socratic honors academy

Socratic Honors Academy

The Socratic Honors Academy prepares students to be lifelong scholars through an integrated approach to English, History and the other Humanities. Students tackle challenging literature, write academically, research historical context, and learn to present and argue thoughtfully through dialectic-style discussion groups.

At the high school level, our academy grows into an academic club and provides students opportunities for leadership, mentoring younger students, and participation in academic conferences and journals. These opportunities can all be included in college applications to demonstrate academic excellence, leadership and community involvement.

This program is an excellent choice for students looking to advance in their critical thinking and analysis skills and to develop expanded content knowledge beyond the general curriculum.

To participate in the Socratic Honors Academy, students must be recommended and approved by the Program Director or pass an intake assessment. If you’d like to enroll your child, please contact Karyn Keene (Program Director) directly.

Key Benefits

Grades 6-12

Small classes of 6-10

Rigorous, interdisciplinary class in the Humanities that develops skills in literary analysis, academic writing, and group discussion/ debate

Reading list built from class reading and AP Literature lists alongside additional books to provide deeper context

Members can participate in our week-long Socratic Honors Summer Camp (hosted at a camp in the Angeles Mts)

High Schoolers participate in excursions to explore the culture LA has to offer, from museums to symphonies to Shakespeare in the Park!

“The people who impact the world are those who have learned to think for themselves.”

The goal of the Socratic Honors Academy is simple – we want to grow students into young adults who can reason well and think for themselves. Too often, high-achieving students excel in test-taking and completing assignments, but struggle to think critically about the world around them and their place in it. Sadly, we have all seen how easily one falls prey to fancy rhetoric or misinformation when those critical thinking skills are missing.

In Socratic Honors, we focus on teaching students not what to think but how to think. By analyzing great works of literature, students practice identifying ideas, researching context to develop understanding, and expressing their thoughts on these new ideas reasonably and clearly. Through this process, students learn to think independently and meaningfully, not just about books but about any new idea they may encounter. 

Middle School

Middle School Academy

In middle school, students focus on developing comprehension skills that allow them to grow into strong critical thinkers.

Each semester, students read books commonly assigned in school alongside additional texts to fill out their understanding beyond what they get in their English classes. Students participate in 2 weekly, Socratic-style classes focused on questioning that builds deep understanding. Every month students are
assigned an essay and each semester they write a capstone paper. Students who participate see notable advances in reading level and improvements in analysis and comprehension.

On Fridays, students may optionally participate in our Writing Workshops that teach specfic academic writing skills and offer in-depth feedback and editing for their monthly essays and end-of-semester papers.

High school

High School Academy

In high school, students apply their critical thinking to leadership and academic advancement, pushing themselves to develop as thinkers and leaders.

Each semester, students continue to meet once a week to discuss challenging texts, students also rise to the challenge of being discussion leaders and taking charge of many of the class sessions (with teacher support.) Students apply for leadership positions and play key parts in finding conferences to participate in, planning excursions related to their semesters’ studies, and participating in writing projects submitting articles to scholarly journals.

By developing these key skills of higher ed, students gain a familiarity with the world of academia and build up a CV that distinguishes them from their peers.

Is Socratic Honors Academy the right choice?

The Socratic Honors Academy is an excellent option for students who are advanced in their Humanities classes and looking to build deeper readying, writing, analysis and thinking skills.

Students looking to build expanded content knowledge, prep for English APs and add to their college application in a meaningful way will benefit from this program. 

Let’s Start Learning!

We’re ready to help with homework, support students to catch up, and guide them as they advance.  As you prepare to embark on another year of learning, let Ready Study Go be in your corner.

Contact Information