Upper School

Grades 9 - 12

Deep scholarship and independent thinking form the academic core of our Upper School education. Choice plays a key role as well, as students make decisions about what studio and performing arts classes they might take; whether to pursue college preparatory, honors, or AP classes; which sports they’ll play or clubs they’ll join; and, eventually, what history and English electives they’ll enjoy their senior year.

Regardless of the academic path chosen, students are asked daily to approach learning with energy and enthusiasm, as they build skills through myriad pedagogical approaches. On any given day our students might be:

• engaging in a World War I diplomacy simulation
• developing pictures in the darkroom
• putting Hamlet on trial in an English class
• using their Tablet PCs to analyze data collected with probes in a science lab
• discussing Candide in French
• solving equations in DyKnow for instant feedback in Algebra III

To provide continuity and support throughout their rigorous Upper School careers, all students are assigned to a teacher advisor. Advisories meet briefly each morning for attendance and check in, but, more importantly spend extended time together each Friday to tackle topics such as the honor code, grade review, and the quarterly Technology Awareness Campaign. The role of the advisor is a critical one, allowing each child a mentor who, over the course of four years, keeps track of the student’s academic, athletic, artistic, and personal progress.

While our Upper School students work toward distinguishing themselves as individuals, several shared experiences, both within grade levels and across them, bring our students together, creating that special Cincinnati Country Day School bond. Included among these moments are:

• The Annual 9th-Grade Hoplite Warfare Simulation: part of their Humanities study of the ancient Greeks, students march against one another in phalanx formation on the soccer fields
• Peer Mentoring: a program that brings 9th graders under the wings of seniors
• The Sophomore Paper: our students’ first formal large-scale research paper, conducted in every English class
• The Junior Paper: a year-long research paper on a topic germane to American History, advised by a member of the history department
• Senior Seminars: half-day opportunities for students to get pragmatic information about college and adult life, from understanding finances to hearing from alums about study abroad
• Senior Projects: a two-week opportunity for seniors to immerse themselves in an area of passion
• Community Service Day: complementing our Community Service requirements is our trek, by advisory group, out to the community for a full day of assisting those in need
• Walk in My Shoes Day: an Upper School day intended to help all students employ their compassion to understand better the diversity of experience around us