The current teacher is excellent. The textbook provides a solid conceptual background, and the teacher supplements with numerous videos, readings, and lectures. So, the material covered goes well beyond the textbook. It is also beyond just conceptual chemistry; there is a fair amount of math involved. There are two research papers (1st semester - development of the atomic theory; 2nd semester - technological development in chemistry). The instructor also provides many optional additional practice opportunities; these are not graded, but she is available to answer questions and help out. Overall, it is an excellent class for a non-STEM student. The ony drawback, in my opinion, is the lab being a separate class.

Yes, with Mrs. Thompson. The class did spent the first 6 weeks on college application essays almost exclusively.

Senior English at Blue Tent is surprisingly light by Blue Tent standards:) It is a well-organized but not at all a strenuous class (possibly, even too light).

This year's experience with PAH: AP US History (Richman) - Excellent class. Rigorous with excellent feedback. The class offered a very broad and deep study of history without feeling like a test prep class, while weaving in all the test prep necessary. Best of an independent learner. AP US Government (Reed) - Somewhat disappointing and underwhelming experience. Weekly lectures were largely retelling of the textbook chapter, hardly any discussions of current events, very limited feedback on assignments. Exam prep was practically non-existent if not for an excellent TA who offered invaluable help with FRQ practice.

I do have personal experience with Mrs. Richman's class. The class is secular, the subject matter is secular, the conversations in the class are secular. Responding to other students' essays is a very small part of the class, and I have not seen any essays written from "fundamentalist Christian" perspective in this class. It is a very rigorous class and would be an excellent fit for a student who is able to work independently and is really deeply interested in US History.

My son took Macro with Dr. Richman last year and absolutely loved it. The main work took on average about 1 hour a day. There were also ongoing games in the class; it was really up to each student how much time he wanted to put into these. My son put hours of his own time strategizing about the games with several other students, but it was his choice. There was some ongoing review in the spring (an assignment was due every other week, I think). My son also took Micro with Burns in the spring. This class was ok, but overall paled in comparison with Dr. Richman's class. My son also worked through ACDC economics before the exams for review and scored 5 on both.

Blue Tent (2 live classes per week).

I've seen these estimates as well, but it was not our experience. My son spent about 1.5 hours daily (Mon-Fri) on the class. There were a few weeks when he did additional work on the weekends (usually when essays were due). But even then it would be about 10 hours max for the week. The work for the week was usually posted on Sunday, and we made sure to sit down on Sunday night and schedule exactly what he would need to accomplish every day so that he would just get to work during the week instead of figuring out what to do.

This year the class was taught by Brigid Thompson ( I did not realize that they have a new teacher for the class next year). You can get in touch with them via the main email; they are very responsive to questions.

It is a terrific class. My son just finished it last week. The class had a perfect mix of reading, discussion, writing, grammar, vocabulary. Book discussion were very thorough and my son's favorite part of the class. They wrote one creative piece and four essays. All essays required an outline, sources, and a draft. The feedback on essays was very detailed, and the students always had to rework the essay to address the feedback. My son spent about an hour on the class daily; perhaps a bit extra time during the weeks they wrote essays. So, definitely not 15-20 hours a week (my older son took Honors English 2 from Blue Tent this year, and he never spent this many hours on that class either).