At Community High School of Arts & Academics, students explore an immersive, dynamic liberal arts curriculum under the supervision of dedicated faculty and staff. Our narrative evaluation system, proximity to downtown Roanoke, and curricular arts requirement differentiate CHS from our peer institutions in Southwest Virginia. Furthermore, our combination of standard and diverse topics-based course offerings uniquely position students to thrive in college-level coursework. Read on to learn more about Community High School’s distinctive learning environment.
Our School Day & Classes
- School doors are open 8:15-5:30 daily
- Typically students are required to be at school from 9:00-3:00 on M/W/F, 9:00-2:40 on T/TH, and until 5:00 when they have arts/electives classes
- The arts/electives block allows us to offer a deeper and wider variety of courses
- Students taking college courses are excused from campus while traveling to and from campus
- Student schedules vary by semester and are dynamic with free periods built in
- Students may go downtown for lunch from 12:15-1:00 (new students will be shown the boundaries)
- Classes are seminar-style and discussion based
- Our classes cover five main disciplines: math, science, foreign language, humanities, and arts
- Humanities courses combine elements of language arts and history, and are designed to emphasize critical writing, independent research, seminar discussion and close reading
- Foreign languages currently offered: Latin, Spanish
- Once a semester we take a full day to explore Lycée classes
- Students are evaluated narratively, earning credit/no credit for each class (see below)
Assessment & Evaluation
Community High does not use a grading scale, either numeric or letter-based, to evaluate our students. All classes are offered Credit/No Credit. More significantly, each student’s acquired knowledge and skills are described narratively and in detail for each class, each semester. Taken together, these narrative evaluations provide students clear goals for improvement over time, and college admissions offices the opportunity to understand the student more deeply and less subjectively through such assessments.
In knowledge acquired and skills displayed, there are broad and stable standards for earning credit, roughly equivalent to a 70 or better in a 100 point graded system. Narratively, however, students are evaluated on an individual basis, according to their own objectives and strengths, and are not compared to one another for evaluation purposes. For these reasons, Community High School does not internally rank students, by G.P.A. or other means.