UCAP's curriculum is continually changing. The academic focus is on basic skills and problem solving. In English and social studies, instruction is organized around thematic units rather than isolated subjects. English and social studies are taught as a humanities unit, during double class periods and to twice the usual number of students. Humanities themes may include the American colonial period, Native Americans, and the Holocaust.
Teachers team teach or share classroom management and instructional roles.
Because team-taught classes are larger, class sizes range from 15 students with one teacher to 28 students with two teachers. Because UCAP emphasizes individualized instruction and student progress, students are grouped heterogeneously, not by grade level or ability. Teachers encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning and to complete their coursework and return to grade level as quickly as possible. But because all UCAP students trail their peers by at least one grade, they are motivated to catch up quickly. In addition to its core curriculum and state-mandated health and sex education classes, UCAP offers elective classes in computers, animal studies, bowling, dancing, arts, pottery, sign language, and cartooning.