REDMOND — Gabriel Hinderlider started a one-week challenge on Monday: finish a class covering the chemistry of cooking at Redmond Proficiency Academy.

The 17-year-old junior at the charter high school just started the intensive, 30-hour course, the only one he’ll need to study for all week until it wraps up Friday.

He’s not alone. The school on Monday started a three-week cycle of “learning institutes” in which all students are participating this month. The intense courses give the school’s 480 students in ninth through 12th grades a chance to immerse themselves deeply into a topic.

Though the classes move quickly — most are a week long — they’re also the only course the students study before moving on to the next one.

“It’s easier for me because you’re only focusing on one subject when you get home and work on the homework,” Hinderlider said. “That’s the main reason I was excited about it.”

For the next three weeks, it will mean a shift in the school’s usual schedule. Typically, students take courses with a schedule that mirrors those on most college campuses. Courses taught on the school’s open campus are taught in blocks of time on different days throughout the week, and students will return to the regular semester routine after three weeks of learning institute classes.

It’s the first year for the concentrated classes, but RPA has experimented with the concept in prior years. It has offered one-week courses in government and marine biology on a limited basis, complete with field trips to Newport to study biology and Salem to learn about state government.

Michael Bremont, the school’s director, said those limited courses grew in popularity — so much that students were turned away. Last year, RPA started talking about putting an expanded program in place.

“It really gets kids thinking more about what they’re learning rather than just a snapshot of from 9 to 10, I’m in math so I care about math but then I go to the next class and forget about that,” he said. “It really gives them a focus where that’s all they’re thinking about.”

Those blocks of time come in handy for Gabriel’s class, which broke into groups that prepared and cooked brownies and had time to taste them before school let out.

Students will have plenty of homework, too. They’ll need to cook according to recipes, get reactions from family or friends and keep a journal of the week.

Under the fast-paced format, students will not have to review material across a long time period, said Christina Baxter, the science teacher overseeing the class.

“The intensity kind of gets students excited,” she said. “They’re really able to work together in a more relaxed environment.”

So far, students are liking it. But with only one day of classes behind them, they aren’t sure of the outcome.

“Hopefully, it will be better than having to juggle six classes, and hopefully I can be more focused and actually get more in-depth into it,” said Sarah Carver, a 17-year-old senior.

She’s taking classes in art and government and applying for college scholarships and grants.

It’s not all learned behind a desk, either. Trips and class projects — like a mural for an art class — are included.

Kyler Jocelyn, a 17-year-old senior, said he’s anticipating the trip his upcoming government class will take to the state capitol in Salem.

“I’m actually looking forward to government,” he said.

The school’s future

With the program just beginning, Bremont says he doesn’t yet have the data to show what the results might be. After this year’s courses are complete, the school will take a look at the effectiveness of the weeklong classes and make a decision about the future.

In the more immediate future, RPA could carry its model of learning to Salem. The Salem-Keizer Public Schools Board will vote on a proposal tonight to allow a charter school modeled after RPA to open in 2012.

Locally, RPA is making a push to expand and open a middle school in Redmond in the fall of 2012.

Beyond that, RPA hopes to open a version of its charter school in Cheyenne, Wyo., in 2013.

“Things are moving very well,” Bremont said.