Elective Course Offerings at Olympic HS

An array of course electives are brought to our campus through partnerships with the community, at no additional cost to our school, to actively engage and capture the attention and attendance of students.

Blast Beat - brought to us from Ireland, Blast Beat guides students through the development of a company focused in the music industry. Students take on the executive roles in a music business, recruiting talent, staging a concert, and competing with their business plan in a national contest of high schools that leads to a final international competition in Ireland, each Fall.

Criminal Justice – our government/economics teacher has partnered with the Santa Monica Police Department/SMPD in the development and delivery of this course. Students learn the Education and Penal Codes as they explore various legal issues encountered in daily life. Guest speakers from the SMPD, the City Attorney’s Office, and the community, are scheduled each week.

Dance – a new class funded by our district Santa Monica Malibu Education Foundation uses a combination of jazz, hip hop, and modern dance, to help students learn and demonstrate movement skills and essential dance performance concepts such as balance, precision, strength, and conditioning. Students are guided through body isolations, rhythm practice, yoga postures, and stretches, so they can access dance and movement in multiple ways. Students prepare for a performance in the For The Arts festival on the Santa Monica Pier.

Debate – a class held in the fall semester, students learned to expand critical thinking as they engaged in the structure of various types of speeches, and held debates in teams, to practice and enhance their public speaking and critical thinking skills.

Digital Arts – a class provided to Olympic High students by the Virginia Avenue Park staff, students learn to create art in a digital media format.

Drama – students learn improvisation, theater history, and theatrical techniques as they work on scenes with our English teacher who is an active member of the Screen Actors Guild. A grant from the Santa Monica Malibu Education Foundation brought in a comedy sketch artist to this class, two days a week. Students create and produce a comedy sketch club evening, performed before the school and the community.

Drums – a new class this spring semester, students learn the rhythms of various cultures, the historical importance/origins of the rhythms, and how they’re used in today’s music.

Film - a Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) Officer recruited two local film producers who donated their time and digital video cameras to provide a class in the making of documentary films. Students explore an issue of their choice, learn to storyboard, film, edit, and add a soundtrack to their documentary.

Guitar – funded by our Santa Monica Malibu Education Foundation, our guitar class is an introduction to the fundamentals of guitar playing which incorporates theory, technique, styles, & jamming in the class instruction. VH1 Save the Music Foundation, dedicated to restoring music education in schools, donated the guitars and equipment to the school. Guests from the professional music community visit the class regularly to provide “real world” insight.

Imagination Workshop – weekly workshops provided in the creation of scenes, study of metaphor, stories, and poems brings in instructors from the arts to spark the imagination of students.

Jewelry – a local community member brought us a jewelry class which we are now continuing with grant funding. Students are provided with stones, beads, pearls, and findings, as they learn stone composition and design, constructing necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.

K9 Connection – a class that builds student self-esteem while focusing on career development, is brought to us by OPCC, a local nonprofit organization. Students learn skills while training and managing the behavior of dogs, rescued from the local animal shelter.

PAL PE – a fitness class developed by our SMPD PAL Officer, transports students to the city’s new park facilities that house a boxing ring, weight lifting equipment, and a workout gym for calisthenics.

Sober Living – a weekly panel of speakers shares their experiences overcoming various forms of addiction and recovery.

Twentieth Century Film – was developed by our science and history teacher who is a member of the Screen Actors Guild. Students view historically significant films of the 20th Century and verbally debate the issues of each film while relating them to the political and social circumstances of the time. Students are assigned writing, to explore contrasting viewpoints.

VeniceArts: in neighborhoods – students learn digital photography alongside professional photographers and gallery owners; a class provided by a local non-profit organization.