Curriculum and Instructional Program

Curriculum

All students at the Sussex Academy follow an accelerated curriculum that meets or exceeds state standards.

Academic Challenge

The Academic Challenge Program provides an atmosphere that nurtures the scholastic and creative abilities of highly motivated and academically talented students in the disciplines of Mathematics and English.  Students must apply to the program in seventh grade, and they begin the program as eighth graders. The five-year program offers them the standard high school curriculum in Mathematics and English at an accelerated pace, allowing for college course work during the junior and senior years. In addition to satisfying high school credit requirements, students may earn 12 college English credits and/or 15 Mathematics credits. The college courses are provided at the Owens Campus through Delaware Tech and the University of Delaware.  See https://www.academicchallengetheflyingcow.com/ for more information.

Expeditions

Throughout the school year, students and teachers are involved in interdisciplinary learning expeditions to promote self-discovery and construct knowledge. To support these experiences, teachers, students, and school leaders build a culture of respect and high expectations.

Schedule

The school schedule is built around large flexible blocks of time. Incoming sixth-grade students are placed on a team and remain with the same set of teachers for at least two years.

Courses

Each teacher of the Sussex Academy possesses unique talents in working with adolescents and has training and expertise in the particular learning styles of middle and high school students. The middle school teams of teachers are responsible for teaching the content standards and skills in reading, writing, mathematics, social studies, and science. The high school teams instruct students in ELA, Spanish, STEM, science, social studies, mathematics, and various content related electives. Other subjects such as physical education, art, music, coding, STEM, and other co-curricular classes are taught outside the core academic areas and are referred to as middle school exploratories or high school electives.

Mobile Logo