Course Offerings

Algebra 1 is designed to give students a foundation for all future mathematics courses. This course will cover the fundamentals of algebraic problem-solving. Through the use of interactive lessons and modeling, students will explore: foundations of algebra, solving equations, solving inequalities, an introduction to functions, linear functions, systems of equations and inequalities, exponents and exponential functions, polynomials and factoring, quadratic functions and equations, radical expressions and equations, and data analysis and probability. Common Core standards will be taught and reinforced as the students learn to apply the concepts taught in real-life situations. Self-motivation, strong independent learning, and strong study habits are essential for success in this highly accelerated and individually paced program. Please note that not all students finish the entire curriculum. Instructor: James Ford Kinney

Algebra 1 has additional admission requirements: either standardized test scores in the 90th percentile or above in math, OR a recommendation from a current math teacher.

Our Algebra 2/Trig curriculum follows closely the ideas and skills described in the Common Core for that subject. These include operations with quadratics and higher order polynomials, work with rational expressions, radical expressions, and complex numbers, transformation of functions and their graphical representations, the fundamental theorems of algebra, including the factor theorem, rational root theorem, and Descartes Rule of Signs, as well as trigonometric problem-solving and proofs involving trigonometric identities. To best complete one academic year over the four-week period, a large part of each day will be spent doing small-group work, individual study, and testing. Self-motivation, strong independent learning, and good study habits are essential for success in this highly accelerated and individually paced program. Please note that not all students finish the entire curriculum. Instructor: Pauly

Section A and Section B have different instructors but cover the same course material. 

Algebra 2 has additional admission requirements: either standardized test scores in the 90th percentile or above in math, OR a recommendation from a current math teacher.

Our Algebra 2/Trig curriculum follows closely the ideas and skills described in the Common Core for that subject. These include operations with quadratics and higher order polynomials, work with rational expressions, radical expressions, and complex numbers, transformation of functions and their graphical representations, the fundamental theorems of algebra, including the factor theorem, rational root theorem, and Descartes Rule of Signs, as well as trigonometric problem-solving and proofs involving trigonometric identities. To best complete one academic year over the four-week period, a large part of each day will be spent doing small-group work, individual study, and testing. Self-motivation, strong independent learning, and good study habits are essential for success in this highly accelerated and individually paced program. Please note that not all students finish the entire curriculum. Instructor: Sharon Strodel

Section A and Section B have different instructors but cover the same course material. 

Algebra 2 has additional admission requirements: either standardized test scores in the 90th percentile or above in math, OR a recommendation from a current math teacher.

In this course, students will explore American literature by reading four novels that demonstrate the human diversity and multilayered motifs that define the "American experience." Such experience stems from the intersection of individuals and groups negotiating the realities of gender, class, race, colorism, subservience, nationalism, freedom, immigration, patriarchy, privilege, cynicism, alienation, and dystopia. Besides learning how to perform "close readings" of literary texts, students will learn how to style their observations and interpretations into inductive reasoning that supports critical reading, thinking, and writing. In the end, students will be able to scrutinize the myth of the Great American Novel. Instructor: Corey Olds

This is a reading-lecture-laboratory course that covers the basic high school chemistry curriculum and provides an understanding of why materials in our world behave as they do. Students must have completed first year Algebra or equivalent to apply. Instructors: Jeannine Sieler & Melvin Soetrisno

In this course, we will explore our surroundings through a variety of artistic mediums, including creative writing of all genres, graphic novels, and zine-making. We will read and discuss authors and artists, contemporary and historical, from around the world who have drawn inspiration from their environment. The class will emphasize improving the quality of our writing, taking creative risks, and sharing an open and artistic community with other writers. Instructor: Bill Carty

This course is meant to serve as a creative outlet and safe space for students' growth as artists and storytellers while also exposing them to the kinds of tasks encountered in most college courses. Major topics covered include basics of creative writing, research skills, genre analysis, and an overview of the historical fiction subgenre. A major goal of this design is that it should promote the growth of transferable skills useful in college and beyond, but through the less daunting and more engaging medium of writing historical fiction. Instructor: Jeremiah Baxter

Texts and communication today are getting more complicated with the fusion of multiple modes like words, images, audios, videos, hyperlinks, etc. So, the traditional text-based literacy is not enough for today's students but they need awareness and skills to integrate multiple modes to make meaning in both reading and writing. Moreover, texts tend to be biased with authors' personal intentions and philosophical orientation, so students need critical thinking and reading strategies to consume the right messages. Therefore, this course will offer students knowledge and skills to use multiple modes to compose their message and integrate them to "read" the right messages through reading/writing inventories and exciting multimodal projects. Instructor: Jeevan Karki

How are individuals molded in relation to the world? How do social forces limit, motivate, and even construct the self? What are the relations between different subject positions and the way the world is structured? This course explores these complex questions by reading several literary and cinematic memoirs from twentieth-century America, and by composing our own memoirs. Through our engagement with literature, film and video, and critical texts, we will develop our reading, writing, and thinking, working to elaborate individual and collective practices of study. Instructor: Gust Burns

The evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky said (1973), "Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution." In this course, we'll take a journey using the scientific method, through the fundamental principles of biology and the evolutionary processes that produced the diversity of life on Earth. We will investigate the genetic architecture of adaptation, molecular evolution, and the forces that contribute to evolution, such as natural and sexual selection, genetic drift, and biogeography. Through hands-on projects and inquiry-driven learning, students will learn the fundamentals of taxonomy, the adaptations that organisms evolved to meet the challenges of their environments, and the underlying mechanisms and functions of specific behaviors. Instructors: Cristina Valensisi & Kyle Duong

This course will follow the development of physics, from Babylonian mathematics to current research in astrophysics. We'll explore Greek contributions to math and science, how their ideas reached western Europe by way of the Arab world, and replicate Galileo's experiments that changed the course of science. We'll examine the nature of light, for this is what led Einstein to question the traditional concepts of space and time. We'll develop the theory of Special Relativity, including time dilation, relativistic mass increase, and E = mc2. Finally, we'll explore the physics related to current, real-world issues, from the physics of climate change to missions to Mars. Instructors: Scott Nara and Lisa Neshyba

This course seeks to expose students to the competitive high school debate community and prepare students to compete when they return to their home schools. This course focuses on developing a student's critical thinking, argumentation, and public speaking skills. To accomplish this aim, students will research current events, write speeches, and debate their fellow students in both formal and informal settings. Success in the course requires the motivation to learn about current events and dedication to improving one's writing, speaking, and listening skills. Instructor: Stephen Thornsberry

Students will understand fundamental concepts regarding planes and solid shapes. They will also know how to develop and apply common properties and formulas to solve problems in geometry. Finally, students will be able to apply principles of logic to prove theorems in geometry and learn how to extend this logic to other academic disciplines. To accomplish these goals, we will be covering Chapters 1 through 13 in the Holt McDougal textbook, at a pace of roughly one chapter per day. Each day will consist of individual work time, small-group work, and an assessment. Self-motivation, strong independent learning, and strong study habits are essential for success in this highly accelerated and individually paced program. Please note that not all students finish the entire curriculum. Instructor: Thomas Ames

Section A and Section B have different instructors but cover the same course material. 

Geometry has additional admission requirements: either standardized test scores in the 90th percentile or above in math, OR a recommendation from a current math teacher.

Students will understand fundamental concepts regarding planes and solid shapes. They will also know how to develop and apply common properties and formulas to solve problems in geometry. Finally, students will be able to apply principles of logic to prove theorems in geometry and learn how to extend this logic to other academic disciplines. To accomplish these goals, we will be covering Chapters 1 through 13 in the Holt McDougal textbook, at a pace of roughly one chapter per day. Each day will consist of individual work time, small-group work, and an assessment. Self-motivation, strong independent learning, and strong study habits are essential for success in this highly accelerated and individually paced program. Please note that not all students finish the entire curriculum. Instructor: Truman Buffett

Section A and Section B have different instructors but cover the same course material. 

Geometry has additional admission requirements: either standardized test scores in the 90th percentile or above in math, OR a recommendation from a current math teacher.

This course is designed to take students on a journey of mathematical exploration. The course can be divided into two parts. The first part focuses on foundational material including mathematical logic, principle of induction, and writing and analyzing proofs. Equipped with these essential tools, the second part of the course will introduce some classical theorems/results (like the Pythagorean theorem, Pell's equation, zeros of polynomials, etc.). The course will explore the natural ways to generalize these results, familiarizing students with the thinking process of a mathematician. The goal is to show students how simple generalizations yield profound problems--some of which may still be unknown. Instructor: Raghavendra Tripathi

Ever wonder what it's like to take part in a trial? Introduce evidence? Question witnesses? In this course students will participate in a mock trial. This introduction to law will include lessons on rules of evidence, cross-examination, and courtroom decorum. Students will be a part of every aspect of the trial so come prepared to act as advocate, witness, and jury! Guest speakers from the Seattle legal community will also participate to give students a well-rounded understanding of the practice of law. Mock Trial will also focus on the philosophy of justice, examining questions about where laws come from, how laws are just, and what types of laws should be allowed. Instructor: Townsend Rowland

Ever wonder what it's like to take part in a trial? Introduce evidence? Question witnesses? In this course students will participate in a mock trial. This introduction to law will include lessons on rules of evidence, cross examination, and courtroom decorum. Students will be a part of every aspect of the trial so come prepared to act as advocate, witness, and jury! Guest speakers from the Seattle legal community will also participate to give students a well-rounded understanding of the practice of law. Instructor: Michelle Nguyen

Preparing for calculus is at least as much about learning to ask good questions as it is about learning to verify results. For example, "How is it that the distance formula, the equation for a circle, and the Pythagorean Theorem bear a striking resemblance to each other, while their graphs are so varied in appearance?" Or, "How can we be sure in what order to proceed when transforming functions?" "Why must we check our results when solving radical equations?" We consider these overarching questions while analyzing and solving rich, multi-step problems in which students apply their skills in algebra, geometry, and trigonometry; pushing each topic to new insights. Self-motivation, strong independent learning, and good study habits are essential for success in this highly accelerated and individually paced program. Please note that not all students finish the entire curriculum; students and families are welcome to speak with the instructor about alternative goals, including mastering specific units or achieving a looser understanding of the full curriculum. Instructor: Reese Johnston

Section A and Section B have different instructors but cover the same course material.

Precalculus has additional admission requirements: either standardized test scores in the 90th percentile or above in math, OR a recommendation from a current math teacher.

Precalculus is about building the tools of mathematical problem-solving needed for introductory calculus. We assume enough prior familiarity with algebra to be comfortable with functions and their graphs and with manipulating linear and quadratic equations. The key question behind precalculus could reasonably be phrased as: how are functions applied to real-world situations? Closely related are the further questions: how are functions related to their graphs? And what does the graph of a function tell us about its real-world consequences? All three of these ideas will underlie the various topics in this course. Self-motivation, strong independent learning, and good study habits are essential for success in this highly accelerated and individually paced program. Please note that not all students finish the entire curriculum. Instructor: Jean Lutgen 

Section A and Section B have different instructors but cover the same course material.

Precalculus has additional admission requirements: either standardized test scores in the 90th percentile or above in math, OR a recommendation from a current math teacher.

This class invites students to engage with research-based composition as an active, rhetorical process, and presents the opportunity to communicate their findings through podcasting. We will study the podcast genre through a survey of entertainment and educational programs, considering genre, craft, and style.  Students will design lines of inquiry and produce research-based podcasts that bring research to the public sphere. With new awareness of their context, purpose, genre, and audience, students will communicate their original research by composing a short podcast for their final project. Instructor: Anne Duncan

This hands-on introductory course will help students design, build, test, and iterate upon metal VEX V5 robots. Students will be expected to maintain an engineering notebook to record their design process over the summer. Activities will include indoor and outdoor challenges for our robots such as navigating terrain, hitting targets, and working together. We will apply basic physics topics such as kinematics, vectors, projectile motion, and linear/circular motion. Some familiarity with algebraic equations and geometry is recommended, and we will cover trigonometry functions, the law of sines, and the law of cosines. Previous robotics experience is not required. Instructors: A. J. Balatico & Scott Ransom

What is language? How does language change over time and vary across distances? How do we learn, teach, analyze, and use language? This course will examine these questions and more in our exploration of linguistics: the scientific study of language. We will learn about the inner workings of language--like sounds, words, and sentences--while gaining skills in data analysis and critical thinking. We will then explore how to apply this knowledge to the real world and to multiple disciplines, from education and medicine to computation and the law, all while developing research skills through projects and experiments. Using what they have learned, students will be able to construct their own language and conduct linguistic research. Instructor: Marina Bydalek

Students will sharpen their wits in this class by learning the principles of logic, the art of rhetoric, and the skill of debate. They will discover how to break down claims, use and abuse logical fallacies, and even write sneaky questions that help them get their way. Meanwhile, students will learn the historical and cultural context necessary to participate in today's critical conversations. Honing the art of rhetoric will help students develop critical skills needed for rigorous research, sober argument, and concise expression. Instructor: Josh Eskew

Epiphanies: sudden and surprising moments of understanding. When they come, they are sources of immense joy to those engaging in the process of inquiry. In literature, they leave readers with a lasting impression. Through epiphanies, creative writers provide their audience with a pathway towards meaningful realizations of their own. This course will explore these moments in monologues, contemporary poetry, creative prose, and nonfiction. Through these texts, students will learn how creative writers cultivate public scholarship that engages with critical discussions of positionality through the lens of race, gender, and class. With a capstone project--a portfolio of original critical and creative writing--students will depart with a toolbox of skills for collegiate research, gathered through the development of their own writing practice. Instructor: Reginald Kent