The High School curriculum consists of
regular academic courses that meet five times a week for a full year or
one semester, as well as Advanced Placement (AP) courses that have
extra academic demands, carry an increased class-period equivalency
and sometimes require additional class time. Students earn grades in
all courses, and progress reports are sent home after each quarter. On
the school’s official transcript, grades in physical education, health,
religion and May Term are converted to pass / fail and are not
included in computing grade point average (GPA) or in determining
academic honors. Every student must take a minimum of 30 class periods
per week, based on a schedule of 40 periods per week (nine periods per
day including lunch period). For the purpose of this requirement, each
AP course counts as seven periods; however, every student still must
take a minimum of five courses. Students must pass all required courses
to graduate. A student is considered to have passed a required course
if the semester grade for that course is D- or better.
Advanced
Placement Courses
Advanced Placement courses offered at Canterbury are designed to prepare students for the Advanced Placement Examinations administered each spring by the College Board. The exams are scored on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 representing the highest grade. Most colleges will award college credit for scores of 4 or 5; many for scores of 3. Advanced Placement courses are rigorous and require a strong background in the subject area. Consequently, enrollment is by permission of the teacher and is limited to those who have achieved honors work within the department. Students are not encouraged to take more than three AP courses in a given year. In almost all cases students who enroll in an AP course are required to take the AP Exam. Students who take the AP Exam will be required to pay for the exam registration, a fee of approximately $75 per exam.
Graduation Requirements
- English: four years
- Mathematics: three years
- Science: three years
- Social Studies: three years
- Foreign Language: three years of one language or two years each of two languages
- Senior Seminar: one semester
- Performing and Fine Arts: two semesters
- Physical Education: two quarters
- Computer Science: one quarter
- Religion: two quarters
- Community Service: 20 hours in Grade 10; 40 hours in Grade 11
- Humanities: one semester
- Health: one semester
- College Bound: one semester
HS Curriculum (by department)
English
Required courses:
9: English 9, Survey of Literature
10: English 10, American Literature
11: English 11, British Literature
12: AP English or Senior English Electives: Utopian Novel, Creative Writing, Shakespeare, Drama as Literature
Math
Three years are required from the following:
9: Algebra I; Geometry; Advanced Geometry; Algebra II
10: Geometry; Advanced Geometry; Algebra II; Advanced Algebra II
11: Algebra II; Advanced Algebra II; Pre-Calculus; Calculus AB; Functions/Stats/Trig; Statistics; AP Statistics
12: Functions/Stats/Trig; Pre-Calculus; Calculus AB; Calculus BC; Statistics; AP Statistics
Science
Required courses:
9: Advanced Biology or Biology
10: Advanced Chemistry or Chemistry
11/12: One year of the following electives is required:
Physics
AP Biology
AP Chemistry
AP Physics B
Meteorology (one semester)
Astronomy (one semester)
Marine Biology (one semester)
Organic Chemistry (one semester)
Human Physiology (one semester)
Social Studies/History
Required courses:
9: World History
10: American History
11: American Government (one semester), Economics (one semester)
Electives:
AP European History
AP U.S. History
Japanese History (one semester)
Third-World Problems (one semester)
Psychology (one semester)
Twentieth Century Germany (one semester)
The Cold War (one semester)
The Middle East and the Islamic World (one semester)
Foreign Languages
Students must pass three consecutive levels of one language or two consecutive levels in each of two languages. Placement upon entering the HS foreign language program is the decision of the foreign language department.
French 1 Spanish 1 Latin 1 Japanese 1
French 2 Spanish 2 Latin 2 Japanese 2
French 3 Spanish 3 Latin 3 Japanese 3
French 4 Spanish 4 Latin 4
French AP Language, Spanish AP Language
Performing and Fine Arts
Two semesters of the following one-semester electives are required. It is strongly recommended that students who take band, choir or orchestra commit to a year.
Foundations in Visual Art
Studio Art
Visual Art Portfolio
Computer Art
Photography
Advanced Photography
Band
Women’s Choir
Men’s a Cappella
Orchestra
Theater
Advanced Theater
Physical Education and Health
Physical education is required in Grades 9 and 10. Health is required for Grade 9.
Computer Science
Required course:
9 Introduction to Computer Science (one quarter)
Electives:
Python Programming
Java Programming
C Programming
AP Computer Science
Religion and Community Service
Required:
9: World Religions (one quarter)
10: Great Religious Stories (one quarter), Community Service – 20 hours
11: Community Service – 40 hours
12: Senior Seminar (one semester)
Humanities Course (one semester)
See Canterbury's spiraling curriculum for students in Early Childhood through Grade 12.
