United States History is a semester course that will study the eras of Reconstruction following the Civil War to the present–focusing on political, economic, and social events related to industrialization and urbanization, major wars, effects of the Great Depression, domestic and foreign policies of the Cold War and post-Cold War eras, and reform movements (including the progressive and Civil rights movements). Students will develop critical thinking skills to interpret historical methods, points of view, and place events in historical context. This course is a requirement for graduating.
American Government is a year-long course designed to introduce students to the different types of government systems around the world with a focus on how the United States government functions Throughout the school year students will be exposed to the structure of governments, how government impacts us both here domestically and in foreign lands, basic rights, and what the influences on government are. At the completion of this course students will have a better understanding of how government impacts them as individuals and the society around them. They should have a real world understanding of how they can influence that process and the importance of their involvement in our democracy. American Government will involve the reading of various text based resources, in-class activities, homework, projects, and assessments. This course is a requirement for graduating and is a MCAP tested content area. That means students will required to pass the Government MCAP exam as part of their graduation requirements.
Modern World History is a semester-long required course with the Maryland High School curriculum and satisfies one of the graduation requirements for Social Studies. In an effort to expand boundaries of history analysis, this course does not focus solely on specific countries, regions, themes, or periods but rather survey history on a larger scale. The goal is not to learn the entire history of the world, but to focus on broad themes and look at cross cultural connections that relate to our world today.
AP World History is a year-long course designed to provide a college-level experience and preparation for the Advanced Placement (AP) examination in World History. Students investigate transformative world events, individuals, developments, and processes from approximately 1200 C.E. to the present. Students perform key historical work by analyzing sources, comparing historical events, people, and places, using reasoning about contextualization, causation, and continuity and change over time; and developing historical arguments. There is no cost to the student to take the AP exam.
Elective Courses: Afro-American Studies I/II, Constitutional Law, Current Affairs, Economics, Introduction to Law, Sociology, and World Geography.