Students who join the Upper School community are challenged and supported at the edge of their learning because the driving force at MKA is growth. Students can stretch as far as is appropriate for them as individuals and members of a diverse and cohesive community in a learning environment that values a combination of achievement, balance, and flexibility.
Grades 9-12
The Competitive Edge
The Upper School nurtures students’ intellectual talents and myriad interests by inspiring them to turn inquiry into insight and empowering them to achieve their maximum potential. Students are challenged and encouraged to explore, resulting in a deep and fulfilling education that inspires lifelong learning and connections that endure.
LEARNING AT THE GROWING EDGE
Upper School students learn to think critically, act ethically, and engage deeply with complex ideas. With purpose and passion, students shape their own learning journeys within a challenging and supportive environment. The following ninth- through twelfth-grade examples, representative of MKA’s dynamic academic program, illustrate hallmarks of MKA’s Jr-K–12 student experience.
Ethical leadership at MKA begins with knowing yourself and understanding others. In the Upper School, all students take part in two Ethical Leadership Lab courses, “Belonging and Community” and “Ethical Leadership in Action.” In these courses, students are challenged to explore their strengths, identities, and values, and simultaneously build the empathy, integrity, and confidence needed to lead with purpose and create meaningful change within their communities and beyond.
MKA’s Upper School community values curiosity, and students learn to ask and seek answers to their own pressing questions and to real-world concerns. Multiple research projects throughout their high school years help students test hypotheses, build critical thinking, deepen insight, and foster lasting academic confidence. For example, U.S. History students write their Junior Thesis, a significant intellectual and scholarly pursuit to answer a research question of their own choosing–a process that prepares them well for academics and lifelong learning beyond MKA.
Encouraged to turn inquiry into insight, Upper School students develop a STEM+ mindset by practicing and applying the skills and understandings they develop across all of their academic pursuits at MKA. For example, students leverage hands-on experimentation and design thinking to make connections between subjects to explore real-world challenges. With an emphasis on reflection and iteration as essential to their learning, students take risks, learn from mistakes, and propose solutions (or new approaches) to catalyze change.
Through a strong institutional commitment to the Fine and Performing Arts, Upper School students can specialize in an area of interest or passion. Whether performing in sold-out productions, composing original scores for Jazz Band, mounting gallery exhibitions, or choreographing for the Spring Dance Concert, students are active creators. They engage deeply with technique and creative expression, shaping an arts experience as ambitious as it is transformative.
MKA’s Upper School program continuously encourages students to thoughtfully examine and navigate the world. A multitude of opportunities to experience and appreciate different worldviews engage students in effective and positive conversation and collaboration with people different from themselves. Students explore how they can take constructive action toward ensuring the collective well-being of their local and global communities.
By learning to be intentionally reflective, Upper School students cultivate a keen, confident, and healthy sense of self and others. The Advisory Program; the Health, Wellness, and Physical Education curriculum; and campus programming during community time constitute a cohesive and integrated approach to social-emotional learning (SEL) and wellness.
WHAT LEARNING LOOKS LIKE
Through close partnerships with teachers, Upper School students engage in a variety of academic opportunities available in our classrooms. On any given day, students explore labs, participate in probing discussions, write critically and creatively, refine their thinking, and learn to solve cutting-edge problems in pursuit of enduring truths and practical skills. Our graduates enter a rapidly changing world with the tools to learn continuously, lead bravely, and innovate humanely.
Upper School faculty members are able to meet students where they are in their learning and help them realize their unlimited academic potential. Small class sizes enable teachers to provide the appropriate blend of challenge, guidance, and support that fosters students’ intellectual growth and independence. They often work with students outside of class as well— during Common Work Periods (CWPs) or mutual free periods, in the Math Lab, or before or after school.
Our research-based, eight-day schedule features 75-minute classes that meet every other day; these longer periods allow for deeper learning and a more balanced workload. Each day includes four class periods, a Common Work Period (CWP), lunch, and community time. CWP gives students time to collaborate, meet with teachers, or recharge. Community time is reserved for meetings (including club and affinity group meetings), house competitions, and events featuring guest speakers.
A key component of each Upper School student’s experience is the advisor system, which supports students’ social and emotional learning and growth. Advisors establish a positive relationship with their advisees and help them to achieve self-efficacy as members of the Upper School community, navigating their four-year high school academic journey. Because most students choose to stay with the same advisor group for four years, advisors see their advisees develop from their early teens to independent young adults ready for college life. In grade nine, the advisor system is supplemented by the Peer Leader Program, which pairs ninth-grade advisor groups with upperclassmen for mentorship and guidance.
In keeping with our commitment to strengthen each student’s intellect, character, and confidence, MKA fosters self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-advocacy. We empower students to take ownership of their academic journey, to feel proud of their accomplishments, and to be well-prepared for life after MKA.
The Upper School is where academic excellence and ethical leadership meet, empowering our students to stretch their intellectual boundaries and develop moral clarity and integrity, all while contributing to our collective well-being, the future of innovation, and service to others.David C. Flocco, Ed.D.Head of Upper School
Facility Feature
Inquiry and Innovation Center
A hub for bold thinking and creative problem-solving—the 27,000-square-foot facility is designed to match the extraordinary potential of our students and faculty. It inspires collaboration and experimentation, housing cutting-edge labs, flexible classrooms, and dedicated spaces for robotics and student-driven work.
Read More