Human Development - by Grade Level

7th Grade

Community Service
One school day is dedicated to community service projects. On this day, students, faculty, and parents travel to one of six or eight designated locations to perform community services work.

Mentoring & Peer Counseling
All seventh graders are assigned to small groups led by a senior trained to offer guidance and support. Groups meet regularly throughout the school year to discuss everything from how to take exams to dealing with social, academic, or extracurricular issues.

7th Grade Trip
The objective of this five-day outing is to inspire environmental ethics and build class unity through team activities. Set in the mountains near of Kernville, CA, the camp location is a unique and pristine environment for the students’ rustic outdoor classroom. Academically, this trip is relevant because the information learned in this outdoor classroom ties into the ecology unit of the seventh grade science curriculum.

8th Grade

Mentoring
Senior Buddies is a program created by a student inspired by the Junior Retreat. A senior is paired with an 8th grade student to offer support, advice, and friendship throughout the year. Seniors attend sporting or performing arts events, and are, in general, interested in the life of their younger buddy.

9th Grade

Community Service
Ninth grade students participate in a variety of community service and must fulfill a minimum of seven hours of service.

9th Grade Conferences
Each student meets with the Director of Human Development to discuss what he or she wants to get out of his or her high school experience. Conversations cover academic, extracurricular, conscience and character issues.

Mentoring & Peer Counseling
All ninth graders are assigned to small groups led by a senior trained to offer guidance and support. Groups meet regularly throughout the school year to discuss everything from how to take exams to dealing with social, academic, or extracurricular issues.

9th Grade Trip
The main focus of the ninth grade trip, as with the seventh grade trip, is to establish a sense of class unity, and is crucial in this year of major adjustment. Students spend five days at Emerald Bay on Catalina Island and are provided with opportunities in hiking, snorkeling, kayaking, and canoeing as they expand their knowledge in the areas of marine ecosystems and ecology, natural history and geology. In addition, students are engaged in team-building activities in both small and large groups, with the goal of bringing returning students and new students together as a cohesive unit.

10th Grade

Community Service
Tenth grade students participate in variety community service activities, fulfilling a minimum of ten hours of service.

Tenth Grade Conferences
Each student meets with the Director of Human Development to continue the conversation initiated in the 9 th grade conference. The discussion covers goals and progress in academic, extracurricular, conscience and character areas.

Sophomore Retreat
In the spring of the tenth grade, students spend a day together with faculty and administrators to address issues of balance within a very consequential year. The Junior year is very important with respect to college admissions and life after Prep; it is a time to prepare for the future and at the same time it is essential to live in and appreciate the moment. This retreat helps to prepare students by encouraging them to think about how they will get the most out of this big year and while reminding them to contribute to life on campus.

11th Grade

Community Service
Eleventh grade students participate in variety community service activities, fulfilling a minimum of ten hours of service.

Junior Retreat
The purpose of this overnight experience is to provide Juniors with an opportunity to reflect on their experiences as students at Flintridge Prep, as well as to envision and plan for their roles for the upcoming year as individuals and as a Senior Class. Through a series of small group exercises, each Junior is challenged to find concrete and constructive ways in which he or she can become actively involved in the life of Prep during their pivotal and final year.

12th Grade

Community Service
Seniors are asked to contribute a minimum of 24 hours of service off campus at a single agency. This occurs two weeks before graduation and is intended to be a high point of the senior experience.

Mentoring & Peer Counselors
Seniors selected for this program are required to take a psychology course as well as attend weekly training sessions. Counselors are assigned to small groups of either 7 th or 9 th grade students and meet regularly throughout the school year to offer support and guidance on social, academic and extracurricular issues.

Senior Buddies
Senior Buddies is a program created by a student inspired by the Junior Retreat. The program pairs a senior with an 8 th grade student for the purpose of providing an older “friend” Senior Leaders Program is an academic and extracurricular mentoring program pairing seniors with younger students. Senior Leaders serve as tutors for all academic subjects, as well as drama, sports, student government, and SAT Prep.

Senior Leaders
The Senior Leaders Program is an academic and extra-curricular mentoring initiative created by senior class officers in 2003. This program engages members of the senior class to develop relationships with younger students by serving as tutors for all academic subjects, as well as drama, sports, student government, and SAT Prep.

Senior Trip
The 12th grade trip is the last time the Senior Class is together before they graduate. Its main focus is to provide a meaningful time of reflection, bonding and closure. This five-day program takes place on the Kern River. Activities include river rafting, mountain biking, kayaking, hiking, and rock climbing with the purpose to foster teamwork, help students share leadership responsibilities and reinforce cooperative learning. The week closes with “The Pine Cone Ceremony,” a personal time of sharing class memories, challenges, and celebrations around the campfire.