Academy High Newsletter
Notes from Erin Smith: Head of School September 18
September 18, 2026
Cross Country is in full swing with two meets next week. Come out to support our team. The dates and locations are listed under "Upcoming Dates".
We are excited to invite prospective families and students to our Discover Academy High Event on October 4th starting at 4:00pm.
Next week, US history students will have the opportunity to visit the Spurlock Museum on UIUC’s campus for a tour of their Unfinished Revolutions exhibit. This field trip is meant to kick off the beginning of our first thematic unit, which examines the changes and development in democracy throughout US history. The first part of our unit asks students to consider the promises and ideals of the US revolution; visiting this exhibit will give students the opportunity to begin thinking about to what extent those promises have been fulfilled.
We have enjoyed getting to the mid-term for first quarter and grades have been updated. Reach out to teachers with any grade specific questions.
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions! You may contact me at esmith@academyhigh.org. You can also visit the Academy High Website for more information.
Head of School
Notes from Ms. Scott
US History — On Monday, students learned about the origins of slavery in the Spanish and English colonies.
Comparative Politics — This week, students finished their investigation into how the 2004 attack on Beslan School One led to the 2018 arrest of Khabarovsk Kari governor Sergei Furgal. Students read a contextual article about the 2004 attack, then did researched based on questions they had.
Notes from Ms. Hutchison
In English and World Religions, the name of the game has been COLLABORATION.
World Religions students collaborated to create a consistent set of questions to ask of our local religious organizations as a beginning to our outreach and research. From there, we began learning and teaching one another about the history and spread of Buddhism.
World Literature has collaborated on reading and writing about the books Things Fall apart and Born a Crime. Both books center on African life and society, allowing us to compare history and modernity as well as the impact of immigration and religion across the continent.
AP English Language and Composition has built argumentative essays defining the concept of beauty. We began with a webquest to explore various viewpoints, including our current literary focus, Cyrano de Bergerac. After initial drafting, students worked in small groups to begin revision, focusing on developing a line of reasoning.
