Semester Electives
Study The Topics That Matter Most
Take on questions and issues that shape the world
The Academic Program at One Schoolhouse Semester Electives allow students to explore a passion, dive into an area of interest, or try out a new topic before heading off to college. Semester Electives are designed to give students freedom and choice.
In the fall semester, students choose an elective to pursue, and then in the spring semester students have the option to continue study of the topic through an activism, design, or research seminar. See below for more information.
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What Happens in The Second Semester?
For students continuing into Semester II, the course shifts into personalized, project-based work, where students engage in deep, sustained inquiry, authentic and iterative research, critical analysis, and rigorous reflection, revision, and assessment as they journey through a self-designed, long-term activism, design, or research project on the topic of their choosing.
In this seminar, students identify a need and create a plan to effect economic, environmental, political, or social change in a target community. Utilizing a social science approach to research and evaluation, students are guided through the process of planning the deployment of a novel idea and identifying markers of success. Students may create a strategic plan for a club or non-profit or design an artistic product in this seminar.
In this seminar, students design a technological solution to a real-world problem. Through the engineering design process/scientific method, students gather and analyze data to determine the effectiveness of their model or the accuracy of their hypothesis. Students may prototype and produce a public product in this seminar.
In this seminar, students answer a theoretical or ethical question. Using the social science/humanities tools for source evaluation, students collect, critique, and evaluate artifacts or primary source documents to explore their thesis. Students may create a written or multimedia product in this seminar.
Upon completion of their inquiry-driven project, students will have gained academic maturity and expanded their ability to engage in a diverse and changing world. They will be able to draw and defend conclusions from theoretical underpinnings, contextual background, and mathematical analysis or source evaluation. Finally, they will have created and tested something useful of their own design or will be able to defend a position based on their own research.