Academics

List of 6 items.

• Communication Skills

  Communicating effectively in every discipline is critical to future success. So whether it's a critical analysis, a scientific reference, or a creative exercise, our students learn how to get their point across.

  ​

   

• Creative and Critical Thinking

  We ask questions constantly! Using the techniques of Socratic Seminar and collaborative workshop, we approach the traditional disciplines of literature, science, history, and more through a creative and questioning lens. We look at old problems in new ways: 

  • How about asking our Studio Art class to illustrate our Poetry class's biographical poems?
  • Let's turn the school newspaper into an ongoing blog.  
  • How can we fine-tune the weight distribution on our 3D-printed wind turbine?

  We never stop searching for creative ways to express our findings.

  ​

   

• Intellectual Curiosity

  Our low student-teacher ratio creates an environment where Hilltoppers can pursue their passions.

  • When we find a middle schooler who dismantles and reassembles computers at home for fun, we make the Upper School Robotics Team available to that student.

  • When we see a gifted student writer with a great handle on technology, we take her lead and add a blogging feature to the school newspaper.

   

• Collaboration

  Walk into any classroom on the Hilltop and you’ll see the activity and feel the energy. Our students don’t just sit quietly listening to lectures. Every Hilltopper is part of the process, engaging as both team leaders and members. We workshop, peer edit, build, and create together!

  • Essay workshops in English, History, Economics, and even Algebra
  • Honors English and Biology get together to discuss this question: Would Shakespeare’s text have changed if he had knowledge of modern genetics?
  • STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) class makes a ping pong ball dispenser for our Kellner Student Center.

• Cultural Competency

  Hand-in-hand with creative inquiry is exposure to real world application. Whether it’s heading off to Italy with our Summer Abroad Program, teaching what you've learned to students of need right here in Worcester, or simply learning what your classmates from 23 other countries across the globe think, we'll prepare you for a world class future.

   

• Global Connection

  We live in a global, digital, interconnected world, and we prepare our students for that world. Through thoughtful and innovative practices, our faculty transform that fast-paced, global communication highway from four lanes down to one. We make the global local by turning community experiences and basic lesson plans into impactful awareness of the world beyond.