Étude High School offers a rigorous academic program focused on innovative thinking and creative problem solving. Our curriculum cultivates broad use of the student’s mind by taking subject matter beyond rote memorization. Based on cutting edge research from Harvard Graduate School of Education, the curriculum is taught utilizing visible thinking and multiple intelligences to create an environment of active and applied learning.

Our curriculum’s main objective is to teach standards-based academic content in an engaging 21st Century format that prepares students for college while providing an opportunity to extend their academic knowledge. Knowledge learned in each discipline is then synthesized with other disciplines to create new or original ideas of value. Communication and career skills are a key focus in student presentations, critique, and reflection.

To learn more about our curriculum contact us for a personal tour or please attend one of our enrollment events. 

Fall 2021 Course Offerings

All course websites and teacher contact information is available on the High School Resource Site.

A Small Place

Addie Degenhardt, Molly King, Dan Stenz

Humanities and IDEA Credit

A Small Place is an interdisciplinary course inspired by the controversial nonfiction novel, A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid, about Antigua—the lasting effects of British colonialism, criticism of the tourist industry and corruption of Antiguan government. Throughout this course, Étudians will research and analyze a wide variety of multimedia texts about Antigua, Sheboygan, and Native American history in Wisconsin; focused on the themes of tourist and native, colonialism and gentrification, and the cultural importance of movement. Great World Text UW-Madison Collaboration.

Great World Text

Casey Jordi, Dan Stenz

Humanities Credit

Great World Text is an advanced English and Social Studies course sponsored by the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Humanities. This year will consist of The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, the landmark 1912 novel by James Weldon Johnson. Known only as the “Ex-Colored Man,” the protagonist in Johnson’s novel is forced to choose between celebrating his African American heritage or “passing” as an average white man in a post-Reconstruction America that is rapidly changing. The course will encounter themes of racial passing, multiracial families, and African-American music traditions. Great World Text UW-Madison Collaboration

Writing Seminar

Addie Degenhardt

Humanities Credit

Writing Seminar is an introductory writing course within the Étude High School scholarly community. Students explore original ideas about the world through written communication. Each student will create and develop a digital writing portfolio that will be utilized throughout their career at Étude High School, in order to document the ways they change as a writer, thinker, innovator.

US History + Folk Music

Drew Fredrichsen, Dan Stenz

IDEA and Humanities Credit

This course examines the development of the United States from the colonial period through the post Civil War Era through the exploration of diverse cultural groups and individual perspectives in order to understand how changes in government and human rights also led to musical movements such as: Nationalism, Songs of War, Field Songs, the Blues, Protest Music, and Rock N Roll. Creation of our current form of government, the rationale of its structure, and the overall effectiveness of it provides an ongoing platform for discussion into current events in the U.S. and music’s role in shaping the message of the American People. 

Cells

Chris Campbell, Mike Q. Hanlon 

Science + Technology and IDEA Credit

Dramatics usually focuses on the conflicting goals of human beings. However, rather than asking “Why is this human at odds with that human?” this class simply asks “Why is this human?” Students will study organisms on a microscopic level, from cell division to genetics, and learn about and tell the little stories that make us who we are.

MicroPlastics

Chris Campbell, Davina Boykin

Science +Technology and IDEA Credit

Students will be creating a standardized method of collecting microplastics in conjunction with community science members. A mobile application will be created to quantify the amount of microplastics throughout the Great Lakes.

Human Anatomy & Physiology

Chris Campbell

Science + Technology Credit

What do we need to understand about our bodies in order to live healthy happy lives? Why and how does information about health change? Human Anatomy and Physiology employs a systems analysis approach to the structure and function of the human body. This laboratory science course will analyze relationships between body systems and study physiology from the cellular to the systemic level. This course is recommended for those pursuing a career in or related to the health science field and has a substantial laboratory component.

Voice

Drew Fredrichsen

IDEA Credit

The human voice is one of the strongest musical tools that we possess. It allows us to communicate messages, meaning, and expression to text. This seminar is for students who are interested in exploring  their voice, and what it can do in a musical context. This will involve traditional singing, in a group or through individual development.  Students will learn the mechanics of using their voice and develop their ability to vocalize a variety of styles and musical genres. The seminar is for beginners to advanced.; all you need is to bring your voice; let's find out what it can do. 

Cinematic Language

Mike Q. Hanlon

IDEA Credit

During Cinematic Language, students must consider film as a visual medium in order to answer the question, "How do we use cinema as a visual language?"  Tasks include creating storyboards during pre-production, practicing cinematography in production, and editing with professional software in post-production.  Throughout all of this, students must use images, rather than words, to communicate their story.

Contemporary Dance

Molly King

IDEA Credit

Contemporary dance is a deconstruction of ballet and modern. However, the methods of both disciplines produce the foundation. The students will be encouraged to discover versatility, while exploring the movement traditions that drove dance to break new boundaries. We will play with the concept of everyday movement, using experimental forms, and testing the effects of gravity on ourselves as we train our bodies as tools of expression.

Project Block

Multiple Teachers

IDEA, Variable Credit Areas

Project Block focuses strongly on developing critical thinking and 21st century skills in students through project-based and experiential learning. Throughout the semester, students conduct research, synthesize information, write, revise, and create. Students have the opportunity to explore disciplines of interest as well as make a lasting impact on pressing issues affecting the community and the world at large. Exhibitions of Learning are the culmination of months of intensive thinking and making.

Algebra

Sue Trimble

Math Credit

Algebra serves as an introduction into the mathematical world, taking students from the foundations of basic operations and moving toward algebraic problem solving. Algebra focuses on foundational algebraic skills, such as solving equations, factoring, and utilizing properties of functions. By focusing on solving real- world problems through mathematical expression, students will develop a core set of skills that apply beyond the classroom setting.

Geometry

Sue Trimble

Math Credit

Utilizing Euclidean Geometry as its base, but expanding into both algebra and trigonometry, EIPM focuses on developing mathematical thought through physical and visual means of expression. Students will discover the mathematics behind geometric shapes, as well as understand physical interpretations of mathematical expressions. In this course, students will also learn the foundational skills of proof writing as they develop both logic and argumentative skills.

Advanced Algebra

Sue Trimble

Math Credit

Advanced Algebra prepares students for a number of different subject areas by delving into higher-level mathematical concepts present in the real world. Course work will expand on topics from previous courses while introducing entirely new areas of study. Through the exploration of polynomials, complex numbers and higher level functions, students will develop a theoretical mathematical skill set necessary for all areas of higher level mathematics.

Precalculus

Sue Trimble

Math Credit

The fourth math course at Etude High focuses on preparing students specifically for math at the collegiate level. Students will explore a variety of higher-level mathematical skills including high level graphing, linear algebra, set theory, limits and more. Through this course, students will develop pre-calc skills that will prepare them for college level math courses, including Calculus I.

Early College Credit Program

The ECCP allows public high school juniors and seniors who meet certain requirements to take post secondary courses at a UW System college or university, a Wisconsin tribally controlled college, or a Wisconsin private, nonprofit college or university. The program provides opportunities for high school students to get a head start on an associate or bachelor’s degree, to learn more about a field or career of interest, and/or to develop specific skills for entering the workforce immediately after high school graduation.

Start College Now

Start College Now is a program designed to introduce high school students to the world of higher education at a Wisconsin technical school. In addition to getting a first-hand view of the college experience, you can earn both high school and college credit at the same time.

Youth Apprenticeship

Youth Apprenticeship provides training based on Department of Workforce Development youth apprenticeship curriculum guidelines, endorsed by business and industry. In the program, high school students receive instruction from qualified teachers and skilled worksite mentors. Students are simultaneously enrolled in academic classes to meet high school graduation requirements, in a youth apprenticeship related instruction class and are employed by a participating employer under the supervision of a skilled mentor.

Étude Studios

Étude Studios is the home of our student interns. It is a place for students to work independently in a way that both gives back to our Étude community and builds a personal work portfolio. Students that are ready to take on the responsibilities outlined in the intern descriptions must go through an application process with final approval given by Étude educators based on prior Habits of Professionalism experience. Some of the positions include but are not limited to: 

• Visual Media

• Publications + Social Media

• Audio Production

• Greenworks

• Events