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Harvard‑Westlake is divided into a middle school (grades 7, 8, and 9) and an upper school (grades 10, 11, and 12). The program offered to students features a set of required courses and a wide range of elective courses. During their years in the middle school, students are required to study English, history, science, math, and a foreign language and to enroll in physical education every year. There are also requirements to be fulfilled in the visual and performing arts and a few mandatory courses like Human Development and Public Speaking. A study-skills component is integrated into every middle school course. Students benefit from our cocurricular program as they participate in homeroom meetings and grade-level and all-school assemblies and by completing community and school-service requirements.

REQUIREMENTS

Full-year requirements (classes in these subjects meet five times per cycle):

• English
• Foreign Language
• History
• Mathematics
• Physical Education
• Science

Arts requirements (classes in these subjects meet three to five times per cycle):

• Visual Arts, grade 7, one semester
• Performing Arts, grade 7 or 8, one semester
• Performing or Visual Arts, grade 8 or 9, an additional semester of either

Other academic requirements:

• Library and Technology 7, grade 7, one year, three times per cycle
• Public Speaking, grade 8, one semester, three times per cycle
• Human Development, grade 8, one semester, three times per cycle

Service requirements:

• Campus Service (SQUID), grades 7–9. One time per year after school, grades 7 and 8; three times per year during school, grade 9
  
• Community Service, grade 7, one class per cycle for one quarter in addition to six outreach hours; grades 8 and 9 require twelve outreach hours per year
  
• School Service, grades 8 and 9, one semester, one time per cycle
  

Courses marked as “two independent semesters” may be taken more than once. Courses marked as “two identical semesters” may not be taken more than once.

STUDY SKILLS

Study skills are best learned in the classroom and in the context of academic courses. Mastering note-taking and outlining, learning test-taking and memorization techniques, and developing strategies for staying organized are just some of the objectives of our comprehensive middle school study-skills program. Every seventh-grade student completes Library and Technology, a course that focuses on research and computer-literacy skills. Additionally, a study-skills component that emphasizes one or more of the following is integrated into every middle school course:

• Reading Comprehension and Retention Skills
  —Note-taking while reading
  —Marking a text and creating margin notes
  
• How to Study
  —Creating a study guide and outline
  —Memorization techniques
  —Daily review sessions
  —Anticipating test content
  —Note-taking from lectures
  —Test-taking strategies
  —Post-test reflection
  
• Time Management/Organization
  —Using the Middle School Student Planner
  —Planning for large or long-term projects
  —Preparing a study schedule
  —Handling stress

MIDDLE SCHOOL WRITING STANDARDS

Writing is an important skill that is taught and evaluated in most courses. As a guide to students, middle school teachers have agreed on simple writing standards that apply in all courses. These writing standards are posted throughout the school, but teachers may expand on them as they train students to write well:

• Write with a clear purpose. Have a point.
• Support the point with relevant detail.
• Proofread all work to be handed in.
• Write your own paper. Your work should be your own in preparation, writing, and revision.