The 2026-2027 curriculum will introduce several highly-requested courses and open a wider range of opportunities. The History & Social Sciences and Performing Arts departments have expanded with new specialized classes, and rising seniors have three new AP Literature and Composition classes to choose from. Meanwhile, Business & Entrepreneurship courses will become the growing Builder School, or B-School.
History & Social Sciences
Honors Psychology, previously only available to Chadwick students as a Global Online Academy (GOA) course, will now be offered on campus. Students in the course will study human learning, development, and personality. “This course will have interactive labs and projects—for example, egg babies during child development, sleep labs during class, candy neuron building, and celebrity brain models,” said History and Social Studies teacher Anne Franzen.
Additionally, Honors Human Geography will be a project-focused class that dives into analyzing human behaviors in relation to the world around us. This course will explore how humans settle, migrate, fight, and form societies. Students will evaluate multiple case studies that inform an understanding of global geographic themes and issues.
English
The existing AP English Literature: Story and Self course is being replaced by three new AP English Literature courses that dive into a more specific focus.
AP English Literature and Composition: Modern Classics is one of the three new AP Literature courses with a focus on analyzing “classic” literature to understand which texts stay relevant and why throughout time. “What makes a classic a classic?” is the central question of the course.
AP English Literature and Composition: In the Margins explores literature through the perspective of those living in the margins of society. The class will read about characters who are “struggling to…figure out their identity and [see] the ways in which they navigate competing forces so that they can either emerge from the margins or perhaps retreat further into them,” according to English Department Chair Jessica Chaintreuil.
Meanwhile, AP English Literature and Composition: Literature of War and Conflict analyzes how war, and subsequently peace, is depicted across different types of literature. “Since all war novels are written retrospectively…what does it mean to remember a war?” says Chaintreuil. “How do we choose to represent situations that are gruesome or difficult on the page?”
The Builder School (B-School)
The newly dubbed “B-School” is a department that functions like a Business School. Classes are separated into “Entrepreneurs” for business classes and “Innovators” for computer science subjects. “It’s all about real-world projects, the highest technology you can get, and hands-on learning,” says Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship Program Director Dan Nord.
The existing Business & Entrepreneurship course will be split into Business & Entrepreneurship 1 and Honors Business & Entrepreneurship 2. The latter class expands on the former foundational class by allowing students to work on long-term development of the businesses they created in the first class.
In addition to the growing B-School, Creative Marketing & Brand Lab will bring a fully-functioning, in-house marketing agency to Chadwick. Students in the course will work on real-world projects that fulfill the needs of different teachers, departments, and students. “You’ll take on projects like running social media for the sports business, helping out the marketing team, event management, and [managing] merchandise,” says Nord.
Performing Arts
Bringing together teachers of dance, singing, and acting, Musical Theater Performance will allow students to hone their skills in combining and balancing all three elements with a performance-focused approach. The course will culminate with a showcase of developed musical scenes and numbers.
The department will also add Honors Dance. “The way our program is structured right now…there’s a lot of focus on the performance and less on the building of skill,” says Dance Teacher Kindra Windish. “The Honors Dance class would allow for depth of study into the field of dance on a higher technical level.” Dance is also explored as an art form and as an expression of identity.
Honors Acting: Stage to Screen expands on the Theater Foundations course by allowing students to apply performance skills to other media, especially on-camera work. “I think it’s vital that actors, especially young actors, know how to make the switch…but also [maintain] that authenticity that’s the throughline through both,” says Theater Teacher Andi Dëma. Students will also create an original short film and personal performance reel to present at the end of the course.
Students should be sure to submit their course selections by Wednesday, April 29. With the expansion of the History & Social Sciences, English, Business, and Performing Arts Departments, the entire community can look forward to great learning experiences.
