Business

620.1 Introduction to Business, Advanced College Prep, Grades 9-10, Semester, 2.50 credits    

In this course, students will be introduced to five key instructional areas of business (marketing, finance, business administration, hospitality and entrepreneurship). Each instructional area will be explored to highlight potential careers in business and to provide students with the background knowledge necessary to participate in future business courses at SHS and/or participate in the Swampscott chapter of DECA. Students will leave this course with a basic understanding of how businesses work, job opportunities within the various fields of business and how each instructional area contributes to each other. This course is required for all students in the Business & Finance Innovation Pathway.

631.1 Money Management and Investing Skills, Advanced College Prep or Honors, Grades 11-12, Semester, 2.50 credits     

This course is a continuation of Personal Finance I and is based on DECA financial category competencies. Students will investigate money management from a personal financial perspective. Students will apply critical-thinking skills to analyze financial options based on current and projected economic factors. Students will gain knowledge and skills necessary to establish short-term and long-term financial goals. Students will examine various methods of achieving short-term and long-term financial goals through various methods such as investing, tax planning, asset allocation, risk management, retirement planning, and estate planning. Students are expected to present information in front of their classmates throughout the course. Students opting for honors credit will be required to write a DECA paper that they can choose to use to compete or not. Prerequisite: Students must complete Personal Financial Literacy I with a C or better. This course is required for the Finance concentration in the Business & Finance Innovation Pathway.

634.1/634.1H College Accounting I, Advanced College Prep or Honors, Grades 10-12, Full Year, 5.0 credits  
Accounting knowledge is essential for every type of personal and business enterprise. Students will learn to analyze, organize, and interpret financial data. They will examine the basic principles, theory, and practices of accounting for sole proprietorships and partnerships. The complete accounting cycle is taught using both automated and computerized accounting procedures. Banking, taxes, inventory and payroll are also topics of discussion. All students will complete a detailed simulation project. This course is required for the Finance concentration in the Business & Finance Innovation Pathway.

650.1 Marketing II, Advanced College Prep, Grades 10-12, Semester, 2.50 credits
This course will expand on Marketing 1 by studying additional Marketing chapters, including Promotional Concepts, Visual Merchandising, Advertising, Pricing, Product Planning, Market Research and Business Plan Development. Students will participate in a number of project based assignments. A variety of assessments will be used. Students are expected to present information in front of their classmates throughout the course. Prerequisite: A grade of C or better in Marketing I. This course is required for the Marketing concentration in the Business & Finance Innovation Pathway.

653.1/654.1 Marketing IV (DECA), Advanced College Prep, Fall Semester, 2.50 credits
This course is concurrent with Marketing II and Marketing III. Students will be present in class to assist with new concepts as they are being taught to Marketing II and Marketing III students. Students in Marketing IV will also be asked to create a minimum of two fully developed lesson plans per quarter on current marketing topics of their choice with a focus on one of the 7 core functions of marketing. First quarter plans will be done as a group while second quarter plans will be done individually. All plans will be shared and taught to the Marketing II/III students. All students in Marketing IV are required to register and participate in the District DECA competition in January. Prerequisite: A grade of B- or better in Marketing III.

660.1 Hospitality and Tourism, Advanced College Prep, Grades 10-12, Semester, 2.50 credits

The Hospitality and Tourism class will explore the world of service industries in business. We will particularly focus on major service areas such as hotel management and booking travel itineraries for clients as a service. Additionally, we will explore proper methodology for customer service to meet the needs of today’s consumers. Finally, students will learn to use current technologies to offer the best experiences to patrons and clients. Students taking this course will have the opportunity to participate in DECA as an option (not mandatory) and will be prepared to apply the knowledge learned in this course towards a number of specific DECA competition categories. This course or 633.1 is required for the Marketing concentration in the Business & Finance Innovation Pathway.

669.1 Learning Economics Through Games Advanced College Prep, Grades 10-12 , Semester, 2.50 credits
This unique class is open to all students from all backgrounds as we go beyond the graphs and scary stuff of "economics" in order to make the principles accessible to everyone. We use games and experiential learning to dive into these principles.  Students will discover the hidden costs of everything, the power of free trade, the principles of competition and supply and demand. At the same time, we will challenge our models with a close examination of the political realities behind the models.  We will cover both key principles in microeconomics (supply/demand, decision making among firms, externalities, opportunity costs, marginal utility), as well as knowledge of how the macroeconomy works (unemployment, Gross Domestic Product, inflation) -- especially the Federal Reserve and our nation's banking system.  In this course, students will have an opportunity to explore some of the financial instruments and decision making they will use in life after high school.  This class is a great introduction for students who think they want to take economics in college but who do not feel ready to embark on the full year of AP economics.

670.1  Advanced Placement Economics, Grade 11-12, Full Year, 5.00 Credits

This is an intense college level course in Economics designed to prepare students to take the Advanced Placement test in May.  This course will only cover Macroeconomics in 2024-2025. Students cultivate their understanding of the principles that apply to an economic system as a whole by using principles and models to describe economic situations and predict and explain outcomes with graphs, charts, and data as they explore concepts like economic measurements, markets and macroeconomic models, and macroeconomic policies. AP Microeconomics (not offered in 24-25) is a college-level course that introduces students to the principles of economics that apply to the functions of individual economic decision-makers. The course also develops students’ familiarity with the operation of product and factor markets, distributions of income, market failure, and the role of government in promoting greater efficiency and equity in the economy. Students learn to use graphs, charts, and data to analyze, describe, and explain economic concepts. The curriculum is guided by the College Board® standards for advanced placement.  Students are required to take the AP Exam at the end of the course. 

Prerequisites: Completion of Honors Algebra II with a B or higher or completion of ACP Algebra II with a B or higher and math teacher recommendation.

600.1 Business Independent Study (School Store), Advanced College Preparatory, Grade 10-12, Semester or Full Year, 2.5/5.0 Credits

Students will be expected to run and manage the school store during their assigned class period. This includes getting the key and lockbox at the start of the period from the teacher and returning those items at the end of the period. There is an optional opportunity to compete in SBE for DECA for any students who wish to participate in that.