Departments
| Science | English | Humanities |
Mathematics
Areteem Institute's Division of Mathematics offers students the ability to pursue a wide range of rigorous course offerings in mathematics, computer science, and economics. The curriculum focuses on building a solid foundation in mathematical sciences, with courses focused on both mathematical theory and applications. The Division emphasizes vertical integration of courses from foundational secondary mathematics; through advanced university-level offerings, and we are committed to ensuring that students adapt a sequence of study that includes both depth and breadth in mathematics.
The mission of the mathematics program is to provide students with a broad understanding of mathematics to help them formulate and use mathematical tools for critical thinking and problem solving. This broad understanding encompasses computation, problem solving, logical reasoning, generalization, and abstraction. Students that successfully complete mathematics courses understand and are able to apply the concepts and techniques that are foundational to secondary-level mathematics, and have developed independent investigative skills that enable them to work towards solutions of novel problems. Students develop an appreciation for mathematics and its role in the modern world, including connections with other disciplines, and they are well prepared for advanced study in university-level mathematics.
Science
The laboratory sciences curriculum is designed to provide all students with the scientific knowledge and critical-thinking skills necessary to engage with science outside of the classroom and beyond high school, but also to afford flexibility to allow interested students to explore a discipline more deeply. Middle-school courses set the foundation for scientific reasoning through an inquiry-based approach and introduce students to the fundamentals of physical and life sciences. Honors-level courses explore the concepts necessary to scientific literacy in chemistry and physics and introduce students to the rigorous application of science through experimentation. These courses prepare students for AP-level studies which offer in-depth exploration of each of the three fundamental disciplines of science (physics, chemistry, and biology). All science courses contain lab components that can be completed at home during the year and at the summer residential on-site intensive program. Areteem Institute's advanced offerings in university-level physics, biology, and chemistry allow students to progress beyond the AP-level.
Students can follow a variety of paths through the science curriculum, although it is recommended that students take at least one course in each of the three fundamental disciplines (physics, chemistry, and biology). Students are placed in courses based on interest and fulfillment of pre- and co-requisites. Students wishing to accelerate in the sciences have the option of satisfying Honors-level prerequisites on the basis of placement exam results.
English
Every English class at Areteem Institute is designed to promote a cohesive, collaborative community of learners who read to understand writing and write to understand reading. Instructors draw on the full range of literature in order to develop students’ attention to the possibilities of language. Through the sequence of courses students master ever more challenging literature and develop increasingly complex modes of writing. By the end of the sequence, students can employ language effectively in a wide variety of contexts, with intention, precision, and passion.
By analyzing texts and writing frequently, students learn how ideas are formed through language. English courses teach students to pay close attention to how writing creates meaning at the level of the word, the phrase, the sentence, and the paragraph or verse. Because they come to understand and articulate how an author uses language to achieve certain effects, students can apply these same strategies in their writing.
Students learn to write and speak with clarity to create the effects they wish to achieve. Through formal and informal writing assignments, discussion-based class meetings, and oral presentations, students become adept at expressing their ideas clearly and concisely, and begin to establish their unique authorial personas. At the same time, they learn to take into consideration audience and genre, so that they are able to write and speak in more than one style and for more than one audience.
Areteem Institute's English courses expose students to multiple genres, writing styles, arguments, and methods or theories of analysis. Students learn to synthesize works written in different time periods, for different purposes, and addressed to different audiences, and they master different and sometimes competing theoretical approaches to interpreting language. As they progress through the sequence of courses, students become more and more capable of shaping and articulating their ideas about texts, their intrinsic meaning, and their significance to the world at large.
The skills of critical reading and writing that students master in English courses make them habitual critical thinkers who are mindful of the world around them and the ways in which ideas are generated and communicated by and to them. Students become critical readers not only of texts but also of the world.
Humanities
(Foreign Language, Social Sciences, Visual and Performing Arts)
In Areteem Institute's Humanities Division, students and instructors explore human values and dilemmas as they are expressed in history, foreign languages, philosophy, and the arts. Our courses offer students the opportunity to pursue a wide range of subjects across disciplines, all of which develop skills of critical thinking and writing through engagement with rich and diverse cultural material. Students learn how history is made, defined, and used; about the values of different cultures; and what goes into the creation of a work of art. Our courses question common assumptions, uncover meaning in artistic works, and explore new ways to understand past and present cultural interaction. Whether through the study of foreign languages, history, or the fine arts, Humanities courses provide students with the academic foundation necessary to successfully pursue college-level work, while developing critical and interpretive skills that have far-reaching applications beyond the classroom. In Areteem Institute's AP and advanced-level courses, students have the opportunity to pursue college-level work in history and foreign language.
Areteem Institute's instructors are dedicated to bringing students the richness, diversity, and beauty of human culture. The history curriculum engages students in rigorous study of key historical periods and subjects, offering introductory and AP courses in world and US history, as well as capstone courses focused on significant historical topics. History courses develop students’ ability to analyze primary and secondary sources in an interdisciplinary context, while encouraging them to think critically and write persuasively about historical topics. Areteem Institute's Foreign Language programs develop a high degree of fluency in four-year sequences that both prepare students for AP exams and study of the language at the post-secondary level. Mastery of these languages not only deepens students’ cultural understanding and engagement, but also serves as a useful professional skill. Foreign Language courses also expose students to the culture associated with the language they are learning, including its history, values, and literature, which in turn allows them to develop a more profound understanding of their cultural background in a global context. Whether in history, foreign languages, or the arts, courses in the Humanities Division encourage students to challenge themselves in a learning environment that fosters sophisticated reasoning, self-reliance, creative experimentation, and collaborative learning.
