Why This Class
Does your student have a job, hobby or internship that you think may be worthy of academic credit? Do they invest time in this area on a regular basis and plan to continue it alongside their academic pursuits? If so, this course gives your student the chance to earn high school credit for their non-academic activities.

Students in this course commit to logging sixty hours of combined practice or work in a single activity within a given semester. Along the way, they submit four brief reports of their progress (one for every fifteen hours of work) and receive live instruction or coaching at least four times from a qualified professional in their field. A qualified professional can be a coach, a professional teacher, or anyone trained in the subject. If the parent of a student also happens to be a qualified professional, they can fill this role. Students submit their instructor’s contact information for Williamsburg to confirm at the end of the semester.

By completing this course, students earn credit for participating in an activity that matters to them. They not only improve in their field of interest but also strengthen their ability to set and achieve goals in other areas.

Why This Class
When it comes to high school, you want your student to succeed: to learn from the great minds of the past, to read great works of literature, to understand the history of our world, and to grow their brains in preparation for the next stages of their life. To gain all this knowledge and experience, they need a solid set of study skills and habits.

This course is an intensive, week-long, live course with daily 2 hour classes and approximately three hours of homework each day. Mentors in this course help students examine their current mastery of study skills and give them proven strategies to determine areas for improvement and to set personal study goals. Students learn how to read for retention, how to take notes that will help them remember important concepts and facts, and other tools for implementing the best study tools for their particular learning style. They also explore the class participation methods best suited to their learning style.

By the end of this course, students are prepared to tackle challenging high school courses with tools and habits that will guide their education in high school and beyond. They tackle high school courses and experiences with confidence and gusto.

Why This Class
Is your student an avid gamer? Do you sometimes find yourself hoping that they turn their passion for gaming into something more productive or creative? If so, this course guides them on a journey from merely playing games to creating them—helping them gain valuable skills and expanding their perspective on the world of gaming forever.

Students in this self-paced course leap head-first into the world of game development. Beginning with a simple ping-pong-like game for two players, they progress through creating a maze as well as space-attack, scrolling, and basic platform games. Along the way, they learn how to build and add levels, point systems, backgrounds, and sounds, and format their games for mobile play.

By completing this course, students gain awareness of the programming skills that make their favorite games possible. Through experiencing the process of creating gaming worlds of their own, they tap into a new level of creativity.

Why This Class
As you know, entrepreneurship is one of the best ways for your student to bring their dreams and innovative ideas to life—and one of the most challenging. If your student has expressed interest in being their own boss, this course will help them prepare by introducing them to the unique payoffs and pitfalls of the entrepreneurial journey.

Students in this self-paced course explore the principles of sound business leadership, from creating a business plan to financing their company and pricing their products and services. In the process, they learn the basics of accounting, discover the primary laws and regulations that impact business owners, examine what it takes to attract and retain customers, and begin to see the world through the eyes of an entrepreneur.

By completing this course, students get a head start along the path of starting and operating a thriving business. They’re aware of the risks involved with pursuing entrepreneurship—and better prepared to tackle them with confidence and success.

Why This Class
Is your student a natural artist? Have you watched their skills progress over the years and wondered where they might lead? In today’s world, your student’s artistic ability could open the doorway to a range of digital art careers—from video games to movies to advertising. This course helps your student explore those possibilities.

Students in this self-paced course learn how to create and edit digital images using basic Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator tools. Students alter or enhance old and new photos, combine multiple images into one, and learn to identify raw vs. Photoshop-altered images. They explore typeface, logo, and icon creation for commercial and everyday use, and learn the importance of visual patterns. Along the way, they exchange peer feedback, receive mentor guidance, and develop a digital portfolio.

Students emerge from this course with experience in creating, modifying, and publishing digital images and art online. They have new artistic avenues to explore as they consider their future career paths.

Why This Class
Is your student a natural tinkerer, someone who’s continually building things or taking them apart to find out how they work? If so, you want to nurture their inner inventor. This course helps by introducing them to the principles and real-world impact of innovative engineering.

Students in this self-paced course explore various careers in engineering and technology and learn about the fundamental skills that lead to success in those fields. They learn how engineers turn problems into products—from phones to bridges and everything in between. They also examine cutting-edge projects that are changing the world in civil, mechanical, chemical, and biological engineering. The course wraps up with a look at today’s so-called “impossible” engineering challenges.

By completing this course, students gain awareness of how great engineering can change the world for the better. With this in mind, they can make an informed choice about whether engineering is the field for them.

Why This Class
As you know, the role of technology in daily life is expanding fast. In an online world—and especially at an online school—you want your student to be well-versed in the tools that will help them succeed. This course helps by boosting their technology skills in multiple core areas.

Students in this self-paced course learn how to write effective emails, format winning documents and resumes, manipulate data in spreadsheets, and create presentations that pop. They also discover new tools and strategies for performing online research and examine the pros and cons of technology’s growing role in society.

By completing this course, students gain the skills to navigate the online learning environment with confidence. They also develop a sense of resourcefulness that will serve them well in high school and beyond.

Why This Class
Is your student fascinated by the world of animation? Do they love watching animated films even more than live-action ones? Today, your student’s taste for exploring these realms can lead to lucrative careers or satisfying hobbies. With that in mind, this course gives your student the chance to go behind the scenes of 3D animation, design, and printing.

Students in this self-paced course learn how to build digital worlds from the ground up with detailed characters, objects, and landscapes. These worlds can then be brought to life via digital animation or as a physical object with 3D printing.

Students emerge from this course with an appreciation for the effort and artistic talent that go into creating the animated worlds they adore. They are also prepared to make informed choices about pursuing a career path in designing these worlds themselves.

Why This Class
Calculus is known as a uniquely challenging field of mathematics, and with good reason: it’s used to predict complex changes in industries from global finance to particle physics. This course uses trigonometry as a “sandbox” where your student can learn the principles of calculus before they take on the real thing in college—and level-up their thinking skills in the process.

Mentors in this course help students explore the non-functional relationships that explain and predict tides, planetary orbits, and other complex multi-variable interactions. Students also study matrices, statistics, and even get to dabble in some pure calculus—the branch of mathematics which enabled human beings to fly to the moon and back. In the live version of this course, students study the classic texts that defined and shaped these revolutionary mathematical ideas.

By completing this course, students become more conscious than ever of how math shapes their world every day. They are fully prepared to tackle calculus and other advanced math challenges in their post-secondary studies and beyond.

Why This Class
As a parent, you want to give your student an edge—and this course does just that. Whether your student is planning to continue their math education and pursue a career in science, engineering or math itself, or simply applying to a sought-after liberal arts program, learning pre-calculus will give them a competitive advantage.

Mentors in this course guide students through the application of trigonometry, vectors, and complex numbers to real-life situations (for example, they learn how engineers use trigonometry to design safe roofs). Along the way, students see how trigonometry can be used to solve problems in a vast range of disciplines and discover the realm of “imaginary” units. Students also complete projects and class discussions that encourage creative thinking with the help of their expanding brain power.

By completing this course, students deepen their understanding of the math concepts that will prepare them to succeed in college and beyond. More than ever, they appreciate the role of mathematics in their lives and think like mathematicians.