Middle School Course Paths
How to choose the right courses for your middle school student
Review the course paths and course selection guidelines below to help you select your student’s courses.
To meet state requirements, middle school students must enroll in at least 4 courses per semester (2 of them being core). They may take up to 8 classes per semester.
6th Grade
Recommended
- Leadership 6
- Language Arts 6*
- 6th Grade Math
- STEM 6/7
Optional
- Humanities 6
- Typing and Tech (or another elective if preferred)
- Friday Outdoor Adventures (Fall Semester) – In-Person
- Friday Leadership Adventures (Winter Semester) – In-Person
7th Grade
Recommended
- Leadership 7
- Language Arts 7*
- 7th Grade Math
- STEM 6/7
Optional
- Humanities 7
- PE (Independent Study)
- Friday Outdoor Adventures (Fall Semester) – In-Person
- Friday Leadership Adventures (Winter Semester) – In-Person
- Any Elective
8th Grade
Recommended
- Leadership 8
- Language Arts 8*
- 8th Grade Math
- STEM 8
- College & Career Awareness (Winter Semester)
Optional
- Humanities 8
- PE (Independent Study)
- Friday Outdoor Adventures (Fall Semester) – In-Person
- Friday Leadership Adventures (Winter Semester) – In-Person
- Any Elective
Note: Students in 8th grade will be enrolled automatically in College & Career Awareness.
*Prioritize Language Arts over Humanities when selecting courses.
Other Middle School Course Selection Guidelines
- Most live online courses are offered at multiple days/times. See the live course schedule. Select the sections that work best for your student.
- Online Humanities courses are available in Classic and Honors. Both Classic and Honors students meet together in the same live class sessions but Honors courses are roughly 30% more challenging. Students have 28 calendar days from the first day of the semester to move from one version to another.
- Online STEM courses operate on a rotating two-year curriculum in which students complete the A/B courses one year and the C/D courses the next.
- If your 6th or 7th-grade student is advanced in math you may enroll them in a higher level math course. If your 8th-grade student is advanced, you may get permission from an academic counselor to enroll them in a 9th-grade math course. Middle school students who take high school math may receive high school math credit.
- Most online middle school courses are offered exclusively in the “live” format. Math 6, 7, and 8, and some Electives are available in the “self-paced” format.
- Students may choose from live online, in-person Outdoor or Leadership Adventures, self-paced, and/or funded and non-funded courses. Please contact a school counselor if you have any questions.
Steps to Register for Online Classes
At LAU, parents get to choose the days/times of online courses for which their student registers. The course selection process is simple. Just follow these steps:
- Consult the appropriate course path above and make a list of the courses your student needs to take in Fall and Winter semesters.
- Consult the live course schedules for middle school and make a list of your preferred live class meeting times.
- Log into SIS.
- In SIS, under My Students > Registration, find the courses you need and complete the registration process. You can ignore the tuition prices unless you’re planning to self-pay for a course (e.g. those that LAU doesn’t pay for like summer classes).
Note: These steps are for parents of students who have already applied and been accepted to Leadership Academy of Utah.
State Core Requirements for Grades 7–8
Grade 7:
- Grade 7 Language Arts (Writing 7)
- Grade 7 Mathematics (Math 7)
- Grade 7 Integrated Science (STEM 6/7)
- United States History (Humanities 6/7)
- Utah History (Humanities 6/7)
Grade 8:
- Grade 8 Language Arts (Language Arts 8)
- Grade 8 Mathematics (Math 8)
- Grade 8 Integrated Science (STEM 8)
- United States History (Humanities 8)
- Utah History (Humanities 8)
At least one of the following in Grade 7 or 8:
- Health Education (Leadership 6/7; Homeroom for 8th grade)
- College & Career Awareness
- Digital Literacy (Typing & Tech)
- The Arts (Independent Studies Fine Arts or Funded Fine Arts; Intro to Theater or MS Photography)
- Physical Education (Outdoor Adventures, Independent Studies PE or Funded PE)
*The Williamsburg courses in parenthesis satisfy the core state requirement.
You can view specific middle school course descriptions on the Williamsburg Learning website.