A college prep for every kind of mind:
It’s a no-brainer
Every student learns differently, but all students deserve an education that challenges, supports, and celebrates them. Our academic program combines a strengths-based approach with a college preparatory curriculum that meets students where they are—and helps them soar. Because when teaching is as dynamic as the minds we teach, success becomes a no-brainer.
Rigorous Curriculum with Built-In Support
Wolcott offers a college preparatory curriculum that challenges students while integrating individualized supports into every classroom. Teachers are trained to differentiate instruction—providing multiple entry points for understanding complex material. Small class sizes allow faculty to give personalized attention and frequent feedback.
Learning Strategies: A Key to Success
Each student participates in Learning Strategies classes designed to strengthen executive functioning, organization, time management, and self-advocacy skills. Through this dedicated period, students learn how they learn best—developing strategies that promote independence, confidence, and long-term success.
Academic Coaching: Less Homework, More Balance
After school, students can join Academic Coaching sessions that provide structured, supportive time to complete homework, prepare for tests, and build study habits. Specialized labs—such as STEM, Literacy, and Spanish—offer targeted help from teachers and Learning Specialists.
Experiential Education: Learning Beyond the Classroom
Wolcott students learn by doing—through field trips, service learning, and hands-on experiences that connect classroom learning to the world around them. Using Chicago as an extension of the classroom, students visit museums, research institutions, local businesses, and cultural centers to deepen understanding, apply academic skills, and broaden perspective.
A Collaborative, Expert Faculty
Wolcott’s teachers work closely with Learning Specialists to adapt instruction based on students’ learning profiles. This collaboration ensures consistency and alignment across subjects, helping students apply strategies across disciplines.
Social-Emotional Learning and Belonging
Learning thrives in an environment where students feel seen, supported, and connected. Through advisory programs, SEL integration, and a culture rooted in respect and community, Wolcott fosters the confidence students need to take academic risks and persevere.
Preparation for College and Beyond
By emphasizing both rigor and reflection, Wolcott helps students graduate as self-aware, capable learners ready to advocate for themselves in college and life.
Biology Lab: Owl Pellet Dissections
Biology Lab: Owl Pellet Dissections
Students dove into hands-on biology with an owl pellet dissection! Owl pellets—regurgitated bundles of fur and bones—give us an incredible way to study predator-prey relationships and food chains. By carefully dissecting the pellets, students identified tiny bones, reconstructed skeletons, and discovered firsthand how owls play a key role in their ecosystems. Our guiding question: “What trophic level(s) does the owl fall into?”
Creative Writing: “Lives” Reading
Creative Writing: “Lives” Reading
Our Creative Writing students wrapped up their memoir unit with a special “Lives” reading, modeled after The New York Times column. During the unit, students drafted deeply personal stories—reflecting on moments of growth, mistakes made, and realizations about themselves and the world. With tea and cookies in hand, they shared excerpts from their work in an intimate celebration of voice, vulnerability, and storytelling.
A College Preparatory Curriculum
Students earn a minimum of 51 credits to graduate, including four years of English, four years of mathematics, and two years of the same world language. Honors courses are available in every academic department, and students place into them on the strength of prerequisites and teacher recommendation rather than by application. Expectations are set at the level colleges expect. The support that allows students to meet them is built into the schedule.
51
Credits required to graduate
4
Years of English and of mathematics
16
Honors courses offered in 2026-27
5
Academic departments offering honors work
Honors Courses
Honors sections carry the same small-class instruction and the same embedded strategy work as every other course at Wolcott. The difference is depth, pace, and the level of independence expected.
English
- English II Honors
- Advanced English III Honors
- Advanced English IV Honors
Mathematics
- Geometry Honors
- Algebra II Honors
- Precalculus Honors
- Calculus I Honors
- Calculus II Honors
Science
- Chemistry Honors
- Advanced Biology Honors
- Advanced Chemistry Honors
- Advanced Physics Honors
Social Studies
- United States History Honors
- Economics Honors
World Language
- Advanced Spanish V Honors
- Advanced Spanish VI Honors
Students who complete the honors mathematics sequence continue into Linear Algebra and Number Theory. Wolcott reports an unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale that includes honors courses, and does not calculate class rank.
High expectations
- Four years of English and four years of mathematics, one year beyond what most state universities require
- Honors sequences that run from Geometry through Calculus II, and from English II through Advanced English IV
- Laboratory sciences through Advanced Physics and Advanced Chemistry
- Every student participates in at least one athletic or extracurricular activity each year
High support
- Learning Strategies every year of high school, taught by a Learning Specialist who knows the student's courses
- Academic Coaching after school four days a week, staffed by faculty, at no additional cost
- Individualized learning plans reviewed with families each fall and spring
- Leadership Team advisory, and a one-to-one computer program across the curriculum
Students take honors courses here for the same reason they take them anywhere: the work is harder and they are ready for it. What differs is that the strategies for handling that work are taught alongside it, in every year, by faculty who plan together.
