Curriculum and Requirements

For more than a century, the arts department has offered studio-oriented academic and co-curricular opportunities as well as intellectual and creative enrichment for the campus and region. Highly skilled faculty members—who are also working artists in drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture, computer graphics, digital video, acting, speech, theatre design, modern dance, ballet, jazz, music composition, guitar, contemporary and classical piano, strings, and organ—inspire student achievement. 

Department class offerings range from history and theory to performance and production skills. With the department’s leadership, our campus is a creative festival throughout the academic year: Stony Batter (the student theatre company since 1894), the dance ensemble, seven musical performance groups, student art exhibits, and an annual student film festival. 

The department co-sponsors Blue Review, Mercersburg’s national award-winning annual journal of student writing and art. The work of fine arts students regularly wins regional and national awards. Student musicians perform on campus and in the community and regularly join in county and district band festivals. 

With the department’s home in the Burgin Center for the Arts, students train, experiment, and rehearse in state-of-the-art studios and practice spaces. The Cofrin Galley displays student and professional art. The 600-seat Simon Theatre (main stage) and Hale Studio Theatre (black box) provide professional-quality venues for performances and visiting artists.

With a commitment to the best poems, plays, and fiction of the past and a keen eye on the literature of the present, the Mercersburg English department instills in its students skills in reading texts closely and critically. Simultaneously, we enable students to hone their writing skills by focusing on both the process of writing and the formal product. 

Additionally, the English faculty cultivates vital critical thinking skills along with the capacity to voice those ideas by the use of seminar-style classes. These seminars, where each student’s voice is valued, help engender sensitive and sophisticated listening skills as well. We pose questions that relate to life beyond literature, requiring students to think profoundly about themselves and society. 

We require students to engage in research that tests their capacity to work independently and their ability to synthesize materials intelligently. The department produces an award-winning literary review, the Blue Review, and hosts the Fifteen, a literary society comprised of the school’s top 15 seniors in English.

The ultimate goal of the history curriculum at Mercersburg is to teach students “to become their own historians.” Our students learn to read critically, synthesize multiple sources and perspectives, and write analytically and cogently. As they move through the history courses at Mercersburg, students become increasingly less reliant upon traditional history textbooks and learn to wrestle with the contradictions of human experience through work with primary sources. 

History teachers challenge their students to think for themselves, to communicate their opinions to their classmates, and to cooperate with each other even if they disagree. Mercersburg’s history curriculum offers students an increasing degree of choice in terms of AP courses and electives as they make decisions about their personal academic growth and the level of rigor appropriate to their progress and performance. Mercersburg’s history courses are designed to provoke students to raise their awareness of their responsibilities as citizens of their communities and of the world.

Completion of either MAPS (Mercersburg’s Advanced Program for Global Studies) or a Springboard course is required for all students. (Learn more.)

Springboard takes the principles of Challenge Based Learning and applies them to several different course selections designed around the passions of participating faculty members. The courses have ranged from 3D animation to creating business plans, from issues surrounding food and water to Mercersburg’s forgotten stories. Each spring, participating students give Springtalks (innovative presentations) for the student body.

MAPS is a two-year program that begins in 11th grade with a competitive application process. In 11th grade, MAPS students take the course “Thought, Knowledge, and Belief,” which focuses on philosophy, ethics, politics, global topics, critical thinking, and community engagement projects. The capstone experience embedded in MAPS is a senior research project titled SEARCH: Study-Engage-Apply-Research-Create-Help. Each student is paired with at least one professional consultant outside of the Mercersburg community.

Mercersburg’s language department offers courses of study in Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Latin, and Ancient Greek. Small classes and individual attention from our talented teachers enable students to become proficient speakers, listeners, readers, and writers in a second or third language. Advanced Studies classes are available in our language curriculum as well.

The goal of the math department is to give students the mathematical skills, quantitative information, problem-solving techniques, and analytical skills necessary to function in today's society. We believe that problem solving (investigating, conjecturing, predicting, analyzing, and verifying), followed by a well-reasoned presentation of results, is central to the process of learning mathematics. 

We intend that students assume responsibility for the mathematics they explore—to understand theorems that are developed, to be able to use techniques appropriately, to know how to test results for reasonability, and to use calculators and computers effectively as tools for investigation. Technology is an integral part of our curriculum with courses such as geometry and robotics taught in computer lab settings. 

Mercersburg prides itself on a rich and varied math curriculum for its students and a sound algebraic foundation at the heart of the program. Students must complete a course of study through Algebra II. We offer five Advanced Studies math courses and electives in robotics, statistics, and computer science. 

Mercersburg, with a strong athletics program and Olympian alumni, has long valued the conditioning of the body as well as the mind. Physical education here is a vital part of the total school curriculum for all students. Programs are designed for individuals to increase physical competence, assess health-related fitness components, and promote independence. The goals are for students to enjoy physical activity and develop a lifelong positive approach to physical activity. In accordance with recommendations from the American Pediatrics Association, the National Education Association, and the Surgeon General, Mercersburg’s Physical Education program is designed to meet the minimal standards of at least one hour of vigorous activity four days per week. 

Students must pass a yearlong course in physical education during each year of enrollment to graduate. New students must participate in an approved Large Group Activity for at least one term during their first year of enrollment. Large Group Activities include interscholastic athletic teams (including managers), Stony Batter productions (including tech crew), Percussion Plus, Dance Production, and Outdoor Education. 

Students not involved in these group activities are considered “out of season,” and they are required to schedule at least four sessions of an approved physical activity each week. Students can choose from a variety of fun activities including strength training and conditioning, Ski Club, yoga, ultimate Frisbee, and Tae Kwan Do.

The religion department provides students with an academic examination of various world religions. As globalization advances, an understanding of what motivates various religious cultures and how people find meaning and purpose in their lives will greatly enhance students’ ability to interact successfully with the rest of the world. 

Through courses on the Hebrew Bible and the life of Jesus, and term courses on Buddhism and Islam, the department introduces students to world religions. All students are required to register for one term of religion and many take more. Popular courses are given on ethics and decision making, and the nature and meaning of the universe, which is often team-taught with the science department.

In a world of increasing technological complexity, it is our responsibility to develop in our students a strong sense of scientific literacy. Our courses are designed to help students develop good intellectual habits: the ability to observe carefully, to reason quantitatively, to make connections to other disciplines, to think critically, and to apply their knowledge to new and unfamiliar situations. This can best be accomplished by exposing them to a variety of hands-on experiences in the classroom, in the laboratory, and on the field. 

Courses are offered at the introductory through the Advanced Studies level in biology, chemistry, and physics. Yearlong courses are also offered in Environmental Science and Anatomy. Term courses are also available, such as Stream Biology, Biotechnology, Forensic Science, Astronomy, and Climate Change.