Academics

Middle Years

Middle Years

Middle Years is Herberger Young Scholars Academy's middle school experience.

Core
The Middle Years Core Course is a highly integrated, team-taught, 2 year program blending both the Humanities and the Physical Sciences. Middle Years students participate as a member of the full learning cohort for both years.  All Middle Years students engage in their Core Course for 3 hours a day as a single learning cohort, where the focus is on skill development appropriate to ability, rather than on specific content of any given subject.

More information about Middle Years Core
More information about a Typical Day for a Middle Years Student

Math
Middle Years students complete a math evaluation within the first week of the school year to determine appropriate math placement. Herberger Young Scholars Academy offers math courses from Pre-Algebra through Calculus and Statistics in-house, and students are able to take advantage of our relationship with Arizona State University for additional advanced mathematics. Middle Years students receive High School credit for completing Algebra and above.

Recognizing that math is frequently one of the earliest places highly gifted students are identified, math courses are 1 semester long, with the ability to re-sit a course without penalty until they have achieved understanding. This model allows students to progress through the math program at their own pace.

More information about Math

Foreign Language
Foreign Language offered at Herberger Young Scholars Academy is Spanish, and are year long courses, focused on reading, writing and speaking, as well as learning about the cultures of Spanish speaking countries. Middle Years students that are brand new to Spanish are usually placed in World Language Experience, while those with those with some previous Spanish may be placed in Spanish 1, a high school course. 


Electives
Each semester, Middle Years students select 2 additional Elective courses, from a wide range of ever changing topics. Recent class topics have included Coding, Animation, Drawing, Graphic Design, Engineering Challenges, Paleontology, Theater, Anthropology, and Woodworking. Electives at the Middle Years level do not count for high school credit.

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The Gary K. Herberger Young Scholars Academy seeks and accepts students for admission without reference to race, color, religion, age, disability, national and ethnic origin, sexual orientation, or gender. Admissions and financial aid decisions are made independently.