Our middle school program doesn't just help students prepare for high school, it helps them discover who they are!

About Our Middle School Program

Our engaging, project-based middle school program will help your student navigate the challenges of adolescence and discover who they are. Through project-based learning, your student will find the real-world relevance of each subject—and have fun along the way.

Mentors will nurture your student’s curiosity and love of learning as they mature, make new connections, and gradually increase their workload. We have specifically designed our middle school program to help your student gain self-confidence, expand both their cognitive and emotional intelligence, and do increasingly hard things.

We offer two types of online courses

Note: All live classes are recorded, so if a student has to miss a class they can go back and watch it.

At Leadership Academy of Colorado (LACO), parents get to choose the days/times and format of courses for which their children register. Review the course paths and schedules below to create your student’s list of preferred classes. Here are a few key things to consider:

• All live online classes are 50 minutes long
• Fridays are for individual study and mentor office hours. Students should plan on studying several hours most Fridays
• Course mentors and class times are subject to change, depending on enrollment
• LACO follows Daylight Savings Time
• We offer some courses in the summer, including Study Skills. See our new website for details.

See Course Selection Guidelines at the bottom of the page for more tips. 

Note: Fall registration opens on March 27 for returning families and April 3 for new families. 

Course Paths & Schedules

Self-Paced Course Offerings

*Note for Second Language Courses: Second Language courses have been designed for students in grades 9–12, and are offered for high school credit through our high school program. Students in grades 6–8 may enroll in these courses, but may not be ready for this additional workload. If you feel your middle school student can successfully complete a self-paced, high-school-level language course, please contact us.

Course Selection Guidelines

• To be considered full-time, middle school students must enroll in at least 4 courses (2 of them being core).

• Middle school students may take up to 6 classes per semester. 

• Students have 28 calendar days from the first day of the semester to move from the Classic version of a course to Honors and vice versa.

• Online STEM courses operate on a rotating two-year curriculum in which students complete the A/B courses one year and the C/D courses the next.

• If your 6th or 7th-grade student is advanced in math or writing you may enroll them in a higher level math and/or writing course. If your 8th-grade student is advanced, you may get permission from an academic counselor to enroll them in a 9th-grade math and/or writing course. Middle school students who take high school math may receive high school math credit.

• Most online middle school courses are offered exclusively in the “live” format. Math 6, 7, and 8, and some Electives are available in the “self-paced” format.

• Students may choose from live online, self-paced, and/or independent courses. Independent Studies courses are upon approval as they must meet state requirements. Please contact a school counselor if you have any questions.

Our Middle School Curriculum