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Philosophy of Education
We focus on the education of the whole person. Our education includes the following dimensions: physical development, formation of character, spiritual growth, and academic mastery. We have a traditional view of the intellectual life. In our culture there is a particular need to help children understand, assimilate, analyze and express what they learn. A Heights education focuses strongly on thinking and writing clearly. At The Heights there is a focus on the virtue of fortitude in academics (i.e., the ability to concentrate and study without distraction) and the value of contemplation of the Good in reality. Academic Characteristics: Students learn about reality: studying the past, their origins and traditions, questioning why we are here, and examining how we have arrived where we are. We value a liberal arts education primarily because it contributes to full human development, to a life well-lived and full of happiness. Nonetheless, we also recognize that a liberal arts education is a great preparation for many noble professions. We view man as created in the image and likeness of God, called to work in this passing world as one striving to serve God in the ordinary opportunities of daily life. We offer a program of religious instruction that is completely faithful to the Magisterium of the Church; characterized by trying to instill in each student a strong sense of his divine filiation, that he is really a son of God; and informed by the Universal Call to Holiness as proclaimed by the Second Vatican Council. Our average class size is 15 students.
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AP Courses
We offer twenty-five Advanced Placement (AP) courses plus two years of college-level classical Greek. While some schools open their AP courses only to the invited few, we make AP courses available to all students. Some AP courses are required for graduation.; Even so, no student has ever been able to take advantage of all of the AP courses offered at The Heights. Sciences: AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics B, AP Physics C: Mechanics;History: AP US History, AP Modern European History, AP Art History, AP US Government, AP Macroeconomics, AP Microeconomics, Languages: AP Latin IV (Virgil), AP Latin V (Literature), AP Spanish Language, AP Spanish Literature, AP English Literature, AP English Language, Other: AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Computers A, AP Computers AB, AP Music Theory.
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Student Accomplishments
The top quarter of our graduates over the past 4 years have had an average SAT score of 1419. We have had 111 AP scholars, including 23 with Honor, 34 with Distinction, and 5 National AP Scholars, over the past 4 years. Over the past 4 years we have had 5 National Merit Scholarship finalists.
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Flexible Curriculum
Freshmen who have done well in middle school Latin are invited to take a college-level classical Greek class. Some bright freshmen will take an AP course such as AP Biology (instead of regular Biology) or even AP Physics. All sophomores who have done very well their freshman year are encouraged to take at least one AP course. It is not uncommon to offer a class to only one or two students when it is in the best interests of the students that the course be offered.
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College Counseling Program
We have a superior college counseling program with two counselors to assist juniors and seniors with selecting the right colleges and completing the application process. Our program develops the whole person. We offer excellent music and art programs led by Dr. Kevin Strother and Mr. Brian Coyne. Students can take music and art all four years if they so desire. Options include joining an award-winning a'capella program with over 40 upper school boys, three levels of band, studio art classes, AP Art History, and AP Music Theory. Strong extracurricular and athletic programs. Faculty members take part in an advisory program to help the each boy development outside of the classroom.A recent Middle States Accreditation report highlighted the faculty's warm spirit of friendship, unity of mission, and dedication to the boys as the chief strength of the School. The majority (65.1%) of our faculty have advanced graduate degrees. Average teaching experience is 11 years. The junior trip and Crescite Week are the result of the dedication of our faculty to providing an educational experience above and beyond the call of duty.
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Crescite
The Heights School provides a traditional liberal arts curriculum grounded in the western canon, the body of learning on which western civilization rests. By incorporating the many noble aspirations and developments of the modern world into this classical context, The Heights School strives to achieve the goal of the full human development of each student. The school motto, Crescite, is the Latin translation of the Creator's first words to man, increase and grow. Indeed that divine command is the foundation of the Heights mission: to assist parents in the intellectual, moral, physical, and spiritual education of their sons.
A liberal arts curriculum is essential to this mission. The liberal arts have been traditionally grouped into two broad disciplines: the trivium, consisting of grammar, logic, and rhetoric and the quadrivium, consisting of astronomy, music, geometry, and arithmetic. At the Heights, these disciplines are represented by a core of courses in ten academic departments: English, Mathematics, Classics, History, Religion, Science, Spanish, Art, Computers, and Music.
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Liberal Arts
The primary focus of a liberal arts education is the development of true freedom that will enable one to live a more complete human life, as opposed to the mere attainment of some technical skills or knowledge. The root of the word “liberal” is the Latin word liber, meaning “free.” A liberal arts education increases one’s freedom, understood as the ability to embrace the Good, wherever it is truly recognized. It imparts the freedom necessary to join with the great minds of history, rising above one’s current situation and culture, to appreciate what is deepest in our human condition: the meaning of love, suffering, sacrifice, death, and generous service to others. Acquiring a liberal education is a life long process; The Heights School strives to form life long learners who have what educator and philosopher John Henry Cardinal Newman called a “habit of mind” in pursuit of intellectual excellence and the contemplative life.
Liberal arts teach, among other things, a respect for the proper and responsible use of words, the sincere asking of questions, the recognition and appreciation of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. A liberal arts education also opens the door to many professional opportunities. The fruits of a liberal arts education – a broad understanding of reality, clarity in thought, excellence in writing, and effective speaking skills – are very important in many professions, especially for those in positions of leadership.
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Vision of the World
The curriculum of The Heights School is rooted in a perspective that sees the abundant goodness of the world, and of all creation, as a fundamental governing principle. In the words of Saint Josemaria Escriva, "The world is not evil, because it comes from the hands of God, because it is His creation, because Yahweh looked upon it and saw that it was good. It is we ourselves, men and women, who make it evil and ugly with our sins and unfaithfulness." This truth naturally leads us to study, to reflect upon and to contemplate all the human riches of our past and the world of today as ways to discover God in the ordinary things, to know and "serve Him in and from the ordinary, secular, and civil activities of human life." The Heights will thus refrain from narrowly embracing one ideology, political agenda, philosophical school or approach to the rich drama of human history and thought. Grounded in the western tradition, a Heights education values the abundant goodness of the world as created by God and sees the nobility and heroism in struggles of individuals, both men and women, throughout history.
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Knowledge Through Virtue
Education is much more than the delivery of a curriculum, however outstanding such a curriculum may be. Authentic education involves a forming of the mind and heart so that students and teachers embrace the riches of a liberal arts curriculum, constantly striving to delve into these riches. A strong part of the school culture is a recognition that focused, serious study is an important professional obligation for students. Indeed, the sense of schoolwork as the beginning of one's professional life and thus an important means of serving others informs the way study is viewed in the Heights community. Furthermore, the relationship between The Heights School and Opus Dei helps to foster the sense that doing even the most ordinary things, like studying, extraordinarily well for a noble motive enables us to offer our best to God and so draw close to Him.
Concentrated study, especially in our fast-paced, entertainment-driven culture, requires practice in building up one's ability to focus, memorize, analyze and contemplate with a sense of wonder. Students need to foster the strenuous silence of living at a slower, more contemplative pace ndash; to be comfortable with the pace of a page turning. Living an intellectual life today requires a certain amount of asceticism. Students need to limit time spent in front of television or computer screens, with their fast-paced barrage of images, and spend time every day in real study in an environment free from distractions. Fortitude and temperance lead to a well-ordered soul, one that is capable of living a studious life. But this strength of mind must also be accompanied by real wisdom of the heart ndash; the appropriate fostering of the imagination and intuition so that the heart is attuned with the attractiveness of the goodness of reality. Intellectual virtue is perfected when it leads to true contemplation.
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Teacher-Student Friendship
The Heights faculty strives to foster an environment that focuses on friendship and cheerfulness as essential to the education process. Friendship involves being concerned for the good of the other. It often begins through a sharing of similar interests. Friendships among students are necessary for emotional stability and genuine human development. The Heights faculty works to create an environment in which these friendships can naturally develop. The faculty member also, in a manner consistent with the proper teacher-student relationship, seeks to be a friend to his students. This means striving to convey what is objectively necessary for full human development.
Teaching is not simply the passing on of information but of a vision of life rooted in a noble understanding of human nature. The teacher readily exposes the rationale behind the material to his students and seeks to help his students relate what they know already to further knowledge. The personal relationship between teacher and student is rooted in an understanding of the students as fundamentally free to embrace truth and take ownership of the great intellectual heritage that is our common inheritance. The teacher serves the dynamic process of passing on this great treasure to yet one more generation. The freedom necessary for this process must be respected and fostered by allowing appropriate expressions of personality in the classroom. A cheerful tone provides the optimum environment for such development. A Heights teacher will thus never be an authoritarian figure but will rather exercise his legitimate authority through the personal relationships he establishes through his teaching.
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Parents as Teachers
The reality that parents are in fact the primary educators of their children informs the entire educational philosophy at The Heights School. Not only are parents the first teachers of their children but, through establishing a home with its specific culture, they continue to form a grounding from which a growing boy learns to assimilate and value the education and formation available at school. It is absurd to think that any school, even the best possible school, can take on the task of passing on the riches of a liberal arts education in only the time a student is at school, about seven hours per day for roughly half the calendar days of a year. A liberal arts education must be supported by good habits of reading, conversation, and study; and these are fostered in the home. To any impartial observer of our culture it is easy to see that one of its defining characteristics is entertainment. We live in an entertainment culture. The most common forms of entertainment, especially for our children, are video games, television, movies, certain types of music, and aspects of the Internet. All of these media have contributed to a faster, less contemplative pace. The fast-paced nature of these entertainment media makes focused study and contemplation difficult.
The Heights School relies on parents who are fully activated primary educators to establish a home environment that is in unison with the formative and educative mission of the School. The faculty members of The Heights are under no illusion that it is possible to accomplish our noble goal without the active support of parents in this area. When parents establish a home in which each child is truly valued as a person and the personal relationships between the members of the family have precedence over material things and entertainment, they are establishing the necessary conditions that make acquiring a liberal arts education possible. Parents who are fully activated primary educators will foster a variety of worthwhile cultural endeavors, such as reading and discussing good literature, taking family excursions, and living family traditions in the home. These good endeavors will only grow through the example and encouragement of parents and the prudent limiting of modern forms of entertainment that otherwise would tend to take the place of reading and other cultural pursuits. For this reason, The Heights School seeks to enter into a partnership with families to work together to accomplish this mission. In the School's admission process, through the family interview and in other ways, the School actively seeks boys whose parents share this vision and strive to put it into practice.
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Curriculum
Keeping in mind the medieval saying, "Everything is received according to the mode of the receiver," the academic programs for Heights students often differ significantly based on each student's abilities and interests. While the core curriculum is strong and includes several required courses, there is considerable flexibility among certain core requirements and among elective choices. The overall academic program is ideal for students of above average to truly exceptional ability.
Each student meets personally with the Head of the Upper School every year, often more than once, to work out an academic schedule for the upcoming year. Students are encouraged to discuss options with their parents and sometimes parents also join students in meeting to discuss scheduling options. All academic programs are given final approval by the Head of the Upper School and occasionally approved changes are made after the school year begins. A good schedule is one that follows the core requirements outlined below, engages areas of academic interest, and provides the appropriate level of challenge. While the spirit of study intensifies in the classroom, a good schedule will require a consistent average of two to three hours of focused study outside of regular school hours each day.
The amount of flexibility in the academic program increases in the junior and senior years. Options to pursue some studies in a more focused discipline increase. Options include advanced language classes, several AP courses, more flexibility in selecting history courses, computer programming courses, and other elective classes.
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Graduation Requirements
Minimum Credits Required: 28
- English 4 credits
- Mathematics 4 credits
- History 4 credits
- Science 3 credits (Includes 1 year of biology and 1 year of chemistry)
- Foreign Language 5 credits (2 credits of Latin and 2 credits of either Greek or Spanish plus a third credit in at least one language)
- Religion or Ethics 4 credits (Religion is required for Catholic students; non-Catholic students may choose either religion or ethics)
- Electives 4 credits
- Athletics 4 years (Students are required to participate in at least one varsity, junior varsity, or intramural sport per year.)
Students who successfully complete Algebra II H, Latin II, or Spanish II (usually in their freshman year) will automatically earn credit for Algebra I, Latin I, or Spanish I, respectively. These credits will not impact a student's GPA.
With the approval of the Head of the Upper School, a student may take a course at another institution for credit. The Heights can note on the transcript that a course has been taken elsewhere, and that credit has been received. This course, however, will not be factored into the student's grade point average for The Heights School.
The Head of the Upper School can, with good reason, modify the above requirements for particular situations. Any student who successfully completes four years of an approved academic program can assume he has met all necessary graduation requirements unless he specifically is informed otherwise.
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Course Weightings and GPAs
While grades for each quarter, the mid-year exam, and the final exam show up on a student's report card, only the final course grade or current average is shown on the transcript that is sent to colleges. A student's final grade in a course is determined by averaging the two semester grades with each semester grade being the weighted average of the two quarters counting 37.5% each and the exam (either mid-year or final) counting 25.0%.
GPAs are given separately for each academic year and a cumulative GPA is given at the bottom of the transcript. In calculating these GPAs a standard 4.0 scale is followed:
- A+ 4.33
- A 4.00
- A- 3.67
- B+ 3.33
- B 3.00
- B- 2.67
- C+ 2.33
- C 2.00
- C- 1.67
- D+ 1.33
- D 1.00
- D- 0.67
- F 0.00
Some courses are weighted and contribute to higher academic year and cumulative GPAs: Honors courses are weighted +0.5 Two AP courses are weighted +0.5
- Algebra II Honors
- AP Statistics
- Geometry Honors
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English
Heights English teachers share a common love for the beauty of the written word and our appreciation for the wisdom, moral vision, and truth that it can convey. Each class focuses on delving into the riches of the literary tradition of western civilization and helping students master the skills necessary to appreciate literature. Each grade has its standard literary works that do not change from year to year along with a few options for the teacher to introduce works he deems beneficial. The dynamic literary culture of The Heights School overflows on festival clan days and through several popular extracurricular opportunities, such as reading and discussion groups and other literary societies.
Substantial work is also done on improving each student's writing. New Upper School students are issued copies of the text English Simplified. This text briefly presents grammatical and stylistic guidelines for writing that are followed for all Upper School classes.
Course offerings:
- English I (9th grade): Chivalry in Literature - Students study classic works, several from or related to the medieval period: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Shakespearer's Henry V, Beowulf and The Aeneid. There is continuing work in grammar and vocabulary and a strong focus on improving writing skills.
- English II (10th grade): Conscience and the Consciousness of Evil - The 10th grade English course continues to review grammar and helps students improve their writing skills and vocabularies. Texts include Lord of the Flies, Macbeth, Othello, A Man for All Seasons, The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Odyssey.
- English III (11th grade): Mortality and Immortality - This junior course continues to foster the development of superior grammar and writing skills. Students delve into a rich selection of literature including Moby Dick, Njal's Saga, The Inferno and King Lear.
- English IV (AP English Literature - 12th Grade): Coming of Age: Claiming Adulthood - This senior course caps an outstanding program with an in-depth treatment of a variety of literary forms: novels, short stories, plays and poetry. Students read Oedipus Rex and Antigones by Sophocles, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Hamlet by Shakespeare and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Students work on fine-tuning their writing skills on the collegiate level. Most students will take the AP Literature exam at the end of the course.
- Writing - Although all English classes focus on improving writing, this elective course provides additional help for students to write effectively.
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Mathematics
Math is important for all students, not merely for those who aspire to a profession that will require its use. Indeed, the primary reason for studying math is its proven role in a liberal arts education, not its utility. Math helps students develop into clear and logical thinkers and to recognize systemic and dynamic relationships in the world. These relationships are closely connected to the order and beauty in creation. Typically, studies in math are a student's first introduction to abstract thought. This prepares students well for the rigors of later studies in philosophy. The famous inscription above Plato's academy recalls this relationship between math and philosophy, "If you do not know Euclid, you may not enter here."
The math curriculum at The Heights School is strongly influenced by the Saxon textbook series. The Saxon program helps students master the math by doing a carefully designed series of cumulative problem sets. Even in classes that use texts other than Saxon, the focus of the course is on mastery demonstrated by the successful completion of math problems.
Course offerings:
- Algebra I: This course is offered for 9th grade students who need one more year to master the concepts in Algebra I before moving on to higher math.
- Algebra II: Many freshmen take this course on the honors level.
- Geometry (honors and standard)
- Pre-Calculus (honors and standard)
- Calculus I: AP AB
- Calculus II: AP BC
- Calculus III / Differential Equations / Multi-Variable Calculus: This course is offered on a need basis for extremely advanced students.
- AP Statistics: This is an elective math course that is open to juniors and seniors.
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Classics
The Classics Department at The Heights School seeks to further the human and intellectual development of each boy through the discipline of learning Latin and Greek and through contact with the riches of classical culture. This department has always been and will always remain a fundamental part of the education offered at The Heights School.
Many students entering the Upper School from the Middle School have already mastered the basics of the Latin language. Regardless of previous studies, all Upper School students are required to take at least two years of Latin. The curriculum ends with advanced courses offered on Virgil and Lucretius.
Greek may be taken as early as the freshman year in the Upper School. Again, the student is first drilled in grammar and basic vocabulary, then introduced to original texts. It is necessary to study two years of Latin before taking Greek.
The classical languages are seen as the key to the academic curriculum because of their connection pedagogically and linguistically to the liberal arts. The mastery of English is greatly facilitated by the study of Latin and Greek. Students are forced to know the meaning of words and their syntactical use in a sentence. Reflecting the nature of their respective cultures, the classical languages instill Roman discipline, simplicity and clarity and Greek subtlety and harmony into the mental habits of the boys. The classical languages are fixed and clear, naturally leading to superior habits of thought. Finally, they are the conduit of classical culture. They are the ldquo;mother tonguesrdquo; of the western canon, the possession of every educated man throughout western history. They enable the student to speak with the great minds of history on an equal footing.
Course offerings:
- Latin I
- Latin II
- Latin Language Honors
- Latin Literature Honors
- Latin: Virgil AP
- Latin Seminar: Lucretius
- Greek I Honors
- Greek II Honors
- Greek III Honors
- Greek IV Honors
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History
The History Department at The Heights School offers courses that help students understand the riches of the past. The focus is primarily on the western tradition, though not exclusively. Each teacher helps his students to understand and appreciate the common heritage of our past and to improve in research and writing skills. The focus is on history as a narrative story that cannot be explained away by any one perspective, whether economic or political. The course of history is strongly influenced by individuals exercising their freedom, for heroic ends or otherwise.
The 9th grade standard course begins where the 8th grade ancient history class ended, around 500 A.D. Thus all students are exposed to ancient and modern European (and some world) history and a full year of US History and Government during grades 8 through 10. Juniors and seniors are required to choose at least one history elective per year. In addition, each student is required to pass either AP US History or AP Modern European History to graduate.
Course offerings:
- Medieval and Renaissance History (9th grade)
- United States History and Government (10th grade)
- AP US History (elective)
- AP US Government (elective)
- AP Modern European History (elective)
- World War II / Cold War (elective)
- AP Economics, both microeconomics and macroeconomics offered on alternating years (electives)
- AP Art History (elective)
- American Foreign Policy (elective)
- Russian History (elective)
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Religion
The Religion Department at The Heights School provides a full program of Catholic practice and doctrine for Catholic students (and non-Catholics who freely choose to participate) at every grade level. In addition, an ethics program is available for non-Catholic students in grades 9 through 12. All religion teachers at The Heights School strive to provide solid doctrinal formation in full agreement with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and magisterial teachings. In addition, the Religion Department teaches basic prayers and sacramental practices.
In accord with the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and the spirit of Opus Dei, the Religion Department at The Heights School places emphasis on the reality that all men and women are called to holiness. This focus on the universal call to holiness and apostolate in the Church is rooted in a keen awareness of one's divine filiation, the realization that we are all children of God.
Course offerings:
- Overview of Catholicism (9th grade)
- Church History (10th grade)
- Christian Moral Life (11th grade)
- Apologetics (12th grade)
- Ethics I
- Ethics II
- Ethics III
- Ethics IV
- Philosophy and Logic (elective)
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Science
The science program at The Heights School contributes to a liberal arts education by helping students understand the world around them. Careful observations and thoughtful analysis lead to a sense of wonder at the complexity and order both in nature and in the artifices of man. The Heights science program lays a good foundation for students interested in science, medicine or engineering as possible careers. All students are required to pass biology, chemistry and one other elective science.
Course offerings:
- Biology (9th grade)
- Chemistry (10th grade)
- Environmental Science (elective)
- Anatomy and Physiology (elective)
- AP Biology (elective)
- AP Chemistry (elective)
- AP Physics (elective)
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Spanish
The Spanish Department at The Heights School offers a variety of Spanish classes for students in grades 7 through 12. All Spanish teachers seek to teach the technical aspects of the Spanish language as well as conversational Spanish and cultural information. Students with ability and interest may take AP courses in Spanish Lanuage (usually grade 11) and Spanish Literature (usually grade 12). Learning Spanish further reinforces knowledge of grammatical structures taught in Latin and English classes.
Course Offerings:
- Spanish I
- Spanish II
- Spanish III Honors
- Spanish Language AP
- Spanish Literature AP
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Art
The Art Department at The Heights School follows a classical approach to art, stressing that art should be based in reality and beauty. Students learn the discipline of drawing using perspective and using color appropriately. Several students excel and develop their natural talents. Carpentry and AP Art History meet daily for a full period.
Course offerings:
- Art
- Carpentry and Practical Building Skills
- AP Art History
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Computers
The Heights School offers two levels of computer programming, Computers I and Computers II AP. These elective classes are open to juniors and seniors who are interested in learning about computer programming. Computer programming helps the boys to think analytically and reinforces the benefits of math classes.
In addition, the Internet is available in the library for students to use in a closely-monitored environment. The Heights School has refrained from relying too heavily on computers in education, especially in the lower grades. While computers can certainly be a very useful tool, the key academic struggles that young students face relate not so much to accessing information in an efficient manner as to processing and synthesizing the information that is available to them from so many sources. A liberal arts education must first help students to learn how to be critical readers, thinkers and writers.
Course offerings:
- Computers I
- Computers II AP
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Music
As one of the four subjects in the quadrivium, music is integral to a liberal arts education. In order to truly be well-educated, a man must achieve an integration of his passions with his reason. Music educates the passions and, when done properly, helps one to place them at the service of right reason. Education in music works on many levels, helping to spur intellectual and moral development in a manner that complements other academic subjects.
Students in the Upper School have the option of choosing a 'cappella singing as an elective class. The a 'cappella program has grown to approximately sixty Upper School students who perform admirably in competitions and at several school functions, including Christmas concerts and solemn Masses.
In addition, the Music Department offers formal classes in Music History and AP Music Theory on alternating years. There are also band programs in which several Upper School students participate. Each music course counts for a full credit except band, which counts for a half credit.
Course offerings:
- A 'cappella I
- A 'cappella II
- A 'cappella III
- A 'cappella IV
- Music History
- AP Music Theory
- Band (.5 credit)
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Summer Reading
Students in grades 9 through 12 are to read three books assigned to their grade and write one essay on these three books. The essay will be three pages in length and review each of the assigned books read, their strengths and weaknesses, and the student’s favorite characters, scenes, or themes. The books need not concern the same subject; though the essay should be a coherent whole, with a title such as "My Summer Reading Experience." Grading will be based on how well reasoned the essays are, how well they incorporate detail from the books to convey their points, and on use of proper grammar and style. Standards, of course, will be based on the respective grade level of the student. The mark will stand as a significant grade in the English class for the first quarter.
Summer reading reports for students entering grade 9 are due by Friday, August 27. Entering 9th grade students are expected to email their essays to their English teacher by this day so that they can be corrected and form the basis for a conversation between the teacher and student during the 9th grade trip the following week (9/1 to 9/3). Summer reading reports for students entering grades 10 through 12 are due on the first day of school (9/8).
