Academics

Curriculum & Departments

Benet Academy’s academic curriculum seeks to balance opportunities and excellence.  All curricular offerings are college preparatory in design.
Freshman, sophomores, and seniors earn 6.5 academic credits while juniors earn 6.0 credits. All learners require 23.5 credits for graduation. We offer a wide variety of elective courses to enrich the academic lives of our learners.  
 
Benet offers four levels of academic coursework across nine departments.  
  • College Prep courses engage students in rigorous grade-level learning
  • Honors courses can approach material in an accelerated or enriched way.  Learners receive three additional points for their grade point average in this level of courses.
  • Advanced Placement (AP) courses are offered through the College Board and offer college level, nationally recognized curriculum.  Five additional points are added to determine one’s grade point average
  • Collegiate courses are specially created by Benet faculty that extend learning into the college experience.  Students earn an additional five points for their grade point average.

Please visit our Curriculum Guide to learn about the requirements set by individual departments to guide proper placement to foster student growth.  In our balanced approach, we encourage choice through which students pursue their academic paths not just for the weighted grades, but rather because of passion for the course content and their future academic pursuits.

A typical freshman schedule will include: Religion, English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, a Classical or World Language, and Physical Education.  Recommendations for level placement in English, Science and Social Studies will be based on entrance exam test scores.  Please see the Curriculum Guide for electives available to freshmen in the Fine Arts Department, AP Capstone Sequence, and Engineering and Computer Science Department. 

Math and Classical and World Language proficiency tests for freshman year are given in the spring of the eighth grade year to determine appropriate course placement.

Graduation Requirements

The core requirements for a diploma are:
  • 4.0 Religion
  • 4.0 English (at least one credit each year)
  • 3.0 Mathematics (usually two credits in Algebra, one in Geometry)
  • 3.0 Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics)
  • 2.0 Classical and World Languages (two credits of the same language)
  • 2.0 Social Studies (usually one each in World and American 
  • History)
  • 1.5 Physical Education (over three years - no PE in junior year)
  • 4.0 credits in electives
  • 23.5 TOTAL CREDITS
Core Requirements are to be earned at Benet, except in the cases of transfer students.

Explore Academic Departments

Address: 2200 Maple Avenue, Lisle, IL 60532 | Phone: (630) 969-6550 | Fax: (630) 719-2849