In the Fall of 2021, Lourdes High School began partnering with Saint Mary's University's (SMU) Program for Advanced College Credit (PACC), to offer concurrent course offerings in the areas of Math, Biology, Theology, and English.
Program for Advanced College Credit (PACC) programming allows Lourdes High School students a chance at more rigorous coursework, while also allowing them to continue to be part of the Lourdes community through continued interaction with their peers and teachers, a component we feel is vital to their overall education.
Courses have the same expectations, course workload, projects, and exams as their college counterparts, providing a chance for an earlier introduction to college academic rigor.
PACC Information
- Courses are offered to high school juniors and seniors who meet the course's prerequisites.
- All syllabi are approved by a University professor in the course's discipline.
- Provides an opportunity to earn college credit with a transcript from SMU by earning a C or better in the course.
- SMU's credits transfer to all higher-learning institutions in the state. If there is an issue with a college/university outside of Minnesota, SMU will work with the institution to transfer credits.
- PACC will replace our RCTC concurrent English enrollment option and allow students to complete some general education classes ahead of college.
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In order to ensure that we are adding to our academic opportunities and not removing options, almost all courses, with the exception of "Thinking Theologically," will also be taught as Advanced Placement courses. The option takes into account that some institutions of higher- learning prefer to have students enrolled in AP courses. Students will have the choice between paying for the college credit or enrolling in the course as an Advanced Placement option. The Counseling Department will help to advise students on which option will be best for their college career.
Course Instructors
Allows college courses to be taught in high school by high school instructors who have a Masters in a particular content area, or a Master's in Education with 18 credits in the content area. All interested high school faculty have been vetted by SMU and once approved, are considered adjunct faculty with SMU.
SMU's professors and the Lourdes principal work closely with approved high school faculty to ensure that the courses are being taught with the same rigor and expectation as they would at SMU.
Mrs. O’Hara received her B.A. in Environmental Biology from St. Mary’s University and her M.S. in Biology from the University of Northern Iowa where she was a teaching assistant for introductory Biology courses. She began her professional teaching career at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa where she was a Biology Lab instructor and non-major Biology course instructor. After moving to Minnesota, she taught online for Capella University. In 2016, she began teaching Junior High Life and Earth Science at St. Francis of Assisi. She is excited to join the LHS teaching community where she will teach 9th grade Biology and
AP Biology/Biology 150. She is passionate about ensuring that all students become scientifically literate. Mrs. O’Hara hopes to inspire many of those students to become the next generation of biologists. Personal interests include ecology, conservation biology and ornithology. In her free time, Mrs. O’Hara loves reading fiction, bird-watching, and hiking.
Mr. Gardner has been teaching in Religion and Philosophy, Music, and Theatre since 1983. Upon completion of his M.A. in Religion, Philosophy and Literature (Indiana University ‘83), Mr. Gardner joined the faculty of Fergus Falls Community College for two years. During 1986 he returned to his native East Coast to study and work as a musician, where he also began teaching in Religion for Catholic High School programs. Since 1991 Mr. Gardner has been on the faculty of Lourdes High School, where he served for a decade as Department Chair in Religion. In 2004 Mr. Gardner completed the Creative Pulse program at University of Montana (M.A. Fine Arts Education) and began serving as Fine Arts Chair at LHS where he continues to teach in Religion as well as teaching, directing, and producing projects in Theatre and Music, while continuing to explore the intersection of Arts and Theology. Mr. Gardner will be teaching Thinking Theologically as well as Christian Life and Relationship and Church History.
Mr. Blattner completed his Bachelor of Arts at Luther College, majoring in English and Philosophy. He earned his Master of Arts in Teaching from Saint Mary’s University. While at Saint Mary’s, Mr. Blattner focused his master’s thesis on teaching writing instruction, highlighting innovative and best-practice methods to implement in the classroom. He is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in English from Saint Thomas University. His current research continues to examine new approaches to writing development and ways of providing writer feedback. Mr. Blattner enjoys working with students individually to develop their own voice and style, and ultimately to learn how to think with clarity and precision. In addition to writing, Mr. Blattner loves navigating through classic works of literature, finding connections on how these works influence our modern world. He desires that each student will discover his/her potential through written and spoken word. Mr. Blattner will be teaching AP Language/College Writing, AP Literature/Advanced Literature and Freshman English.
Cost
2021-2022 Course Offerings
- Advanced Fiction/AP Literature
- AP Biology/Biological Connections
- Calculus II/AP Calculus BC
- College Writing/AP Language and Composition
- Reasoning with Statistics/AP Statistics
- Thinking Theologically
Advanced Fiction/AP Literature
SMU Equivalent: E175: Introduction to Literature
Year long
3 College Credits or Advanced Placement Option
Senior
Advanced Fiction/AP Literature and Composition is offered as a concurrent enrollment course through Saint Mary's University and focuses on a rigorous study of imaginative literature across different mediums and historical periods. Students will survey fiction through novels, short stories, dramas, and poetry. They will build on writing skills and textual analysis from previous courses to unfold the ways authors command language and derive meaning within their work. In addition, students will demonstrate their understanding of figurative language, literary elements, and comprehension through various essay formats. Upon completion, students will possess the skills to analyze, reflect, and provide insight into fictional works at a collegiate level and/or meet the requirements to complete the AP Literature exam. In order to take this course for college credit, when registering with Lourdes, students must also register through Saint Mary's PACC and make a check payable to Lourdes High School for $225.
Prerequisites: 25 on ACT in English and Reading, B+ in English first three years, teacher recommendation
*Students have the option of either enrolling in the course through Saint Mary's and assuming the cost associated with the University, or opting to pay for the AP exam.
AP Biology/Biological Connections
AP Biology/Biological Connections is designed to be the equivalent of a college level introductory biology course taken by biology majors their freshman year. Students must have a strong level of interest in biology, have demonstrated success in previous science courses, and possess the ability to learn independently outside of regularly scheduled class time. Students should expect to spend a minimum of 5 additional hours of work time outside of class per week. Topics covered include everything covered in Biology, as well as genetic regulation, the history of life of earth, the origin and diversification of eukaryotes, and as much of animal form and function as time allows. Students enrolled in AP are required to take the national Advanced Placement exam in Biology for possible college credit. In order to take this course for college credit, when registering with Lourdes, students must also register through Saint Mary's PACC and make a check payable to Lourdes High School for $300.
Calculus II/AP Calculus BC
SMU Equivalent: M152-Calculus II
Year long
4 College Credits
Calculus II (M152)/AP Calculus BC, a course that runs concurrently with Saint Mary's University is a continuation of Calculus I/AP Calculus. Several topics are revisited at a higher mathematical level to further develop student mathematical conceptual understanding. Topics include: applications of the definite integral, techniques of integration, improper integrals, introduction to differential equations, numerical methods for integration and approximation, curves in the plane given parametrically, polar coordinates, and vectors in 2-space and 3-space. In order to take this course for college credit, when registering with Lourdes, students must also register through Saint Mary's PACC and make a check payable to Lourdes High School for $300.
Prerequisite: B Average in Math (80% in Calculus I/AP Calculus AB) or a score of at least 3 on the AP Exam.
*Students have the option of either enrolling in the course through Saint Mary's and assuming the cost associated with the University, or opting to pay for the AP exam.
College Writing/AP Language and Composition
SMU Equivalent: E130: First Year Writing
Year long
4 College Credits OR Advanced Placement Option
Junior/Senior
College Writing/AP Language and Composition is offered as a concurrent enrollment course through Saint Mary's University and focuses on advancing the writing ability of students by developing their analytical processing of information as well as crafting personal, stylistic choices. Students will encounter highly regarded works of non-fiction from various sources, implement similar practices in their own writing, and strive to refine their created content. The course will be broken into four main units, each comprised of reading and writing within the category: rhetoric and persuasion, claims and evidence, reason and logic, style and prose. Upon completion, students will possess the skills to research, argument, and revise their writing at a collegiate level and/or meet the requirements to complete the AP Language and Composition exam. In order to take this course for college credit, when registering with Lourdes, students must also register through Saint Mary's PACC and make a check payable to Lourdes High School for $300.
Prerequisites: 25 on ACT in English and Reading, B+ in English first two/three years, teacher recommendation.
*Students have the option of either enrolling in the course through Saint Mary's and assuming the cost associated with the University, or opting to pay for the AP exam.
Reasoning with Statistics/AP Statistics
SMU Equivalent: ST132-Reasoning with Statistics
Year long
3 College Credits
Junior/Senior Elective
Reasoning with Statistics (ST132), a course that runs concurrently with Saint Mary's University is designed to develop student facilities in the use of statistical methods and the understanding of statistical concepts. The course takes a practical approach based on statistical examples taken from everyday life. Covered topics will include: descriptive and inferential statistics, an introduction to probability, discrete and continuous random variables, sampling distributions, estimation, hypothesis testing, chi-squared tests, and regression and correlation. Appropriate technology is used to perform the calculations and draw conclusions for many applications, and correspondingly an emphasis is placed on interpreting the results of statistical procedures. In order to take this course for college credit, when registering with Lourdes, students must register also through Saint Mary's PACC and make a check payable to Lourdes High School for $225.
Prerequisite: Completion of Algebra 2 and at least a 3.0 GPA.
*Students have the option of either enrolling in the course through Saint Mary's and assuming the cost associated with the University, or opting to pay for the AP exam.
Thinking Theologically
SMU Equivalent: TH 111-Thinking Theologically
Fall 2021 or Spring 2022
3 College Credits
Senior
This course wonders at a fundamental question throughout the long history of human beings: How do we make sense out of our experience of the Presence of God? We are challenged to think carefully and rigorously in pursuit of truth and knowledge; to notice how great thinkers have challenged themselves and others in suggesting answers to the question. We will observe the ways that human experience causes us to ask questions, and the ways that our questions are shaped and focused as we navigate the human relationship to God as it is described especially in Judeo-Christian tradition, but by comparison with some other traditions as well. In order to take this course for college credit, when registering with Lourdes, students must also register through Saint Mary's PACC and make a check payable to Lourdes High School for $225.
Prerequisite: 3.0 Cumulative GPA
Course Instructor Recommendation
Lourdes High School offers other college credit options. View our 2021-2022 Course Catalog to learn more.