High School Program
Overview
Kensington Woods' High School program includes 9-12th grades. We believe that students who complete a four-year program at Kensington Woods will have the academic background required by Michigan public universities. Students who graduate from KWHS will not only leave our program with core knowledge of their academic and elective courses but also with 21st century skills that allow them to understand why it is important and how to use it effectively.
We believe the school’s responsibility in education is to bring curiosity, challenge, satisfaction, and a sense of accomplishment into our students’ lives. We believe it is through commitment, self-discipline, and determination that students stretch the limits of their minds and realize the enjoyment of education.
We believe certain skills to be essential for all of our graduates: to read well, to write clearly and coherently, to study effectively, to reason thoroughly, to question thoughtfully, and to think critically and creatively.
Class Offerings
Kensington Woods' tailors its schedule each year to meet the needs of its students and offer them the most variety. The list of classes below are classes that are often offered, but not all classes are offered every year, based on student needs and interest and teacher availability. New classes are also regularly added to the curriculum.
Honors sections are also offered in many courses.
- English
- Literature & Society Seminar
- English 10
- English Rhetoric
- Introduction to College English (English 12, Visual & Performing Arts and Senior Exhibition integration)
- Humanities in Literature
- AP English (Language and Composition)
- AP English (Literature and Composition)
- Dual Enrollment
- Mathematics
- Pre-Algebra
- Integrated I (Algebra & Geometry)
- Integrated II (Algebra & Geometry)
- Integrated III (Algebra & Geometry)
- Advanced Algebra II/Trig
- Pre-Calculus
- Calculus
- Math Lab
- Dual Enrollment
- Social Studies
- World Cultures (World History and Geography Integration)
- US History
- Government
- Economics & Personal Finance
- Dual Enrollment
- Science
- Concepts of Physics
- Chem/Art (Chemistry and Visual Art integration)
- BioHealth (Biology and Health integration)
- Engineering Science
- Geology
- Forensic Science
- Environmental Science
- Dual Enrollment
- Visual Arts
- Visual Arts 1, 2, and 3
- Media Arts 1, 2 and 3 (Photography and/or Graphic Design)
- AP Studio Art
- Yearbook
- Integrated Art (with Chemistry and Introduction to College English)
- Open Art Studio
- Independent Study
- Music
- Choir
- Chamber Singers
- Instrumental Band
- Independent Study
- Foreign Language
- Spanish 1
- Spanish 2
- Spanish 3
- Spanish 4
- Dual Enrollment
- Physical Education
- Physical Education
- Health
- Independent Study
- Additional Electives
- Academic Center
- Creative Media
- STEAM Symposium
- Creative Writing
- Humanities Symposium
- STEM Symposium
- Technology
- Study Skills
- Project Term
- Dual Enrollment
Students may also be eligible to take courses from Michigan Virtual University. The course catalog can be found through the Michigan Online Course Catalog.
Early College &
Dual Enrollment
Kensington Woods offers many Early College, dual enrollment and Advanced Placement (AP) opportunities for students, allowing them to immerse themselves in the college experience and earn college credit while in high school.
The Kensington Woods Schools Early College Program is an Early Middle College (EMC) program and allows students to earn up to an associate degree, a career/tech professional certificate or get a leg up on the first years of college in addition to their high school diploma over a 5 year course of study, tuition-free. Learn more on the Early College page.
Dual enrollment is when students take single courses from a local college, like Washtenaw Community College or Lansing Community College during their high school experience. Kensington Woods also pays for all or part of the tuition. On average, students who dual enroll while attending KWoods graduate high school with 5-10 college credits.
Contact the Counseling department for more information on any of these programs
Senior Exhibition
The Senior Exhibition is a graduation requirement designed to showcase student achievement through a representation of the qualities the school values: academics, character and service as well as independent thinking and personal responsibility. Students are guided through their Senior Exhibition throughout senior year in their 12th grade English class.
In the course of the project students are required to develop an Essential Question about a social issue, research the origins, causes and possible solutions to the problem, write a research paper and conduct a sustainable service project that relates to their research. Along the way seniors will develop skills in communicating, project design and implementation, organization, time management and mentoring. The final exhibition is presented to staff, students, parents and the community in a celebration of their achievement.
Recent Senior Exhibition topics included:
Space Colonization
Education and Preparing Students for Independence
Photography and the Perception of Beauty
Evolutionary Psychology
College Tuition
Year-Round Schooling
PTSD in Combat Veterans
Sustainable Landscaping
Public Perception of Depression
Rethinking the American Voting System
Energy Use and Reduction in the US
Graduation Requirements
Students will engage in a combination of course work and real-world application experiences during their time at Kensington Woods. All students wishing to obtain a Kensington Woods High School diploma must fulfill the Michigan Merit Curriculum and additional Kensington Woods Schools requirements. More information can be found in the Student Handbook.
Kensington Woods High School requires a more rigorous course of study in high school than the minimum requirements of the Michigan Merit Curriculum Graduation Requirements to prepare students for success after high school graduation. Studies from the Department of Education show that students who succeeded in challenging high school courses were more likely to go on to college and earn degrees. In addition, it found that the courses students took were a more accurate predictor of their success than grades, test scores, or class rank.
English/Language Arts: 4 credits
Mathematics: 4 credits
Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2 & 1 additional math credit
Mathematics must be taken during a student’s Senior year
Science: 3 credits
Biology, Chemistry or Physics, and 1 additional science credit
Social Studies: 3 credits
Civics/Government, Economics, U.S. History, World History
World Language*: 2 credits
Visual Or Applied Arts: 1 credit
Health & Physical Education**: 1 credit
College Acceptance
Advisory: .5 credit/year
Project Term: .5 credit/year (9th-11th)
Senior Exhibition
Online Experience
Hands only CPR training
Completion of state required standardized assessments (M-Step/SAT)
Additional Electives: To total 22 credits***
*Additional credit in Visual or Applied Arts may be substituted for the second credit of World Languages.
**Additional credit in English, Math, Science or Foreign Language may be substituted for Physical Education credit. 3 seasons of KWHS JV or Varsity interscholastic athletics, 3 Fitness/Health designated Project Term courses or a combination of both may be substituted for the Physical Education requirement.
***Students need 22 credits to graduate
SAT & MSTEP
To measure our success in meeting the rigorous standards created by the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC) and prepare all students for the MSTEP and the SAT tests their Junior year, we have adopted the PSAT testing system. The PSAT sequence assesses students in 9th-11th grade and yields a great deal of results for both the student and us.
At Kensington Woods, students take the PSAT not only to practice test taking but also to evaluate their skill set to allow for more growth.
How the Results are Used
Students
In results given to students, they get advice and guidance about careers they may be interested in, and counseling with regard to the education they need to achieve career goals. These results are reviewed and used regularly in Advisory to set and work towards academic, career and college goals.
Teachers
Teachers are given data from the PSAT testing early enough to adjust instruction to meet the individualized needs of all students. While other schools use the PSAT, only Kensington Woods has the benefit of small size to truly utilize the information data to target and improve instruction.
Curriculum
Targeted support, individually designed, is also woven into the curriculum, based on the PSAT results. Kensington Woods analyzes the test results and provides services right in school that students in other schools would otherwise pay for in expensive “test prep” classes. These services are worked directly into the daily curriculum for all students as well as provided through regular Advisory classes for all Juniors.
The Data
When we look at test scores, we look at them over time, asking one main question: Have our students improved from where they started? We use this data to regularly tailor our curriculum to our student's needs. At Kensington Woods, we have a proven record continual success at students improving their scores over time, especially for those who started with us as 9th graders or earlier.