Upper School

The Upper School meets St. Catherine’s Mission of providing a rigorous college preparatory curriculum. Preparing each girl for leadership and service in a global community entails a breadth of curricular and co-curricular choices and a flexible program that allows each girl to pursue her own interests in depth. A strong advising program, close relationships with teachers both in and out of the classroom, engagement in the community, and self-reflection are central to personal growth. While Upper School students are introduced to the major academic disciplines, the curriculum emphasizes skills that help students synthesize learning across disciplines and that prepare students for success: critical thinking, advanced research, problem solving, collaboration, and written and oral communication. In addition, the rich offerings in the visual and performing arts nurture creative thinking and expression. X-Term focuses on experiential learning. The Intensive Studies Program (ISP) in the Arts, Entrepreneurship, Global Engagement, or STEM allows motivated students a deep personalized learning program, combining coursework, community service, and a capstone project.

Central to the philosophy of the Upper School is the increased independence of our students. With this independence comes the responsibility each girl has to live with integrity, contribute to a positive community, and use her unique gifts to make the world a better place.

Academic Opportunities in Upper School

List of 5 items.

AP and Honors Level Classes

St. Catherine's offers extensive honors level and Advanced Placement (AP) courses across all disciplines which provides our students with many options for exploration and mastery. With this wide array of academic offerings, each girl develops a class schedule that is uniquely tailored to her interests and passions.
Independent Research

Within the Armfield Science Center resides a state-of-the-art Independent Research Lab which allows girls to conduct year-round, college-level projects such as harnessing the wind energy from industrial air conditioning units, discovering the effects of biodegradable soap on the freshwater environment or using 3D printing to build mold-inhibiting food containers.
The Internship Program

In the summer before her senior year, each girl has the opportunity to experience potential careers by working with professionals at places such as VCU Medical Center, Richmond CenterStage and CapTech. The internship placements are as unique as every student.
X-Term

X-Term is a unique year-long cohort with St. Christopher’s School. Students select topics that range from a story of jazz in New Orleans to a cultural exchange in Costa Rica, to community service at Boaz & Ruth.
Saints4Life

The Upper School Saints for Life Program is a co-curricular program that offers students 12 different grade-level experiences each year in topics such as Health & Wellness, Diversity & Inclusion, Local & Global Citizenship and Leadership & Empowerment.

"The diversity of outlooks and interests of our students creates a lively atmosphere where learning both inside and outside the classroom are valued. We seek to celebrate each girl, to cultivate a love of learning that will last a lifetime, and to prepare our students to thrive in our complex global world."

— Dr. Lara Wulff
Director of Upper School

Curriculum

List of 17 items.

Art

Art Foundation
Drawing
Painting
Mixed Media
Advanced Art I
Honors Advanced Art II
AP Art History
Ceramics I
Ceramics II
Advanced Ceramics
Photography I: Dark Room
Digital Photography
Digital Photography II
Digital Video
Intro to Photoshop
Film Photography II
Advanced Photography
Dark Room
Digital Design: CAD
Intro to Three-Dimensional Art
Spanish Art and Architecture
Computer Science

Introduction to Programming
Creating Tomorrow: Computer Science by Design
(OSG Course)
Introduction to Computer Science (OSG Course)
AP Computer Science Principles (OSG Course)
AP Computer Science
Honors Imagine, Code, Create: Principals of Computer Science
Honors Advanced Programming Topics
Digital Design: CAD Make/Build
English

English 9/Honors English 9
English 10/Honors English 10
English 11/Honors English 11
English 12/Honors English 12
AP English 12
First Semester Senior English Electives

Creative Writing
Fallen Greatness: A Study of Classic Drama
Finding Your Voice
Literary Hauntings
Nature Writing
Reading and Writing the Memoir
Literature of War
Shakespeare’s Muse of Fire
Wicked Literature: Evil and Morality in Literature
Russian Literature of the 20th Century
History and Social Studies

The Ancient World
The Modern World
AP World History
U.S. History
AP U.S. History
AP Microeconomics
AP Macroeconomics
AP U.S. Government and Politics
AP Psychology (OSG course)
Mathematics

Algebra I, Part II
Algebra II/Honors Algebra II
Geometry/Honors Geometry
College Algebra
Precalculus/Honors Precalculus
Calculus
AP AB Calculus
AP BC Calculus
Honors Calculus III
AP Statistics
Music

Chorale
Joni/Chorale Dual Enrollment
Band
Jazz Band
Rock Band /Jazz Band
Rhythm Sections
Saints Chamber Orchestra
Applied Music
Senior Recitals
Music Theory Fundamentls
AP Music Theory
Songwriting Workshop
History of American
Popular Music
Non-Credit Course

Driver Education
Yearbook Journalism: Quair
News Journalism: Arcadian / Forum

Leadership Organizations and Clubs
Arcadian/Forum (Newspaper)
Art Club
Atelier (Literary Magazine)
Battle of the Brains
Chinese Club
Feminism Club
Gold/White
Gay-Straight Alliance
Honor Council
Math Club
Model Judiciary
Model UN
Operation Smile
Peer Advisors
Politics Awareness Club
Robotics
Student Environmental Action Club (SEA)
Service League
Student Ambassadors
Student Council
International Thespian Society
Quair (yearbook)
Other Options for Credit

Independent Study
News Journalism: Arcadian/Forum
Performance Groups

Jazz Band
Chamber Orchestra
Chorale
Saints Singers
Censations (A cappella group)
Joni Rodman Dance
Senior Dance Recital (SDR)
Ampersand (theatre)
Physical Education Fitness

Health
Yoga
Yoga II
Joni Rodman Dance Theatre
Waterman Outdoor Education
Religion and Philosophy

World Religions
Ethics: Bioethics
Philosophy: Introduction to Moral Philosophy
Theology: The Bible and Christian Theology
Ethics in Theater and Film
Science

Physics I/Honors Physics I
AP Physics
AP Physics C
Chemistry/Honors Chemistry
AP Chemistry
Biology/Honors Biology
AP Biology
AP Environmental Science/Honors Environmental Science
Human Anatomy and Physiology
Honors Independent Science Research
AP Psychology
Sports Medicine
Second Semester Senior English Electives

American Literature and the Visual Arts
Archetypal Patterns in Film
Contemporary American Playwrights
Creative Writing: The Art of Poetry and Song
Discovering Milton and Paradise Lost
Modernist Literature
The Heart of the Whale: A Study of Moby Dick
I Tiresias: A Study of T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land”
Sport in Society
World Literature: Studies in Short Fiction
Stranger than Fiction: The Transition from Journalism to Novel-Non-Fiction
Senior Semester History Electives

9/11 to Now
The American Soldier
AP Art History
Economics: Entrepreneurship
History of American
Popular Music
History of Theatre
Theatre and Dance

Joni Rodman Dance Theatre
Fundamentals of Acting
Fundamentals of Directing
Honors Advanced Topics in Theatre
History of Theatre
The Actor’s Tool Kit
The Techie’s Tool Kit
Ampersand Practicum
Advanced Performance Studies
Senior Dance Recital - Honors
Intro to Three-Dimensional Art
World Languages

Mandarin Chinese I
Honors Mandarin Chinese
Honors Mandarin Chinese II
Honors Mandarin Chinese III
Honors Mandarin Chinese IV
Honors Mandarin Chinese V
AP Chinese Language and Culture
French I
French II/Honors French II
French III/Honors French III
French IV/Honors French IV
French Humanities
AP French Language
Spanish I
Spanish II/Honors Spanish II
Spanish II Intensive
Spanish III/Honors Spanish III
Spanish IV
Accelerated Spanish IV
Spanish V
AP Spanish Literature
AP Spanish Language
Latin I
Latin II/Honors Latin II
Latin III-IV
Honors Latin III
Honors Latin IV/V
AP Latin IV
Honors Advanced Topics in Classical Languages and Literatures

Graduation Requirements

To graduate, a student must earn twenty academic credits in Upper School. Many of our students far exceed these requirements, taking full advantage of the many AP and Honors courses.

English - 4 credits
Mathematics - 4 credits
Science - 3 credits (2 with labs)
World Languages - 3 credits
History - 3 credits
Religion and Philosophy - 1 credit
Fine Arts - 1 credit
Electives - 1 credit
Physical Education - 4 units (1 unit in fitness, 3 electives)
Health - 2 units
Service Learning - 25 hours of service required each year with a total of 100 hours by graduation

US Course Descriptions

First Citizens Bank Merit Scholarship

Made possible by the Robert P. Holding Foundation, St. Catherine’s offers one merit scholarship opportunity annually to new students who apply to St. Catherine’s School in grades 9, 10 or 11. A separate scholarship application process is required. The Scholarship Application process will open in October 2022 for 2023-2024 Enrollment consideration. For more information click here or contact Jennifer Cullinan at jcullinan@st.catherines.org.

Let's Get Started

The best way to get started is to come to St. Catherine’s for a campus tour, to catch a glimpse of School life, to meet our teachers and to see teaching and learning up close.