Signature Programs

In grade 6, students transition to intensive, leveled study of their chosen language, continuing toward genuine fluency and, for many, near-native proficiency by graduation. Along the way, immersion builds far more than bilingualism: stronger executive function, earlier empathy and perspective-taking, and a lasting, global way of seeing the world.

Global Journeys are built on a simple idea: students travel to pursue understanding.

As Avenues' signature place-based, mission-aligned study abroad program for students in grades 6–11, each journey extends our curriculum through inquiry, authentic cultural exchange, and meaningful engagement with the people and places students are studying. The result is learning that endures long after students return home.

Through Wellness and Movement (WAM), our signature health and physical education program, we honor our mission statement pledge to graduate students who are “emotionally unafraid and physically fit.” 

WAM spirals throughout the curriculum from nursery to 12th grade, beginning with joyful movement classes and progressing through dance and sports. Classes are interdisciplinary, so students are learning about blood flow, and heart health for example, while they are engaged in their WAM activities. In Upper Division WAM classes, students explore questions of personal identity and healthy decision-making around relationships, substances, sexual health, nutrition, and sleep.

J-Term invites students to pursue questions that connect academic learning to real-world challenges at developmentally appropriate ways, from diving deeper into problem solving in the local NYC community to spanning larger global scale problems in the Upper Division.

Fun fact! Our parents get to experience a day in the life of J-Term on an annual basis and step into the classroom of some of our incredible teachers through our Parent J-Term program.