Advanced Placement "AP"
The Advanced Placement Program ® enables willing and academically prepared students to pursue college-level studies with the opportunity to earn college credit while still in high school. AP Exams are given each year in May. Students who earn a qualifying score on an AP Exam are typically eligible to receive college credit and/or placement into advanced courses in college. Every aspect of AP course and exam development is the result of collaboration between AP teachers and college faculty. They work together to develop AP courses and exams, set scoring standards, and score the exams. College faculty review every AP teacher’s course syllabus.
AP Biology
Prerequisites: Biology 1 or Honors Biology 1, Honors Biology 2, Chemistry 1 or Honors Chemistry 1, and Anatomy & Physiology
AP Biology is an introductory college- level biology course in which students are given an opportunity to receive college credit. Students cultivate their understanding of biology through inquiry-based investigations as they explore the following topics: evolution, cellular process, energy and communication, genetics, ecology, and interactions. The pacing and workload will be at a rate expected in a regular college class, with 25% instructional time being devoted to hands-on laboratory work with an emphasis on inquiry-based investigations. Students use evidence and scientific method to develop and refine testable explanations and predictions of natural phenomena. The course is based on four Big ideas, which encompass core scientific principles, theories, and processes that cut across traditional boundaries and provide a broad way of thinking about living organisms and biological systems. The following are the four big ideas. 1) The process of evolution explains the diversity and unity of life. 1) Biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, to reproduce, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis. 3) Living systems store, retrieve, transmit, and respond to information essential to life processes. 4) Biological systems interact, and these systems and their interactions possess complex properties.
AP Calculus (AB)
Prerequisites: Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Advanced Algebra & Trig, Pre-Calculus, Calculus
This course is completed in 1 block. This is a preparatory course for students planning to take the AP exam to receive college credit in Calculus. Content includes derivatives, differential equations, integration techniques and application of integration.
AP Calculus (BC)
Prerequisites: Pre-Calculus and Calculus
This course is completed in 1 block. This is a preparatory course for students planning to take the AP exam to receive college credit in Calculus (equivalent to the first two semesters in college). Content includes limits, derivatives, differential equations, integration techniques, applications of integration, L'Hopital's Rule, parametric equations, polar coordinates, sequences and series.
AP Chemistry
Prerequisites: Chemistry 1 or Honors Chemistry 1 and Honors Chemistry 2. The AP Chemistry course provides students with a college-level foundation to support future advanced course work in chemistry. Students cultivate their understanding of chemistry through inquirybased investigations, as they explore topics such as: atomic structure, intermolecular forces and bonding, chemical reactions, kinetics, thermodynamics, and equilibrium.
AP Physics 1
Pre-requisites: Algebra 1 and recommended Algebra 2
AP Physics 1 is an entry level course in Physics. This course focuses on the development of scientific reasoning and investigation as a 24 starting point for advanced study in the sciences. Students will recognize and develop fundamental physical laws and use them to understand the world around them. This course is an excellent starting point for any student interested in pursuing a career in Computer Science, Engineering, or other fundamental sciences. Students who earn a 3 or higher on the AP Exam may be eligible to receive college credit. Topics covered include linear and rotational kinematics, dynamics, work, energy, momentum, harmonic motion, waves, electrostatics and DC circuitry.
AP English: Literature and Composition
Prerequisites: None
This advanced literature course will engage students in the reading and analysis of a wide range of literary works from multiple genres including the novel, short story, poetry, and drama. The focus of the course will be on close-reading, reading and discussion of the literature, and written essays that evaluate the work. This course also prepares students for the Advanced Placement Literature and Composition Exam administered each May. The goal is to prepare students for college readiness in their reading, writing, evaluating, and analytical skills.
AP U.S. History
Prerequisites: None
The AP U.S. History course focuses on developing students' understanding of American history from approximately 1491 to the 25 present. The course has students investigate the content of U.S. History for significant events, individuals, developments, and processes in nine historical periods, and develop and use the same thinking skills and methods (analyzing primary and secondary sources, making historical comparisons, chronological reasoning, and argumentations) employed by historians when they study the past. The course also provides seven themes (American and national identity; migration and settlement; politics and power; work, exchange, and technology; America in the world; geography and the environment; and culture and society) that students explore throughout the course in order to make connections among historical developments in different times and places.
AP European History
Prerequisites: None
The AP European History course focuses on developing students' understanding of European history from approximately 1450 to the present. The course has students investigate the content of European history for significant events, individuals, developments, and processes in four historical periods, and develop and use the same thinking skills and methods (analyzing primary and secondary sources, making historical comparisons, chronological reasoning, and argumentations) employed by historians when they study the past. The course also proves five themes (interaction of Europe and the world; poverty and prosperity; objective knowledge and subjective visions; states and other institutions of power; and individual and society) that students explore throughout the course in order to make connections among historical developments in different times and places.