Academics

The educational quality of Salem Academy emanates directly from a superb faculty whose members come to know their students in an intimate learning environment. In small classes characterized by lively discussions and debates, each girl has the opportunity to be known -- and a chance to be heard.

Salem teachers play many roles in the classroom. They are instructors, tutors, moderators of disparate points of view. In all that they do and all that they say, they are constantly pushing our girls to think more deeply, to see more clearly and to listen more attentively.

Advising

To guide each girl through her years at Salem, an active advising program matches a handful of students with each member of the faculty and administration. By helping students plan their academic programs to ensure appropriate levels of challenge, the advisor is someone the student comes to know well -- an advocate and a friend who is always available to offer encouragement, information and support. The student-advisor pairing is maintained through all of the student's years at Salem.

Our schedule is organized around an hour-long meeting each week between advisor and advisees. This is a chance for advisees to eat lunch, play games, chat, do craft projects, walk outside and generally create a strong bond both with other students in the group and with the advisor.

Because we are a small community, students and teachers come together casually and naturally in many ways throughout the day at Salem Academy -- in the halls, in the lounges, in the dining hall.

To ensure that each girl receives the attention that will help her thrive in an academically demanding environment, we set aside two periods on Wednesday afternoons for student/teacher conferences. During this time, girls go to see individual teachers to discuss class material, to review recent quizzes or to prepare for upcoming tests -- and just about anything else. This is a personal time when the benefits of a small school make themselves most clearly felt in the lives of our students.

Our students tell us that the conference period provides an essential support to their academic lives at Salem. We believe that it is, as well, an additional way of helping students understand -- to experience in direct and concrete ways -- the fact that all of our efforts are centered upon their success.

Class Size

Classes at Salem Academy are small, usually averaging 10-12 students. Teachers employ a variety of instructional methods -- including lectures, class discussion, Powerpoints, group work, panel presentations and oral reports -- to encourage students to participate fully in the work of each course.

Learning outside the classroom is an integral part of the Academy curriculum. The lecture and artist series at Wake Forest University; the symphony and dance concerts at the Stevens Center; the drama productions at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts; and the recitals, concerts and lectures at adjacent Salem College are important cultural resources for Academy students.