If in visiting campus you see a student leading an all school assembly, giving a team pep talk before a game or leading discussions in a student council or yearbook meeting, then you will have found our 9th graders.

"We believe that the 9th grade year at Upland is a critical and rewarding year for our students because it allows them the opportunity to consolidate their academic skills, to explore their own strengths, and to mature in a caring and supportive environment."

We believe that the 9th grade year at Upland is a critical and rewarding year for our students because it allows them the opportunity to consolidate their academic skills, to explore their own strengths, and to mature in a caring and supportive environment. While most 9th graders are struggling at the bottom of the social heap, our 9th graders are given the opportunity to assume the leadership roles that most high schools reserve for their juniors and seniors. Ninth grade at Upland affords students a year as role models and leaders for an entire student body at a time when they are developmentally ready for the responsibility.  By the time they graduate, they are armed with the confidence and skills they need to become active and vital members of their new communities.

In fact, in recent years we have noticed something exciting about the students who graduate from Upland. As they go through their secondary schools, we find that an unusually large proportion of them rise to positions of leadership academically, in student government, on athletic teams and in the arts. We call this phenomenon “leadership beyond the numbers,” and we believe that Upland’s ninth grade year has a lot to do with it.

We set high expectations for our 9th graders, and in so doing, give them something to strive for and challenges to meet. We look to the 9th graders to set the tone for the school and to live our motto “Understanding - Trust - Responsibility” everyday. We expect them to set good examples for the younger students and we expect them to be active learners in their high school level classes.

Ninth grade is the culmination of an Upland education. By the end of 9th grade our students are scholars, contributing members of school teams, participants in the school’s theatrical productions, international travelers and role models for younger students. They have confidence, a strong sense of self and the foundation to build whatever future they design for themselves.