Academic Information

Here at SEM, it’s cool to like math. Science, Engineering, Computer Science—all these things show the fascinating power of mathematical reasoning. Math is the key tool used to master all STEM disciplines, so starting freshman year, math is woven into everything to give students the foundation for all their STEM courses.

The math sequence is designed to give all students the math tools they need as quickly as possible. All freshman take geometry. All freshman also have a 90-minute math class each day. Math placement is based on existing skill levels: some students spend their entire freshman year on Algebra 2, moving on to pre-calculus as sophomores. Another set of freshman go all the way through the first calculus course. Most fall in the middle—they complete Algebra 2 and Pre-Calculus and move on to calculus as sophomores.

Calculus is the most important math class: all STEM disciplines, from Robotics to Physics to Economics require strong calculus skills. For this, we slow down. Students have a 90-minutes of calculus every day. The first calculus course is usually completed by the end of sophomore year. At that point, science, engineering, and programming begin to take over each student’s schedule. However, we require all students finish the second calculus course (BC) and we strongly recommend that they take statistics and an advanced math course introducing them to differential equations and multivariable calculus.

It is important to note that freshman math placement does not put a student on a “track”: all SEM students have the same opportunities to take the same courses. Freshmen math placement determines the pacing of the classes, not the option to take them. Many students who are placed in Algebra 2 complete the full sequence.

Our science program is designed to send every student to college prepared for the most advanced laboratory work. Students have the opportunity to focus on life or physical sciences at the highest level.

As freshmen, all students take Honors Biology or AP Biology. Sophomore year, all students take AP Physics 1 and Honors Chemistry. For most students, this goes along with their second intensive year of math and their first year of calculus. This sophomore year is the critical year in our program: physics and chemistry are the universal foundation for everything in STEM.

After sophomore year, students begin to specialize. Most students take our Superclass sequence: they are concurrently enrolled in AP Physics C Mechanics and AP Chemistry, along with a full-length separate laboratory class. We also offer AP Physics C (Electricity and Magnetism) and AP Physics 2: students can complete up to four years of Physics.

Students interested in a life-science focus take AP Biology, AP Environmental Science, and Anatomy and Physiology.

All STEM fields, from research science to engineering to pure math involve computer programming. As freshmen, all students take Introduction to Engineering Design, a course designed to develop an engineering mindset. The course will introduce to students to the engineering design process applying math, science, and engineering standards to identify and design solutions to a variety of real problems.

Sophomore year, students take AP Computer Science Principles an introductory college-level computing course. Students learn to design and evaluate solutions and to apply computer science to solve problems through the development of algorithms and programs.

Junior year, students will take AP Computer Science A. In this course students will get familiar with concepts and tools of computer science while learning a subset of the Java programming language. Students do hands-on work to design, write, and test computer programs that solve problems or accomplish tasks.

During their senior year, students can opt to take Robotics or a Data Structures class.

At SEM, we have developed a history and English program designed to introduce STEM-oriented students to the richness of the written word, and the complexity of history while honing the communication skills they need to thrive in technical fields.

Freshman year, our students take both English 1 and English 2 in a continuous block with a single teacher. This allows us to establish a strong foundation in basic writing skills and introduce all students to rigorous analysis of texts. During this year, students take both of the STAAR English end-of-course exams. They also all take AP Human Geography. This course teaches students the political, social, and physical landscape of the contemporary world. It also serves as an introduction to AP-level thinking, reading, and writing.

Sophomores take AP World History and AP Seminar. AP Seminar is the first of two courses in the AP Capstone program. Here, students learn the foundations of academic literacy: they study academic texts and produce college-level academic papers.

Juniors take AP English Language, an AP English course designed to introduce the fundamentals of rhetoric and argumentation. This test closely resembles the Reading and Writing portion of the SAT, and SAT prep is integrated into the course. Juniors also take AP US History.

Seniors take AP Literature, AP Government and Politics, and AP Macroeconomics. In AP Literature, students receive directed ACT prep and help writing college essays.

Seniors will also have the option to take AP Research, the second AP Capstone course. This interdisciplinary capstone course is supervised by instructors in the relevant department.