ACADEMICS
CAREER & SELF-MANAGEMENT
Sophomore year at AOC is designed to build upon and refine our understanding of ourselves. Students will use their personal development from freshmen year to refine their understanding of career choices and civic engagement. Through the lens of their personal strengths and interests, students will explore career options and fields of study that will help lay the foundation for their plans after high school. In the classroom, sophomore year at AOC will transition students to collegiate quality work and prepare them to make informed choices about their future.
REFINING YOUR SELF-AWARENESS
Your journey of exploration continues, as you narrow your interests through our roadmaps. You will develop your Ed Plan for your COC coursework for the next two years.
Check out our step by step guide on how to use the AOC Helping Hand Website & Resource.
COLLABORATE & ENGAGE
As a sophomore, you will engage in thoughtful projects that allow you to develop your collaboration and communication skills. You will develop a foundation that prepares you for the high school and college environments.
In chemistry, we used our creative thinking skills to create a prototype of a desk that suits our needs. Using regular materials and our good 'ole brains, we created a desk, a sales pitch, pricings, and more to present our desks in a professional way. It taught us a lot of valuable information, and the work was fun too!
-Olivia Pilson, Class of '22
THE FOUR YEAR PLAN
Your
Sophomore Year
at the Academy
As a sophomore, you continue to explore your personal strengths and interests. This is the first real year to cultivate your passions and to explore what AOC & COC can truly offer you. You are given the opportunity to engage in classes like Calculus and Psychology. You will collaborate with your peers to build collaborative skills that prepare you for the next two years (the most important ones!). By learning how to write a CER or doing your first lab at COC, for instance, you will develop a solid foundation before you move on.
Collaborate & Engage With Complex Issues
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony."
- Mahatma Gandhi
Michelle Siner
Honors Chemistry 10 Teacher
Notable Projects
EXPLORE
Discover Your Pathway
Self-assessment is the critical first step in learning about what you are passionate about, and what your personal strengths are. This process begins by exploring different possibilities and outcomes.
Helping Hand has outlined this process by detailing potential paths and alumnus journeys in those paths, which allows you to gauge whether or not you could envision yourself pursuing that path.
Discover Your Path
EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITIES
Now is the time to begin to identify your interests, and what makes you curious. Browse our different pathways and concentrations, and identify one that interests you the most.
Explore Roadmaps from our AOC Alumni
FIND OUT WHAT IT TAKES
Now that you've identified a path of interest, read about an alumni's journey in that path. Take note of their extracurriculars and classes, as well as their advice for maximizing your AOC experience.
FIND OUT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN YOUR PATH
The World Economic Forum monitors the issues and forces driving transformational change across economies, industries, and global issues.
TESTING
Taking the PSAT/NMSQT Exam
The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test is a standardized test administered by the College Board. Students at AOC are given the opportunity to take the exam in the fall semester of their sophomore year and/or their junior year.
