The students study the history of each continent from the dawn of civilization to the early modern era.  Each unit involves a project designed using the different learning models.  Students are required to correctly identify, label and draw each country on the continent at the beginning of each unit.

 

History 8 (American History)
Text: Call to Freedom, Holt Rinehart and Winston Inc., 2005.

The students study the history of America beginning with the Iroquois Indians and concluding with the reconstruction of the southern states.  Students participate in units about the Colonial period of time, the Revolutionary War, the Constitution, Jeffersonian and Jacksonian periods, the causes of the Civil War, the Reconstruction and the Holocaust. The students write an interdisciplinary research paper and travel to Washington D.C., Boston, Philadelphia, and New York on the American Heritage Tour. History 8 is aligned to the California State Social Studies Content Standards, a copy of which is available at www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/hstgrade8.asp. Students who successfully complete this course will have a working knowledge of the U.S. Constitution, the history of the United States from Colonial times to the Civil War and Reconstruction.

 

 

This class examines major global trends and issues in the context of studying the physical and political geography of different world regions.

 

History 10 (Western Civilizations)
Texts: World History: Connections to Today, Prentice Hall

This is a survey course of European and modern history.  Aside from learning about the events that have shaped history, students will also learn how to use critical thinking skills, applicable to every area of life.

 

History 11 (U.S. History)
Text: The United States, A History of the Republic, Prentice Hall.

 
This course covers America’s history from the age of Discovery to Modern America. This course deals with several important themes: the growth of national unity; the diversity of the population; and the development of a democratic institution. History 11 is aligned to the California State Social Studies Content Studies, a copy of which is available at www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/hstgrade11.asp. Students who successfully complete this course will have a working knowledge of the U.S. Constitution, the history of the United States from the Civil War to present day, and how historical events impact current events.

 

AP US History
Text: The American Pageant, by Thomas Bailey; American Political Traditions, by Richard Hofstadter.

This course is designed to provide students with the analytic 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 should 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. This course should thus develop the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions on the basis of an informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in essay format. Students who successfully complete this course will have a working knowledge of the U.S. Constitution, the history of the United States from the Civil War to present day, and how historical events impact on current events. Test taking strategies and practice of Document Based Questions (DBQ) essays will be a major focus of the class.

 

History 12, (one semester) American Government
Text: Continuity and Chance, Prentice Hall.

This course is an overview of the inner workings of the government in America. It explores the roots and the foundational federal system and how each component works together in a representative democracy. This course emphasizes the importance of being civically minded.

 

 

History 12, (one semester) Economics
Text: Economics: Principles and Practices, Glencoe.

This course will study how people choose from the limited resources to meet their needs and wants.  This course will also examine the framework of Business in America. In this course students will pursue a deeper understanding of the economic systems.  They conduct an in-depth study of the economic systems in the world today analyze the impact governments make on local and national economies.  An emphasis is placed on analyzing the relationship among federal, state, and local governments.  This course will create civic literacy as students prepare to vote, participate in community activities and assume the responsibilities of citizenship. Students will demonstrate the ability to think critically, learn autonomously and to solve problems by effectively by extrapolating concepts learned in class to active participation in their community.

 

AP Government
Text: American Government and Politics Today: Schmidt, Shelley, Bardes Thomson/Wadsworth Inc. Belmont, CA 2005.

 

In this course students will pursue a deeper understanding of the institutions of American Government.  They will do an in-depth study of the system of government in the world today and analyze the life 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, and on the court cases that built our system.  This course will create civic literacy as students prepare to vote, participate in community activities and assume the responsibilities of citizenship. Students who successfully complete this course will have a working knowledge of how government works in the United States from its historical roots to its practical application.

 

The objective of this course is to teach the skills necessary to pass and excel on the AP American History test, given this year (2009) in May.

 

 

Introduction to Philosophy
Intro to Philosophy is an academic course designed to survey the major thinkers of Western Civilization and their ideas.
This is a two semester course providing students with an introduction to the great thinkers and ideas that have shaped our culture and its pursuit of Truth.  From Aristotle's epistemology to Descartes' metaphysics, students are challenged to critically think about the ideas and viewpoints that they interact with in the society and culture around them.  First semester focuses mainly on theoretical branches of philosophy such as epistemology, metaphysics, etc.  Second semester will take a more applied approach, looking at the philosophy of politics, science, religion, and art.