Curriculum
View the daily schedule
Art/Music Classes
Art/Music Block classes are scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursdays and extend for a 10-week trimester. Art/Music Block classes include Painting, Drawing, Fiber Arts, Clay Modeling, Music, Circus Arts, Drama, Photography, etc.
View the Arts Catalog for 2009-10
Path Classes
Path classes are scheduled daily (Monday through Friday), and typically run for the duration of a semester, with a total of 35 – 65 hourly sessions per semester. Path classes cover Math, English, Social Studies, Life Skills, Foreign Languages, and Physical Education.
Independent Studies
Independent Studies are classes proposed and initiated by students. Usually they replace one of a student’s normal classes and may be self-taught, taught by a fellow student, or include a guest teacher. Students are required to submit and get approval for a proposal to the student body. This proposal includes signatures from the teacher whose class would be replaced, their parents, and the school administration group. A self-evaluation and report are also required at the end of the independent study. Independent Studies can cover any subject, from web design to guitar playing to astrology.
Theme Week and Service Week
During these two weeks, normal classes are suspended to make way for special classes and projects. For Theme Week, the students decide on a theme, find the necessary teachers and resources for their chosen theme, and then enjoy their week. Past themes include: Radio Broadcasting, Self-defense, and most recently, Circus. During Service Week, students spend their time serving the community, sometimes in the form of work around the school, but more often doing dirty work for other organizations.
Main Lesson Blocks
Main Lesson Block classes are scheduled daily (Monday through Friday) from 8:30 AM – 10:20 AM. Main Lesson Blocks typically last 3 or 4 weeks, with a total of 30 – 40 hourly sessions per block. Main Lesson Block classes cover subjects in Science, Math, Life Skills, and the Humanities.
2009-2010 Class Syllabi
Ninth and Tenth Grade English
Eleventh Grade English
Latin I
Spanish I
Transcendentalism
Climate and Meteorology
Post-Reconstruction American History
Introduction to Youth Initiative High School
Logic and Rhetoric
Earth Science
Genetics and Biotechnology
Comedy and Tragedy Main Lesson Block
Astronomy Main Lesson Block
History of Technology Main Lesson Block
Tribal Fusion Belly Dance
Introduction to Drawing
Electricity Main Lesson Block
German Language
Zoology
Ancient History
History of Revolutions
Wave Mechanics
Transitions to Modernity; Western Civilization from the 100 Years War to WWI
Grade 9 Physics
Mechanics
Drug Education
Parzival
Psychology
Politics and Public Speaking
Juggling
Performance Art
Algebra I
YIHS does not use letter grades and does not rank students in any way.
Click here to view an example of a weekly or final narrative evaluation.