School Culture

Students attending SIA's High School will be immersed in a program that focuses on the overall mission of SIA. They will still participate in their houses, school clubs and have opportunities to travel with their classmates.  New programs such as robotics and sports such as cross country are constantly growing and enriching the high school experience at SIA. The experience in the High School is focused on helping students dive into and begin to answer the question, "What do I want to do after high school?". Our goal is to prepare all SIA graduates to enter either college or the workforce with the skills to thrive in either environment.

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Our High School differs from a traditional high school in the sense that we are focused on targeted preparation for life after high school. Students take accelerated courses to prepare them for their chosen pathway and will start to tackle some of life's biggest questions throughout their courses. Our focus is supporting the development of their identity as an adult and challenging them to develop a worldview that acknowledges the challenges we face in our world, but sees the incredible opportunities that exist to make the world a better place. It is the culmination of the last line in our mission where we seek to empower them to "become leaders who can powerfully transform our communities".

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Students who sign on to finish their high school years commit to a rigorous program, as both pathways available to them will require them to demonstrate a high level of focus in order to be successful.

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Academic Program - 9th & 10th Grade

High school students participate in a globally focused, rigorous academic experience that is centered around preparing students for their post-secondary life. We have created a unique 9th and 10th-grade experience that is designed to allow students to complete the following courses:

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• 9th Grade

  • English 9​

  • Math: Algebra, Geometry, Algebra 2

  • Spanish: (Year 3)

  • History: AP Human Geography

  • Science: Biology

  • Electives: Art, various electives offered

  • Fitness/Health

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• 10th Grade:

  • English 10​

  • Math: Geometry, Algebra 2, Pre-Calculus

  • AP Spanish

  • History: US History

  • Science: AP Environmental Science

  • Electives: Art, various electives offered

  • Fitness

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• 9th/10th Grade Courses (Additional Details):

  • Due to the small size of SIA's high school, all students will take the courses listed above

  • World Languages - Students entering 9th/10th grade are required to take (2) years' worth of world languages as part of the graduation requirements for Washington state. Students have the option of taking Spanish 3 in 9th and AP Spanish in 10th, if they have already completed Spanish 1 and 2 in 7th/8th grade (new students will be assessed prior to being placed in these classes). Students who would like to study (2) years of a different language, or new students who would like to start Spanish, will have the ability to do so via the courses offered via Spokane Virtual Learning. These courses will be completed independently during their world language block at school. There is no option to opt out of world language courses as they are required for graduation and are foundational to becoming a global citizen. Families who are looking into colleges should always consider the specific courses required by those institutions, as many will require (3) years of world language for admission.

  • Teachers will offer electives on a rolling basis during the shortened Friday schedule. These will be released prior to the semester and students will have the opportunity to select from the different teacher-selected courses.

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• Advanced Placement (AP) Program/Honors:

  • All students will be required to participate in advanced courses in Science, History, and Spanish

  • All SIA High School students are expected to participate in the AP exams that correlate to the classes they have taken.  SIA will pay for the exams and host the exam sessions.

  • SIA will not offer courses that are designated as "Honors" in 9th/10th grade. However, courses offered during those years will operate on an accelerated course schedule and students will need to be prepared to complete a much higher level of coursework than they did in the middle academy. The goal is to prepare all students to enter a post-secondary pathway starting in 11th grade, meaning they will need to have near college-level skills at that point to successfully complete their pathway.

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Academic Program - 11th & 12th Grade

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SIA has created two pathways for students in 11th and 12th grade from which to choose (See the chart below for more details)

• All students attending SIA's High School will be required to fully participate in either the Running Start (College) or NEWTech (Career) pathways. Students entering 11th grade and wishing to not participate in one of the two pathways will need to enroll in their neighborhood high school.

• SIA's College and Career Counselor will support students and families to the best of their ability to access the pathways and complete them successfully. Should a student decide that they no longer wish to participate in their chosen pathway, and do not choose to enroll in the other, they would need to attend their neighborhood high school.

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• College Pathway

  • Students can elect to participate in Running Start and enroll in a full schedule of college-level courses at either the Community Colleges of Spokane or Eastern Washington University​

  • Students will not attend classes regularly at SIA

  • SIA high school staff and counselors continue to support students and families to ensure students successfully complete this program

  • Students who graduate from this pathway can leave high school with both a high school diploma from SIA and an Associate of Arts degree (if doing RS through CCS) or, 2 years' worth of college-level credit (if doing RS through EWU)

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• Career Pathway

  • Students can elect to participate in the incredible variety of offerings at the NEWTech

  • Students participating in classes at the NEWTech would complete half of their courses there and return to SIA for the afternoon to complete their Math and English courses​

  • Students who graduate from this pathway will leave high school with a high school diploma from SIA and training/certification in a trade to prepare them for post-secondary life

  • Students accessing the career path will still complete all of the prerequisite courses necessary to attend college as their postsecondary option if they so choose

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Running Start (College Pathway) disclaimer:

• When a student chooses to enroll in this program, they are choosing to enroll in college and college courses.

• The Running Start program is a college program specifically for high school students who want to attend college level courses. Students and families who choose this pathway need to fully understand the choice they are making. Students are required to complete all work that is assigned to them during their college courses. Topics discussed in RS courses are selected by the CCS or EWU and are not open to debate with families. Students may not choose to opt out of lessons taught there as it will negatively impact their grade and their ability to attend classes at those institutions.

• Due to FERPA regulations, SIA is not responsible for tracking student progress or academic grades during their Running Start program.

• Running Start will require students to spend a college-level amount of time on their coursework. It may be expected that students do multiple hours of homework each day. 

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