Mathematics

Non-Ranked

Course Length: 18 days

Pre-requisites: none                                                                                                          

Criteria for admission: none                                                                                        

The Math ACT course is directly aligned with the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in mathematics. This course is designed to enhance student scores on the American College Test (ACT) with a concentration on test taking skills. The structure of the ACT, along with the implications of how the test is graded, will be discussed. Understanding and fluency, along with application of mathematical concepts, skills and practices will be addressed and strengthened. Students will learn and practice effective test taking strategies that include but are not limited to: appropriate pacing, increased focus, use of an appropriate calculator in appropriate sections, use of estimated answers, use of substituted values for back - solving, use of substituted numbers and use of educated guessing. Students will learn to work independently, as well as cooperatively in pairs and small groups. Both verbal and written communication of ideas will be emphasized. The course is intended to motivate students of all ability levels to develop their problem solving and test taking skills.

Weight: 10

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: Pre-calculus                                                                                           

Criteria for admission: Meets honors admission criteria                                                                                                    

This AP mathematics course is intended for students who have a thorough knowledge of college preparatory mathematics, including algebra, axiomatic geometry, trigonometry, and analytic geometry.  It is a college level course in introductory calculus with elementary functions.  Some colleges may grant exemption from required basic courses and/or credit when mastery is demonstrated by results on an Advanced Placement examination or other criteria.  Students should check with individual colleges as to their policies regarding this process.  Topics in this course include:  functions and derivatives with a variety of applications, limits the differential, techniques of integration and the definite integral.   Graphing calculators and web-based applications are used extensively to enhance conceptual understanding.

Weight: 10

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: Honors Pre-calculus                                                                             

Criteria for admission: 

1.       Mid-year average of 90% in the present honors mathematics; mid-year grade of 98% in the present academic mathematics course.

2.       Demonstrates proficient levels for the Standards of Mathematical Practice.

3.       Recommendation of the present mathematics teacher.                                                                                               

This AP mathematics course is intended for superior mathematics students who have a thorough knowledge of analytic geometry and elementary functions in addition to college preparatory algebra, geometry and trigonometry.

Calculus BC is considerably more extensive than Calculus AB as the course expands upon the AB topics and also includes such topics as:   the study of vector functions and parametrically defined functions, graphs in polar coordinates, integration, and the study of infinite sequences and series.  Graphing calculators and web-based applications are used extensively to enhance conceptual understanding.

Weight: 10

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: Comp Sci Programming and Design                                                

Criteria for admission: Meets honors admission criteria                                      

This AP Computer Science course is intended to serve both as an introductory course for computer science majors and as a course for students who will major in other disciplines that require significant involvement with computing.  The major emphasis of this course is on programming methodology and object-oriented analysis and design.  Included is the study of algorithms and data structures. The program writing in this course are very complex and reflect real-world scenarios.  Time will be dedicated to the AP Computer Science Case Study.  Some colleges may grant exemption from required basic courses and/or credit when mastery is demonstrated by results on an Advanced Placement examination or other criteria.  Students should check with individual colleges as to their policies regarding this process.  

Weight: 10

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: Algebra 1                                                                                               

Criteria for admission: Meets honors admission criteria                            

Computer science is everywhere, from our smartphones and video games to music, medicine, and much more. AP Computer Science Principles will help the student understand how computing and technology influence the world around them. Students will learn how to creatively address real-world issues by building socially useful mobile apps.  This course will utilize the Mobile CSP curriculum based on App Inventor, a mobile programming language for Android devices.  In this course, the student will learn how computer science is useful to more than just computer programmers.  In addition to programming and computer science principles, the course is project-based and emphasizes writing, communication, collaboration and creativity.  Some colleges may grant exemption from required basic courses and/or credit when mastery is demonstrated by results on an Advanced Placement examination or other criteria.  Students should check with individual colleges as to their policies regarding this process.  

Weight: 10

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: Algebra 2                                                                                               

Criteria for admission: Meets honors admission criteria                                                                                                   

This AP Statistics course is a one year course intended for capable students who wish to complete studies in high school which are equivalent to a one semester, introductory, non-calculus based, college course in statistics.  The purpose of the course is to introduce students to the major concepts and tools for collecting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data.  Students are exposed to four broad conceptual themes:  exploring data, planning a study, anticipating patterns and drawing conclusions from data.  Graphing calculators and web-based applications are used extensively to enhance conceptual understanding.  Some colleges may grant exemption from required basic courses and/or credit when mastery is demonstrated by results on an Advanced Placement examination or other criteria.  Students should check with individual colleges as to their policies regarding this process.  

Non-Ranked

Course Length: Year

Co-requisites: Algebra CP                                                                                                               

Criteria for admission: Mandatory course based upon proficiency.                                  

Algebra 1 Accelerator is designed to strengthen content and process skills with respect to Algebra 1 NJ Student Learning Standards.  This course focuses on understanding mathematical expressions, polynomial, exponential, logarithmic and trigonometric functions, and statistics.  The functions will be analyzed with respect to their multiple representations and their real world applications.  Instructional strategies will incorporate technology and cooperative learning to foster students’ ongoing development in independent mathematical thinking and perseverance.  These skills will not only help students to succeed in their high school courses, but will also help to prepare them for the NJSLA, SAT and ACT assessments.  Students are placed into this course based on test scores, as well as by teacher recommendation.

Weight: 0

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: none                                                                                                                 

Criteria for admission: Recommendation of teacher based on need 

The primary objectives of this college preparatory course are to help the students master the basic structure of algebra and to assist them in acquiring facility in applying algebraic concepts to the solution of problems.  Algebra 1 CP is a course designed for students who have demonstrated a need for greater support and remediation in mathematics. The course will present the same concepts outlined in the Algebra 1 CPE course. Manipulatives, graphing calculators and web-based learning are used to facilitate and enhance critical thinking activities, as well as conceptual understanding.

Weight: 3

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: none                                                                                                                        

Criteria for admission: none                                                                                           

Through the Standards for Mathematical Practice outlined in the NJ Student Learning Standards, students will learn to understand the basic structure of algebra.   Connections between mathematics and other disciplines with realistic and relevant applications are provided.  This course includes work with expressions and equations through understanding quantities and the relationships between them.  Additionally, grade 8 concepts for linear and exponential relationships are built upon by modeling the mathematics.  Linear models are used to assess how a model fits data as students work with descriptive statistics.  Units extend to quadratic and exponential functions.  Solutions to quadratic equations are held to the real number system.  Further standards involve functions and extend the concepts of integer exponents to concepts of rational exponents.  Manipulatives, graphing calculators and web-based learning are used to facilitate and enhance critical thinking activities, as well as conceptual understanding.

Weight: 0

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: Geometry                                                                                                

Criteria for admission: None                                                                                          

The primary objectives of this college preparatory course are to help the students master the connections between the basic structures of Algebra 1 and 2, and to assist them in acquiring facility in applying algebraic concepts to the solution of problems.  Algebra 2 CP is a course designed for students who have demonstrated a need for greater support and remediation in mathematics. The course will present the same concepts outlined in the Algebra 2 CPE course. Manipulatives, graphing calculators and web-based learning are used to facilitate and enhance critical thinking activities, as well as conceptual understanding.

Weight: 3

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: Geometry                                                                                              

Criteria for admission: None                                                                                          

This is a traditional course in mathematics for the college bound student.  It follows Algebra 1 CPE and Geometry CPE and is a precursor to Pre-calculus.  Through the Standards for Mathematical Practice outlined in the NJ Student Learning Standards, students in Algebra 2 extend the basic structure of Algebra 1.   Building on the understanding of linear, quadratic and exponential functions from Algebra I, this course extends function concepts to include polynomial, rational, and radical functions. The standards in this course continue the work of modeling situations and solving equations.  Students explore the effects of the transformations on graphs of functions and include identifying an appropriate model for a given situation.  Additionally, students' previous knowledge of functions, trigonometric ratios and circles in geometry to extend trigonometry to model periodic phenomena are explored.  Lastly, students relate the visual displays and summary statistics learned in prior courses to different types of data and to probability distributions.  Samples, surveys, experiments and simulations are used as methods to collect data.  Manipulatives, graphing calculators and web-based learning are used to facilitate and enhance critical thinking activities, as well as conceptual understanding.

Geometry CPE and Algebra 2 CPE may be taken concurrently, with teacher recommendation and the permission of the Mathematics supervisor.

Weight: 8

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: Geometry                                                                                                 

Criteria for admission: Meets honors admission criteria.                                     

This course includes the concepts studied in the Algebra 2 CPE course plus additional selected topics designed to broaden and strengthen a student’s insight and understanding of the nature of mathematics.  Additional emphasis is placed on discrete mathematics, conic sections, combinatorics, probability, logarithms and SAT and ACT Preparation. Manipulatives, graphing calculators and web-based learning are used to facilitate and enhance critical thinking activities, as well as conceptual understanding 

Weight: 8

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: Pre-calculus                                                                                            

Criteria for admission: Meets honors admissions criteria.          

Dual enrollment: 3 college credits available from Fairleigh Dickinson Middle College Program (grades 11, 12)                    

This honors level course is designed for students who have finished Pre-Calculus and would like to take a Calculus course without the rigors of an Advanced Placement course.  Some major concepts from Pre-calculus will be reviewed, but the emphasis will be on introducing and reinforcing the concepts of Calculus including limits, continuity, differentiation, and integration.  A student who completes this course successfully should be well prepared to take a college level Calculus course.  Manipulatives, graphing calculators and web-based learning are used to facilitate and enhance critical thinking activities, as well as conceptual understanding.

Non-Ranked

Course Length: Semester

Pre-requisites: none                                                                                                        

Criteria for admission: Mandatory course based upon proficiency.                 

This course is designed to strengthen content and process skills needed for successful completion of Algebra 1  CP/CPE and/or Algebra 2 CP/CPE.  This course focuses on understanding mathematical expressions, linear equations and inequalities, systems of equations, and quadratic and exponential functions as outlined in the Algebra 1 CP/CPE and/or Algebra 2 CP/CPE course descriptions.   Instructional strategies will incorporate technology and cooperative learning to foster students’ ongoing development in independent mathematical thinking and perseverance.  These skills will not only help students to succeed in their high school courses, but will also help to prepare them for the NJSLA, SAT and ACT assessments.  Students are placed into this course based on test scores, as well as by teacher recommendation.

Non-Ranked

Course Length: Semester

Pre-requisites: none                                                                                                         

Criteria for admission: Mandatory course based upon proficiency.              

This course is designed to strengthen content and process skills needed for successful completion of Geometry CP/CPE.  This course focuses on understanding the relationships between geometric definitions and theorems as they using them in inductive and deductive proofs. Also included in this course is targeted support for algebraic procedural skills.   Instructional strategies will incorporate technology and cooperative learning to foster students’ ongoing development in independent mathematical thinking and perseverance.  These skills will not only help students to succeed in their high school courses, but will also help to prepare them for the NJSLA, SAT and ACT assessments.  Students are placed into this course based on test scores, as well as by teacher recommendation.

Weight: 3

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: Algebra 1                                                                                                 

Criteria for admission: Prior approval and placement by Mathematics Supervisor

In this year long course, students use computational thinking and computer programming as tools used in design and engineering while demonstrating an understanding of the problem-solving capacity of computers in our world.   Using  Alice, Python and Java (with an emphasis on programming in Java), students program using a structured, top-down approach to solve problems or accomplish a task.  Additionally, students apply computational thinking practice, build vocabulary and collaborate just as computing professionals do to create products that address topics and problems important to them.  Topics to be covered include:  selection, looping, methods, classes as a black box, computer hardware, primitive graphics, hexadecimal and binary number systems, arrays, objects and Graphical User Interfaces, applets across the web.  

Weight: 10

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisite:  Algebra 2                                                                                                                 

Criteria for admission:  Successful completion of AP Computer Science            

Dual enrollment: 3 college credits available from Fairleigh Dickinson Middle College Program (grades 11, 12)            

Data Structures is a course designed for the student who want to further develop skills in the design of data structures and algorithms, the techniques of object-oriented programming, and the use of the Java programming language. It is comparable to a second semester college-level course in Data Structures and moves beyond the NJ Core Content Curriculum Standards.

Students will be expected to apply problem-solving skills, mathematical reasoning, and written communication skills while solving of problems in many application areas.  In addition to demonstrating the ability to design, implement, and test solutions to computer problems, students will understand Graphical User Interfaces and networking/server protocol.  Lastly, students will utilize a variety of available technology tools including but not limited to Jcreator software, Oracle Java, web-based research, and Microsoft Software Applications. 

Weight: 0

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisite:  Algebra 1                                                                                        

Criteria for admission: Recommendation of teacher based on need                  

The primary objectives of this college preparatory course are to help the students master the basic structure of geometry and to assist them in applying geometric definitions and theorems both inductively and deductively for  logical analysis in mathematical proofs. Geometry CP is a course designed for students who have demonstrated a need for greater support and remediation in mathematics. The course will present the same concepts outlined in the Geometry CPE course. Manipulatives, graphing calculators and web-based learning are used to facilitate and enhance critical thinking activities, as well as conceptual understanding.

Weight: 3

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: Algebra 1                                                                                                 

Criteria for admission: none                                                                                          

Through the Standards for Mathematical Practice outlined in the NJ Student Learning Standards and moving towards formal mathematical arguments, the standards presented in this high school geometry course are meant to formalize and extend middle grades geometric experiences.   Triangle congruence conditions are established using analysis of rigid motion and formal constructions. Various formats will be used to prove theorems about angles, lines, triangles and other polygons and similarity.  The notion of similarity is extended to right triangles and the understanding of right triangle trigonometry.  The Laws of Sines and Cosines are utilized to find missing measures of triangles in general, not just right triangles.  This course also focuses on circles and using the rectangular coordinate system to verify geometric properties and to solve geometric problems. Concepts of similarity will be used to establish the relationship among segments on chords, secants and tangents as well as to prove basic theorems about circles.  Previous understandings of two- dimensional objects are used to explain, visualize, and apply geometric concepts to three-dimensional objects.  Informal explanations of circumference, area and volume formulas are analyzed. Manipulatives, graphing calculators and web-based learning are used to facilitate and enhance critical thinking activities, as well as conceptual understanding.

Geometry CPE and Algebra 2 CPE may be taken concurrently, with teacher recommendation and the permission of the Mathematics supervisor.

Weight: 8

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: Algebra 1                                                                                        

Criteria for admission: Meets honors admission criteria                                       

This course includes the concepts studied in the Geometry CPE course plus additional selected topics designed to broaden and strengthen a student’s insight and understanding of the nature of mathematics.  Additional emphasis is placed on mathematical proof, relevant application problems and SAT and ACT Preparation.  Manipulatives, graphing calculators and web-based learning are used to facilitate and enhance critical thinking activities, as well as conceptual understanding.

Weight: 3

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: none                                                                                     

Criteria for admission: none                                                                             

In this project-based course, students apply the engineering design process using computational thinking and programming through robotic technology, including Vex equipment and NAO robots.  This course is designed for students to solve meaningful problems through the practices of engineering design applying knowledge of mathematics, science and technology.  Students will learn how to use feedback from sensors, applied mathematics and measurement to program their robot to navigate in its environment while programming in ROBOTC and Choregraphe. Students will have the opportunity to cooperatively complete multiple challenges involving guided research, problem solving, and design documentation by means of an Engineer's Notebook. 

Weight: 10

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: Advanced Placement Calculus BC                                                   

Criteria for admission:                                                                                                     

1.       Mid-year average of 90% in the present honors mathematics; mid-year grade of 98% in the present academic mathematics course.

2.       Demonstrates proficient levels for the Standards of Mathematical Practice.

3.       Recommendation of the present mathematics teacher.

Dual enrollment: 4 college credits available from Seton Hall Project Acceleration (grade 12)  

Multivariable Calculus is the equivalent of a typical third semester college calculus course.  It is a continuation and extension of the BC Calculus course.  Single-variable calculus concepts will be applied to vector and parametric functions, as well as explaining single-variable calculus concepts to functions of more than one variable.  Units in this course include:  Vectors and Geometry in R 3 , Vector – Valued Functions, Partial Derivatives, Multiple Integrals, Applications of Multivariable Calculus, and Differential Equations.  Graphing calculators and web-based applications are used extensively to enhance conceptual understanding.

Weight: 3

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: Algebra 2                                                                                             

Criteria for admission: none                                                                                         

This course presents and develops the mathematics needed to prepare a student for a college level Calculus course by integrating algebraic and geometric concepts.  Extensive use of graphing calculators and web-based applications are made throughout the year.  The course stresses the application of mathematics to various fields.  This course includes a brief review of selected Algebra 2 topics, conic sections, exponential and logarithmic functions, and trigonometry.  Manipulatives, graphing calculators and web-based learning are used to facilitate and enhance critical thinking activities, as well as conceptual understanding.   Additional emphasis is placed on ACT and SAT preparation for the juniors and college placement examination preparation for the seniors.

Weight: 8

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisites: Algebra 2                                                                                             

Criteria for admission: Meets honors admission criteria.                                    

The course includes all the concepts in the college prep Pre-Calculus course plus several additional topics designed for the able student.  Additional topics from discrete math, data analysis, limits and introduction to calculus are introduced.  Manipulatives, graphing calculators and web-based learning are used to facilitate and enhance critical thinking activities, as well as conceptual understanding. Additional emphasis is placed on SAT I and II and ACT preparation.

Non-Ranked

Course Length: 18 days

Pre-requisites: none                                                                                                       

Criteria for admission: none                                                                                      

This course is offered after the regular school day and is offered in the fall, winter, and spring. The Math SAT course is directly aligned with New Jersey Student Learning Standards Mathematics.  This course is designed to strengthen student test taking skills and to enhance student scores on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT).  The structure of the SAT, along with the implications of how the exam is graded, are discussed.  Thinking and mathematical reasoning skills are developed while students work independently and cooperatively.  Students learn and practice effective test taking strategies including:  appropriate pacing, increased focusing, estimating answers, substituting in answer choices, and educated guessing.  Both verbal and written communication are emphasized.  The course is intended to motivate students of all ability levels to develop their problem solving and test taking skills.  

Weight: 3

Course Length: Year

Pre-requisite:  Algebra 2                                                                                               

Criteria for admission:  Prior approval and placement by Mathematics Supervisor 

Dual enrollment: 3 college credits available from Fairleigh Dickinson Middle College Program (grade 10-12)

This course is an introduction to descriptive and inferential statistics, offering elementary probability as its background. Students will focus on organization and description of data, probability, probability distribution, inferences and hypothesis testing, correlation and linear regression through the use of real world data sets. The course will introduce students to the language and methodology of statistics through applications, and will serve to prepare students to apply statistics in college and in their careers. 

Through the analysis of real world data, students will be able to: (1) appropriately collect data, (2) display and analyze data, (3) make calculations and informed predictions about a population. Students will also be able to solve problems through probability calculations. The course will focus on algebraic analysis, as well as analysis through the use of appropriate technology, including the graphing calculator, and Microsoft Excel.