Advanced Studies & Expo Day
Seniors and select juniors who have completed the most advanced course of study in a discipline that VES offers, and who want to explore a topic in greater depth, often participate in the VES Advanced Studies Program.
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Each spring, students apply for the opportunity to pursue a yearlong study of their topic of interest throughout the following school year; their work is often interdisciplinary in scope. With the help of a faculty mentor, each Advanced Studies scholar researches and develops their work, setting their own deadlines and goals along the way with the help of the Advanced Studies Coordinator and their cohort of peers. Students earn a full credit in their academic area of focus after successfully completing and presenting their work.
Advanced Studies students’ work culminates each year on Expo Day, when classes are canceled so that the entire VES community can attend the impressive presentations of students’ work. Expo Day is an occasion that beautifully highlights VES’ commitment to supporting students to be “curious, innovative thinkers and producers.” Many VES alumni have shared that their Advanced Studies work played a significant role in shaping the academic and professional paths they pursued in college and beyond.