Academic Decathlon is a nationally recognized, intellectually competitive, and fun academic team competition open to grades 10 – 12 and designed to include students from all academic backgrounds. Each team consists of three “A” students (Honors: un-weighted GPA of 4.00 – 3.75), three “B” students (Scholastic: un-weighted GPA of 3.74 – 3.00) and three “C” students (Varsity: un-weighted GPA of 2.99 – 0.00). The competition consist of a seven-minute interview, a one-hour essay and two speeches, and written comprehensive exams are given in music, art, language/literature, mathematics, economics, science, and social studies. The topic for the 2009 – 10 school year is "The French Revolution"; students will read the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, analyze works of 18th and 19th Century French art, listen to music from the French Revolution era, study an Intro to Chemistry, and delve into the whole history of the French Revolution. In addition to the topic content, which changes from year to year, there are general knowledge questions in math, economics, music, literature, and art. AD is a fun way to challenge yourself intellectually, be part of a competitive team, and win scholarship money. Competition is at the District, Regional, State, and National levels. SLHS does have a PreAP class dedicated to preparation for AD competition; it is open only to grades 11 – 12 and to be eligible for enrollment in this class you must have prior approval of the Decathlon coach. Preparation for this competition begins the summer before the school year of competition.

Academic Octathlon is a nationally recognized, intellectually competitive, and fun academic team competition open to grades 9 – 10 and designed to include students from all academic backgrounds. Each team consists of three “A” students (Honors: un-weighted GPA of 4.00 – 3.75), three “B” students (Scholastic: un-weighted GPA of 3.74 – 3.00) and three “C” students (Varsity: un-weighted GPA of 2.99 – 0.00). The competition consist of a one-hour essay and written comprehensive exams are given in music, art, language/literature, mathematics, economics, science, and social studies. The topic for the 2009 – 10 school year is "The French Revolution." In addition to the topic content, which changes from year to year, there are general knowledge questions in math, economics, music, literature, and art. AO is a fun way to challenge yourself intellectually, be part of a competitive team. Competition is at the District, Regional, and State levels. Preparation for AO begins in the Spring of the school year and students are required to meet after school.