During the summer, scholars meet each day for a live, virtual classroom discussion led by a Stanford OHS instructor. Scholars experience enriching academics as well as social activities that build community and inspire lifelong learning. Active participation by scholars ensures a lively, online community of engaged learners.

Summer Course:
July 8 - 26, 2024
9am - 12pm Pacific Time, Monday - Friday

During the fall semester scholars meet once a week with their cohort and instructor after school. Scholars participate in course related discussions and engage in focused workshops offered by the Stanford OHS Office of Admissions, Stanford OHS Counseling, Stanford OHS Student Life, and Stanford OHS Writing and Tutoring Center. Workshops are designed to prepare scholars to apply to Stanford OHS and other rigorous schools and programs.

Fall Semester Meetings:
August 26, 2024 - December 13, 2024 
4:15pm Pacific Time, Wednesdays

Students meet weekly for one hour.
 

Graphic novels provide Scholars the ability to learn about difficult and sensitive topics in a way that is accessible. This course will introduce Scholars to three transformative social movements in U.S. History that took place in the 20th and 21st centuries. We will examine the 1950s-60s Civil Rights Movement, and the global Women’s Rights Movement and the reinvigorated Environmental Movement of the 21st century. Scholars will gain a better understanding of the facets of each movement, the contributions of major actors and the passage of key civil and human rights legislation through captivating narration and vivid imagery. Through our analysis of the required texts, class discussions and short writing assignments, Scholars will emerge from the course with the capacity to think critically about the historical events in question as well as the ability to convey their thoughts about these transformative moments in U.S. History through writing.

It's common today for youth to get their news from TikTok, WhatsApp, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Reddit, or Twitter. More precisely, social media algorithms select news for them based on their contacts, likes, and previous online activity. This can produce a skewed information landscape, a fact that has serious implications for democracy and the institutions that support it. In this course, Scholars will develop skills to help them cut through the algorithms and find more balanced, truthful sources of information. Through the analysis of various forms of digital content, secondary readings, and in-class discussions, Scholars will learn to recognize and distinguish between misinformation (unintentional mistakes), disinformation (fabricated or deliberately manipulated content designed to fuel conspiracy theories or rumors), and malinformation (information published solely for personal or corporate interest). Beyond this, they will develop strategies for finding more reliable information from a range of sources. As a final project, Scholars will analyze how different sources have reported a given news item and help their audience to reach a reliable and verifiable understanding of it.

In this course Scholars will connect mathematics with real-life examples. Math skills will be introduced and reviewed in connection with cryptography and financial mathematics. We’ll start with decoding and encoding early types of codes like Caesar’s Cipher. Using modular arithmetic, we will cover Vigenere’s Cipher to Public Key Encryption, an introduction to the RSA cryptosystem. Scholars will also discuss financial mathematics, such as interest rates. For example, we’ll ask what is the real cost of merchandise when you buy something with a credit card? What is the power of compounding when you are investing? What is a credit score? By the end of the course, Scholars will be comfortable visualizing and solving many real-life math problems.