Our Academic Program and Curriculum

Bellarmine's academic program is both aggressive and stimulating. It is designed to prepare students for post-secondary education and inspire a lifetime of learning.

Thumbnail

All students take a college preparatory curriculum designed to meet the minimum subject requirements of the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems.  Most students go beyond these minimum entrance requirements, completing more than the required number of credits within a required discipline and/or taking advantage of Bellarmine's numerous Honors and Advanced Placement (AP) courses. The strength of our program is supported by the following:

  • Our matriculation rates to four-year colleges and universities are consistently at 95+%, with some students choosing to do a year of service prior to attending college or choosing a two-year institution.
  • SAT test scores average more than 300 points higher than both the state and national averages. 
  • Bellarmine administers an average of 1300 AP tests each year, with students qualifying for college credit 80+% of the time. This translates into a large number of Bellarmine graduates entering college with some degree of advanced standing, enabling them to graduate early or to have access to courses ordinarily not available to incoming freshmen.

A list of Honors and AP courses is included below. Many of these courses have been identified by the UC and CSU systems (as well as other colleges across the country) as qualifying for honors credit, i.e., extra points in the calculation of your grade point average. Our AP courses are designed to prepare students for taking the AP exam, which determines a student's eligibility for college credit. 

Unless otherwise specified, Informed Enrollment is employed for Honors/AP courses, meaning that interested students must first solicit feedback from their current teacher, parents, and counselor, and secure counselor approval, prior to enrollment. Course prerequisites may apply.

Computer Science:
Advanced Computer Science: Data Structures

English:
English 1 Honors
English 2 Honors

Mathematics:
Algebra 2 Honors
Precalculus Honors

Modern and Classical Languages:
French 3 Honors
Latin 3 Honors
Mandarin Chinese 3 Honors
Spanish 3 Honors

Science:
Biology Honors
Chemistry Honors

Computer Science:
Computer Science A AP

English:
English Literature AP

Mathematics:
Calculus AB AP
Calculus BC AP
AP Statistics

Modern and Classical Languages:
French 4 AP
Latin 4 AP
Mandarin Chinese 4 AP
Spanish 4 AP: Spanish Language and Culture
Spanish 5 AP: Spanish Literature and Culture

Science:
Biology AP
Chemistry AP
Environmental  Science AP
AP Physics 1
Physics C AP: Mechanics and Electricity/Magnetism

Social Science: 
European History AP
Macroeconomics AP
Psychology AP
U.S. Government and Politics AP
U.S. History AP
World History AP