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St. Paul Academy and Summit School (commonly known as SPA) is a college preparatory independent day school in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, for students in grades K–12. The school was established through a merger in 1969 of St. Paul Academy, a school for boys, and Summit School, a school for girls. St. Paul Academy was founded in 1900 and Summit School in 1917. The school celebrated its centennial in 2000.〔(Official St. Paul Academy and Summit School Website )〕 Accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States, SPA is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools, the Cum Laude Society, and The College Board. Recent commencement speakers have included Al Franken, Coretta Scott King, and Garrison Keillor. ==Academics== In the Upper School (grades 9–12), SPA has a college-preparatory liberal arts curriculum.〔(2006 SPA Profile )〕 SPA teaches an independent curriculum that does not follow either the AP or IB curriculum models, though individual students may opt to take AP tests. Courses have been taught using Harkness tables, distinctive elliptical wooden tables that seat 12–15 students, since 2005.〔(SPA's Upper School program )〕 Each year, the school sends several juniors to semester-away programs including (CITYterm ) in New York, Oxbow School in California, Maine Coast Semester in Maine, and Rocky Mountain Semester in Colorado. SPA's English department offers students strong individual attention, helping students develop their analytical reading and writing skills. General courses are offered during freshman and sophomore years, while semester-long electives are offered during junior and senior years. The language department offers instruction in French, German, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese (simplified characters) and has optional international exchange programs for students in grades 10–12 with partner schools in France, Germany, Spain, and China. All students in grades K-5 study Spanish and then have the option to change their course of study in the Middle and Upper School. For freshman through junior year, the history department has required courses which include two years of World History and one year of American history. In senior year, all history courses are electives. SPA's math department offers a variety of courses that take most students through a study of Calculus as a senior, prefaced with Algebra 2, Geometry, and Pre-Calculus. The science department at SPA offers earth science, biology, chemistry, and physics for freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years, respectively, although a change is underway to reform this curriculum, moving physics to freshman year and opening up senior year for electives. In senior year, semester long electives are offered, including environmental science and space science. The music offerings include two jazz bands, one orchestra, string and wind ensembles, a coed choir, a female choir, and two smaller choral group. The ensembles all offer a fall concert ("Pops Concert") where contemporary music is played as well as a spring concert where more traditional music is featured. SPA also hosts a free music competition every spring for singers and musicians from SPA and the surrounding area. SPA has a 1:1 technology program whereby the school provides each student in 3rd and 4th grades with an iPad and 5th through 8th grade with a laptop ; students in grades 9 through 12 must purchase one from the school. The program originally gave the middle schoolers laptops in 2002 and now enhances learning in grades 3-12. Much of the homework process is streamlined through Google Drive. Graduation requirements include that seniors complete a 5–8 minute speech in front of the Upper School on a topic of their choice (Senior Speech), as well as a month-long internship in May (Senior Project). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「St. Paul Academy and Summit School」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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