Science and Technology

Students emerge from lower division enthusiastic about science and eager to explore more deeply. In the upper division, students learn to become both scientists and citizens, capable of employing scientific principles to solve problems and advance society. Environmentalism and demonstrating sound, verifiable research are important emphases. 

Mentored by our eighth graders, students take on their first science research project in fifth grade, which they exhibit for parents and teachers at the Fifth Grade Science Exhibition. In sixth and seventh grade they move on to more sophisticated experiments. By eighth grade students have studied earth science, biology, physics, and chemistry, and our rooftop greenhouse provides an additional lab for hands-on botany experimentation. By graduation, students are exceptionally well prepared for advanced scientific study in high school and beyond.

Technology at St. Hilda’s & St. Hugh’s is more than an academic subject; it is an integral part of the way students learn in all of their classes. Formal technology classes begin in second grade, when students have developed the basic skills that will help them explore these resources safely and productively. The technology curriculum endeavors to teach children to be creators, not passive consumers of technology. Rather than promote isolation, our approach to technology promotes collaboration, encouraging students to share new ideas and perspectives and to work together toward common goals.

Recognizing that coding is a basic literacy, the technology curriculum provides a solid basis in foundational coding concepts that will allow motivated students to push toward more complex projects. As in their other academic subjects, teaching programming concepts challenges students to think critically, solve problems, and persist to achieve their best results.