Distinct Bilingual Curriculum
Given the prime importance of gaining a global perspective and critical thinking skills in today’s world and adding to the one-of-a-kind nature of the education experienced at the Upper Conservatory, our unique instructional foci and distinct, one-of-a-kind bilingual curriculum consist of instruction both in English as well as Modern Greek as outlined below.
The Greek Curriculum
The Upper Conservatory offers an advanced and deep curriculum in mathematics with students taking two courses in mathematics, one taught in English and the other in Modern Greek, yearly throughout their four-year stay. The Greek curriculum in mathematic is taught in Modern Greek in a partial immersion instructional setting with the intent of weaving in European educational elements and enhancing the standard American curriculum.
Similar to Greek mathematics, the Greek language curriculum is taught in a partial immersion manner with students encouraged to think globally and seek official diplomas in Greek as a foreign language issued by the Centre for the Greek Language (C.G.L.), a not-for-profit organization of the Greek Ministry of Education. Throughout their stay, students are exposed to four years of consecutive Modern Greek language, a definite bonus, even on students’ college entrance exam performance, given that 25% of the English Language is rooted in or comes directly from Greek, with another 25% coming from Latin, a language that itself derives a lot of its words from Greek. When analyzing the language of science and technology, the value of Greek studies becomes even more apparant, almost 90% of vocabulary having a Greek and Latin origin.
Through a generous cooperation with the Greek Ministry of Education, native Greeks teachers are sent to help teach the Greek program component to offer the absolute best in Greek language education, which intimately exposes students to a foreign culture and its differing perspectives, opening students’ minds, building cultural tolerance, and augmenting self-awareness and identity.
The American Curriculum
The American curriculum includes subjects in language arts, non-Greek foreign languages, mathematics, science, social studies, technology, philosophy, and humanities, as well as performing, practical, and visual arts taught in English and based on Florida‘s Next Generation Sunshine State Standards.
An enhanced science curriculum features mostly Honors & Advanced Placement college-level courses, with additional, yearly 1/2-credit pre-Advanced Placement honors science options. Students, furthermore, are offered a range of academic science competitions to participate in to expand their science interests and display mastery of subject matter.
Students are also exposed to yearly philosophy and humanities coursework that seeks to stimulate in students the ability to think deeply and creatively, write effectively and contemplate social issues from various points of view in a way rarely if ever found in high school curricula across the country.
The American curriculum offers additional opportunities to further foreign language competencies with up to two years of French or Latin, as well as advanced and/or college-level Advanced Placement Spanish courses. Here too, opportunities to obtain foreign language diplomas from the Spanish and French governments are advertised.
Four years of mostly Honors or Advanced Placement social science and history coursework serve to further develop in students a well-rounded and deeper understanding of the world. Here again, students enrich their classroom learning through participation when interested in various history, trivia, debate, and current events-based competitions.