History & Social Studies

Grade Level: 9

This is a survey course that gives students the opportunity to explore recurring themes of human experience common to civilizations around the globe from ancient to contemporary times. An historical approach will be at the center of the course. The application of the themes of geography and an analysis of the cultural traits of civilizations will help students understand how people shape their world and how their world shapes them. Students broaden their historical perspectives as they explore ways societies have dealt with continuity and change, exemplified by issues such as war and peace, internal stability and strife, and the development of institutions.

Grade Level: 9

Honors World History follows the same course of study as the corresponding standard World History course; however, the material is taught with greater complexity, acceleration, and reflects a differentiated curriculum. Honors World History provides the opportunity for advanced work, rigorous academic study, and the practical application of the major ideas and concepts. The course is challenging and requires students to take greater responsibility for their learning by participating in problem-seeking and problem-solving, scholarly and creative processes, critical analysis and application, reflective thinking, and the expression and defense of ideas generated through the study of the content.

Grade Level: 9

Prerequisite: World History Honors

(Offered at BHS & FHS)

This is a college level course and is offered for students who will take the AP exam. The purpose of the AP World History course is to develop greater understandings of the evolution of global processes and contacts in different types of human societies. This understanding is advanced through a combination of selective factual knowledge and appropriate analytical skills. The course highlights the nature of changes in global frameworks and their causes and consequences, as well as comparison among major societies. It emphasizes relevant factual knowledge, leading interpretive issues, and skills in analyzing types of historical evidence. Periodization, explicitly discussed, forms an organizing principle to address change and continuity throughout the course. Specific themes provide further organization to the course, along with consistency attention to contacts among societies that form the core of world history as a field of study.

Grade Level: 12

This course is designed to provide the student with an overview of the political, legal, and economic system of the United States. Concentrated areas include the U.S. Constitution, the organization and operation of the federal, state, and local levels of government.

Grade Level: 12

Honors Civics and Economics follows the same course of study as the corresponding standard course; however, the material is taught with greater complexity, acceleration, and reflects a differentiated curriculum. This course is designed to provide the student with an in-depth overview of the political, legal, and economic system of the United States. Concentrated areas include the U.S. Constitution, the organization and operation of the federal, state, and local levels of government.

Grade Level: 10-12

Prerequisite: Civics & Economics Honors

(Offered at LHS)

Continued study of the principles and concepts in the honors curriculum, continuing as a comprehensive in-depth study of civics. This course prepares students for the AP exam. Special emphasis on how the main components of government, interest groups, judiciary, and the constitution are related.

(Entered 9th grade 2019-2020; 2020-2021.)

Grade Level: 10

In this course students will examine the historical and intellectual origins of the US from the European exploration and colonial settlement to the Revolutionary and Constitutional eras. Students will learn about the important political and economic factors that contributed to the development of colonial America and the outbreak of the American Revolution, as well as the consequences of the Revolution, including the writing and key ideas of the US Constitution. This course will guide students as they study the establishment of political parties, America’s westward expansion, the growth of sectional conflict, how that sectional conflict led to the Civil War, and the consequences of the Civil War, including Reconstruction.

(Entered 9th grade 2019-2020; 2020-2021.)

Grade Level: 10

This course is designed to challenge students. In this course students will examine the historical and intellectual origins of the US from the European exploration and colonial settlement to the Revolutionary and Constitutional eras. Students will learn about the important political and economic factors that contributed to the development of colonial America and the outbreak of the American Revolution, as well as the consequences of the Revolution, including the writing and key ideas of the US Constitution. This course will guide students as they study the establishment of political parties, America’s westward expansion, the growth of sectional conflict, how that sectional conflict led to the Civil War, and the consequences of the Civil War, including Reconstruction.

Grade Level: 10-11

Yearlong Course/2 Semesters

Continued study of the principles and concepts in the honors curriculum, continuing as a comprehensive in-depth study of American History. This course prepares students for the AP exam. Survey course from European discovery through the present with emphasis on the political, economic, military, and social aspects of the nation’s history. Students may take this course in place of American History II.

(Entered 9th grade 2019-2020; 2020-2021.)

Grade Level: 11

In this course students will examine the political, economic, social, and cultural development of the US from the end of the Reconstruction era to the present times. Students will explore the change in the ethnic composition of American society, the movement toward equal rights for racial minorities and women, and the role of the US as a major world power. An emphasis will be placed on the expanding role of the federal government and the federal courts, as well as the continuing tension between the individual and the state. The desired outcome of this course is for students to develop an understanding of the cause and effect relationship between past and present events, recognize patterns of the interactions, and understand the impact of events on the US in an interconnected world.

(Entered 9th grade 2019-2020; 2020-2021)

Grade Level: 11

Prerequisite: American History I

This honors course is designed to challenge students. In this course students will examine the political, economic, social, and cultural development of the US from the end of the Reconstruction era to the present times. Students will explore the change in the ethnic composition of American society, the movement toward equal rights for racial minorities and women, and the role of the US as a major world power. An emphasis will be placed on the expanding role of the federal government and the federal courts, as well as the continuing tension between the individual and the state. The desired outcome of this course is for students to develop an understanding of the cause and effect relationship between past and present events, recognize patterns of the interactions, and understand the impact of events on the US in an interconnected world.

(Entered 9th grade 2020 and beyond)

Grade Level: 11-12

The Economics and Personal Finance (EPF) course is intended to be a study of economics, personal finance, income and education, money management, critical consumerism, and financial planning. This course expects students to enter possessing a fundamental knowledge and understanding of the basic principles of economics and money management. When opportunities can be provided, this course can be augmented by related learning experiences, both in and out of school, that enable students to apply their knowledge and understanding of how to participate in their own financial literacy. Mastery of the standards and objectives of this course will inform and nurture responsible, participatory citizens who are competent and committed to responsible money management and financial literacy.

Grade Level: 10-12

(Offered at FHS)

This geography course will emphasize the increasing interconnectedness of Earth’s people due to globalization, as well as how and why things differ from place to place both physically and culturally on the earth’s surface. Globalization is the ongoing process of increasing interconnectedness and interdependence among humankind. While its origins are debatable, this process has been significantly amplified with the onset of new communication technologies that have improved economic, political, social, cultural, historic, and geographic connections among individuals, groups, and nations. The mounting flow of goods, services, finances, ideas, and people across national and international borders has created a world ever more devoid of physical and political boundaries and dependent upon empathy and collaboration. Since the consequences of the process are not predetermined, an awareness of the positive or negative possibilities of these connections is paramount to individual improvement and the advancement of humanity.

Grade Level: 10-12

Prerequisites: American History I & II, or U.S. History AP and Civics and Economics

This course is a college level course and is offered for students who will take the AP exam. The purpose of the AP Human Geography course is to introduce students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth’s surface. Students learn to employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine human socioeconomic organization and its environmental consequences. They also learn about the methods and tools geographers use in their research and applications.

Grade Level: 10-12

(Offered at LHS)

Students study the systematic and scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of human beings and other animals. Students are exposed to the psychological facts, principles, and phenomena associated with each of the major sub fields within psychology. The study of psychology enables students to recognize and cope with uncertainty and ambiguity in human behavior. Substantial out-of-class reading, writing, and research are expected. Students enrolled in this course are encourage take the College Board Advanced Placement test.