Advanced Learning Opportunities

At many schools, especially those serving students with a broad range of academic trajectories and needs, courses that are specifically designed to prepare students for college often carry the Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) designation in order to signal their academic rigor. Thaden does not offer an AP or IB program because our required course of study, consistent with our mission, is designed to prepare students for success at even the most academically challenging colleges and universities. 

Thaden does offer opportunities for students to take advanced courses. Most of our core departments and programs, including English, Mathematics, Computer Science, History, Social Sciences, World Languages, and Visual and Performing Arts, offer advanced courses that are especially challenging and comparable to college-level work.

Of the more than 90 courses offered at Thaden School, approximately 20% are accelerated and/or equivalent to college-level. 

Students who enroll in an advanced course are expected to have a high degree of facility and fluency in the fundamental skills of the course’s discipline, as well as high degrees of curiosity, preparation, and initiative both inside and outside of the classroom. They should expect to proactively find, consult, and effectively use resources to problem solve and extend their knowledge and skills. Advanced courses offer exciting and challenging opportunities for students to deepen and apply their knowledge and skills to develop meaningful and authentic work products.