Home
Recent News
Calendar

The Legal Studies Academy

Click a button below to learn more

Our Mission Required Courses Field Trips Elective Courses Senior Project Patriot Pride F.O.T.A. Debate Mock Trial Internships Foreign Policy Community Service

#OnlyAtLSA, a project by Lucas Anderton.

Video

The Legal Studies Academy

Video

Our Mission

The Legal Studies Academy

The Legal Studies Academy is a program designed for academically motivated students who demonstrate an interest in law or law related fields. The advanced four-year curriculum exceeds traditional secondary course standards and is designed to support continuous application of advanced reading, writing, oratory, and analytical skills. In addition, students are required to complete a minimum of 200 community service hours, a job shadowing experience, a legal internship, and a capstone Senior Project. The program of studies is extended through seminars and field trips on law-related subjects. In addition, they Academy offers students the opportunity to experience the reality of law careers by emphasizing active learning in criminal investigations and Mock Trials in our courtroom.

Required Courses

Click below to expand the descriptions

Introduction to Law

Introduction to Law is a required class for all academy students. Students learn the skills necessary to understand legal principles. Students then use these skills to explore four areas of law: transactional law, contracts, trial procedure, and constitutional law. The class provides both the essential content and the critical tools necessary to understand legal principles. The class is designed around two main themes:

1. Understanding legal principles requires a knowledge of how the legal system operates, as well as a knowledge of how legal professionals understand legal issues and advocate for their clients, and
2. The law as a whole constitutes an expression of conduct set forth within the social contract.

Emphasis is placed on understanding and advocating for a position regarding a legal principle through the use of research, writing and oratory. Extensive research, reading and writing are required.

Intro to Criminal Justice

Introduction to Criminal Justice is a required class for all academy students. Students learn the elements of criminal law and the application of the Constitution to criminal procedure. The class provides both the essential content and the critical tools necessary to understand criminal law and procedure. The class is designed around two main themes:

1. Criminal laws are expressions of conduct that are considered inherently harmful to society as a whole and are therefore statutorily prohibited, prosecuted and punished by the government, and
2. Criminal procedure is the safeguard against the indiscriminate application of criminal laws through the enforcement of constitutional rights of criminal suspects and defendants.

Emphasis is placed on understanding criminal law and procedure from multiple perspectives, discovering ethical issues, and preparing for oratory and debate. Extensive research, reading and writing are required.

Ethics & Law

Ethics and Law is a required class for all academy students. Students synthesize understandings that they learned in ninth and tenth grade classes to analyze ethics as an overarching sociological construct that directly impacts the social contract. The class provides both the essential content and the critical tools necessary to understand ethical issues. Emphasis is placed on understanding ethics from a variety of sociological viewpoints and preparing for the Senior Project Seminar. Extensive research, reading, and writing are required.

Oratory & Debate

Legal Oratory & Debate is a required class for all academy students. Students synthesize understandings that they learned in ninth and tenth grade classes to use oratory as a functional construct which impacts the evolution of the social contract. The class provides both the essential content and the critical tools necessary to understand and discuss complex sociological issues. Emphasis is placed on understanding oratory as a communications discipline and preparing for the Senior Project Seminar. Extensive research, reading, writing and oratory preparation are required.

Senior Project

The Senior Project Seminar is a required seminar for all academy students and a requirement for graduation. Students synthesize all of the understandings they learned in the academy to demonstrate their mastery of these understandings. The seminar is designed for students to demonstrate six major themes:

1) Reviewing and understanding a complex sociological concept
2) Synthesizing multiple sociological concepts to understand an overarching sociological construct
3) Gathering interdisciplinary knowledge via the use of multiple research techniques
4) Comprehending sociological concepts through the use of scholarly resources such as judicial opinions, research articles, college level textbooks, and internet resources
5) Analyzing multiple sources of information to determine their relevancy and bias, and
6) Applying all of these abilities to successfully communicate the results of an analytical review and/or persuade an audience to accept and act upon a stated position.

Emphasis is placed on synthesizing multiple sociological concepts within a persuasive scholarly paper, using multiple methods to communicate the results of that synthesis, and applying the results of that synthesis to explore a student’s development within the academy. Extensive research, reading, writing, and oratory preparation are required

Field Trips

We are the academy of field trips. We firmly believe in going beyond the classroom experience to give students an enhanced learning environment. Students are offered over 20 different field trip experiences throughout their time in the Academy, including but not limited to the FBI Training Academy, Regent Law Library, Washington D.C., the Virginia Beach Courthouse, the State Supreme Court, West Virginia University’s Crime Complex, the Virginia Supreme Court, New York City, Harvard Law School, and many, many more.

Elective Courses

Click below to expand the descriptions

Criminology

Criminology/Criminal Psychology is one of four classes that satisfy the electives requirement for academy students. Students analyze Criminology and Criminal Psychology and apply their understandings of these disciplines to criminal justice. The class provides both the essential content and the critical tools necessary to understand the interaction between these interrelated disciplines as they relate to the overall study of crime. Emphasis is placed on understanding the study of crime as an overarching interdisciplinary construct that includes multiple related studies. Extensive reading, research and writing are required.

Forensic Science

Forensic Science is one of four magnet classes that satisfy the electives requirement for all academy students. Students explore the use of forensic science and anthropology to assist law enforcement in solving crimes. The concepts covered in this class include crime scene preservation, DNA/blood splatter analysis, fingerprinting, taphonomy (the study of biological decay), toxicology, entomology, ballistics, trace elements, and chain of custody. Extensive reading, laboratory work, field work and writing are required.

Mock Trial

Mock Trial/Moot Court is one of four magnet classes that satisfy the electives requirement for all academy students. Students analyze formalized dispute resolution systems including civil procedure, the administrative law process, the appeals process, and alternate dispute resolution. Through this analysis students learn about pleadings, discovery, motions, trial procedures, administrative law procedure, formalized dispute resolution processes, and appellate practice. The class provides both the essential content and the critical tools necessary to understand how these constructs articulate the proper resolution of issues under the social contract. Extensive reading, research and writing are required.

Senior Project

The Senior Project Seminar is a required seminar for all academy students and a requirement for graduation. Students synthesize all of the understandings they learned in the academy to demonstrate their mastery of these understandings. The seminar is designed for students to demonstrate six major themes:

1. Reviewing and understanding a complex sociological concept
2. Synthesizing multiple sociological concepts to understand an overarching sociological construct
3. Gathering interdisciplinary knowledge via the use of multiple research techniques
4. Comprehending sociological concepts through the use of scholarly resources such as judicial opinions, research articles, college level textbooks, and internet resources
5. Analyzing multiple sources of information to determine their relevancy and bias, and
6. Applying all of these abilities to successfully communicate the results of an analytical review and/or persuade an audience to accept and act upon a stated position.

Emphasis is placed on synthesizing multiple sociological concepts within a persuasive scholarly paper, using multiple methods to communicate the results of that synthesis, and applying the results of that synthesis to explore a student’s development within the academy. Extensive research, reading, writing, and oratory preparation are required.

Patriot Pride

Here at the Legal Studies Academy, we make sure that you don’t ever feel like you’re missing out on the ordinary high school experience. We find that the Academy students actually take advantage of what being a patriot is all about, more so than the non-academy students. Almost all SCA and Class Officer positions are academy students, our two-time State Champion Debate Team is full of academy students, as well as many of our sports teams, academic competition teams, and ordinary extracurricular clubs, like Nobleteens, Honor Societies, and more. You will also find academy students showing their Patriot Pride at each and every school sport event. We are still part of First Colonial, and we embrace that. We encourage our students to reach out beyond the limits of the Academy and to be a part of the First Colonial Family.

Friends of the Academy

The LSA, which includes our students, parents, educators and community partners, strives to work together to promote the education and welfare of our students. The Friends of the Academy supports many existing programs and provides the groundwork for new ones. These are just a few examples:

Law Day
Law School Field Trips - Harvard Law
Citizenship Opportunities & collaborative partners
Grade Level Community Service, including Bettie F. Williams school wide literacy program
Federal and State Courthouse Field Trips
Quantico and Federal & State Courthouse Field Trips
Parent Speaker Series
College Countdown: Sessions include Panel of Deans, Senior Essay Writing, Mock Admissions Breakout, Financial Aid

Download the FOTA sponsorship form here: FOTA.

Debate

Six years ago, Mr. Aaron Pratt took over coaching the First Colonial Debate Club. It was a small group of students passionate about advocacy, debate, and politics. Since then, he has fostered that passion and the team has grown to over 40 active students. The team participates in 2-3 tournaments monthly and has been undefeated in the local circuit for several years, taken two state championships, broken to the final rounds at large invitational tournaments, and have won state titles in three out of the four categories of debate, as well. Members of the team also participate in Mock Trial, Model Judiciary, and Model United Nations tournaments to expand their skillbase.

Mock Trial

Internships

Before you start your senior year, all Legal Studies students MUST complete 20 hours of internship seminars and 50 hours of an unpaid internship. Internship does count as a class credit, which is a unique feature of our internship program. Students have had internships with Congressmen, judges, the FBI (only offered to two students in the nation), detectives, the courthouse, police officers, the Office of Emergency Management, forensic scientists, JAG officers and many more. Your internship does not have to be with a lawyer, or detective - it just has to have some sort of legal component. Many students continue their internships long after the 50 hours, and for many students, it turns into a paid position. Some alumnus have even returned to their internships after college and have fulltime jobs with their former supervisors.

Foreign Policy

We are all stakeholders in what is happening in the world around us. Former academy teacher, Mr. John Sutton belived this to be true as well, so he created our Foreign Policy Work Group. It is an organization within the academy, open to all students which immerses students in foreign policy and sets students up to be global leaders. We hold seminars throughout the year, led by academy students, with guest speakers, such as leaders of our Armed Forces, diplomats, politicians, and more. We also travel off-campus to our Nation's Capital several times throughout the year to meet with our nation's foreign policy experts. Past meetings include:

Former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld
Former Attorney General, John Ashcroft
Former Director of the NSA, Michael Hayden
Former Assistant Secretary of Defense, Richard Perle
Former Press Secretary, Mike McCurry
Commandant of the Marines, Robert Neller

Read more on our website, foreignpolicyworkgroup.com

Community Service

The Legal Studies Academy has received so much support from our community, so we want to give back. As a student in the Legal Studies Academy, we help find and foster your passions by getting you involved in the community. Over the course of your four years in the academy, you will participate in over 200 hundred hours of community service, which may seem daunting, but we will work with you to spread these 200 hours out over the course of four years, so you're never overwhelmed. Most students graduate with well over 200 hours; many academy students graduate with over 500 hours, and some even graduate with over 1000 hours.

Download the community service form here: Community Service.