Academy by Design is a four-year program that empowers students to purposefully engage with challenges that matter to them and their communities. Freshman year doesn’t look that different from what students at Wheaton Academy have done in the past, but, by senior year, students have immense freedom to shape their schedule around internships, online and alternative courses, collaborative projects, and deep immersion in specific fields of interest. And, throughout those four years, students in Academy by Design take courses that teach them to think like designers, collaborate like professionals, and understand the needs of those around them.
Multi-Disciplinary Teams
Design Thinking
Flexible Schedules
Connections
Why Academy By Design?
We do school a bit differently by restructuring their schedule so students can invest the time to create solutions for real-world problems with professionals.
We give students the opportunity to show colleges and employers what they can do beyond test scores through their in-depth, project-based experience.
We give students the opportunity to do Christ-centered service, year-round, through applied empathy and design.
As parents, we want to give students time to dive deeply into their God-given passions that we have seen grow in them from a young age, and connect those passions to real-world solutions.
Academic Requirements
At the beginning of freshman year, students opt into the program but do not take a drastically different course load. Instead, they take a few modified courses and a required Winterim course in addition to meeting with program advisors throughout the year. These touchpoints give students and teachers opportunities to assess fit in the program. At the end of freshman year, they apply to be part of the project-based sophomore year courses.
Freshman Year: Fall
Optional: Summer Academy: Health (Before Freshman Year)
- Foundations of Faith
- Math Requirement
- English I
- Physics
- Introduction to Historical Inquiry
- Elective
- Elective
Winterim: Course on Design Thinking – Half-Day (Required)
Freshman Year: Spring
- Foundations of Faith
- Math Requirement
- English I
- Physics
- Introduction to Media Arts
- Elective
- Elective
In sophomore year students are introduced to semester projects: an individual project followed by a team one. These projects, as well as a couple courses tailored to students in the program, provide additional information on a student’s fit in the program. At the end of sophomore year, students will have another opportunity to opt out of the program without a significant disruption of the usual course progression.
Sophomore Year: Fall
Summer Academy: Chemistry (recommended)
- English Requirement (AP Seminar suggested)
- History Requirement/AP Art History/AP World History
- Math Requirement
- Science Requirement
- Spiritual Formation
- Elective
- AbD Human-Centered Project
Sophomore Year: Spring
- AP Seminar (recommended) or English II
- History Requirement/AP Art History/AP World History
- Math Requirement
- Science Requirement
- Elective
- Elective
- AbD Human-Centered Project and Collaboration
During junior year students dedicate more time to project work, along with some alternative courses specific to the program. Students begin to integrate skills and concepts from previous courses as they focus on identification of problems and collaborative design.
Junior Year: Fall
Summer Academy: Advanced Topics and Health
- U.S. History /AP U.S. History
- Statistics and Data Science
- Bible Requirement
- Elective
- AbD Embedded Design Project
- Junior Year Project (AP Research Possible)
- Junior Year Project
Winterim: Internship (recommended)
Junior Year: Spring
- U.S. History /AP U.S. History
- Statistics and Data Science
- Bible Requirement
- Elective
- AbD Embedded Design Project
- Elective
- Junior Project
In this final year in the program, students have most of their day open for project work, flexible class offerings (including courses for college credit), and internships. At this point, students are building an educational experience around the problems they have identified and are seeking to solve.
Senior Year: Fall
Summer Academy: Internship (recommended)
- Doctrine
- U.S. Government and Current Issues/Comparative Government
- Elective
- Elective
- Elective
- Senior Year Project
- Senior Year Project
Winterim: Internship (recommended)
Senior Year: Spring
- The Ethics of Science and Storytelling
- History Elective
- Elective
- Elective
- Elective
- Senior Year Project
- Senior Year Project
More information
Design thinking is a powerful tool, and we cannot wait to see our students wield it for the Kingdom of God. For more information and to see how you could do Academy by Design, download this information booklet.
Start Your Application
If you want to learn how to be on a collaborative team, practice solving problems, and are interested in doing school just a little bit differently, we’d love to hear from you. Tell us about yourself using the application link below.