Registration for academic year 2025-26 is currently open. To inquire about a class, please contact the teacher via email (click on the teacher's name below). If you would like to discuss a course or student placement over the phone, please include your phone number in your email to the teacher.

​

Algebra I (Laurie Warren)

Using Elementary Algebra by Harold Jacobs, students will cover topics such as operations, square roots, graphing, linear, simultaneous and quadratic equations with plenty of practice. This is a dialect approach where illustrations and real life critical thinking problems help students understand why formulas work and how to apply them.

Grade: 7, 8, 9, 10

Meets twice weekly (see Schedule)

​

NEW! Introductory Biology (Charles Nystrom)

Over 2 semesters, we will work together through the wonders of biology, focused on going beyond the text, memorization, and classification, and into the sacred, marvelous, and created. The class will consist of lectures, homework assignments, a midterm and final, and creative opportunities. Guidance will be provided for completion of optional (but highly encouraged) at home labs, and select group lab demonstrations will be organized as we are able.

• Fall Semester: Using the first half (modules 1-8) of Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Biology, 2nd ed (Wile & Durnell) as our framework, we will cover the tenets of biology, microbes, fungi, the chemistry of biology, cell structure/anatomy, cell reproduction and DNA, and genetics. 

• Spring Semester: Using the second half (modules 9-16) of Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Biology, 2nd ed (Wile & Durnell) as our framework, we will cover evolution, ecology, invertebrates, plants, and vertebrates.

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12

Pre-requisites: General Science course; ability to read, take notes, and work independently

Meets once a week (see Schedule)

 

NEW! Integrated Biology (Charles Nystrom)

Intended to be a companion course to the core Biology course, or to serve as a stand alone course for the motivated student or curious life-long learner. Using that week’s core biology material as a starting point, we will explore anything and everything biology touches: graduate fields of study, careers, industries; theology, philosophy, poetry, art; medicine, practical life, whimsy. We will begin with review of optional homework/readings, move into group discussion/activity, and end with a time of informal lecture/dialogue that is open to the public. Optional grading and adjustably rigorous assignments can be discussed on an individual basis, or the class can be taken without a grade in mind and simply to explore biology. Parents are welcome to participate as they desire.

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12 + adult

No tests; written and oral assignments optional

Pre-requisites: currently taking or have taken high school biology; or strong interest in biology

Meets once a week in the evening (see Schedule)

Special cost: $100 (no cost to students of Introductory Biology course)

​

Integrated Math Science and Engineering (IMS) (Marty Georges)

Exploration of classical problems of science and engineering throughout history, particularly those problems that have led to the development of mathematical methods that scientists and engineers take for granted today. Students will learn to develop solutions to problems using first principles of physics and engineering. The course will consist of lectures, in-class collaborative problem solving, weekly homework, and unit studies. Topics may vary depending upon the interests of students; previously the class analyzed, modeled, and accurately predicted the performance and trajectory of a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster.

Grade: 11, 12

Prerequisites: Algebra II, Trigonometry, Geometry; Pre-calculus or Calculus desired.

Meets once a week (see Schedule)

​

Music: Meaning and Materials (John Sundet)

We think of music as primarily about listening and pleasure, but these things are merely a gateway to the riches that deeper musical study yields. This course provides an introduction to music with a focus on language and participation, covering philosophy (musical meaning, learning to think about music), physics and materials (rhythm, tone and pitch, timbre, etc.), notation, and theory (temperament, scales, keys, harmony, etc.). The course will approach all topics via concrete musical examples and stress active active musical involvement using our voices—the primary musical instrument given to each of us.

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12 (also open to adult students)

Prior musical experience welcome but not needed.

Meets once a week (see Schedule)

​

Bible Overview (John Sundet)

A guided journey through the full text of the Bible designed to promote biblical literacy and to establish the basis for a lifetime of reflection and re-engagement with the text. A prominent goal is to assure that no book or chapter remains obscure or unrelated to the redemptive narrative. First semester: Genesis through Song of Songs; Second semester: Isaiah through Revelation. 

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12 (also open to adult students)

Meets twice weekly (see Schedule)

​​​

NEW! Great Books of Western Civilization II (Joseph Leake)

Picking up the threads from the previous course, this second installment in our Great Books program teases out the richly woven tapestry of thought from the High Middle Ages through the Renaissance. Students will enter the alien yet oddly-familiar and strikingly beautiful worlds depicted in The Song of Roland, the Lays of Marie de France, the Arthurian romances of Chrétien de Troyes, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Cervantes’ Don Quixote, and Shakespeare’s Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Emerging with a robust understanding of this crucial epoch in the western tradition, students will delve into such topics as the transition from heroic epic to romance, the spread of the Italian Renaissance, Humanism and the Reformation, and the development of English drama. 

Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12

Meets once a week (see Schedule)

This course constitutes a portion of our three-year Great Books program; each Great Books course is offered in rotation, and students may take them in any order

 

Creative Writing (Debbie Goodale)

In this course, students will explore different forms of creative writing, such as poetry, memoir/narrative pieces, creative nonfiction, and journaling. Students will analyze mentor texts (the writing of published authors) as models for improving and expanding their creative writing skills. Students can expect mini-lessons and practice in creative writing skills, including word choice, voice, tone, etc. In addition, students will read various texts by poets and writers that speak to the creative writing process.

Grade: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Meets once a week (see Schedule)

​

NEW! Growth and Structure of the English Language II: English Language and Literature, Medieval to Modern (Joseph Leake)

Did you know that English boasts the oldest tradition of vernacular literature in Europe, reaching back over 1,300 years? English grammar and vocabulary have changed and developed over time to make, not only the language we know today, but also that of our greatest literary and historical monuments—from the Old English of the first Bible-translations and the Middle English of The Canterbury Tales to the Renaissance English of Shakespeare, from the neoclassical style of Jane Austen and the Declaration of Independence to the use of American dialect in the novels of Mark Twain. Students powerfully strengthen their understanding and use of English by studying the history of both the language and its literature together. This approach allows students to put down deep roots in English: instead of starting from abstract principles of grammar and usage and then applying those principles, students begin organically with the language and literature itself; they go “inside” the language and learn from its literary Masters, acquiring along the way enhanced vocabulary, greater skill in composition, and increased literary comprehension. Come find out why some characters say “thou” but others say “you” in Shakespeare’s plays, what the witches in Macbeth have to do with the dragon in Beowulf, why saying that Sir Lancelot “wept with heavy cheer” is not as contradictory as it looks, what the real difference is between “sit” and “set,” “lie” and “lay”; and much more! 

Grades: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Meets once a week (see Schedule)​

​

Senior Thesis Writing Class (Eleanor Georges)

Advanced writing course that hones skills of critical thinking, research, argumentation, and editing, refines the writing process (outlining, drafting, revising), and culminates in the composition and public presentation and defense of a thesis-length essay.

Grade: 12

Meets twice weekly, Spring semester only (day and time scheduled based on availability of registered students)​

​

NEW! The World of Faërie: Fairy Tales, Faith, and Enchantment​ (Joseph Leake)

​G.K. Chesterton once described a time when, in search of something to read, he found himself looking drearily through a stack of dreary-sounding modern novels, when all of a sudden he found one that made him cry out for joy: “Here at least, here at last, one could find a little common sense!” he thought. The book he had found was a copy of Grimms’ Fairy Tales. C.S. Lewis once observed that fairy tales were an essential part of preparing children for the trials and tribulations of the modern world, reasoning “Since it so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage.” And J.R.R. Tolkien wrote that fairy tales contain an image of the Gospel, “giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief.” What did Tolkien mean by this? And how could Chesterton and Lewis claim that fairy tales were relevant—even vital—in the modern, “real” world? We’ll explore the answers to these questions (and more!) in this course, as we delve into the origins, symbolism, and artistry of the fairy tale tradition. We’ll examine the roots of fairy tales in ancient myth and trace out the influence of fairy tales on modern fantasy and film; discover the origins of the word “fairy” itself; survey the great 19th-century effort to rescue fairy tales from oblivion; read and discuss the sometimes-surprising original versions of well-known stories such as Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid, as well as less-well-known tales such as Soria Moria Castle, Childe Rowland, and The Battle of the Birds; examine the writings of authors such as Chesterton, Lewis, and Tolkien on the value and meaning of fairy tales for Christians; and ultimately, consider why it is that fairy tales have always delighted readers and filled them with wonder—and continue to do so today. 

Grade: 9, 10, 11, 12 + adult

No tests or written assignments

Meets once a week in the evening for 14 weeks (see Schedule)

Special cost: $100​