1 CREDIT
Credit Area: World History
Course Numbers:
4101 ACADEMIC
4102 HONORS
Course’s essential questions or focus:
The course focuses on building an understanding of major historical themes including power and authority, religious and ethical systems, science and technology, economics, and revolutions while exploring a variety of world history content. There is an emphasis on geography skills and knowledge.
Prerequisite: None
Grade 9
1 CREDIT
Credit Area: 1 US History
Course Numbers:
4003 ACADEMIC
4002 HONORS
Course’s essential questions or focus: What does it mean to be free? What role does individual freedom play in society? How has individual freedom evolved throughout history? How can a nation have differing views of freedom? When does one fight for their rights? What limitations exist to how far either a government or an individual, can go to ensure their rights?
Students will examine the American experience from pre-colonization through the Progressive Era. The course will focus on the founding documents (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights) as the next steps in the continuing evolution of freedom. Students will conclude the year by examining the philosophical and practical challenges to governance “of the people, by the people, for the people”.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of Global Studies
Grade 10
1 CREDIT
Credit Area: US History/World History
Course Numbers:
4029 ACADEMIC
4026 HONORS
Course’s essential questions or focus: This year-long course explores the major historical developments of the 20th and 21st centuries, integrating global and U.S. history to provide a comprehensive understanding of the modern era. Students will analyze pivotal events, movements, and figures that have shaped our interconnected world and the United States, emphasizing political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions.
Key topics include:
Global History: The World Wars, the rise of totalitarian regimes, decolonization, the Cold War, globalization, and 21st-century challenges such as climate change and technology.
U.S. History: Progressive reforms, the Great Depression, civil rights movements, the role of the U.S. in global conflicts, and contemporary American society in an evolving world.
The course fosters critical thinking through the analysis of primary and secondary sources, group discussions, and project-based learning. Students will develop skills in historical research, argumentative writing, and making connections between past and present. By the end of the course, students will gain a nuanced understanding of modern history and their role in shaping the future.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of American Traditions
Grades 11
1 CREDIT
Credit Area: US History
Course Number: 4028
Course’s essential questions or focus: How and why have definitions of American and national identity and values developed among the diverse and changing population of North America as well as on related topics, such as citizenship, constitutionalism, foreign policy, assimilation, and American exceptionalism? What are the factors behind the development of systems of economic exchange, particularly the role of technology, economic markets, and government? What is the role of geography and both the natural and human-made environments in the social and political developments in what would become the United States? Why and how have the various people who moved to and within the United States both adapted to and transformed their new social and physical environments? How have different social and political groups have influenced society and government in the United States as well as how political beliefs and institutions have changed over time? How have the interactions between nations affected North American history in the colonial period and what is the influence on the United States and on world affairs? How and why have national, regional, and group cultures developed and changed as well as how has culture shaped government policy and the economy? How and why have systems of social organization developed and changed and what has been the impact of these systems on the broader society?
In AP U.S. History, students investigate significant events, individuals, developments, and processes in nine historical periods from approximately 1491 to the present. Students develop and use the same skills 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. The course also provides eight themes that students explore throughout the course in order to make connections among historical developments in different times and places: American and national identity; work, exchange, and technology; geography and the environment; migration and settlement; politics and power; America in the world; American and regional culture; and social structures.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of Revolutionary Ideas. Students should be able to read a college-level textbook and write grammatically correct, complete sentences.
Grades 11
0.5 CREDITS
Credit Area: Social Studies
Course Numbers:
ACADEMIC: 4168
HONORS: 4169
Course’s essential questions or focus: What factors affect how we earn, manage, and spend money? How can using banking services help you manage your finances? What should you know when you are considering borrowing money? How can citizens in the United States influence their government and work for the common good?
Students will explore the basic concepts of personal finance such as income, interest, credit, budgeting, investments, and more. Students will also explore the rights and duties of US citizenship including the pathways to citizenship, paying taxes, voting and election processes, and participating in civil discussion around many current event topics.
Prerequisite: None
Grade 12