As a founding member of the Global Online Academy (GOA), Head-Royce has offered interdisciplinary online courses to Upper School students since 2011. Students who enroll in GOA classes collaborate with peers from a range of independent schools, from Catlin Gabel and Dalton to the American School in Japan and King’s Academy in Jordan. 

GOA allows us to expand the Upper School course catalog to include the languages Arabic and Japanese, and more specialized classes like Architecture, Bioethics, and Positive Psychology. Many classes are interdisciplinary, like Global Health, 9/11 in a Global Context, and Prisons and the Criminal Law. The courses are all taught by faculty affiliated with member schools,  independent schools with similar academic standards as Head-Royce, and each course is capped at 18 students. 

GOA’s annual Catalyst Conference is a public, online exhibition of student research, focused on social justice and advocacy. In 2020, the Upper School History Department adopted the Catalyst Conference as a capstone experience for their 10th grade United States History research project. Read more about the project's scope here. 

• The HRS Gallery of Catalyst for Change Projects

  • Maybe highlight some of this year’s winners from HRS — shows the range of our engaged scholarship. 

    • Catalyst for Change Prize, Spring 2020

      • Katie M. ‘20, Head-Royce School (California, USA) GOA Positive Psychology: How can we use intercultural support groups to help resettled refugee teens in the United States find community and recover from trauma?

      • Riley R. ‘22, Head-Royce School (California, USA) U.S. History: Problem Solving Past and Present (Head-Royce course): Segregation is “Legally Dead but Factually Alive”: How can we combat gentrification?

    • Audience Choice Awards, Spring 2020 

      • Athena M. ‘22, Head-Royce School (California, USA) Head-Royce U.S. History: Problem Solving Past and Present: What Do Black Deaths Mean to You? The Evolution of Police Brutality in America

      • Cole R. ‘22, Head-Royce School (California, USA) Head-Royce U.S. History: Problem Solving Past and Present: Power and Poverty: why does America have such a drastic wealth divide?

      • Megan L. ‘22, Head-Royce School (California, USA) Head-Royce U.S. History: Problem Solving Past and Present: Interracial and LBGTQ+ Marriage Equality: Yet How come Our Current Society isn't Legally and Socially Accepting of such Partners?

      • Nisha K. ‘22, Head-Royce School (California, USA) Head-Royce U.S. History: Problem Solving Past and Present: The History of America's Textile Industry: How Can We Be the Voice for Those Without One?

  • Sophia R-B ‘22, Head-Royce School (California, USA) Head-Royce U.S. History: Problem Solving Past and Present: Calling the Wrong Shot: How Have Anti-Vax Roots in Fear and Ignorance Driven Societal Harm?