Academics
Emma Willard is an independent college-preparatory day and boarding school enrolling students in grades 9-12 and post-graduate studies. Class sizes at Emma are kept at a 16-student maximum; the typical student to teacher ratio is 6 to 1. Advanced Placement preparation is offered in all disciplines. Students also may enroll in courses at neighboring Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Most students take five courses each semester. Classes meet four or five times each week for fifty minutes, though lab sciences, seminars, and AP sections meet for varying lengths of time. An ESL program offers intermediate and advanced-level curriculum for international students. Core requirements for graduation include a minimum of four units of English; three units of history, foreign language, mathematics; two units of lab science (one each in biology and physics), two units in the arts, and one-fourth unit in health. All students must fulfill a community service requirement and take physical education or its equivalent each semester in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades. (Seniors must take at least ten weeks)
Emma Willard offers inquiry-based classes across all disciplines. In the fall of 2005, Emma began its Physics First program for all incoming ninth-grade students, which has students take a basic physics course in the ninth grade rather than the biology course which is standard in most public schools.
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