Upper School is the final step before students graduate to adulthood. It is our goal that every Delphian graduate will walk forward into the next stage of their life with confidence and certainty in their abilities.
Our faculty take a genuine interest in our students and work to understand their individual strengths and weaknesses, their short-term aspirations and their long-term goals. Delphian Upper School students learn to function in a caring, professional manner and to experience the value of living responsibly. They learn to to understand the value of service: to work as part of a team and to lead one. They gain the academic knowledge and practical skills needed to confidently and competently tackle whatever their next step in life may be.
"Delphian helped me to find my purpose and gave me the skills and confidence I needed to graduate feeling prepared for life."
R.W. GRADUATE
Academic study
Delphian Upper School students take on a rich and rewarding academic program which includes extensive literature, mathematics, public speaking, writing, science, history and government studies.
In addition, Upper School students study and gain practical abilities and experience in the subjects of:
- Leadership, through organizing and managing group activities to achieve specific goals.
- Integrity, in an environment which encourages critical thinking and free and open inquiry.
- Logic and reasoning, through research assignments which require students to explore views different from their own, and to form their own opinions based on their findings, which they are able to communicate with well-researched explanations.
literature program
Delphian's literature program includes a diverse selection of literary works which are read independently or in seminar-style classes.
The book selection includes several classics in addition to more recently published selections—all carefully chosen to broaden students' viewpoints and their understanding of our world's culture and history.
Additionally, students are given writing and group discussion assignments which challenge them to organize their own thoughts and present them in a way which displays a high level of understanding, observation and integrity.
practical application
By the time students make it into the Upper School, they are just a few short years from adulthood. It is not just a requirement for students to study their academic subjects for application: they are expected to apply what they have learned—not in some distant future, but now while they are learning it.
The practical application of a subject allows students to discover how useful, how valuable, how valid information is, and—sometimes more importantly—what they are capable of.
For the most part, students choose and plan their practical projects, apprenticeships and internships to fulfill specific, open-ended guidelines and requirements. This allows students to try new things and explore their interests.
The up-close view into the real-life application of subjects combined with the leadership, communication and responsibility skills they build through our student leadership program empower students to become young adults who can go anywhere.
Upper
school Age RANGE
Students typically begin in the Upper School as early as age 13 and graduate around age 18.
Our teachers, called academic supervisors, are the expert guides, always there to assist, support and encourage our students through each level of our program.
our approach
Helping Students Take The Lead
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about Helping Students Take The Lead
Individualized Academic Program
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about Individualized Academic Program
Forms Not Grades
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about Forms Not Grades
Broadening Views Through Literature
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about Broadening Views Through Literature
Practical Application
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about Practical Application
our alumni
"I can now say that I am someone with integrity and someone who can get a product despite any challenge."
Classical Music Composer
“Believe that whatever you would love to do is possible."
Fashion Designer
"An outstanding skill one obtains through the Delphian program is the ability to learn. I believe that ability alone can make one unstoppable."
Art Director for Bungie
"Life is a learning process that keeps going and doesn’t ever really slow down."
"I am forever grateful to Delphian, and everyone that makes this school what it is..."
"The staff members look at us as young adults and not as children, and they treat us as if they were family relatives. They help us learn how to positively lead our own lives, they help us learn from our mistakes, they let us own our education, and they don't judge by what we want to do or be."
Mexico City Real Estate
“You have the tools from your Delphian education so don’t be reasonable—take responsibility for and confront the problems as they come, and you will succeed.”
Doctor in Pharmacy
"Don’t be scared of medical school."
Chef
"Don't let what you know get in the way of what you don't know."
Humanitarian
"Humanitarian work is not the way to get rich or have a life of ease—but it is extremely purposeful and rewarding. So find your area of purpose and push that purpose forward with everything you’ve got."
OUr Mission
To empower young adults to bring positive change in the world through reason, creativity and integrity.