Academics at Westover School

A Westover School Education . . . …means embracing intellectual challenge in a close-knit community. It means learning in small classes from inspired teachers who care about you, get to know you as a person, and involve you in your education. It means having the opportunity to explore—to build on your strengths, uncover new ones, discover what you like and where you excel.

It means engaging with subjects and people and activities and ideas that help you understand the world in new ways.

And it means learning the way girls learn best—in a supportive all-girls environment that has proven its effectiveness in promoting academic achievement.

A Westover School education means getting a head start on success in college, and in all that comes after.

close, personal attention in a small, diverse school · Intentionally, unapologetically small, with 200 students in grades 9 to 12 · Students from 16 states and 17 countries

Cogitare, Agere, Esse

to think, to do, to be

· 20 percent minority students · 8:1 student–teacher ratio · Average class size of 12 students

“Westover makes me say ‘yes’ more. I’m not afraid to try things.

I wouldn’t be who I am right now if I hadn’t come here.”

“Westover students learn to think through and solve complex problems. They have the chance to lead and the chance to explore.

This education is like nothing they’ve experienced before.”

—Ann Pollina, Head of School

— Nadia, junior from Moscow, Russia Some things she’s said ‘yes’ to: filmmaking, English literature, poetry

Think About It To learn more about the academic program and other strengths of Westover School, contact our Office of Admission: tel: 203.758.2423 fax: 203.577.4588 email: admission@westoverschool.org

Academics

at westover school

A boarding and day school for girls in grades 9 to 12 1237 Whittemore Road · P.O. Box 847 · Middlebury, CT 06762-0847 · westoverschool.org

Distinctly Westover — Our Signature Programs One reason many families choose Westover is the unique learning opportunities we offer. Our Signature

living outside the box

Programs take advantage of the school’s distinctive strengths to add layers of breadth and depth to learning.

Westover’s multifaceted approach to learning helped 1994 graduate Sonya Kim Heil to combine interests in music and business to become CEO of a music publishing company. For Nikki Sieller ’00, it led to a dual career as a personal trainer and an inspector for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

online school for girls Westover is a founding member of this unique international consortium of all-girls schools, which offers courses that adhere to the highest standards of online education. Learning in genetics, global studies, multivariable calculus, graphic art, and many other courses is collaborative and interactive, with video conferencing, online discussion boards, group projects, and other technologically enriched features.

“I love the teachers and the way they teach. They’re completely spontaneous.

It never gets boring. If you have a question, ask it. If you have an idea, say it.”

—Evie, junior from Portsmouth, New Hampshire

A Powerful Foundation for College Success As one of New England’s leading college-preparatory schools, Westover School engages you in a powerful college-prep foundation. It starts with the academic core. Our core subjects will sound familiar: English, mathematics, science, history, foreign languages, and arts and music. Yet learning in those subjects is rich, full, and new, spanning everything from Dante and Mandarin Chinese to genetic engineering and ethics.

From that firm foundation, you build up and out, using our broad and diverse curriculum as your building blocks. Choose from compelling interdisciplinary electives. Dive into Signature Programs in music, science and engineering, and other fields. And be prepared to go as far as your desire and imagination can take you.

conference: where classes become tutorials Westover’s small size makes it possible to personalize learning in ways that aren’t possible at schools two or four or more times as large. One of those ways is Conferencing, where students meet one-on-one with their teacher and dive deeply into the subjects they’re taking. At some schools, meeting with your teacher is stigmatized, as if it were something to avoid. At Westover it’s the norm, adding dimensions of learning that you won’t find elsewhere.

why all-girls educ ation matters “Women Graduates of Single-Sex and Coeducational High Schools: Differences in Their Characteristics and the Transition to College,” a study led by UCLA education professor Linda J. Sachs, Ph.D., found that girls learning in all-girls schools have some distinct advantages:

They are more engaged academically.

Westover students pass AP tests at a rate that’s 55 percent above the national average.

After Westover

manhattan school of music Our partnership with the Manhattan School of Music is a one-of-a-kind opportunity that makes it possible for Westover students to study music at one of the country’s top music schools. Our close proximity to New York City helps make this program sing.

wise ( women in science and engineering ) Engineering, robotics, projectiles, computer programming, duct-tape boat building... WISE jumpstarts interest—and a likely career—in science and engineering fields that have historically been dominated by men. global exchange Unique two- or three-month academic exchange programs in Australia, South Africa, England, and Jordan, six-week language immersion exchanges in France and Spain, and a two-week volunteer program in Rwanda. sonja osborn museum studies internship SOMSI, a partnership with Hill-Stead Museum, builds on Westover’s strengths in art history to immerse students in the professional world of art history and museum studies. Interns receive both academic credit and a stipend

advanced placement Westover offers 22 Advanced Placement courses, a remarkable number for a school our size. Our students pass nearly 90 percent of the AP tests they take, a rate that’s far above the national average.

All Westover graduates go to college. They go near (Yale) and far (University of St. Andrews, Scotland), north (Canada’s McGill U.) and south (Rice), east (Harvard) and west (Berkeley), to colleges that are big (Michigan State) and small (Smith) and everything in between.

They go to some of the best colleges in the world, but more importantly, they go to colleges that are the best fit for their goals.

And speaking of goals, the cornucopia of opportunity at Westover helps students discover what they’re passionate about, so they head to college with clear goals in mind. That’s a point worth noting at a time when the cost of college can top a quarter-million dollars: Westover grads are ready to hit the ground running in college, prepared from day one to make the most of this next exciting stage of their academic journey.

For a complete list of the colleges where the most recent Westover graduates have been accepted, go to westoverschool.org/college-acceptance

for their work.

For more information about our Signature Programs, visit westoverschool.org/signatureprograms

Seeing the World Through Multiple Lenses The Interdisciplinary Curriculum From human rights to climate change, the real world is interdisciplinary, and your education should be, too. At Westover you’ll choose from a variety of elective courses that break down the barriers separating different ways of thinking.

In Page to Stage you’ll follow the transformation of Wicked from a Wizard of Oz-inspired novel to a Broadway sensation, talk online with cast members, then head to New York to see the play and meet the cast. In Westover Goes to War, you’ll start global—with World War I—then pare down to national and even personal levels, exploring the heroism of students at Westover—which was founded just before war began—as they contributed to the U.S. war effort. (See all electives at westoverschool.org/curriculum) Why take this multifaceted approach? Because you learn how ideas fit together, how to look at problems from many points of view, how to see the world the way it actually works. And that’s an awesome skill-set for your future.

“The thing that I love about Westover is when a girl understands something for the first time. You can see it in her face. All of a sudden everything clicks and she just grins. Those moments are the reason I teach.”

—Kate Seyboth, Mathematics Teacher and Director of the WISE Program

They have more academic self-confidence.

“At Westover I’m willing to be challenged, to find out if I’m right or wrong without the fear of being judged. Sometimes I’ll share an idea I’m unsure about, but discover that others think it’s brilliant.” —Amber, senior from New York City, New York

They score higher on the SAT. The average combined SAT score for Westover seniors is 1802, which is 20 percent above the national average.

They have more confidence in their math and computer skills.

After a recent school election, Westover girls wrote the computer program that was used to tally election votes.

They are more likely to be politically and socially engaged.

Westover students join—and lead—clubs and committees focused on social justice, student government, community service, human rights, environmental action, and other important topics.

They are more interested in studying engineering in college.

Three-fourths of the graduates of Westover’s WISE program major in computer science or engineering in college.