BASIC INFORMATION

Qualia: The School for Deeper Learning was established in July 2021 and inherited the learning model, curriculum, faculty, and students from Areté Preparatory Academy, a WASC-Accredited Middle and High School founded in 2008. 

• CEEB: 055002
• Accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) through June 2031
• Courses satisfy UC “A-G” requirements
• We do not rank our graduates
• We do not give academic awards
• Class of 2027: 7 students

THE QUALIA SEMINAR

A Qualia classroom is like no other. Built on a foundation of open communication and mutual respect, the Qualia Seminar represents a shared goal: to create a place where profound reflection and innovative risk-taking are encouraged and celebrated. 

Abuzz with exciting ideas, thoughtful questions, and brainy humor, a Qualia lesson harnesses the best of research-based pedagogy and educational artistry. A capacity for deep, probing inquiry — the heart of our innovative methodology — creates graduates eager to embrace the complex, often nuanced challenges of the 21st century.

Our query-driven curriculum and commitment to broad questions and big ideas put us at the forefront of a long-overdue movement in education, one that prepares our students to be innovators, creators, and game changers.

SYMPOSIUM 

Both a celebration and a challenge, Symposium embodies the Qualia spirit and pedagogy – a meaningful, transformative alternative to final exams. Students select topics based on a unifying, school-wide philosophical question or theme. They become researchers and teachers, learning to produce substantive, idea-focused academic papers and presentations. After a week of exploration and writing, students transform their papers into interactive presentations for an authentic audience of Qualia students, teachers, and the broader community.

THE EUDAIMONIA PROGRAM

The Eudaimonia Program seeks to reinvent math and science instruction by combining the best parts of university learning with academic supports that enable gifted students to truly flourish. Eudaimonia pushes the boundaries of a traditionally progressive program by offering a unique curriculum tailored to students’ passions. Students can tackle real scientific work while leaving space to pursue advanced STEM topics not usually included in the high school curriculum – from linear algebra to fractal math to nanotechnology to machine learning and beyond.

HONORS AT QUALIA: COLLOQUIUM OPTION

Qualia awards honors credit through individual, passion-driven Colloquium projects to foster greater intellectual engagement aligned with student interests. Students can undertake a Colloquium in any academic subject area and complete inquiry-based projects that demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the topic. Regular mentorship and progress meetings with the school co-founders are a fundamental and transformative part of the Colloquium experience.

Students may pursue Colloquium credit in up to two academic courses per year. Colloquium courses are graded on a 5-point honors GPA scale. 

GREAT IDEAS

Our signature Great Ideas curriculum combines history, philosophy, and the sciences to address the perennial questions of human existence. This cross-disciplinary program introduces students to important issues in Western and non-Western thought, encouraging them to draw on historical and contemporary examples to support their own emerging philosophical positions. 

SENIOR COLLOQUIUM AND MASTER CLASS

Designed to challenge and inspire, Senior Colloquium is the culmination of Qualia’s four-year Great Ideas and Symposium curriculum. Seniors explore a classic and/or modern philosophical question that inspires them. Drawing on a broad range of academic sources, seniors hone their critical reading and argumentation skills to produce a college-level term paper that incorporates prior research in support of a provocative thesis. Having served as mentors to younger students in Symposium, seniors end the year by teaching interactive master classes to the school community. Seniors consistently find Colloquium the most rewarding experience of their academic careers.

POLICY ON ADVANCED PLACEMENT COURSES

Together with an ever-increasing number of rigorous, curriculum-driven independent schools, Qualia deliberately rejects Advanced Placement curriculum and courses, either as indicators of academic achievement or as useful preparation for college. In comparison with the inquiry-driven, process-focused curricula designed by Qualia faculty, AP courses and materials are insufficiently depth-based and excessively product-oriented – challenging in a way that reflects a 20th-century “factory” model of education, rather than a depth-based 21st-century model. Rather than investing energy in a high-stakes AP test, we strongly support our students’ investment in courses or activities demonstrating sincere, challenging, and meaningful intellectual achievement, resonant with the values and admissions priorities of the highly selective universities that share our values. 

OPPORTUNITIES TO TAKE COLLEGE COURSES

We encourage and facilitate opportunities for our students to take university courses for credit, such as our Affiliation Program with Arizona State University and Cal Lutheran University courses offered on the Qualia campus. Qualia curates and shares a list of high-interest online and in-person college courses appropriate for advanced middle and high school students, who are encouraged to sample several college classes before graduating.