World History, 10th Grade, Two Semesters

Levels offered:

• High School Sheltered
• High School
• College Preparation
• Honors

Course Description:

• Students in World History study major turning points that shaped the modern world, from the late eighteenth century through the present, including the cause and course of the two world wars. They trace the rise of democratic ideas and develop an understanding of the historical roots of current world issues, especially as they pertain to international relations. They extrapolate from the American experience that democratic ideals are often achieved at a high price, remain vulnerable, and are not practiced everywhere in the world. Students develop an understanding of current world issues and relate them to their historical, geographic, political, economic, and cultural contexts. Students consider multiple accounts of events in order to understand international relations from a variety of perspectives.

United States History, 11th Grade, Two Semesters

Levels Offered:

• High School Sheltered
• High School
• College Preparation

Course Description:

• This is a two-semester course that will examine the history of the American people from the colonization to the present, including their diverse traditions and common experiences. It will include their history from early contacts between Native Americans and Europeans, through planting of various European colonies in the New World, to establishment of the British empire in North America; creation of the United States as a new nation during the American Revolution, its republican and democratic politics and capitalist economy, and its paradoxical freedom for European Americans and slavery for African Americans; territorial expansion to the West and regional differences between the South and the North that culminated in the American Civil War and Reconstruction; industrialization and immigration in the late 1800’s; populism, expansion of the economy, imperialism, Social Darwinism and the causes/effects of the Great Depression; the changes in American society and politics as an earlier agrarian society became an industrial-urban one and as the nation took up an ever larger role in world affairs from the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean Conflict, Vietnam, and present international relations. This course follows the state framework and meets the requirements for graduation in California. This course also prepares students to take the California Standards Test (CST) in U.S. History.

Government, 12th Grade, One Semester

Levels Offered:

• High School Sheltered
• High School
• College Preparation

Course Description:

• Students in Government pursue a deeper understanding of the institutions of American government. They compare systems of government in the world today and analyze the history and changing interpretations of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the current state of the legislative, executive, and judiciary branches of government. An emphasis is placed on analyzing the relationship among federal, state, and local governments, with particular attention paid to important historical documents such as the Federalist Papers. These standards represent the culmination of civic literacy as students prepare to vote, participate in community activities, and assume the responsibilities of citizenship.

Economics, 12th Grade, One Semester

Levels Offered:          

• High School Sheltered
• High School
• College Preparation

Course Description:

•  Students in Economics will master fundamental economic concepts, applying the tools (graphs, statistics, and equations) from other subject areas to the understanding of operations and institutions of economic systems. Studied in a historic context are the basic economic principles of micro- and macroeconomics, international economics, comparative economic systems, measurement, and methods. 

AP United States History

Course Description:   

• The AP program in United States History is designed to provide students with the analytical skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the problems and materials in United States history. The program prepares students for intermediate and advanced college courses by making demands upon them equivalent to those made by full-year introductory college courses. Students learn to assess historical materials- their relevance to a given interpretive problem, their reliability, and their importance—and to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. An AP United States History course thus develops the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions on the basis of an informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in an essay format.

AP Government & Politics

• The AP Government & Politics: United States course provides an analytical perspective on government and politics in the United States. This course involves both the study of general concepts used to interpret U.S. politics and the analysis of specific case studies. It also requires familiarity with the various institutions, groups, beliefs, and ideas that constitute U.S. political reality.

AP Macroeconomics

• The AP course in Macroeconomics is designed to give students a thorough understanding of the principles of economics that apply to an economic system as a whole. Such a course places particular emphasis on the study of national income and price determination, and also develops students' familiarity with economic performance measures, economic growth, and international economics.

Sociology

• Sociology is an academic and applied discipline that studies society and human social interaction. Sociological research ranges from the analysis of short contacts between anonymous individuals on the street to the study of global social processes. This class focuses on how and why people are organized in society, either as individuals or as members of associations, groups, and institutions.

Psychology

• Psychology is an academic/applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior of humans and animals. This class will study such phenomena as perception, cognition, emotion, personality, behavior, and interpersonal relationships with the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including problems of individuals' daily lives and the treatment of mental health problems.