language: Spanish or German (Mandarin coming 2026-27)
Music: Orchestra, Choir, Guitar, or Ensemble
Movement: P.E. and Eurythmy
Arts: Senior Self-Portraits, Art Elective, Senior Play
Other Enrichment Courses: Life Skills, College & Career Guidance, Senior Project
