Academics at Beacon High School
The Beacon High School curriculum is a thoughtful and deliberate integration of the Curriculum Frameworks and the individualized needs of our students. Working as members of an interdisciplinary team, teachers at Beacon provide instruction and support, allowing students to be emotionally secure enough to risk using their skills and gain new ones.
Classes work as small groups (no more than 8 to a class), and within those groups students develop standard academic skills, as well as their voice, their ability to negotiate, to listen, and ultimately to be stretched beyond their comfort zone.
Teachers develop their curriculum and align it with the Frameworks, through their weekly individual supervision with the Educational Director, departmental meetings, consultation with the clinical team, and conversations with the teachers who have previously taught each student. Many teachers teach across disciplines, providing them with information about a student’s performance in various settings. We assign a reasonable amount of homework every night, and schedule study periods and one-to-one meetings with teachers to help students move towards independence in completing homework.
Prospective students can begin to assess their own readiness for the academic responsibilities at Beacon High School by previewing a sample weekly class schedule.
The Beacon Administrative Team has reviewed our current graduation requirements and has made the following changes in order to ensure better alignment of our graduation requirements with workplace and college-readiness expectations:
Class of 2012: June Graduation requirements
- English: 4.0 credits
- Mathematics: 2.0 credits
- Science: 1.0 credits
- US History: 1.0 credits
- Fine & Performing Arts/Technology: .5 credits
- Career/College Planning: .5 credits
- Physical Education: .5 credits
- Health: .5 credits
- 10 Hours of Community Service
- 19 total credits
Class of 2013: June Graduation requirements
- English: 4.0 credits
- Mathematics: 2.0 credits
- Science: 2.0 credits
- US History: 1.0 credits
- Fine & Performing Arts/Technology: .5 credits
- Career/College Planning: 1.0 credits
- Physical Education: .5 credits
- Health: .5 credits
- 20 Hours of Community Service (with a maximum of 10 hours service to be completed at Beacon)
- 19 total credits
The Beacon Administration is currently reviewing our current Math and Social Studies requirements. Adjustments to the Community Service requirement may be considered for students enrolling at Beacon High School during his or her Senior Year.
Detailed information about classes offered each semester is available in the latest Beacon High School Course Catalog. Current Beacon High School students seeking a course change during the semester should submit a request form.