Portuguese (Grammar)
- Review and deepening of word classes
- Nominal and verbal regency
- Pronoun placement (proclisis, enclisis, mesoclisis)
- Stylistics and linguistic variations
- Complex periods and reduced clauses
- Advanced syntactic analysis
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High School · ages 14 to 17 · 9th to 12th Grade · full curriculum
The classical synthesis — and the diploma.
By age seventeen, the student reads the great classics in the original, writes with precision, and argues with substance. He masters algebra, analytic geometry, and the foundations of the natural sciences. His classical formation prepares him for the most selective admissions processes — in Brazil, the United States, and Europe. At the end, he receives the American K-12 diploma from Kolbe Academy.
He finishes 12th grade reading Virgil in Latin and engaging with the great texts of the tradition. Ready for any university — and for life.
Subjects
Subjects in this stage.
Each subject with its core topics. The curriculum grows in density across the years of the stage.
Portuguese (Composition)
- Judicial/forensic genre and dialectic
- Refutation of contemporary myths and errors
- Hermeneia: the architecture of style
- The logic of language (grammar vs. rhetoric)
- The ethics of the word and the Great Conversation
- Text production for college entrance exams
Portuguese Literature
- 9th grade: Machado de Assis, Rubem Braga, Monteiro Lobato, J. S. Lopes Neto
- 10th grade: Camilo Castelo Branco, Fr. António Vieira, Guimarães Rosa
- 11th grade: Gustavo Corção, Homer — Iliad and Odyssey, Camões — The Lusiads in full
- 12th grade: Virgil — Aeneid, Cervantes — Don Quixote, Euclides da Cunha — Os Sertões
- Companion readings: Victor Hugo, Jane Austen, Sophocles, Augustine
- Reading plan curated by Fr. Rodrigo Gurgel
English Literature
- Macbeth (William Shakespeare)
- The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare)
- Lord of the World (Robert Hugh Benson)
- The Steppe (Anton Chekhov)
- T.S. Eliot — The Waste Land, Prufrock
Latin
- Cicero — Pro Archia (Defense of Archias)
- Virgil — The Aeneid read in Latin, book by book
- Hexameter and classical meter
- Advanced syntax: conditional clauses, indirect discourse
- Comprehensive review of declensions, verbs, and pronouns
- Comprehensive final assessment
English
- Advanced vocabulary (Sadlier-Oxford level G)
- Poetry analysis (T.S. Eliot and the masters)
- Creative and expository writing
- Logical thinking and oratory
- MLA style manual
- Appreciation of poetry and fiction
Mathematics
- Algebraic, exponential, and logarithmic functions
- Trigonometry and periodic functions
- Analytic geometry and conic sections
- Complex numbers and matrix algebra
- Probability, sequences, and series
- Pre-calculus and Calculus 1
Biology
- Human systems (digestive, respiratory, etc.)
- Reproductive system, menstrual cycle, embryology
- Health and disease
- Biotechnology, GMOs, medical applications
- Bioethics
Physics
- Classical mechanics and special relativity
- Quantum mechanics and wave–particle duality
- Schrödinger's model, the hydrogen atom
- Radioactivity and nuclear energy
- Cosmology and the evolution of the universe
- Philosophical foundations of science (Popper, Kuhn)
Chemistry
- Organic nomenclature and hydrocarbons
- Oxygen- and nitrogen-bearing functional groups
- Organic reactions (addition, substitution, redox)
- Polymers and biomolecules
- Petroleum, biofuels, and environmental impact
History and Geography
- Brazilian redemocratization and the 1988 Constitution
- Globalization and Brazil in the 21st century
- Physical, agrarian, and urban geography
- Demography, geopolitics, and regional conflicts
Philosophy (Logic) and Rhetoric
- Integration of Trivium and Quadrivium
- Philosophy of science and aesthetics
- Contemporary philosophy (existentialism, phenomenology)
- Astronomy as cosmic contemplation
- Final project: discourse or monograph
Christian Moral Teaching
- Prayer and the devout life
- Divine providence and Christian trust
- Catholic social teaching: work, family, and human dignity
- Foundational documents of the contemporary Magisterium
- Ecclesiology: the Church and the modern world
- Marian devotion and foundational dogmas
Life Project and practices
- Christian vocational discernment
- Health and Nutrition
- Home Economics and Entrepreneurship
- Planning for the future
Reading plan
Portuguese and English, side by side.
Reading plan curated by Fr. Rodrigo Gurgel. The supplementary texts — Confessions, Memoirs & Stories (Herberto Sales) in Portuguese and The Terrible Speed of Mercy (Jonathan Rogers) in English — open each year of High School.
In Portuguese
9th grade
- Rubem Braga — Chronicles for Young Readers (sel. Antonieta Cunha)
- Machado de Assis — Admiral's Night, Theory of the Medallion, The Alienist
- Monteiro Lobato — Urupês
- João Simões Lopes Neto — Legends of the South
10th grade
- Camilo Castelo Branco — The Fall of an Angel
- Fr. António Vieira — Sermon of St. Anthony to the Fish
- João Guimarães Rosa — Famigerado, The Time and Turn of Augusto Matraga
11th grade
- Gustavo Corção — The Discovery of the Other
- José Luís Peixoto — You Died on Me
- Homer — Iliad, Odyssey
- Camões — The Lusiads
12th grade
- Virgil — Aeneid
- Miguel de Cervantes — Don Quixote of La Mancha
- Euclides da Cunha — Os Sertões
In English
9th grade
- O. Henry — The Gift of the Magi
- Ernest Hemingway — The Snows of Kilimanjaro
- Jack London — The Call of the Wild
- Robert Louis Stevenson — Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
10th grade
- Joseph Conrad — Youth: A Narrative
- Anton Chekhov — The Steppe
- Flannery O'Connor — The Lame Shall Enter First
- G. K. Chesterton — The Man Who Was Thursday
11th grade
- William Shakespeare — Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest
- Georges Bernanos — Under the Sun of Satan
12th grade
- J. R. R. Tolkien — The Fellowship of the Ring
- J. R. R. Tolkien — Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo
- Robert Hugh Benson — Lord of the World
Companion readings in Portuguese (High School)
Victor Hugo — The Hunchback of Notre Dame · Jane Austen — Pride and Prejudice · Sophocles — Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus · Augustine — Confessions
By the end of this stage
What your child will have achieved.
- · Reads Virgil's Aeneid in Latin, book by book
- · Commands quantum mechanics, relativity, and cosmology
- · Argues based on foundational texts of the Christian tradition
- · Produces a final monograph integrating Trivium and Quadrivium
- · Ready for any university in the U.S., in Europe, or in Brazil
- · Receives the American K-12 diploma from Kolbe Academy
- · Graduates with integrated intellectual and spiritual formation
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