At FWCD, students in grades 11 and 12 may apply to take Malone Schools Online Network (MSON) courses, which serve as a high school enrichment elective course and meet twice a week during the regular school day. Each course takes a blended approach, combining synchronous instruction, real-time video conferencing seminars, with asynchronous instruction, recorded lectures and exercises that students complete outside of class. The result lies somewhere between a “flipped classroom” and a “virtual Harkness table.” Each course has a minimum of six students and a maximum of 16, allowing for a virtual discussion seminar that is delivered in high-definition classroom set ups.
A steering committee of six heads of Malone Schools, including FWCD, established MSON with John Malone’s endorsement. MSON provides upper-level students at registered Malone Schools with a variety of superior online courses offered in online classrooms that enhance each member school’s existing curriculum. These courses promote the values of the Malone Family Foundation and are taught by teachers from other Malone Schools in the network. The teaching professionals are experts in their fields; they have experience with independent school education and share a commitment to excellence, small class sizes and personal relationships. Students enrolled in these courses demonstrate sufficient independence and commitment to succeed in a virtual discussion seminar setting.
Fast Fact
In the 2021-22 academic year, 12 FWCD students are enrolled in 7 of the 48 MSON courses offered. There are 27 schools currently participating in the MSON program.
2022-23 Course Offerings
World Language
Advanced Latin Literature
Ancient Greek I
Arabic I and II
Chinese Seminar
German I
Introduction to Spanish-language Literary Analysis
Humanities & Social Sciences
Advanced Economics I
Advanced Economics II
Advanced Microeconomics
American Democracy on Fire: What Does the Future Hold?
Bob Dylan’s America
Creative Writing in the Digital Age
Diversity in Global Comparative Perspective
Environmental Bioethics—Exploring the Challenges of Local and Global Choices
Ensuring Equity: Gender, Feminism, and Media in 21st Century American Culture
Establishing Equality: The History of Feminisms and Gender, 1792-1992
Etymology of Scientific Terms
The Fiction of James Joyce
Global Voices of Oppression: Literature for Social Justice
The History of Modern Germany: World War I to the Present
"It Is Better to Speak:" One Hundred Years of Women Writing for Change
Making Ethical Medical Choices in a Diverse World
A Nation Divided: The Literature of Civil Rights in the Modern U.S.
Philosophy in Pop Culture
Positive Psychology
Tenements to Townhouses: Stories of Urban New York
Think Global, Debate Local
Turbulent Times: History of the First Amendment and Dissent During American Wars
Watching the Watchmen: The Role of Detective Narratives in a Carceral Culture
STEM
Advanced Applied Math through Finance
Advanced Topics in Chemistry
Cancer
CSI: MSON – Forensic Science
Data Structures and Design Patterns
Genetics and Genomics
Introduction to Computer Science
Introduction to Organic Chemistry
Linear Algebra
A Mathematical Modeling Approach to Social Justice
Modern Physics: Einstein's Relativity and the Evolution of the Quantum Model
Multivariable Calculus
Neurological Science
The Science and Ethics of Sports Performance: Genetics, Biochemistry, and Sociology
Vector Calculus
MSON Course Offerings
Students must make an application and be accepted into an MSON course. MSON courses serve as a high school enrichment elective course (fifth academic) in the FWCD program, and the course counts in a student’s GPA. Following completion of the course, Stanford University will supply a transcript for the class to College Counseling so students can submit it with their college application materials. Those students who take an MSON course will work with the Upper School to create a more individualized schedule in order to accommodate the designated MSON class. Each course has a minimum of six students and a maximum of 16. The result is a virtual discussion seminar that is delivered in high-definition classroom setups.
Classes take place twice a week during the normal school day for live, synchronous instruction that utilizes multiple-line, high-definition distance learning. Courses are taught by Stanford University professors and faculty from the participating independent schools.
MSON Technology
State of the art technology links students with their peers and faculty: High-definition LCD displays and two high-definition cameras, in conjunction with touch-screen speaker phones, facilitate distance learning activities among the participating schools—all at once. Stanford University maintains the connective technology, and all MSON schools have access to both live and recorded content, as well as software that allows for student participation when away from the dedicated distance-learning lab
Malone Family Foundation
Founded by John Malone of Colorado, the Malone Family Foundation has established scholarships for students in grades 7 through 9 who are in the top of their class and have the desire and drive to educate themselves to the very best of their ability, but whose families cannot afford the tuition and expenses required by leading independent schools. The foundation sought out excellent partners: independent secondary schools with an intense interest in educating the gifted and talented. The foundation now supports 50 schools: 49 independent day schools and the Stanford University Online High School (OHS). The 49 independent schools each have received a $2 million grant to establish an endowment in support of a Malone Scholars Program at their school. FWCD is the only school in Texas with this distinction.
Fort Worth Country Day (FWCD) is a JK-12 private, independent, coeducational, nondenominational college-preparatory school located on approximately 100 acres in Fort Worth, Texas. The mission of Fort Worth Country Day School is to foster the intellectual, physical, emotional, and ethical development of capable students through an academically rigorous college preparatory program that integrates the arts and athletics.