Brunswick School and Greenwich Academy are college preparatory schools. Mindful of their responsibility to provide their students with a strong academic program and at the same time to recognize individual talents and special interests, both schools maintain a strong and balanced offering of required and elective subjects. Honors and Advanced Placement sections in many courses provide the more able students with special challenges, while elective courses available in most disciplines furnish enrichment and variety in traditional academic areas and in art, drama, dance and music.

Statements of each department's requirements and philosophy as well as complete descriptions of core and elective courses are provided in the course catalog.

The minimum (and normal) course load is five. Students proposing a program of six or more full credit courses that include honors and advanced placement must have the permission of the Head of the Upper School for Greenwich Academy students and the Dean of Academic Affairs for Brunswick students.

ENGLISH: Four years
HISTORY: Three years (one of which must be U.S. History)
MATHEMATICS: Three years
SCIENCE: Three years (Biology, Chemistry and Physics)
FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Completion of Level III in consecutive years (French, Latin or Spanish)
ARTS: One year (both semesters in a studio or performance course)
COMPUTER: See introduction to Computer section of catalogue.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION: Four years
HEALTH: One half-year

Typical Four Year Sequence
The sequence outlined below, while typical, is not fixed. Other options, permitting stronger emphasis in a particular subject area (e.g., Foreign Language) are also open to students.

*Where required. See requirement details in Arts and Computer sections of Course Catalog.

Coordination
Students from Brunswick and Greenwich Academy may enroll in courses on the opposite campus, schedule and numbers permitting. Students should bear in mind the following:

• Up to half of a student's total load may be taken at the other school;
• Ten-minute passing times occur between classes.
• Car transportation between campuses is prohibited; students must occasionally walk in inclement weather;
• Students must obey the rules of both schools as outlined in their respective handbooks.
• Click here for more information on the Greenwich Academy/Brunswick School coordination program.

Advanced Placement Courses
Advanced Placement (AP) courses are college-level courses offered chiefly in grades 11 and 12. Almost all departments offer A.P. courses that carry extra credit included in computing Honors. A sufficiently high score on an AP examination may allow the student to earn credit in the college he or she eventually attends. Students are carefully selected for AP courses according to the following criteria:

• teacher recommendation;
• grades in prerequisite courses;
• standardized test scores;
• consideration of the student's total academic load.
• other specific department requirements (see appropriate section of the Course Catalog).

Students are encouraged not to take more than three AP courses in a given year without permission of the head of the Upper School for Greenwich Academy students or the Dean of Academic Affairs for Brunswick students. The work of a typical AP course involves homework of an hour or more each night. Both schools expect students to give serious commitment to AP courses and to take the AP examination in mid-May. A student may, at the teacher's discretion, lose AP status at any point during the year. Colleges will be notified of any change in a student's AP status.

Honors Courses
Honors courses, most frequently offered in grades 11 and 12, are significantly more rigorous than regular courses, and student work is expected to show greater depth, more sophisticated reasoning and higher creativity than the work in regular courses. Many Honors courses approach AP courses in their degree of expectation and difficulty and are offered by almost all departments. Students usually need specific departmental recommendation to take Honors courses.

Independent Study
Independent projects, in which students do considerable work on their own without the constant supervision of the teacher, are available. With departmental approval, students may elect to fulfill a requirement or an elective by special independent work for which they will receive full or partial course credit.

Marking System
A+ = 98, 99, 100
A = 93, 94, 95, 96, 97
A- = 90, 91, 92
B+ = 87, 88, 89
B = 83, 84, 85, 86
B- = 80, 81, 82
C+ = 77, 78, 79
C = 73, 74, 75, 76
C- = 70, 71, 72
D+ = 67, 68, 69
D = 63, 64, 65, 66
D- = 60, 61, 62
F = 59 and below
Both the Academy and Brunswick have the same standard for High Honors and Honors.

Honor Board
The Vice President of the School chairs this entirely student-run committee. The purpose of this board is to provide a forum for discussion and to help students who have concerns about cheating or stealing. Students are encouraged to make use of this forum. Two senior and two junior representatives are elected by their classes to serve on this board. The sophomore and freshmen classes elect one member each. A full description of how this board operates will be given to Upper School students at the start of the academic year.