Bellarmine is proud to offer a wide range of curricular offerings, to challenge and nurture the interests of each one of our students. All students take a college preparatory curriculum designed to meet the minimum subject requirements of the University of California and California State University systems. Most of our graduates go beyond these minimum entrance requirements, stretching themselves by learning one of our four foreign languages, each of which offers Advanced Placement (AP) opportunities. They pursue the highest levels of mathematics, including not only Calculus AP, but even courses in Multivariable Calculus and AP Statistics, as well as AP offerings in Computer Science. This list is far from comprehensive. Students have a number of opportunities in science, including Anatomy & Physiology, Geology, and Marine Biology; in six different AP options in the Social Studies Department; and in a wide variety of English electives, including a William Faulkner Seminar, a Screenwriting class, and many others.

Students pursue their passion for the performing and visual arts through an extensive music program, ceramics, photography, digital media, or some of the more traditional two-dimensional media, such as pencil, charcoal, or paint. In religious studies, students not only receive instruction in the Catholic, Christian tradition, but in their senior year also have the opportunity to explore elective options in courses such as Prayer & Meditation or Comparative Religions. These are just some of the ways in which students enjoy the richness and depth of Bellarmine's academic requirement. You will find a complete list of all curricular offerings under the various departments listed here.

Bellarmine students appreciate that their teachers are passionate about the subject matters they teach. More than 70 percent of Bellarmine's faculty members have Master's Degrees, and a number of them also have Ph.D.'s. What sets this group of talented individuals apart, however, is their care for their students. Teachers are always willing to lend extra assistance to their students who are struggling, and truly go above and beyond to help students succeed. When teachers and students make these connections outside of class time, during office hours, on the field or in a club or activity, friendships are formed which can last a lifetime.

Students at Bellarmine are remarkably successful in their academic endeavors as well. Bellarmine sends 100 percent of its graduates each year to college, with typically better than 95 percent attending four year colleges. From the class of 2006, nearly 25 percent are currently attending University of California schools, including Berkeley, Davis, and Los Angeles. Another 8 percent are at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and more than 12 percent of the graduates are continuing their studies at Santa Clara University. Many other Bellarmine graduates from '06 attend some of the finest universities around the country, including Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Georgetown, Brown, and Duke.

Bellarmine's acceptance rate at these universities is partially due to how well students fare in standardized testing. On the SAT Test, Bellarmine students score on average more than 300 points better than both the state and national averages on the new 2400 point scale. In Advanced Placement testing, Bellarmine administers around 900 tests each year. Over the past four years, students have scored a 3 or higher on 85 percent of those tests. This means that a majority of Bellarmine graduates qualify for some degree of advanced standing when they begin college, which enables them either to graduate early, or to have access to courses ordinarily not made available to freshmen.

You are invited to peruse the pages here to gather a better sense of how truly strong Bellarmine's academic program is.