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Academics
Upper School
Academics
Welcome to the Upper School!
The Upper School provides a rigorous academic experience coupled with a robust extracurricular program that prepares students for higher education beyond Berwick. Berwick high schoolers learn independence through confidence, engaging with a dynamic faculty that challenges them to be their best selves.
Pinnacle Program
As the most rigorous academic classes in each discipline, Pinnacle courses focus on depth over breadth and encourage students to confront ideas and problems that are authentic, stretch their thinking, and foster an appreciation of deep knowledge. A hallmark of Pinnacle courses are varied assessments which allow students to demonstrate their acquisition of skills, content mastery, and depth of inquiry, while providing context for their future work as young scientists, writers, artists, performers, historians, mathematicians, and engineers.
Pinnacle courses also afford students opportunities for choice within the structure of the class that allow them to pursue an aspect of the subject matter that captures their interest. Finally, Pinnacle courses aim to include authentic experiences which ask students to apply their knowledge outside the boundaries of Berwick Academy. As with all advanced courses, students who complete a Pinnacle course receive a designation on their transcript.
Pinnacle courses also afford students opportunities for choice within the structure of the class that allow them to pursue an aspect of the subject matter that captures their interest. Finally, Pinnacle courses aim to include authentic experiences which ask students to apply their knowledge outside the boundaries of Berwick Academy. As with all advanced courses, students who complete a Pinnacle course receive a designation on their transcript.
Pinnacle Courses
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Advanced Chemistry
Chemical Reactivity and Complexity: This course will build and expand upon topics studied in sophomore Chemistry (and eventually the new IPC/IBC model) focusing on more depth and placing the lab experience first. Students will explore topics in thermodynamics, bonding, molecular geometry, intermolecular forces, kinetics, equilibrium, acid/base chemistry, electrochemistry, and advanced topics in organic/biological chemistry. Each major unit will begin with a laboratory exercise allowing students to explore chemical concepts through inquiry-driven learning and collaboration. This course will also emphasize skills in scientific writing, presentation, and real-world lab techniques which will mirror not only a college-level chemistry course, but also the nature of science in general. The year will culminate in a public exhibition of an authentic, question-driven, data rich investigation in which students demonstrate their learning and commitment to diving deeper and expressing their curiosity in the field of Chemistry.
OPEN TO JUNIORS AND SENIORS
PREREQUISITE: Chemistry
REQUIRES DEPARTMENT CHAIR APPROVAL -
Advanced Ensembles
This Pinnacle course is to award credit to our serious music students who tirelessly dedicate themselves to the ensemble of their choice. This higher-level ensemble seeks to develop and enrich a student’s performance capabilities, music perceptivity, artistic sensitivity, and overall musicianship. Pinnacle courses are offer simultaneously with their non-pinnacle counterpart. NOTE: Students in Jazz Band enrolled in the Symphonic Band* will be required to include additional materials as related to their study in jazz. OPEN TO SENIORS ONLY
PREREQUISITE: 3 subsequent years of the same performing group, demonstrated readiness and instructor approval -
Applied Physics
Throughout this advanced, project-based course, students are challenged to demonstrate real-world applications of physics, mathematics and engineering concepts. Students will dive deeply into topics related to acoustics, electricity, mechanics and fluid dynamics. As part of their exploration, students will design, build, test and analyze models to discover how and why things around us work the way they do. The year will culminate in a public exhibition of an authentic, question-driven, data rich investigation in which students demonstrate their learning and commitment to diving deeply and expressing their curiosity in the field of Physics.
PREREQUISITE: Calculus (can be taken concurrently)
REQUIRES DEPARTMENT CHAIR APPROVAL -
Senior Studio Art Seminar
In this class, students learn to work independently and as mature artists. Through concept specific or materials specific assignments, students increase the depth of their investigation in art as well as developing essential skills of expression and their personal voice as an artist. Students address essential questions of the artist’s impact through authentic engagement in the greater community. Outcomes include developing a body of personally relevant work, the ability to discuss and defend choices, a portfolio of work which can be presented, and exhibition.
OPEN TO SENIORS ONLY PREREQUISITE: Art of Seeing and advanced study in art electives
REQUIRES DEPARTMENT CHAIR APPROVAL -
Statistics
What do racial profiling, gun-control policies, political polling, and global climate change all have in common? The answer is statistics. Statistical concepts are used to answer questions, make decisions and help us understand our world better. This rigorous project-based course will allow students to choose topics of their interests while using introductory statistical concepts to analyze, collect data and draw conclusions on current issues ranging from our campus to the world today. Each section will conclude with an authentic written report that uses the data and results to support their conclusions. Purchasing statistical software will be required. -
The American Experience
This year-long Pinnacle Course is designed for students who are keenly interested in deepening their understanding of American Literature, while expanding and refining their writing skills. This course will take a chronological look at a variety of literary periods, reaching back to the Puritans and other New England writers and extending forward through the eras that shaped the 1800s and 1900s. Literary movements will be further broken down into themes that run through the progression of periods and the shifts that occur such as the role of nature, America’s relationship with God, and one’s role within society, to name a few. Through an assortment of poems, pamphlets, stories, novels, and films, students will come to understand the development of literature within our culture and how it reflects our changing society. Authors may include but are not limited to Bradstreet, Fitzgerald, Poe, Hawthorne, and Miller. REQUIRES DEPARTMENT CHAIR APPROVAL -
We the People
Ideals and Identity in American History
This year-long pinnacle course offers an exploration of topics in our history. The first trimester will focus on the Founding and Federalist eras, in particular the political and ideological debates around the framing and functioning of the government. In the second, students will examine how sociocultural issues such as gender, race, geography, and ethnicity impacted the formation of an American identity. The third trimester explores models of leadership in the politics and popular movements of the 20th century. Within these thematic parameters, students will read and pursue research into areas of particular interest and demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of projects and assessments, while working together to complete a detailed understanding of these historical periods and issues, and their application for today. As a pinnacle course expecting the highest levels of motivation and capability, this class is open to highly qualified juniors and seniors based upon their standing in previous history classes. We the People fulfills the third year requirement in history. OPEN TO JUNIORS AND SENIORS
PREREQUISITES: World Civilization and European History
REQUIRES DEPARTMENT CHAIR APPROVAL
Students are at the center of all curricular and extracurricular activities. Inside the classrooms, students can direct their learning, from the ability to choose from a wide array of electives to which book to study in a certain class.
Outside the classroom, students lead assemblies, form clubs, and many choose to complete an Innovation Pursuit to dive deeper into a particular passion.
Advisory Program
Berwick Academy prides itself in providing a unique high school experience that is both safe and supportive. With an 8:1 student to teacher ratio, Berwick Academy’s smaller size lends itself to personalized attention for all of its students. Each Upper School student is assigned a faculty advisor who serves an important role in guiding and monitoring academic and social progress during a student’s four years. This advisor/advisee relationship is an integral part of the Berwick Academy Upper School experience. Students meet with their advisors every Wednesday morning and every other Monday for a longer session.
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Learn More About the Advisory Program
Advisors check in with their advisees at least once a week, and the multi-grade structure of the advisory groups promotes strong community bonds, creates a natural peer mentoring environment, and provides younger students with a source of support within the student body. In addition to serving as a source of guidance for students, advisors serve as a point-person for parents as well. If students are experiencing social or academic issues, advisors work closely with parents and other faculty to ensure the appropriate parties are informed, and that an action plan is created and implemented to best support the student. Students stay with the same advisor throughout all four years, enabling a strong bond between advisor and advisee that often lasts even after graduation. The Advisory Program is just one part of the support system offered at Berwick Academy and represents the community of excellence that Berwick fosters.
Berwick Academy
Berwick Academy, situated on an 80-acre campus just over one hour north of Boston, serves 600 students, Pre-Kindergarten through grade 12, from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. Deeply committed to its mission of promoting virtue and useful knowledge, Berwick Academy empowers students to be creative and bold. Berwick strives to graduate alumni who shape their own learning, take risks, ask thoughtful questions, and come to understand and celebrate their authentic selves. Founded in 1791 and rooted in a tradition of college preparation, our culture of innovation prepares students for a complex and dynamic world.
