Courses
World History
This year-long, one credit, required course provides students with a comprehensive, intensive study of major events and themes in world history. This course is taught either through a thematic approach covering major developments in all regions of the world. Students will study the earliest civilization all the way to globalization at the beginning of the 21st century connecting history and events through reasoning processes such as comparison and causation.
Advanced Placement World History
This year-long, one credit course conforms to the College Board topics for the Advanced Placement World History Examination. It focuses on developing students’ abilities to think conceptually about world history from approximately 8000 BCE to the present and apply historical thinking skills as they learn about the past. Five themes of equal importance — focusing on the environment, cultures, state-building, economic systems, and social structures — provide areas of historical inquiry for investigation throughout the course. AP World History encompasses the history of the five major geographical regions of the globe: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania, with special focus on historical developments and processes that cross multiple regions. This course requires thinking on an advanced level and strong verbal and written communication skills. Students are strongly encouraged to take the College Board AP World History Examination upon completion of this course. Significant outside reading and assignments should be anticipated as part of the course.
American History
This yearlong, one credit required course serves as a comprehensive, intensive study of major events and themes in United States History. The course curriculum includes a survey of the history of our country beginning with the Age of Exploration and ending with the early 21st century. Topics covered include colonial America, the American Revolution, the Critical Period, the Federalist Era, the Jeffersonian Era, the Age of Jackson, 19th Century Reform Movements, Sectionalism & the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Industrial Revolution, the Gilded Age, the Progressive Era, World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and recent events from the 1980s through the beginnings of the 21st century. A state mandated End of Course Test is required and counts 20% of the student’s overall course grade.
Advanced Placement United States History
This yearlong, one credit course conforms to the College Board topics for the Advanced Placement United States History examination. This college level curriculum covers the topics of pre-Colombian societies, European discovery and settlement, colonial America, the American Revolution, the Constitution and the New Republic, the Age of Jefferson, nationalism, sectionalism, territorial expansion, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Industrialization, the progressive Era, World War I, the Great Depression & the New Deal, World War II, the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and recent events from the 1980's through the beginnings of the 21st Century. The course is organized around the themes of American diversity, American identity, culture, demographic change, economics transformations, environment, globalization, politics and citizenship, reform, religion, slavery and its legacy, and war & diplomacy. A state mandated End of Course Test is required and counts 20% of the student’s overall course grade. Students are strongly encouraged to take the College Board AP U.S. History examination at the completion of this course in May. Significant outside reading and assignments should be anticipated as a part of the course.
This yearlong, one credit elective course conforms to the College Board topics for the Advanced Placement Psychology examination. This course is designed to introduce students to the systematic and scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of human beings and other animals. Students will be exposed to the psychological facts, principles, and phenomena associated with each of the major subfields within psychology. Course topics include: Psychological History and Approaches, Research Methods, Biological Bases of Behavior, Sensation and Perception, States of Consciousness, Learning, Cognition, Motivation and Emotion, Developmental Psychology, Testing and Individual Differences, Abnormal Psychology, Treatment of Psychological Disorders, and Social Psychology. Students are strongly encouraged to take the College Board AP Comparative Government and Politics examination at the completion of this course in May. Significant outside reading and assignments should be anticipated as a part of the course.
American Government
This one-semester, .5 credit, required course provides students with a background in the philosophy, functions, and structure of the United States government. Students examine the philosophical foundations of the United States government and how that philosophy developed. Students also examine the structure and function of the United States government and its relationship to states and citizens.
Advanced Placement U.S. Government and Politics
This year-long, one credit course conforms to the College Board topics for the Advanced Placement Government and Politics: United States Examination. AP United States Government and Politics introduces students to key political ideas, institutions, policies, interactions, roles, and behaviors that characterize the political culture of the United States. The course examines politically significant concepts and themes, through which students learn to apply disciplinary reasoning, assess causes and consequences of political events, and interpret data to develop evidence-based arguments. This course requires thinking on an advanced level and strong verbal and written communication skills. Students are strongly encouraged to take the College Board AP Government & Politics: United States Examination upon completion of this course. Significant outside reading and assignments should be anticipated as part of the course.
Personal Finance and Economics
This one-semester, .5 credit, required course provides students with the fundamentals of economic decision-making, microeconomics, macroeconomics, and international economics, in addition students will learn personal finance skills they can apply to their own futures – including managing and balancing budgets; understanding and building credit; protecting against identity theft and consumer protections; and understanding tax forms, student loan applications, and pay stubs. Economics is the study of how individuals, businesses, and governments make decisions about the allocation of scarce resources. This course provides students with a foundation in the field of economics, with a specific focus on how students can apply that knowledge to their own personal finances.
Advanced Placement Macroeconomics
This year-long course course conforms to College Board topics for the Advanced Placement Macroeconomics Examination. It is an introductory college-level course that focuses on the principles that apply to an economic system as a whole. The course places particular emphasis on the study of national income and price-level determination; it also develops students’ familiarity with economic performance measures, the financial sector, stabilization policies, economic growth, and international economics. Students learn to use graphs, charts, and data to analyze, describe, and explain economic concepts. This course requires thinking on an advanced level. Students are strongly encouraged to take the College Board AP Macroeconomics Examination upon completion of this course.
