Academic Departments

Guidance coursework develops the skills students need to succeed at Villa Maria, in college, and beyond.

Freshman and Sophomore Seminars cover such topics as time management, organizational and study skills, high school life, college preparedness, building a strong college applicant profile, and career choices. Sophomores explore personal, extracurricular and academic interests and the way these relate to various career options.

In junior year, students are enrolled in College Guidance, which covers the entire college application process, including college search, developing of an activities resume, writing the college essay, visiting college campuses, and interviewing. Guidance staff members provide support in making well-informed decisions concerning colleges and their programs.

The Guidance curriculum culminates in the Senior Capstone Project, an inquiry-based experience driven by student interest. It involves critical thinking, investigative research, problem solving, written summary and application of prior and acquired knowledge. Capstone projects may include job shadowing, service work, or a science, creative or physical project.

The English Department offers students a solid college preparatory program built around a strong emphasis on written communication.

Classroom time is devoted to engaging each student in a community of discourse through reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Critical thinking is fostered and encouraged as students develop an appreciation and understanding of both classic and contemporary literature.

Within both the college prep and honors courses, students approach literature as a means to explore our world and communication as a tool to express perceptions of that world.

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The Fine Arts programs at Villa Maria create opportunities for creative self expression in art, music, dance, and theater. Students have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of coursework and activities.

See the Fine Arts section of the website for more information.

Course Sequence

Villa Maria Academy is proud to embrace the National Health Education Standards,  which govern health, physical education, and recreation in academic settings. Developed by the Joint Committee of the Association for the Advancement of Health Education, the American School Health Association, and the Society of State Directors, this framework promotes “world class” health education. The Wellness model, which emphasizes balancing the Mind/Body/Spirit triangle, focuses on the development of both cognitive as well as personal-social skills that empower students to live healthier lives. Students at Villa Maria will take health and physical education classes in two semesters during the sophomore year.  These courses are essential in enabling students to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to promote health and overall well-being throughout their lifetime.

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*By audition only

The World Language Department of Villa Maria recognizes the need for all students to be able to communicate with the global community with cultural competence and understanding. Students must study at least 3 consecutive years of one language (French, Latin, or Spanish), although most students choose to continue their language studies beyond this requirement. The study of a second world language is also available as an elective.

Language Acquisition

The course of study provides the opportunity to meet all aspects of language learning, with an emphasis on interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational communication. The culture-centered curriculum and learning environment encourage risk-taking and promote problem-solving skills, while cultivating interculturality and global citizenship.

Cultural Competence

Students learn to communicate, explore, and connect across cultures in order to foster attitudes of mutual understanding and respect. They use the language to investigate, explain, and reflect on the relationship between practices, products, and perspectives of the cultures studied and their own.

Authentic Experiences

Students are encouraged to apply their language skills in the classroom setting and beyond. Language is studied in context via authentic, real-life resources, and meaningful experiences so that students become better informed citizens of the world. Opportunities for students to travel and practice the language and culture are provided both locally and abroad.

Language Clubs

The French, Latin, and Spanish Language Clubs promote excellence in the study of world languages and cultivate an interest in and deeper understanding of the history and culture of countries around the world. Membership in each club is open to all interested students.

View National French Week photo gallery 

Language Honor Societies

Villa Maria offers a number of honor societies that recognize overall academic achievement in world languages.

• French Honor Society. The French Honor Society promotes excellence in the study of French, and cultivates interest in the history and culture of French-speaking countries.
• Latin Honor Society. The Latin Honor Society deepens the students’ understanding of the Latin Language and the Roman Civilization that is the foundation of our own.
• Spanish Honor Society. The Spanish Honor Society promotes excellence in the study of the Spanish language and encourages interest in the culture and history of Spain and Latin America.

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The Learning Commons is an inviting, student-focused learning environment with flexible spaces and resources allowing students to discover and collaborate with ease.

The Learning Commons, located in the Regina Mundi building, is open daily from 7:45 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. The facility has 18 laptops, two private group spaces, whiteboards, a projector, and TVs readily available for student and class use. 

The librarian provides instruction to help students develop the media and information literacy skills necessary for college-level research and adulthood.  Working closely with the faculty, the librarian also assists in designing relevant and interesting projects that support and enhance the curriculum.
 

The Learning Commons’ print library includes books, periodicals, and Ebooks for both research and popular interest.  The online library provides 24/7 access to a wide variety of databases including EBSCO, JSTOR and ProQuest.

These digital resources are a gateway to thousands of full-text articles, Ebooks, videos, primary sources, and images and are compatible with the wide array of media for interactive instruction at Villa Maria Academy – Google, Apple and Microsoft platforms, and Schoology.

Villa Maria’s mathematics curriculum encourages academic excellence and fosters a love of learning, critical thinking, analytical reasoning, precise expression and a healthy spirit of achievement.

The goal of the Mathematics Department is to develop the mathematical talents of each student. It challenges each student according to her ability by offering courses that provide a well-rounded background in fundamentals as well as honors and advanced placement opportunities. 

Emphasis is placed on application at all levels of instruction. As a college-preparatory school, we strongly recommend that all students take four years of mathematics, and we require each student to own a TI-84 graphing calculator. 

Course Sequence

The Science Department supports the school's philosophy of educating the whole person.

The Science Department is comprised of eight teachers whose collective experience, knowledge and passion are evident in their relationships with both their students and subject matter. The department boasts professionals from the fields of medicine, engineering, and genetics. These teachers strive to provide each student with a strong groundwork of knowledge in biology, chemistry and physics, while also encouraging their interests in such elective courses as Engineering, Genetics, Environmental Science and Anatomy and Physiology.

All coursework, from the College Prep through AP level, provides the appropriate level of challenge to each student. From building a greenhouse, watching a live gall bladder surgery, and constructing a telescope, our students have unique opportunities to explore the scientific method both inside and outside the classroom.

Villa Maria requires the successful completion of three years of a lab science for graduation. Courses required are: Physical Science or Physics, Biology and Chemistry.

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The Social Studies Department offers a wide selection of academic courses and experiences designed to help students acquire the knowledge and skills demanded by an increasingly interdependent world with an awareness of the diversity of people and the willingness to explore cultures outside of one’s own.

Students are challenged to analyze, evaluate, and fully comprehend the many complicated factors that shape individuals and the larger communities to which they belong. We encourage our students to both respect tradition and continually seek opportunities to inspire positive changes locally and globally.

Within the Social Studies Department, students will be able to:

• Promote understanding and respect for all cultures and peoples.
• Develop an awareness of the global interdependence of all peoples and nations.
• Develop skills to competently evaluate social, economic, political, and cultural systems in the U.S. and other nations.
• Develop knowledge, insight, and positive attitudes toward citizenship, change and community involvement.

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The philosophy of our supported learning program is to empower students to achieve at their highest level.

Academic Success Program

Villa Maria’s Academic Success Program exists as an acknowledgment that bright students who show potential for success on our college preparatory program can still, at times, benefit from support in their academic learning. Academic support classes are instructional in nature and are intended to teach students the skills that they will need to be  successful, life-long learners.

Lessons are structured as follows: direct instruction, modeling, and opportunity for practice. In most cases, authentic material that students are using in their classes are used for instruction, modeling, and practice so that students are interacting with the material they are required to learn.

The Theology Department of Villa Maria recognizes its unique role in the educational ministry of the Church and its specific implications for this school.

The Theology Department seeks to offer leadership, vision and inspiration within a school whose mission is firmly rooted in the Gospel and steeped in Catholic tradition. In an effort to respond faithfully to the goals set forth in the “Declaration on Christian Education,” we define our program and purpose, “… to inspire the student with the Spirit of Christ, to help to bring to maturity the gifts and talents of each student, and to direct all students to become involved in transforming their world into God’s Kingdom.”

These goals offer an attitudinal, cognitive, and affective dimension as we seek to transmit a spirit of faith and to teach Theology as an academic discipline with specific, measurable objectives. It is the integration of these dimensions that provides the challenge as we seek to lead young women to live lives of spiritual growth, intellectual inquiry, and Christian service.

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