• Ninth Grade:  Multi Cultures

    Course Description: Multi-Cultures will trace the development of world history from the beginnings of civilization through the end of the World Wars. A chronological and thematic approach will guide students through individual units that include: ancient civilizations and empires, the Islamic and Mongolian empires, the Middle Ages, Ghana and Central American empires, European expansion, world revolutions, imperialism, and the World Wars. To be successful in this course, students must complete reading assignments from the text, as well as from primary and secondary sources. Project-based assessments will also be included in the curriculum. In addition, students will develop their historical argumentation and writing skills.  

     

    Course Units:

    • Ancient civilizations and empires  
    • The Islamic and Mongolian Empires 
    • The European Middle Ages 
    • West African trading empires and Central/South American civilizations 
    • European ideas and expansion (Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment, Exploration) 
    • World revolutions (18th century to present) 
    • Imperialism 
    • The World Wars  

     

    Primary Texts:

    History Alive!: World Connections. Teachers’ Curriculum Institute, 2013.  

     

     

    Tenth Grade: Honors United States History   

    Course Description: Building the New Nation Honors United States History I is designed to prepare students to take an Advanced Placement® course during their junior year. Instructors will teach the same content as the College Prep version of this class with a heavier emphasis on independent reading, document-based analysis and assessments, as well as discussion of important historical topics. The pacing and the difficulty of the class will also be closer to what a student would expect in an Advanced Placement class. The course will cover all major topics from 1788-1900 and provide a significant focus on the changing American identity, politics, the economy, American culture and society, geography and the environment, and American foreign policy.  

     

    Course Units:

    • Unit 1 - Period 1 1491 – 1607 Columbus and the New World
    • Unit 2 - Period 2 1607 – 1754 Development of Colonial America 
    • Unit 3 - Period 3 1754 – 1800 Imperial Wars and the New Republic 
    • Unit 4 - Period 4 1800 – 1848 Nationalism and Economic Development 
    • Unit 5 - Period 5 1844 - 1877 Expansion & Civil War  
    • Unit 6 - Period 6 1865 – 1898 Industrial America & the Gilded Age 
    • Unit 7 - Period 7 1890 – 1945 Imperialism and US on the World Stage 

     

    Primary Texts:

    Newman, J; Schmalbach, J. United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination. Perfection Learning, 2018. 

     

    Websites/Software:

    Stanford History Education Group (SHEG) 
    https://sheg.stanford.edu/history-lessons 

    Edpuzzle https://edpuzzle.com 

     

     

    Tenth Grade: College Prep United States History   

    Course Description: The course will cover all major topics from 1788-1900 and provide a significant focus on the changing American identity, politics, the economy, American culture and society, geography and the environment, and American foreign policy.  Historical thinking skills to be taught and developed include sourcing, interpretation, comparison, causation, argumentation, close reading, contextualization, corroboration, intended audience, writer’s purpose, and point of view.  Each student will be asked to take periodic assessments, read historical documents, construct essays, and complete projects. 

    Course Units:

    • Rise of the Federal Government 
    • Jefferson/Era of Good Feelings 
    • Mass Democracy and Reform 
    • Slavery and Expansion 
    • Civil War and Reconstruction 
    • The American West and Jim Crow 
    • The Gilded Age 
    • The Progressive Era.  

     

    Primary Texts:

    Danzer, G; Klor, J; Krieger, L; Wilson, L; Woloch, N. The Americans. McDougal Littell, 2009 

     

    List of Supplemental/Secondary Texts 

    World DBQ Project 

    www.nytimes.com  

     

     

    Websites/Software:

    Readworks, Commonlit, Point-Counterpoint, (SHEG) Stanford History Education Group 

    www.readworks.org 

    www.commonlit.org  

    https://sheg.stanford.edu   

     
     

    Tenth Grade: AP European History  

    Course Description: The Advanced Placement European History course is offered for eligible sophomore students to fulfill the required tenth grade Social Studies credit. It may also be taken as an elective by eleventh and twelfth graders, but will not replace the social studies courses required for those grades. The course is a rigorous program, comparable to an undergraduate college survey course in the given area. The course begins with an examination of Europe in 1450 and progresses to current times, introducing students to cultural, economic, political, and social developments that played a fundamental role in shaping Europe’s history. Upon completing the course, it is expected that students will develop: (a) an understanding of some of the principal themes in modern European history, (b) an ability to analyze historical evidence, (c) an ability to engage in historical interpretation, and (d) an ability to express historical understanding in writing. Students that participate in the course are expected to complete assigned summer work and to take the Advanced Placement Examination in May.  

     

    Course Units:

    • The Renaissance 
    • The Reformation 
    • Exploration  
    • Absolutism 
    • The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment 
    • 18th Century Social Issues  
    • The French Revolution 
    • The Industrial Revolution  
    • The Revolutions of the 1820s-1848 
    • The Unification of Germany and Italy/the age of Nationalism 
    • Imperialism 
    • World War I 
    • The Interwar period  
    • World War II 
    • The Cold War 
    • Post-Cold War Europe  

     

    Primary Texts:

    McKay, Crowston, Wiesner-Hanks, and Perry, A History of Western Society- For the AP Course. Boston: Bedford, Freeman & Worth, 2017.  

     

    Supplementary Resources:

    Perry, Peden, Von Laue, Sources of the Western Tradition, From the Renaissance to the Present. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006  
    Princeton Review for AP European History 

     

    Websites/Software:

    Crash Course European History- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhtuC9dp0Hk&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMsMTfmRomkVQG8AqrAmJFX  
    AP Classroom (issued by the College Board for videos, practice questions, etc)- https://myap.collegeboard.org/login  

     

     

    Eleventh Grade: College Prep United States History II  

    Course Description: America on the World Stage United States History II builds upon the not only critical content knowledge of US History I, but also further develops a student’s ability to think like an historian and 21st century citizen. The course will cover all major topics from 1896-2019 and provide a significant focus on the changing American identity, politics, the economy, American culture and society, geography and the environment, and American foreign policy. Historical thinking skills to be taught and developed include sourcing, interpretation, comparison, causation, argumentation, close reading, contextualization, corroboration, intended audience, writer’s purpose, and point of view.  

     

    Course Units:

    • Imperialism 
    • World War I 
    • Roaring 20s 
    • The Great Depression 
    • World War II 
    • Civil Rights Movement 
    • The Cold War 
    • Vietnam War 
    • The Great Society/70s America 
    • Rise of Reagan & 80s America 
    • Contemporary America 

     

    Primary Texts:

    Danzer, G; Klor, J; Krieger, L; Wilson, L; Woloch, N.The Americans. McDougal Littell, 2009 

     

    Websites/Software:

     
     

    Eleventh Grade: AP United States History  

    Course Description: AP U.S. History is designed to be the equivalent of a two-semester introductory college or university U.S. history course. 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, practices, and methods employed by historians: analyzing primary and secondary sources; developing historical arguments; making historical comparisons; and utilizing reasoning about contextualization, causation, and continuity and change over time. The course also provides seven themes that students explore throughout the course in order to make connections among historical developments in different times and places: 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. 

     

    Course Units:

    The AP U.S. History course is structured around themes and concepts in nine different chronological periods from approximately 1491 to the present: 

    Period 1: Pre-Columbian America and Initial European Exploration -1491–1607 

    • Native American societies before European contact 
    • European exploration in the New World 
    • The Columbian Exchange 
    • Labor, slavery, and caste in the Spanish colonial system 
    • Cultural interactions between Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans 

    Period 2: The Settlement of North America - 1607–1754 

    • How different European colonies developed and expanded 
    • Transatlantic trade 
    • Interactions between American Indians and Europeans 
    • Slavery in the British colonies 
    • Colonial society and culture 

    Period 3: The American Revolution and Rise of the American Republic - 1754–1800 

    • The Seven Years’ War 
    • The American Revolution 
    • Articles of Confederation 
    • The creation and ratification of the Constitution 
    • Developing an American identity 
    • Immigration to and migration within America 

    Period 4: War of 1812, Mass Democracy, Market Revolution, and Age of Reform- 1800–1848 

    • The rise of political parties 
    • American foreign policy 
    • Innovations in technology, agriculture, and business 
    • Debates about federal power 
    • The Second Great Awakening 
    • Reform movements 
    • The experience of African Americans 

    Period 5: Manifest Destiny, The Civil War, & Reconstruction - 1844–1877 

    • Manifest Destiny 
    • The Mexican–American War 
    • Attempts to resolve conflicts over the spread of slavery 
    • The election of 1860 and Southern secession 
    • The Civil War 
    • Reconstruction 

    Period 6: The Gilded Age and The West - 1865–1898 

    • The settlement of the West 
    • The "New South" 
    • The rise of industrial capitalism 
    • Immigration and migration 
    • Reform movements 
    • Debates about the role of government 

    Period 7: America on the World Stage - 1890–1945 

    • Debates over imperialism 
    • The Progressive movement 
    • World War I 
    • Innovations in communications and technology in the 1920s 
    • The Great Depression and the New Deal 
    • World War II 
    • Postwar diplomacy 

    Period 8: The Cold War and The Fight for Civil Rights - 1945–1980 

    • The Cold War and the Red Scare 
    • America as a world power 
    • The Vietnam War 
    • The Great Society 
    • The African American civil rights movement 
    • Youth culture of the 1960s 

    Period 9: The Rise of Reagan and Challenges of the 21st Century - 1980–Present 

    • Reagan and conservatism 
    • The end of the Cold War 
    • Shifts in the economy 
    • Migration and immigration 
    • Challenges of the 21st century 
    • Within each period, key concepts organize and prioritize historical developments. Themes allow students to make connections and identify patterns and trends over time.  The main themes of the course are: American Identity, Politics & Power, Work, Technology, & Exchange, Culture & Society, Migration & Settlement, Geography & Environment, and America in the World. 

     

    Primary Texts:

    • Kennedy, David M. The American Pageant: a History of the American People. Boston, Massachusetts: Cengage Learning, 2010. 
    • Heller, Stephen; Stacy, Jason. Documenting United States History. Boston, Massachusetts: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016.
    • Newman, John. Advanced Placement Edition: United States History. Third Edition. New York City: AMSCO School Publications, INC, 2020. 

     

    Websites/Software:

    AP Classroom-College Board: 

    https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-united-states-history  

     

     

    Twelfth Grade: AP United States Government 

    Course Description: AP Government provides an in-depth look at the relationships between our government, its institutions, and the people.  We attempt to answer why government is important and who is responsible for governing, and express just how widespread the influence of government is in our lives.  This College Board approved course is more than just a survey of the branches of government, because it asks us to look deeper into the roots of our political thoughts and how they affect the political decisions that we make.  We begin the year by looking at the roots of government and our system of federalism, and then continue with a look at civil liberties and civil rights, political parties and elections, the branches of government, and then wrap up with the policy making process.  Throughout the year we attempt to weave together all of the layers of what makes us think the way that we do, choose the candidates that we choose, and what goes into the thought process of elected officials when making policy.  Students are given the option of taking a year-end exam from the College Board where they can earn college credit from participating universities.   

     

    Course Units:

    • Foundations of Democracy (Constitution and Federalism) 
    • Interactions Among Branches of Government (Legislative, Executive, Judicial, and the Bureaucracy) 
    • Civil Liberties and Civil Rights  
    • American Political Ideologies and Beliefs (Public Opinion and Political Ideologies) 
    • Political Participation (Voting/Voting Behavior, Political Parties, Elections/Campaigns, Interest Groups, and the Media) 

     

    Primary Texts:

    American Government (16th edition) - James Wilson and John DiIulio (2019) 

     

    Supplemental Resources:

    AMSCO - Advanced Placement United States Government & Politics - David Wolfford (2019)  

     

    Websites/Software:

     
     

    Twelfth Grade: College Prep United States Government 

    Course Description: This course is designed to both introduce students to the United States’ system of government, and to help students become informed and active citizens upon graduation. Students will be guided by their instructors through a close study of each unit, while keeping a watchful eye on the goings-on in Washington D.C. The focus of the course will mainly be on the federal government, but it is important to understand that Washington’s politics also have a trickle-down effect on what happens at the state and local levels. Students will learn about the principles of government, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, our system of federalism, civil liberties and civil rights, the three branches of government, and the government’s development of economic policies.   

       

    Course Units:

    • Origins of Government and the Constitution 
    • Civil Liberties and Civil Rights 
    • Voter Behavior and Voting Rights 
    • Branches of Government
    • The Making of Foreign and Domestic Policy  

     

    Primary Texts:

    Magruder's American Government (James Wilson and John DiIulio; Cengage Learning, 2016) 

    www.cengage.com 

     

    Websites/Software:

    New York Times: www.nytimes.com  
     

     

    Tenth to Twelfth Grades: Introduction to Psychology (Elective)

    Course Description: This course is a broad introduction to contemporary psychology which is explored as a science, a profession, and a means of promoting human welfare. Students are exposed to psychology as a natural and social science through group work, lectures, reading assignments, discussions, and demonstrations.  

     

    Course Units:

    • What is Psychology? 
    • Psychological Methods 
    • Biology and Behavior 
    • Sensation and Perception 
    • States of Consciousness 
    • Memory 
    • Abnormal Psychology 

     

    Primary Texts:

    Rathus, S. A. (2010). Psychology: Principles in practice. Holt McDougal. 

     

    Supplementary Resources:

    • Hock, R. R. (2019). Forty studies that changed   psychology: Explorations into the history of psychological research. Pearson Education, Inc. 
    • Lilienfeld, S. (2010). 50 Great myths of popular psychology. Wiley-Blackwell. 

     

    Websites/Software:

    https://www.apa.org/ 

     

     

    Eleventh and Twelfth:  AP Psychology (Elective)

    Course Description: The purpose of the AP course in Psychology is to introduce the systematic and scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of human beings and other animals. Included is a consideration of the psychological facts, principles, and phenomena associated with each of the major subfields within psychology. Students also learn about the ethics and methods psychologists use in their science and practice. 

     

    Course Units:

    • Psychological Methods 
    • Biological Basis of Behavior 
    • Sensation and Perception 
    • States of Consciousness 
    • Learning Theory 
    • Memory 
    • Thought and Language 
    • Development 
    • Testing and Individual Differences 
    • Motivation and Emotion 
    • Personality Theory 
    • Abnormal Psychology and Treatment 
    • Social Psychology 

     

    Primary Texts:

    Myers, D. G., & Dewall, C. N. (2015). Psychology, 11th edition. worth publishers. 

     

    Supplementary Resources:

    • Hock, R. R. (2019). Forty studies that changed psychology: Explorations into the history of psychological research. Pearson Education, Inc. 
    • Lilienfeld, S. (2010). 50 Great myths of popular psychology. Wiley-Blackwell. 

     

    Websites/Software:

    https://www.apa.org/ 

    https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-psychology 

     

    Ninth to Twelfth Grades: Contemporary Legal Issues (Elective)

    Course Description: Students will learn about important, current, significant legal developments in criminal, constitutional, and civil law, especially as they apply to juveniles.  They will learn effective argument, how to structure a legal case, the importance of evidence, eyewitnesses and testimony, and how to try a legal case in mock trials.  It is an active, engaging class emphasizing how the law affects them daily.   

     

    Course Units:

    • Legal Basics 
    • Crimes against the Person 
    • Criminal vs. Civil Courts 
    • Juvenile Justice System 
    • Civil Rights 
    • Legal Defenses 
    • Personal Injury 

     

    Primary Texts:

    Glencoe Street Law: A Course in Practical Law (Lee Arbetman and Edward O’Brien; McGraw-Hill/Glencoe; 2005) 

     

    Websites/Software:

    https://www.legis.state.pa.us/ 

     

     

    Ninth to Twelfth Grades: African American Studies (Elective)

    Course Description:   This course will cover five distinct units of history, and look at them through the lens of the African American experience. Students will learn about the profound impact and contributions African Americans have had/made throughout US history, despite many obstacles, and will leave the course understanding the connection of events today to those in the past.  Students will have the opportunity to interact with art (books, movies, and music) from Black artists.   

     

    Course Units:  

    • Unit 1: African Cultures to 1619: Cover a brief history of African kingdoms from 1000-1500, their relationship to one another and global trade; Portuguese introduction of the idea of racism. 
    • Unit 2: 1619-1865:  Focus on the free black experience (culture and contributions) and slavery (culture, resistance, politics), 1775-1850; Focus on contributions of Black Americans during the War; 
    • Unit 3: Reconstruction to WWI: Progress during Reconstruction 13, 14, 15th amendments; The “nadir” and segregation 
    • Unit 4:1918-1970s: Segregation (black codes, Jim Crow), Great Migration, Harlem Renaissance (1877-1954); ocus on a VARIETY of protests and actors in the Civil Rights Movement;  Taught in conjunction with the themes from The Hate U Give 
    • Unit 6: Contemporary Issues: Systemic Racism and Anti-Racism,  popular culture; Taught in conjunction with the themes from The Hate U Give 

     

    Primary Texts:  

    • Freedom on My Mind: A History of African Americans with Documents (MacMillan Learning- White, Bay, Martin, Jr.) 
    • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas 
    • Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi 

      

    Websites/Software  

    • Crash Course African American History 
    • PBS - The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross 

      

      

    Tenth Grade: AP World History: Modern 

    Course Description:  Students investigate significant events, individuals, developments, and processes from 1200 to the present while fulfilling their required Social Studies credit. Designed to replicate the rigor of an undergraduate college-level modern world history course, AP World History: Modern students will develop and use the same skills, practices, 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 over time. The course provides six themes that students explore throughout the course in order to make connections among historical developments in different times and places: humans and the environment, cultural developments and interactions, governance, economic systems, social interactions and organization, and technology and innovation.  Students that participate in the course are expected to complete assigned summer work and to take the Advanced Placement Examination in May, a test in which students demonstrate those abilities needed to pursue upper-level studies in college. 

     

    Course Units:

    The AP World History course concepts in nine different chronological periods from approximately 1200 to the present:  

    • Unit 1: The Global Tapestry - c. 1200 - c. 1450 
      • States in: 
        • Africa 
        • Afro-Eurasia 
        • East Asia 
        • Europe 
        • South and Southeast Asia 
        • The Americas 
      • Global and regional religions and belief systems 
    • Unit 2: Networks of Exchange - c. 1200 - c. 1450  
      • The Silk Roads 
      • The Mongol Empire 
      • The Indian Ocean trading network 
      • The trans-Saharan trade routes 
      • The effects of cross-cultural interactions 
    • Unit 3: Land-Based Empires c. 1450 - c. 1750 
      • The development of the Manchu, Mughal, Ottoman, and Safavid empires 
      • How rulers of empires maintained their power 
      • Religious developments in empires 
    • Unit 4: Transoceanic Interconnections - c. 1450 - c. 1750  
      • The influence of scientific learning and technological innovation 
      • The Columbian Exchange 
      • Development and expansion of maritime empires 
      • Internal and external challenges to state power 
      • Changes to social hierarchies linked to the spread of empires 
    • Unit 5: Revolutions - c. 1750 - c. 1900  
      • The Enlightenment 
      • Revolutions against existing governments and the birth of new nation-states 
      • The Industrial Revolution 
      • Trade policies 
      • The development of industrial economies  
    • Unit 6: Consequences of Industrialization - c. 1750 - c. 1900  
      • State expansion in the 18th and 19th centuries 
      • Resistance to imperialism 
      • The growth of the global economy 
      • Economic imperialism 
      • Causes and effects of new migration patterns  
    • Unit 7: Global Conflict - c. 1900 - Present  
      • Changes in the global political order after 1900 
      • World War I: its causes and how it was fought 
      • The interwar period 
      • World War II: its causes and how it was fought 
      • Mass atrocities after 1900  
    • Unit 8: The Cold War and Decolonization - c. 1900 - Present 
      • The causes and effects of the Cold War 
      • The spread of communism 
      • How colonies in Asia and Africa achieved independence 
      • The creation of new states after decolonization 
      • The end of the Cold War 
    • Unit 9: Globalization - c. 1900 – Present  
      • Advances in technology and their effects 
      • Disease 
      • Environment 
      • Economic change 
      • Movements for reform 
      • How globalization changed culture 
      • New international institutions 
      • Within each period, key concepts organize and prioritize historical developments. Themes allow students to make connections and identify patterns and trends over time.  The main themes of the course are:Interactions between Humans and the Environment, Social Structures, Politics and Governance, Economic Developments, Cultural Developments, and Technology and Innovation.   

     

    Primary Texts:  

    Bentley, Jerry H, and Herbert F. Ziegler. Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. Print.  

      

    Supplemental Texts:

    AMSCO, World History: Modern, AP Edition, 2019. 

     

    Websites/Software: