NDB has announced that starting with the Class of 2028, there will be concentrations for students to choose from. These concentrations will shape their course schedules for the rest of their high school experiences as it will affect what the students’ main focuses will be throughout their four years at NDB.
There are seven main concentrations that will be put in place: Tiger Track, STEM, Mass Communications, Humanities, Social Justice, Sports Medicine and Management and Arts.
The Tiger Track is going to be for students who are either not ready to commit to a specific concentration or looking to explore their options during high school. There will not be a main focus and they can choose to participate in any courses they would like.
Next, the STEM concentration will be mainly about deepening the students’ understanding of advanced science and mathematics concepts. The STEM electives offered at NDB allow students to experience a class similar to that of a college or university.
The third concentration is Mass Communications and will focus on how students communicate with the world around them through writing and foreign languages. These students will most likely take English electives such as Creative Writing and Journalism along with classes that discuss visual communication, such as Video Production.
The Humanities concentration will help students to understand how they can interact with others through creative and social lenses. The main subjects that will be covered are English, languages and religion.
The concentration on social justice will help students understand the world and various social justice topics. These students will create Capstone projects that relate to social justice and focus on connecting various subjects to their concentration.
The Sports Medicine and Management concentration will mainly focus on science, specifically Biology. Many suggested electives include the Sports Management and Sports Medicine classes as well as AP sciences.
Finally, the Arts concentration is going to teach students about creativity, whether they are on stage or in an art studio. The electives students will take are going to mainly be under the category of Visual and Performing Arts.
After choosing a concentration during their freshman year, the students will have an opportunity to apply to be St. Julie Scholars in their sophomore year, which means they earn a pot into an honors program.
Although students will be in a concentration based on their own interests, this does not mean that they are not required to enroll in certain classes. All of the previous graduation requirements are still going to be in place, meaning all students must take Physical Education, Computer Science and Visual and Performing Arts despite the student’s concentration choice.
NDB looks forward to their first year implementing concentrations and is excited for the Class of 2028 to be able to choose a primary focus for their four years of high school.
