Alpha Junior

The Alpha Advantage

For 31 years, Alpha Academy has consistently transformed high school student’s lives. Now, Alpha Junior brings that history of transformation to junior high students too. In school, many students face rote memorization and mind-numbing drudgework.

We provide an alternative: an opportunity to experience a compelling, exciting education like the one that students at Oxford and Cambridge have received for centuries, centered on the Socratic Method. Favoring intelligent discussion over rote lecturing, the Socratic Method harnesses and nurtures the natural curiosity of developing minds to produce emotional and intellectual growth.

A typical Alpha Junior class begins with a short lecture on a text that students read prior to class, it continues with an extended discussion on the meaning of the text, and ends with a consideration of how it applies to student’s lives. All this led by a trained mentor: someone who models the clear thinking and emotional maturity that we foster in our students. Each class ends with an essay question that prompts students to respond to the text and the discussion. It’s a tested model that helps students love learning and take ownership of their education.

Classical Courses for Junior High Students

6th Grade – The Pursuit of Wisdom and Truth

Distinguishing between truth and falsehood is an essential, difficult task for children on the verge of adulthood. To address this need, our curriculum fosters a love of the truth and gives students the ability to differentiate a valid logical argument from an invalid one. Through incredible texts, it introduces students to the basics of Socratic discussion and logical reasoning. By the end of this course, students will grasp the fundamentals of logical thought.

7th Grade – The Hero’s Journey

Caught between childhood and adulthood, 7th grade students often have difficulty balancing their many roles as students, siblings, children, and young adults. Greater responsibility is accompanied by greater confusion. To help them find their place in the larger context of their families, their schools, and their communities, we will examine The Hero’s Journey – a pattern found in all the world’s great myths and stories – focusing on themes of sacrifice, adventure, and service.

8th Grade – Leadership: Courage in The Face of Adversity

8th grade students are entering adulthood. More than ever, the need space to honestly confront grief and pain without despair or distraction. They need courage. Courage allows them to labor in hope for what is to come without being overwhelmed by the past or present. Our curriculum focuses on familial and cultural legacies – both the good and the bad. A central question is, “What does the virtuous life look like in the face of suffering, and how do we live it?” By asking it, 8th grade students become ready for the challenges of young adulthood.