At a Glance

Advisors are Delta teachers who meet regularly with a group of students known as a “clump” to discuss events and issues within Delta and the greater community.

Delta is community-focused, so there is a half hour taken out of the school day for Democracy in Action (DIA). Democracy in Action includes All-School Meeting (ASM), Committees, Community Building, and Clump (a group of fifteen-ish students with the same advisor that meets to discuss issues and have fun).

All-School Meeting occurs once a week during the school day. This is where all Delta High students and teachers come together to discuss subjects pertaining to the Delta community, as well as make presentations on topics beneficial to the whole school.

An Advisory Council is made up of parents, teachers, and students representing their clumps. Advisory Council meets once a month after school and makes school-wide decisions including schedule changes, changes to the handbook, and budget use. The Delta community also makes decisions through All-School Meeting (during the school day), a once-weekly meeting of students and teachers to discuss and vote on relevant issues including school policies.

Advising teams consist of an advisor, the student, and their parent(s)/legal guardian(s). Advising teams meet two times a year to discuss the student’s academic and personal goals, as well as growth and experience at Delta.

Community Service is an integral component of a Delta High education. Each Delta High student is required to complete a minimum of 30 community service hours per school year. This gives students the chance to give back to the larger State College community and provides a unique variety of learning experiences. 

All Delta teachers are fully accredited and most have many years of experience.  Each class is unique and stimulating. Our courses cover a great variety of topics ranging from Bioethics to Shakespeare, Human Rights to Backpacking. Courses are available to all students at the appropriate academic level, regardless of grade, resulting in mixed-aged classrooms. Many courses have an "advanced option" for students to complete additional work and/or proof of competancy for advanced credit if desired.

All Delta High students have open campus. When not in class, students may work independently in the school or leave the building. This allows students to pursue academic opportunities outside of school. Students use open campus to study, read, socialize, complete Independent Contracts, or eat lunch outside of the building. Delta students are entrusted with great responsibility, but they understand that this is a privilege. Students are required to get to all classes and appointments on time, and lateness is penalized.

A “Delta Project" is an independently driven project completed over one school year.  It is a chance for Delta students to take ownership over their learning and focus on expanding and sharing their knowledge in relation to a topic they want to learn about, a topic they started to learn about in class, or a service project they would like to see in their community.

Delta High students are strongly encouraged to complete at least one Delta Project before graduation. Each project will provide 0.25 credits and will be added to the student's transcript upon completion. 

Delta High School offers not only diversity in education, but it gives students and parents a chance to be a fundamental part of designing that education. Delta recognizes the importance of student choice in academics. With the input of their advisor and parents, students have freedom to choose from a wide variety of courses, designing their education while also meeting the requirements of graduation and acceptance at post-secondary institutions. 

In keeping with Delta’s spirit of freedom of choice, there are a wide variety of academic options offered within and outside of Delta. Students have the option of taking classes at Delta and State College Area High School, stepping up to be Teachers' Assistants, and designing Independent Contracts to meet their educational needs. TA agreements and independent contracts require special approval before appearing on student transcripts.

Along with regular classes, Delta offers experiential courses and gives students the option to complete independent contracts. Independent contracts offer students a way to garner credit for educational experiences beyond the classroom. If a student is deeply interested in a subject that Delta doesn’t cover in a class, they may arrange with a Delta teacher or an outside resource person to self-teach this course, receiving credit just as they would from a Delta class. Experiential courses give students an immersive, hands-on experience with course material. Each year, Delta has either an experiential week or experiential days. Experiential weeks are their own class, unrelated to other course work, which gives students experience a new subjects. Experiential week courses offered in the past include Stained Glass, Experiential Law, Hiking, and Bread Baking. Experiential days are attached to courses students are already taking. Courses with attached experiential days are offered in the fall semester. Four times during that semester, all Delta classes are cancelled, and students spend the full day with their experiential class. Classes use these days for immersive study of course material, whether it be a lecture from a guest speaker or a field trip. For example, the Mythology class might use its attached experiential days to visit a planetarium or hold a mock Olympic games, while the Law class might visit the state capital, Harrisburg.