Academic Program

The Upper School at Westminster Christian Academy includes middle school students in grades 6-8 and high school students in grades 9-12. The middle school schedule is structured with four independent grading periods each year and seven class periods each day. The high school schedule also has a seven-period day but follows a two-semester year. In the high school, courses taken each semester earn .5 Carnegie units. Our traditional liberal arts curriculum is taught using a classical methodology. The core curriculum for each grade level includes language arts, mathematics, science, history, foreign language, and Bible study. These core courses are complemented by additional courses including art, drama, speech, music appreciation, literary skills, weight training, yearbook production, logic, and rhetoric.

Our foremost academic goal is the preparation of our students for admission to the college of their choice. In order to accomplish this, our students pursue a rigorous course of study. Core courses are essentially taught at an honors level, and students currently have options for four Advanced Placement courses; More AP courses are planned as the opportunities and resources permit. Our program requirements go beyond the minimum standards set by the state of Georgia and by the admissions offices of many colleges; the minimum standards don't provide for the depth of study that we consider important for a college-preparatory education.

It is vitally important to us that we teach our students not primarily what to think, but how to think – thoroughly, critically, and biblically. We want our students to ask and answer the question of how they can be used in the restoration of God’s kingdom. Finally, as our students graduate from Westminster, we aim to have them prepared to advance to the next stage of life with the intellectual discipline, the personal integrity, and the biblical perspective required for a robust response to the challenges of a complex world.

The Senior Year Distinctive

Westminster has designed for its students a senior year experience with a unique feature. The senior schedule utilizes more of a collegiate model in which the four morning classes are only taught twice a week. This opens up one morning each week for the Senior Seminar, a 90-minute period in which the students focus on a different objective each nine-week period. Each of the four objectives throughout the year serves a relevant and beneficial purpose for the students. In the first seminar segment, seniors explore in depth the process of applying to colleges, and they are taught how to explore various career options. In the next three seminar segments, students fully plan and implement community service projects, an international missions trip, and school service projects, respectively. A different student leadership team is in charge of each seminar segment, and all seniors will have a position on a leadership team. The Senior Seminar is a highly effective way of imparting valuable leadership, time management, and communication skills to seniors preparing for college, as well as allowing them to be of service to others.