Academics

Our Mission of Excellence

On any given day, ask our students what they've learned - and where. It's likely that you'll hear about an English teacher's classroom, and the freedom students feel to become absolutely absorbed in literature. You'll also find freshmen and seniors learning calculus side by side in an environment that ranks individual ability above grade level. Amid the corriders of the Weeks Science Building, the AP Chemistry lab buzzes (and bubbles) with the excitement of hands-on experimentation, and students crowd into the Bullpen - a state-of-the-art computer lab - to study, research, and write papers.

A key part of Baylor's magic is the adviser system. One student admits, "My adviser knows more about my life at school than anyone." It makes sense, once you realize that Baylor's adviser team is comprised entirely of faculty members. Each adviser has three official roles: academic monitor, student advocate, and facilitator. But it's a fourth role that students share most often, and a distinction advisers prize above all else: friend.

Academic Strengths

Our average class size in the sixth grade is 14.1, in the seventh and eighth grade it is 14.7, and in grades 9-12 it is 14.6.

Over a third of Baylor teachers have served on the faculty for 20 or more years.

Extra help is offered three or four times a week. Teachers coach in the classroom as well as on the athletic fields.

Teachers engage in an on-going process of professional development; faculty are learners as well as teachers.

Baylor has had 21 National Merit Semifinalists in the last two years, more than any other area school.

In addition, two current Baylor seniors, one from China and one from Korea, would have qualified as Semifinalists if they were US citizens.

The school offers innovative courses in digital design, multimedia, and programming as well as AP Computer Science.

100% of Baylor students four-year attend colleges and universities.

Baylor students routinely excel in regional and state competitions. For the last three years, Baylor has had more students place in the combined TMTA state math competition top ten categories than any other area school.

Five members of the science department (two men and three women) have PhD degrees.

Baylor is the only area school that offers five languages: Chinese, French, German, Latin, and Spanish. Baylor is the only area school that offers AP Spanish Literature.

Baylor students regularly receive honors at the annual ArtScene competition at the Hunter Museum and in band and voice competitions. Baylor’s state-of-the-art black box theater has been a training ground for students who continue their work in drama at the college level and beyond.

Advanced Placement Leadership

In 1954, Baylor led the way as the first school in the South - and only one of 38 secondary schools - invited to participate in the new Advanced Placement (AP) program. Today, Baylor offers AP college level courses in 22 subjects, providing opportunities for advanced specialized study and college credit.

Baylor offers 22 AP courses: one in Computer Science, two in English, three in Fine Arts, six in Foreign Language, three in History, three in Mathematics, and four in Sciences.

In 2000, Baylor students wrote 278 AP exams. In 2007, Baylor students wrote 491 exams. Of those 491 exams, 397 qualified students to receive college credit.

Some Baylor sophomores take AP Chemistry and AP Computer Science, some juniors take AP Calculus and many take AP English, AP Languages, and AP sciences, and seniors choose from the full slate of offerings.

At least seven Baylor teachers have served as AP readers, and in 2008 a Baylor student was named one of two Tennessee recipients of the Siemen Award for Advanced Placement for her performance on math and science AP exams as a junior.

Academic Facts

Choices
Each year 100 percent of Baylor graduates head for colleges and universities, including Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, UNC, SMU, Emory, Duke, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, and Wake Forest.

Scholarship
Baylor has a distinguished history of college scholarship recognition for excellence in academics, fine arts, leadership and athletics (our most recent graduating class earned college scholarships totaling nearly $9.5 million).

Opportunity
Eight out of 10 Baylor students get into the first university of their choice.

Baylor's boarding students excel academically and in leadership roles.

For 62 years, Baylors Round Table has encouraged literary exploration, independent thought, and spirited debate.

Recently, Baylor students earned perfect scores on both the SAT and the National Latin Exam.

Our alumni are scientists, senators, Pulitzer-Prize winners, and critically acclaimed novelists.

Alumni Satisfaction

Academic Quality
In a recent survey of Baylor alums over the last four decades, among both day and boarding students, the primary reason for attending Baylor was academic quality.

College Prep
In the decade of the 1990s, alums felt that they received good to excellent preparation for college in every academic area at the school; on a 5-point scale, departments received ratings from 4.0 to 4.6.

Outstanding Faculty
In the decade of the 1990s, alums rated faculty, on the same 5-point scale, as well-versed in their subjects (4.7), developing close relationships with students (4.7), able to teach their subjects (4.6), and able to motivate students (4.5).