Academic Disciplines

In Upper School English classes, students discover their voices and learn to listen. Literature invites them to hear new perspectives. Writing challenges engage their rhetorical and artistic skills. Discussion groups and formal presentations encourage collaboration and build confidence.

The English department sharpens each student's critical awareness. Students learn to recognize linguistic structures and possibilities, and the elements of literary genres. Analysis of textual detail enriches the rhetorical quality of thinking, writing, and speaking. Haverford's English courses expand student's literary knowledge and instill habits and skills of lifelong value.

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The Upper School mathematics program develops efficient problem solvers, effective communicators, independent and collaborative learners, and confident critical thinkers.

At the conclusion of their time at Haverford, students are able to read, write, and think clearly in the language of mathematics. They explore, reason logically, and make conjectures: facilities that extend well beyond the discipline.

Our expectations are rigorous, relevant to the real world and reflect the knowledge and skills our graduates will need to be well prepared for the mathematical challenges facing global citizens of the 21st century. Our hope is that each student acquires a deep appreciation for the intrinsic beauty of mathematics as well as for its practical applicability.

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The Modern and Classical Languages Department prepares boys to be leaders and citizens in their local, national, and global communities. The command of multiple languages is not simply beneficial, but necessary. Our faculty engages students using traditional and modern methodologies rooted in the following interconnected principles: 

• Cross-cultural engagement and empathy: Learning a new language affords students the unique opportunity to gain perspective on cultures that differ in place and time. Simultaneously, understanding another language and culture encourages them to reflect on and better appreciate their own. Our collaborative program motivates boys to be open, inclusive, and empathetic. 
   
• Language acquisition: We work alongside the boys, helping them to achieve proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in their respective languages while reaching the rigorous linguistic standards that we uphold. Our faculty fosters cross-cultural communication, inspires intellectual risk-taking, and instills confidence in students to navigate unfamiliar discourse. 
   
• Authentic experience: Our classes contextualize language study by incorporating meaningful and authentic resources. We value and intentionally provide immersive experiences that align with our curriculum and partner with the Global Studies program for students to connect with communities locally and abroad and have various Travel-Study Programs.

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The Haverford School science department strives to produce graduates who demonstrate a well-developed scientific intellect. Crucial to this goal is the development of critical thinking and the ability to synthesize and analyze available information.

Boys learn to apply their knowledge in multiple sciences and across disciplines. We mold active learners who are capable of independent, cooperative, and collaborative work using the available technology and tools. We emphasize the students’ responsibilities as global citizens, including as stewards of their environment, ethical decision makers, and comprehensive historical perspective-holders. We consistently model and encourage personal qualities that will sustain open-mindedness, creativity, imagination, and curiosity. Through this process, we nurture and help the boys sustain the inherent awe, passion, and wonder that science can inspire.

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The study of history and social science is at the heart of a strong liberal arts education. It is through the study of the world in the contexts of time and space that a student can understand how the earth and humankind have come to be as they are today and to foresee how the lessons from the past can guide the interactions between peoples and nations in the future.

Our core program is two years of global history followed by an in-depth study of United States history. Subsequent electives allow students to closely investigate topics of particular interest, including those in American and global studies, politics and government, and the Olympic Games. Throughout the program, students increase their curiosity, develop their capacity for critical and creative thinking, and expand their openness to new ideas and different ways of experiencing our common humanity.

We emphasize the development of the following attitudes, attributes and skills:

• Read with an inquisitive, critical mind so as to explore material for authenticity and value
• Think critically so as to arrive at well-reasoned conclusions
• Communicate effectively orally and in writing
• Research effectively using both electronic and printed sources
• Apply sound note-taking, memorization, test-taking and other study skills
• Use technology to maximize learning
• Internalize an ethical, moral compass to guide decisions and actions
• Become a lifelong student of history

Collaboration effectively engages boys in major projects that involve research, writing, debating, and oral presentation skills.

Meet Our Faculty