AP Science courses require an intensive laboratory component extending beyond the regular class meetings. Once per week for 50 minutes, the Laboratory course will meet outside of the regular bell schedule. Meetings will occur before or after school. Students who anticipate a scheduling conflict in the time period before school are asked to contact the Science Department chair.
*This course receives a half-credit – graded pass/fail
AP Science courses require an intensive laboratory component extending beyond the regular class meetings. Once per week for 50 minutes, the Laboratory course will meet outside of the regular bell schedule. Meetings will occur before or after school. Students who anticipate a scheduling conflict in the time period before school are asked to contact the Science Department chair.
*This course receives a half-credit – graded pass/fail
The Photography 1A class provides a comprehensive study of photography as an art form. The course will expose the student to fundamental issues unique to the medium through the study of the history of photography. The students will experience a variety of approaches to the medium of black and white photography beginning with photograms and also including pinhole photography and 35mm cameras. Students will create their own photograms, use pinhole cameras to get negatives and make positive images, learn how to process black and white film and enlarge. Portrait photography is a major aspect of the Photography 1A program and the work of portrait photographers such as Arnold Newman, Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Annie Leibovitz, Yousuf Karsh will be presented in class. At the end of the semester, students will work on a final project on a portrait or self-portrait.
This course is an introduction to the social movements of the “Long Sixties” (1945 – 1975), with emphasis on how the Freedom Movements of Black Americans, Chicano & Latinx/Lantiné communities, Asian-Americans, American Indians, Feminists, LGBTQ communities and other racial, ethnic or cultural communities worked toward freedom and equality. Students will identify and evaluate the core tenets of specific social movements including leadership, organization, strategies, accomplishments, and limits. Familiarity with US History is presumed. Students will also assess contemporary movements to ultimately define “freedom” for themselves. Course methodology includes: lectures, class discussion, films, group work, unit response papers land a final paper comparing and contrasting different social movements.
United States Histories and Cultures examines the social, cultural, political, economic, religious and ideological movements and moments that constitute the American history. We will focus explicitly on the diversity of the American experience and the development, change, and perpetuation of structures of inequality in the U.S over time. Empowered with this knowledge, students will then analyze what unites us as Americans through our shared historical experiences, events. Students will examine, critique, and analyze historical narratives, focusing explicitly on tensions between historical events and the stories that have been written about them. This course focuses on building an understanding of knowledge production, critical research and writing skills, and college-level reading and analysis. Students will leave this course prepared to heed our school’s mission to respond to the challenges of our time by becoming active participants in their civic communities.
AP Computer Science A (AP CS-A) is equivalent to a one-semester, introductory college-level computer programming course. AP CS-A introduces students to computer science through programming. Fundamental topics in this course include the design of solutions to problems, the use of data structures to organize large sets of data, the development and implementation of algorithms to process data and discover new information, the analysis of potential solutions, and the ethical and social implications of computing systems. The course emphasizes object-oriented programming and design using the Java programming language.
*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations.
**Students are required to take the AP Computer Science exam administered in May.
