Develop the skills you need for the world you are helping to build.
The Pennington School's Applied Science Certificate Program is a two-year course of study to which all Pennington sophomores in good academic standing are eligible to apply. Students apply for the program in the winter of their sophomore year for participation during their junior and senior years. The Certificate in Applied Science is awarded to graduating seniors at Commencement in June.
Applied Science means taking the skills you develop in science, math, engineering, and technology and combining them with your capabilities in critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and literacy to initiate real change.
Today's high school students─YOU─have the capacity to change the future of the world by developing systems for cleaner water, safer vehicles, improved communications, advanced robotics, space travel, elimination of disease, and much, much more.
This multidisciplinary program offers you a new way to acquire important STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) skills.
Graduates earning a Certificate in Applied Science at Pennington will have the confidence, disciplinary knowledge, programming skills, and engineering problem-solving ability to design creative and practical solutions to real world problems.
The Applied Science Certificate Program at Pennington will give students unique opportunities to grow their STEM skills and knowledge, and discover new passions and explore areas of interests that are not available in the general program. Students will make interdisciplinary connections between STEM and our world. By participating in STEM experiences, interacting with leaders in industry, and doing hands-on work, students will have creative learning experiences that will enrich their perceptions and offer important insight into how it is possible to make a difference in a world of constant change.
Requirements of the program
Junior-Year Requirements
- Applied Science Elective*: choose either Design Engineering or Software Engineering
- Applied Science EXPO participation
- STEM Club participation (one club per year)
- STEM speaker participation
- Outside-of-school STEM experience (approved experiences include summer college-hosted STEM programs, Spring Break travel to complete a STEM project, and weekly volunteer sessions in a STEM environment). Multiple experiences are possible but must add up to an equivalent of five (5) days.
*AP Computer Science also meets this requirement.
Senior-Year Requirements
- STEM Club Participation (one club per year)
- STEM placement for Horizon senior internship
- STEM speaker participation