January Term
January Term (or J-Term, as the students call it) enables our community to live the mission and values of our school and to explore new passions, interests and interdisciplinary ways of learning about the world and ourselves. Through a month-long program of “mini courses,” it provides teachers and students a space for experimentation, investigation and reflection.
At GFS, we ground our educational practices in the Quaker notion of continuing revelation and the belief that there is that of God in everyone. In order to better live these ideals, the Upper School has modified its schedule to make room for teacher and student exploration. January Term enables both teachers and students to find and share their passions outside of our regularly-offered curriculum.
During J-Term, students take a variety of interdisciplinary courses.
Past examples include:
- The Current Supreme Court Term
- Comparative Anatomy
- 3D Printing and Design
- Elevator Pitch
- Life Drawing
- Spanish Immersion through Film
- Advanced Darkroom Photography
- Documentary Film Production and History
- Russian Language and Culture
- West Side Story
- Embracing the City Through Fitness
- The Essays and Fiction of David Foster Wallace
- Introduction to Meteorology
- Who Were the Women of the Roman Empire
- Sculpture
- Musical Ensembles
- ABCs in Japanese
- Teen Personal Finance
- Plutarch’s Moralia
- Living Buddhism
- Adventures in Letterboxing
- Mock Trial
- Free Writing
- The Films of Wes Anderson
J-Term 2020 Course Catalog
Click here to download a PDF.