High School

Your child will study the coursework below:

• Logic/Rhetoric (.5 credit)
• Biblical Hermeneutics (1.0 credit)
• Classical Literature (1.0 credit)
• Classical History (1.0 credit)
• Algebra I or Geometry (1.0 credit)
• Biology (1.0 credit)
• Latin 1 or Greek 1 (.5 credit)
• Choir I (.5 credit)
• Theater (.5 credit)
• Protocol (Non-credit)

Your child will study the coursework below:

• Logic/Rhetoric (.5 credit)
• Biblical Theology (1.0 credit)
• European Literature (1.0 credit)
• European History (1.0 credit)
• Geometry or Algebra II (1.0 credit)
• Chemistry (1.0 credit)
• Latin II or Greek II (.5 credit)

Your child may choose one of the following courses.

• Choir II (.5 credit)
• Art Studio I (.5 credit)
• Theater (.5 credit)
• Photojournalism (.5 credit)

Your child will study the coursework below.

• Logic/Rhetoric (.5 credit)
• Ethics (1.0 credit)
• American Literature (1.0 credit)
• American History (1.0 credit)
• Algebra II or Trig/Pre-Calculus
• Physics or Anatomy and Physiology
• Latin III or Greek III (.5 credit)
• Protocol (non-credit)
• CLT (non-credit)
• PSAT (non-credit)

Your child may choose from one of the following courses.

• Choir
• Art Studio
• Theater
• Photojournalism

Your child will study the coursework below.

• Rhetoric/Senior Thesis (.5 credit)
• Apologetics (1.0 credit)
• Advanced Literature (1.0 credit)
• Political Theory/Civics (1.0 credit)
• Trig/Pre-Calculus, Engaged Mathematics, or Calculus (1.0 credit)
• Physics or Anatomy and Physiology
• Astronomy
• Latin IV or Greek IV
• Protocol (Non-Credit)

Your child may choose one of the following courses.

• Choir (.5 credit)
• Orchestra (.5 credit)
• Art Studio (.5 credit)
• Theater (.5 credit)
• Photojournalism (.5 credit)

The Grand Tour is a five-day trip to Washington, D.C. that takes place during the fall semester of senior year. There, your child will visit key memorials and historic locations with their senior classmates and teachers. They will be called upon to reflect on what they have learned at each site. The Grand Tour extends learning beyond the classroom and offers a timely opportunity for your child to deepen friendships with peers and teacher mentors.

Your child's capstone of their education at FCA, the thesis project, will give them the opportunity to present a worthy question and to answer it well with skill, with grace, and with Christian conviction. Your child will be challenged to be a compelling rhetorician, what Quintillion described as “good men speaking well.” This requires that they draw from the wealth of their entire educational experience. The process includes writing a fifteen to twenty-page paper, speaking in a public forum, and undergoing a cross-examination. Your child will present an argument on a topic which they have devoted considerable time to researching, analyzing, organizing, writing, and revising—all from a Christian perspective. Through this process, they then further refine the skills of self-motivation, self-discipline, organization, time-management, analysis, critique, and problem-solving. The completion of the thesis, both the habits required and the content of the thesis, demonstrates your child's synthesis of the best of their education.
 

Your child will present their senior thesis to teachers, peers, parents, and friends at the Knights' Academic Conference. The Conference is preceded by two years of preparation in Rhetoric classes. Once your child has completed their thesis paper, they will present their topic in the form of a persuasive speech, after which they will undergo cross-examination by a panel consisting of faculty and peers. From these presentations, three outstanding speeches are chosen to compete for scholarships during the Evening of Rhetoric.

FCA's Evening of Rhetoric provides an opportunity for the best senior theses to be recognized. The top three presentations given are presented before the entire FCA community. Each qualified student presents their research and then submits to further cross-examination by a faculty panel. At the conclusion, students are awarded a scholarship based on voting that evening.

Your child will participate in the Tour of the Night Sky astronomy trip at the end of their senior year. It is another extension of the classroom that takes place at the completion of the astronomy course offered to seniors. On this trip, your child will spend three days camping under the stars, canoeing, and hiking in Arkansas, with the aim of evoking a sense of awe that challenges them to consider their Creator.