Social Studies
*ADVANCED PLACEMENT HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
Prerequisite: PLACEMENT
This course will have required summer work.
The AP Human Geography course is a semester course designed to introduce students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and the alteration of Earth’s surface. Students learn to employ spatial concepts, interpret maps and analyze geospatial data, recognize and interpret changes in interconnections among regions and analyze landscapes to examine human socioeconomic organization and its environmental consequences. They also learn about the methods and tools geographers use in their research and applications. This course is an elective for 9th grade students. A Social Studies course is not required in the 9th grade. -College Board
WORLD HISTORY
This is a college prep, survey course that focuses on major historical events from the ancient/medieval period through the modern and postmodern periods. The material covered reflects a wide variety of sources and includes analyses of Asian, African, Aboriginal, and Western Civilizations. Students will also learn to evaluate and conduct historical research. They will learn to apply historical thinking skills to concepts about the past.
*ADVANCED PLACEMENT WORLD HISTORY
Prerequisite: 85% in AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY or AP Potential score
This course will have required summer work.
In AP World History: Modern, students investigate significant events, individuals, developments, and processes from 1200 to the present. Students develop and use the same skills, practices, and methods employed by historians: analyzing primary and secondary sources; developing historical arguments; making historical connections; and utilizing reasoning about comparison, causation, and continuity and change over time. The course provides six themes that students explore throughout the course in order to make connections among historical developments in different times and places: humans and the environment, cultural developments and interactions, governance, economic systems, social interactions and organization, and technology and innovation. -College Board
U.S. HISTORY
This survey of U.S. history covers a range of topics from colonial to modern times. Students will focus on the connections between historical events in our early development and the post Cold War world, as well as political, cultural and social issues. Students will conduct research and learn how to apply historical thinking skills to the past.
*ADVANCED PLACEMENT U.S. HISTORY
Prerequisite: 85% in AP WORLD HISTORY or AP Potential score
This course will have required summer work.
This advanced survey course in American History is presented in chronological order beginning with colonization and ending in modern times. Students will learn to think critically and analytically about America’s political, social, and cultural history. -College Board
ECONOMICS
Students will develop an understanding of the principles of economics that apply to the functions of individual decision-makers within the larger economic system. Students will examine their roles as consumers, workers, investors, and voting citizens. Topics of discussion include the stock market, comparative economic systems, and the impact of political and social decisions on the economy. Personal Finance is included.
*AP MACROECONOMICS
Prerequisite: 85% in AP US HISTORY or AP Potential score
Economics is the study of how individuals, households, businesses, and governments make decisions in the context of different markets and circumstances. An understanding of economics is essential for students due to the practical and academic benefits of the subject. For example, personal budgeting is a practical tool learned in economics. Further, the “economic way of thinking” assists students in analysis and problem-solving tools needed in college. Personal Finance is included.
GOVERNMENT
This government 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. This is a one semester course.
*AP COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
This course will examine the political institutions and processes of six different countries—China, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, and the United Kingdom—and compare the ways they address problems. You’ll analyze data and readings to draw conclusions about political systems. - College Board
This is a one semester course.
*COURSES THAT QUALIFY FOR ACADEMIC RIGOR