Intensives, Colloquia, Field Trips, and Peer Support
The School extends the philosophy of including all educational venues and learning modes by scheduling two Intensives, and several Colloquia, Field Trips and Peer Events every year.

Intensives:
For these intensive educational experiences, we choose an in situ experience that articulates the core curriculum in such a way as to not be repeatable in the classroom. For instance, we have traveled to Concord, Massachusetts and Walden Pond to study Thoreau and the Transcendentalists; to Washington, D.C. and Williamsburg to study the foundation and functions of our government; and to Vogel State Park in Georgia to study the flora in one of the richest botanical areas in the United States. With guidance, the students leadership skills are developed through teamwork and the problem-solving activities necessary in planning, arranging, and executing a trip of this magnitude. Students' social skills are developed both through the research and reservations contacts they must necessarily make, and through their deportment and interaction on the Intensive.

Colloquia:
According to Brown and Pierce, the increasing trend towards teaching, in the secondary schools, for content and assessment means that gifted high school students are often neglected within the curricula. In other words, American high schools are teaching for college admission. This creates a sense of alienation and dissatisfaction, a feeling of loss of connection and creativity among these gifted high school students. Renaissance Preparatory School follows the guidelines for developing colloquia delineated by Pierce and Brown: content pitched beyond secondary curricula; experts in field presenting ethical questions; links between secondary curricula and research agency; and pertinence of the questions to adolescence. By way of providing creative colloquia for our students, we have arranged, for example, for our students to attend Jane Austin Society of North America Annual General Meetings, to work with the Trio Settecento on the historical dance that they choreographed at the Baroque Weekend at the North Shore Music Center, and to attend a Literary Festival at University of Wisconsin at Madison. We are arranging government internships, and colloquia involving science and technology.

Brown, James and Bernadette Pierce. The Development of Colloquia as Provision for Gifted and Talented Senior School Students. Paper presented at the 13th Biennial Conference of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children, Istanbul, Turkey. August, 1999.

Field Trips:
Field Trips are arranged to enhance the curriculum and for cultural enrichment. This year, the school provides for attendance at four plays at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and three plays at the Court Theatre; three concerts at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; the Joffrey Ballet; and visits to museums, arboretums, national and state parks, as well as public and private libraries. Some of the field trips involve one overnight stay, as with our trip to Starved Rock State Park to study botany, and our two full day exploration of Art Museum.

Peer Support:
The school encourages attendance at schoolmates' cultural and athletic events pursuant to their extra-curricular activities, whether within the purview of Renaissance Preparatory School or elsewhere. In a supportive school community. the lives of all are enriched by the talents of each member.


Course Description 1/2 year; 1/4 credit
Course Content and Objectives: This intensive focused on history and literature. The class attended the Jane Austen Society of North America's Annual General Meeting and enjoyed an upper level literary conference on this eighteenth century British author. We then visited Concord and Walden Pond while studying the Transcendentalists, and the opening of the American Revolution. Next we went to Salem to explore Puritanism and the Maritime history of New England. 1/2 year; 1/4 credit
Course Content and Objectives: This intensive focused on government, politics, and history. Washington, D.C. was the site of a study of the formation and function of our federal government. The Constitution, and preparation for the Constitution test was a special focus. A study of the road to the American Revolution in the Southern States was undertaken in Colonial Williamsburg and at several plantation houses, including Mt. Vernon. 1/2 year; 1/4 credit
Course Content and Objectives: This Botany, Geology, and Astronomy Intensive saw a tour of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky with a hike above and below ground. Five days were spent camping in Vogel State Park, Georgia, one of the richest botanical areas in the United States. A study of watershed areas was made at Brasstown Bald, and along the Appalachian Trail at several natural waterfalls. 1/2 year; 1/4 credit
Course Content and Objectives: This intensive focused on the founding of the Virginia colony through a study of Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. Following a year long study of English and Irish History and Literature, the students researched English citizens in America and the lives they led as they approached Revolution. At Jamestown Settlement, the students observed a living museum reenacting "Shakespeare's America." A study of the road to the American Revolution in the Southern States was undertaken in Colonial Williamsburg and at several plantation houses, including Mt. Vernon. In Williamsburg, the students enjoyed four six hour Discovery Tours, eight Evening Programs, and many other special educational opportunities. In Washington, D.C., the students visited the Washington National Cathedral (cathedral architecture was studied in English and Irish History), the Early American History exhibits at the Smithsonian. 1/2 year; 1/4 credit
Course Content and Objectives: On this Biology Intensive, the students will study natural fauna and cave wildlife at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, with a hike above and below ground. Five days will be spent camping in Vogel State park, Georgia, recording wildlife. Soil analysis and water analysis labs, as well as natural habitat observation, will be the focus.