Academic Courses

Rock Point students take classes in each of five subject areas: English, Math, History, Science, and Art. These classes meet once a day for 45 minutes, though we also run extended classes and engage in learning experiences that might run for a whole morning. In addition to the core courses, electives courses are offered three mornings per week.  Students can choose from a variety of creative electives, or pursue an independent learning project or online course.  Across the curriculum, our emphasis is on teaching students how to learn and challenging students in a personalized way.  While teachers have deep knowledge and love of the subjects they teach, their focus is on teaching students, not subjects.

Because classes are small (on average 4-10 students), teachers come to know students well, and engage them at appropriate levels. At Rock Point School, students attend classes in core groups, usually by grade. This fosters a sense of community and allows them to form close bonds while learning to work together. Students become more familiar with their own educational needs and interests and learn how to form good working relationships with peers and teachers. As a result, two students might work together to make a podcast commenting on a historical event for their assignment, while another student’s assignment might be a traditional research paper about that same event.