academics

The mission of the academic program is to prepare students for college and life as a creative professional.

Academic instructional environments encourage inquiry and intellectual curiosity and empower students to raise questions and develop a pattern of lifelong learning. Students enjoy small class sizes, multiple AP options, and innovative lessons taught by fully licensed teachers. Curriculum is active, collaborative, and aligned with state standards. Students self-select on-level or advanced and AP options.

HIGH STANDARDS

ASSESSMENTS
SPCPA measures student mastery of the standards through state and local assessments.
ALIGNED
The Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists aligns with Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies.
PREPARED
Students engage daily in academic programming to meet graduation requirements, as determined by the state of Minnesota and Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, and prepare for the college or post-secondary conservatory program of their choice. All academic teachers hold licenses granted by the Minnesota Board of Teaching.
STUDENT-CENTERED
Students are given opportunities to drive their learning process. The focus of the activity in the classroom is on the student, not the teacher.
ACTIVE
Students learn through discussions, problem solving, case studies, role playing and other methods. Active learning approaches place a greater degree of responsibility on the learner than passive approaches such as lectures.
HANDS-ON
As much as possible, learning is experiential. Students learn by doing.
INQUIRY-BASED
“Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer” - Rainer Maria Rilke
PROBLEM SOLVING
Obstacles are inspiration.
THOUGHT PROVOKING
A primary purpose of the academic program is to stimulate deeper thinking and more sophisticated questions.
COLLABORATIVE
Students work together to consider questions, solve problems, and leverage the unique strengths and perspectives of each member of a group.
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quick links

Registration Resources

Students register with the Student Achievement Advisor every April. 
Four Year Academic Planning Guide
 

Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments

CLICK HERE for Minnesota Report Card including detailed MCA scores
 

Academic Course Guide

CLICK HERE for the 2024-2025 Academic Program Guide
 

Testing Information

CLICK HERE for the 24-25 academic year testing calendar.
CLICK HERE to view the MDE Parent/Guardian Guide and Refusal for Student Participation in Statewide Testing
 

ACADEMICS HAPPENINGS

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Congratulations to senior Bridget Cisneros! Bridget was one of the very few high school students selected into the Young Woman's Initiative of Minnesota this fall!

The Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota (YWI MN) is a partnership between the Governor’s Office, the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, and the YWCA. The YWI MN includes a cabinet, which is comprised of young women and gender-expansive youth aged 16-24, and an executive council, which is comprised of leaders from government, business, academia, philanthropy, and nonprofits.

YWI MN centers the leadership and solutions of young women of color, American Indian young women, young women from Greater Minnesota, LGBTQ+ youth, and young women with disabilities. The initiative brings together nonprofits, businesses, government, philanthropies, and young women to promote equitable systems that benefit all, grounded in the belief that when young Black, Indigenous, and women of color in Minnesota thrive, families and communities thrive. The YWI MN’s statewide partnership and direct investments in young women and gender-expansive people are now being replicated across the nation through the National Philanthropic Collaborative of Young Women’s Initiatives.

Bridget would love to meet with other SPCPA students to talk about the application process and the program itself.

#spcpacommunity
#spcpaacademics
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Congratulations to senior Bridget Cisneros! Bridget was one of the very few high school students selected into the Young Womans Initiative of Minnesota this fall! 

The Young Women’s Initiative of Minnesota (YWI MN) is a partnership between the Governor’s Office, the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, and the YWCA. The YWI MN includes a cabinet, which is comprised of young women and gender-expansive youth aged 16-24, and an executive council, which is comprised of leaders from government, business, academia, philanthropy, and nonprofits.

YWI MN centers the leadership and solutions of young women of color, American Indian young women, young women from Greater Minnesota, LGBTQ+ youth, and young women with disabilities. The initiative brings together nonprofits, businesses, government, philanthropies, and young women to promote equitable systems that benefit all, grounded in the belief that when young Black, Indigenous, and women of color in Minnesota thrive, families and communities thrive. The YWI MN’s statewide partnership and direct investments in young women and gender-expansive people are now being replicated across the nation through the National Philanthropic Collaborative of Young Women’s Initiatives.

Bridget would love to meet with other SPCPA students to talk about the application process and the program itself.

#spcpacommunity 
#spcpaacademics

3 CommentsComment on Facebook

Congratulations, Bridget.

Congratulations Bridget 🎊 👏

Congrats!

SPCPA has been named to the AP Honor Roll! The AP School Honor Roll recognizes schools whose AP program are delivering results and broadening access for students. For 2024-25, SPCPA offers AP courses in US History, Comparative Government and Politics, English Language & Composition, Literature, Environmental Science, Biology, Statistics, and Calculus.

#spcpaacademics #aphonorrollschool #collegeprep #spcpa #saintpaulconservatoryforperformingartists
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SPCPA has been named to the AP Honor Roll!  The AP School Honor Roll recognizes schools whose AP program are delivering results and broadening access for students.  For 2024-25, SPCPA offers AP courses in US History, Comparative Government and Politics, English Language & Composition, Literature, Environmental Science, Biology, Statistics, and Calculus.  

#spcpaacademics #aphonorrollschool #collegeprep #spcpa #saintpaulconservatoryforperformingartists

Fun weekend field trip for Ms. Basheer's AP Stats class (and some of Alec Rutten's AP Calc students) – they went bowling this past Saturday to collect data to demonstrate knowledge of their statistical concepts and to celebrate the end of the AP Statistics exam. Students want to test their hypotheses that having a long hand will make a player a better bowler. They created a 95% confidence interval and used a significance test or Chi-Square to test their hypotheses.

#spcpaacademics
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Fun weekend field trip for Ms. Basheers AP Stats class (and some of Alec Ruttens AP Calc students) - they went bowling this past Saturday to collect data to demonstrate knowledge of their statistical concepts and to celebrate the end of the AP Statistics exam. Students want to test their hypotheses that having a long hand will make a player a better bowler. They created a 95% confidence interval and used a significance test or Chi-Square to test their hypotheses.

#spcpaacademicsImage attachment

Juniors in AP Lang with Ms. Sekelsky celebrated the end of their unit with a Gatsby-themed party. The students shared their literary analysis projects and drank punch, listened to jazz, and played games.

#spcpaacademics #SPCPA #saintpaulconservatory
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Juniors in AP Lang with Ms. Sekelsky celebrated the end of their unit with a Gatsby-themed party. The students shared their literary analysis projects and drank punch, listened to jazz, and played games. 

#spcpaacademics #spcpa #saintpaulconservatoryImage attachmentImage attachment+1Image attachment
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