Academics

Our Curriculum

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St. Jerome Institute

Year 1: Exodus and Odyssey

What am I searching for in life, and how do I search for it? What does a journey demand of me? As I change place, how does my journey change me? What does my journey reveal about me? How do we find our place in the universe, the world, the community? What defines our home, and how does that change over our lives?

	Literature	History	Writing	Mathematics	Natural Philosophy
Quarter 1	The Odyssey Genesis Euthyphro	Genesis, Hebrews, and Greece Rome from Kingdom to Empire	Analytic writing Focus on a single element of an Epic text Homeric Epithet essay Quotes and citations	Intro to number theory and set theory; base; exponents and logs; cardinality and infinity	Intro to Astronomy
Quarter 1	The Odyssey Genesis Euthyphro	Jews, Christ, Paul and early Christianity Christian persecution and heresies, Constantine, Arianism, Nicaea		Transcendental ratios and applications; Real numbers; Fibonacci sequence	Earth Science; seasonality and time
Quarter 2	Aeneid Exodus The Apology	Fathers of the Church, Benedict, Monasticism Christendom, Gothic kingdoms, Gregory the Great	Creative component Analytic thinking about creativity Aeneid Letter and Analysis	Euclid Book I	Migrations and animal navigation
Quarter 2	Aeneid Exodus The Apology	Rise and spread of Islam, Vikings, Normans Crusades, Hundred Years' War, Black Death		Right triangle trigonometry	Elements and periodic table
Quarter 3	Beowulf Crito Song of Roland Luke	Renaissance Reformation, Trent, The Scientific Revolution	Monsters of Beowulf essay Deepen skills of literary analysis Focus on character	Angles in regular polygons; algebraic expressions; simple to complex linear equations	Energy and machines
Quarter 3	Beowulf Crito Song of Roland Luke	Exploration, The New World The American and French Revolutions, Napoleon		Vectors; graphical representation; projections and mapping	Pressure and volume
Quarter 4	Phaedo Acts of the Apostles The Old Man and the Sea Our Town	Early America through Civil War Reconstruction, Indian Wars, WWI	Gospel of Luke play Writing dramatic form Engage Scripture with fidelity and creativity	Ciphers, functions, inverses, graphing; linear modeling	Straight line motion
Quarter 4		Great Depression, WWII, Cold War Civil Rights, Vatican II, Berlin Wall, Terrorism		Quadratic functions and expressions	Force, work, and power

Quarter 1

Literature

The Odyssey
Genesis
Euthyphro

History

Genesis, Hebrews, and Greece
Rome from Kingdom to Empire
Jews, Christ, Paul and early Christianity
Christian persecution and heresies, Constantine, Arianism, Nicaea

Writing

Analytic writing
Focus on a single element of an Epic text
Homeric Epithet essay
Quotes and citations

Mathematics

Intro to number theory and set theory; base; exponents and logs; cardinality and infinity
Transcendental ratios and applications; Real numbers; Fibonacci sequence

Natural Philosophy

Intro to Astronomy
Earth Science; seasonality and time

Quarter 2

Literature

Aeneid
Exodus
The Apology

History

Fathers of the Church, Benedict, Monasticism
Christendom, Gothic kingdoms, Gregory the Great
Rise and spread of Islam, Vikings, Normans
Crusades, Hundred Years' War, Black Death

Writing

Creative component
Analytic thinking about creativity
Aeneid Letter and Analysis

Mathematics

Euclid Book I
Right triangle trigonometry

Natural Philosophy

Migrations and animal navigation
Elements and periodic table

Quarter 3

Literature

Beowulf
Crito
Song of Roland
Luke

History

Renaissance
Reformation, Trent, The Scientific Revolution
Exploration, The New World
The American and French Revolutions, Napoleon

Writing

Monsters of Beowulf essay
Deepen skills of literary analysis
Focus on character

Mathematics

Angles in regular polygons; algebraic expressions; simple to complex linear equations
Vectors; graphical representation; projections and mapping

Natural Philosophy

Energy and machines
Pressure and volume

Quarter 4

Literature

Phaedo
Acts of the Apostles
The Old Man and the Sea
Our Town

History

Early America through Civil War
Reconstruction, Indian Wars, WWI
Great Depression, WWII, Cold War
Civil Rights, Vatican II, Berlin Wall, Terrorism

Writing

Gospel of Luke play
Writing dramatic form
Engage Scripture with fidelity and creativity

Mathematics

Ciphers, functions, inverses, graphing; linear modeling
Quadratic functions and expressions

Natural Philosophy

Straight line motion
Force, work, and power

St. Jerome Institute

Year 2: God and Nature

How has our understanding of the natural world and our place in it changed over time? What is Nature and what does it reveal about God? What does it mean to be alive, to grow, and to die? How does beauty guide our relationship with Nature? What is the relationship between appearance and Nature? Do things reveal, in sensible ways, what they truly are? How can we understand what we sense? What are the limits of that understanding, and how we should respond to those limits?

	Literature	History	Writing	Mathematics	Natural Philosophy
Quarter 1	Creation myths Hymn to Zeus Democritus Timaeus, Symposium Plotinus De Anima, Nature Pliny	River cultures: Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Levant	Focus on organization Brief, paragraph-long summaries and reflections Academic paper on Plotinus	Trigonometry and unit circle; radian measure; trig functions	Intro to Cosmology; angular momentum; Drake equation
Quarter 1		Mycenaean Greece, Phoenicia, Etruscan culture, Roman Kingdom		Conic Sections I	Light and radiation; bright line spectra; optics
Quarter 2	Dionysius, Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa Itinerarium Aquinas Ockham, Calvin, Luther Sir Gawain and the Green Knight A Midsummer Night's Dream	Roman encounters with Gothic and Celtic lands; Vikings, Mongols, and Turks; spices and parasites; mapping and navigation	"Creative" imitation paper Style of Little Flowers of St. Francis	Polynomial roots, graphing, problem solving	Solar radiation; habitability; definition and origin of life
Quarter 2		The Silk Road, The Black Death		Piecewise functions, absolute value, and inequalities	Energy density; states of matter
Quarter 3	Descartes, Meditations Bacon Newton Darwin Berry, Wilder, Tolkien Alexis de Tocqueville Ratzinger / Benedict XVI	Age of exploration, Early exploration of the Americas	Creative dialogue set in the world of As You Like It	Euclid Books I and III	Plants; food webs; photosynthesis I
Quarter 3		Land and people in the Americas; Louisiana Purchase to manifest destiny; Lewis & Clark	Creative dialogue set in the world of As You Like It	Napier's log, graphing roots, logs and exponents	Animals; classification and behavior; habitat and reproduction
Quarter 4	Cather, Death Comes for the Archbishop American Poetry Willa Cather Faulkner, The Bear	Native American nations, Indian Wars	Creative dialogue / academic essay	Euler's e and natural logs, exponential growth and decay, compound interest	Variation; traits and inheritance; breeding
Quarter 4		Dust Bowl, Conservation, Atomic and Space Race; Environmentalism, National Park System	Creative dialogue / academic essay	Sequences and series, intro to continuity and limits	Populations; ecosystems; energy sinks; tipping points

Quarter 1

Literature

Creation myths
Hymn to Zeus
Democritus
Timaeus, Symposium
Plotinus
De Anima, Nature
Pliny

History

River cultures: Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Levant
Mycenaean Greece, Phoenicia, Etruscan culture, Roman Kingdom

Writing

Focus on organization
Brief, paragraph-long summaries and reflections
Academic paper on Plotinus

Mathematics

Trigonometry and unit circle; radian measure; trig functions
Conic Sections I

Natural Philosophy

Intro to Cosmology; angular momentum; Drake equation
Light and radiation; bright line spectra; optics

Quarter 2

Literature

Dionysius, Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa
Itinerarium
Aquinas
Ockham, Calvin, Luther
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
A Midsummer Night's Dream

History

Roman encounters with Gothic and Celtic lands; Vikings, Mongols, and Turks; spices and parasites; mapping and navigation
The Silk Road, The Black Death

Writing

"Creative" imitation paper
Style of Little Flowers of St. Francis

Mathematics

Polynomial roots, graphing, problem solving
Piecewise functions, absolute value, and inequalities

Natural Philosophy

Solar radiation; habitability; definition and origin of life
Energy density; states of matter

Quarter 3

Literature

Descartes, Meditations
Bacon
Newton
Darwin
Berry, Wilder, Tolkien
Alexis de Tocqueville
Ratzinger / Benedict XVI

History

Age of exploration, Early exploration of the Americas
Land and people in the Americas; Louisiana Purchase to manifest destiny; Lewis & Clark

Writing

Creative dialogue set in the world of As You Like It

Mathematics

Euclid Books I and III
Napier's log, graphing roots, logs and exponents

Natural Philosophy

Plants; food webs; photosynthesis I
Animals; classification and behavior; habitat and reproduction

Quarter 4

Literature

Cather, Death Comes for the Archbishop
American Poetry
Willa Cather
Faulkner, The Bear

History

Native American nations, Indian Wars
Dust Bowl, Conservation, Atomic and Space Race; Environmentalism, National Park System

Writing

Creative dialogue / academic essay

Mathematics

Euler's e and natural logs, exponential growth and decay, compound interest
Sequences and series, intro to continuity and limits

Natural Philosophy

Variation; traits and inheritance; breeding
Populations; ecosystems; energy sinks; tipping points

St. Jerome Institute

Year 3: God and the Human Person

How has our understanding of what a human person is and how a person relates to God changed through history? What does it mean to be human, what is our place in creation, and what do we owe to the Creator? How do our ways of loving reflect and reshape our sense of beauty and our understanding of goodness? What may be gained and lost as we use reason and technology to perceive the structures of creation more clearly? To extend our dominion over creation more fully? What are the limits of our self-understanding and how should we respond to them?

	Literature	History	Writing	Mathematics	Natural Philosophy
Quarter 1	Mythopoeia Oedipus Rex Symposium Nicomachean Ethics	Persian wars, Peloponnesian war, Age of Pericles	Focus on Style Speech in praise of love Prompt thoughts about nature of love Personification, imagery, persuasive rhetoric	Probability, combinatorics; binomial and Gaussian distributions; CLT	Intelligibility, information, empiricism; scientific method; underdeterminism
Quarter 1	Mythopoeia Oedipus Rex Symposium Nicomachean Ethics	Roman Republic, Punic Wars, Spread of Christianity, Arianism, Gnosticism		Systems of equations; Gaussian elimination; matrices	Formula mass, molecular and empirical formulas; molarity; solutions
Quarter 2	Confessions Twelfth Night King Lear	Desert Fathers, Monasticism, Cluny; Clovis, Carolingian empire	Aristotelian analysis of Augustine Think seriously about vices, virtues, moral development Put two great authors in conversation with each other	Rational polynomials, end behavior, asymptotic behavior	Cell structure; metabolism
Quarter 2	Confessions Twelfth Night King Lear	Medieval attitudes about slavery; New Ideas of Man; People of the Americas; Race Slavery vs. Encomienda		Complex numbers; polar coordinates; fundamental theorem of algebra	Photosynthesis II Cellular respiration
Quarter 3	Leviathan Swift, A Modest Proposal Pride and Prejudice Frankenstein Du Bois, selections	Renaissance and Humanism	Pride and Prejudice letter — Engage creatively with text, evoke a character's voice, employ irony	Logic, predicate calculus, first order logic	Human digestive, musculoskeletal, circulatory, respiratory systems
Quarter 3		Reformations and Scientific Revolutions		Trig identities and formulas; inverse trig functions	Dynamics; friction and drag; elasticity
Quarter 4	Hopkins O'Connor Martin Luther King, Jr. Crime and Punishment John Paul II	American slave trade, Civil War, Reconstruction	Education in Frankenstein Make arguments about the nature of humanity Take ownership of SJI philosophy of education	Descriptive and inferential statistics	Harmonic motion; uniform circular motion; waves
Quarter 4		Human Rights, Civil Rights, Geneva Convention, Universal Suffrage		Limits, continuity and rate of change; smoothness, derivatives	Electric charge, force, potential; elementary circuits

Quarter 1

Literature

Mythopoeia
Oedipus Rex
Symposium
Nicomachean Ethics

History

Persian wars, Peloponnesian war, Age of Pericles
Roman Republic, Punic Wars, Spread of Christianity, Arianism, Gnosticism

Writing

Focus on Style
Speech in praise of love
Prompt thoughts about nature of love
Personification, imagery, persuasive rhetoric

Mathematics

Probability, combinatorics; binomial and Gaussian distributions; CLT
Systems of equations; Gaussian elimination; matrices

Natural Philosophy

Intelligibility, information, empiricism; scientific method; underdeterminism
Formula mass, molecular and empirical formulas; molarity; solutions

Quarter 2

Literature

Confessions
Twelfth Night
King Lear

History

Desert Fathers, Monasticism, Cluny; Clovis, Carolingian empire
Medieval attitudes about slavery; New Ideas of Man; People of the Americas; Race Slavery vs. Encomienda

Writing

Aristotelian analysis of Augustine
Think seriously about vices, virtues, moral development
Put two great authors in conversation with each other

Mathematics

Rational polynomials, end behavior, asymptotic behavior
Complex numbers; polar coordinates; fundamental theorem of algebra

Natural Philosophy

Cell structure; metabolism
Photosynthesis II; Cellular respiration

Quarter 3

Literature

Leviathan
Swift, A Modest Proposal
Pride and Prejudice
Frankenstein
Du Bois, selections

History

Renaissance and Humanism
Reformations and Scientific Revolutions

Writing

Pride and Prejudice letter — Engage creatively with text, evoke a character's voice, employ irony

Mathematics

Logic, predicate calculus, first order logic
Trig identities and formulas; inverse trig functions

Natural Philosophy

Human digestive, musculoskeletal, circulatory, respiratory systems
Dynamics; friction and drag; elasticity

Quarter 4

Literature

Hopkins
O'Connor
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Crime and Punishment
John Paul II

History

American slave trade, Civil War, Reconstruction
Human Rights, Civil Rights, Geneva Convention, Universal Suffrage

Writing

Education in Frankenstein
Make arguments about the nature of humanity
Take ownership of SJI philosophy of education

Mathematics

Descriptive and inferential statistics
Limits, continuity and rate of change; smoothness, derivatives

Natural Philosophy

Harmonic motion; uniform circular motion; waves
Electric charge, force, potential; elementary circuits

St. Jerome Institute

Year 4: God and Society

How has our understanding of human society changed over time? Why must we live together? How can we reconcile conflicts between our private and public duties? How (and how much) can we measure and understand about human societies in history and today? What are the limitations of our ways of measuring and understanding? How should we respond to those limits? What do human communities reveal about the life of God, and in what ways does God's triune life inform human communities?

	Literature	History	Theology	Writing	Mathematics	Natural Philosophy
Quarter 1	The Republic Dante, Inferno	Greek city-states, Roman Republic and Empire, early Christian communities, early Popes	Faith and Reason Trinity Imago Dei: world, man	Long form writing Compose senior thesis Academic paper on The Republic	Definition of derivatives; rules; tangent line problems	Special relativity Energy, mass, speed Light and EMR Maxwell, Lorentz, Einstein
Quarter 1	The Republic Dante, Inferno		Faith and Reason Trinity Imago Dei: world, man		Trig functions; relative extrema; theorems, 1st / 2nd derivative test, curve sketching	Rocket science Propulsion Delta-v Trajectories
Quarter 2	Dante, Purgatorio, Paradiso Aristotle, Politics Augustine, City of God Aquinas, De Regno, Natural and Human Law	Breakup of Christendom; clashes of Christian kingdoms; Holy Roman Empire, High Middle Ages	Sin The Incarnation The Paschal Mystery Easter and Ascension	Creative assignment: Write a Canto based on a sin not covered in Inferno Senior thesis	Limits, asymptotes, L'Hôpital, indeterminate forms	DNA, genes, and chromosomes Genotype and Phenotype Evolution
Quarter 2					Related Rates; Optimization; Approximation; Implicit Differentiation	Populations Growth models Carrying capacity Infection and disease
Quarter 3	Machiavelli, Hobbes Locke, Rousseau Marx and Engels Dignitatis Humanae, Evangelium Vitae, Centesimus Annus John Courtney Murray Leviticus	New political ideas in wake of the encounter with the Americas and Protestantism; nation-states, weak empire and centralized governments	The Eucharist Church as Communion Church as Mary Scripture, Tradition, Authority Other religions Salvation Last Things	Weekly journal assignments Senior thesis	AUC, Riemann sum, fundamental theorem of calculus, indefinite integral	Mitosis and Meiosis Reproductive system Nutrition and endocrine system
Quarter 3				Weekly journal assignments Senior thesis	Derivatives of e^x, log, ln; inverse trig functions; u-subs, integration by parts	Mind and Brain Nervous system Thought and consciousness
Quarter 4	Brothers Karamazov Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Federalist Papers Washington, Madison, Jefferson, Adams	Wars of religion and political toleration; resurgent republicanism; English Civil War and Restoration; Rise of 'global' empires; American Revolution, government, documents, conventions; World Wars; Cold War to contemporary	Moral Life Merit Freedom Conscience Marriage and Sexuality Catholic Social Teaching	Senior thesis and thesis defense	Theory of computation	Information and communication Language Technology
Quarter 4				Senior thesis and thesis defense	Taylor series and polynomials; convergence; power series; Euler's formula	Culture Art and artifacts Kinship/social structure Social transactions

Quarter 1

Literature

The Republic
Dante, Inferno

History

Greek city-states, Roman Republic and Empire, early Christian communities, early Popes

Theology

Faith and Reason
Trinity
Imago Dei: world, man

Writing

Long form writing
Compose senior thesis
Academic paper on The Republic

Mathematics

Definition of derivatives; rules; tangent line problems
Trig functions; relative extrema; theorems, 1st / 2nd derivative test, curve sketching

Natural Philosophy

Special relativity; Energy, mass, speed; Light and EMR; Maxwell, Lorentz, Einstein
Rocket science; Propulsion; Delta-v; Trajectories

Quarter 2

Literature

Dante, Purgatorio, Paradiso
Aristotle, Politics
Augustine, City of God
Aquinas, De Regno,
Natural and Human Law

History

Breakup of Christendom; clashes of Christian kingdoms; Holy Roman Empire, High Middle Ages

Theology

Sin
The Incarnation
The Paschal Mystery
Easter and Ascension

Writing

Creative assignment: Write a Canto based on a sin not covered in Inferno
Senior thesis

Mathematics

Limits, asymptotes, L'Hôpital, indeterminate forms
Related Rates; Optimization; Approximation; Implicit Differentiation

Natural Philosophy

DNA, genes, and chromosomes; Genotype and Phenotype; Evolution
Populations; Growth models; Carrying capacity; Infection and disease

Quarter 3

Literature

Machiavelli, Hobbes
Locke, Rousseau
Marx and Engels
Dignitatis Humanae,
Evangelium Vitae,
Centesimus Annus
John Courtney Murray
Leviticus

History

New political ideas in wake of the encounter with the Americas and Protestantism; nation-states, weak empire and centralized governments

Theology

The Eucharist
Church as Communion
Church as Mary
Scripture, Tradition, Authority
Other religions
Salvation
Last Things

Writing

Weekly journal assignments
Senior thesis

Mathematics

AUC, Riemann sum, fundamental theorem of calculus, indefinite integral
Derivatives of e^x, log, ln; inverse trig functions; u-subs, integration by parts

Natural Philosophy

Mitosis and Meiosis; Reproductive system; Nutrition and endocrine system
Mind and Brain; Nervous system; Thought and consciousness

Quarter 4

Literature

Brothers Karamazov
Declaration of Independence,
Constitution,
Federalist Papers
Washington, Madison,
Jefferson, Adams

History

Wars of religion and political toleration; resurgent republicanism; English Civil War and Restoration; Rise of 'global' empires; American Revolution, government, documents, conventions; World Wars; Cold War to contemporary

Theology

Moral Life
Merit
Freedom
Conscience
Marriage and Sexuality
Catholic Social Teaching

Writing

Senior thesis and thesis defense

Mathematics

Theory of computation
Taylor series and polynomials; convergence; power series; Euler's formula

Natural Philosophy

Information and communication; Language; Technology
Culture; Art and artifacts; Kinship/social structure; Social transactions

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