Courses at Milton

Course Levels and Expectations

Milton has several designations for accelerated work: Advanced, Honors, Accelerated and Advanced Placement (AP). Milton is not an AP-driven school and does not offer AP courses in English or the sciences. However, the intensity of the program does qualify students to take a number of AP exams.

Homework assignments require an average of 45 to 60 minutes of preparation for each class meeting for students in Classes I–III and 35 to 45 minutes for each class meeting for students in Class IV. Assignments in Advanced, Honors, Accelerated and AP courses may be more demanding than assignments in other courses. Milton Academy assumes that students who enroll in these courses will be able to complete these assignments within the normal homework time.

Diploma Course Load Requirements

Entering Class IV: 18 credits
Entering Class III: 13 credits
Entering Class II: 9 credits

The typical course load for an Upper School student is five credits. Milton offers three types of courses: a full course, meeting four or five periods per week all year and earning one credit; a half course, meeting two or three times per week all year and earning one half credit; and a semester course, meeting four times per week for one semester and earning one half credit. Students can earn the correct number of credits by taking a combination of full, half and semester courses. A student must carry at least four credits at all times and may never carry more than five and one half credits.

Although we hope to offer all the courses described in this catalogue, courses that do not directly fulfill a diploma requirement will be offered only if enrollment is sufficient.

Students must earn a passing grade in a course in order to receive diploma credit. To be promoted in any one year, a student must earn a minimum of four credits with grades of C– or better in at least three of those credits and a passing grade in English.

Departmental Diploma Requirements

Milton encourages the development of individualized programs of study and the in-depth exploration of subjects of interest. The School’s departmental diploma requirements facilitate these objectives, and students typically go beyond the diploma requirements in many academic disciplines. Below are the general requirements for each department. Successful completion of the courses listed below will meet these minimum requirements. Please refer to individual departments for more specific guidelines.

English
One full course each year

Mathematics
Geometry
Algebra 2

Languages
Level 3

Science
Chemistry or Physics
Biology

History
Ancient Civilizations or Modern World History
and U.S. History or two-year sequence of U.S. in the Modern World

Arts Program
One full-year course after Class IV
or Music Package

Physical Education
Class IV: Three seasons including Project Adventure
Class III:Three seasons including Fitness Concepts
Class II:Two seasons including CPR and First Aid
Class I: Two seasons (CPR and First Aid if not taken in Class II)