Mandarin 2 Honors

Mandarin 2H is an accelerated course designed to challenge the student who, during his/her first year, has actively participated in class, mastered the grammar and vocabulary presented in level one and/or demonstrated the ability to advance more rapidly than the average college preparatory student. The teacher will aid students in acquiring the following skills: increased oral proficiency on a variety of topics, an expanded vocabulary, the ability to read selections appropriate to low intermediate level students and increased ability to write essays. The course materials are designed to stimulate conversation and to perfect that skill, striving to imitate the native speaker’s pronunciation, accent, and rhythm, as the student’s abilities increase. Students will also become more informed about some of the contemporary problems and difficulties affecting Chinese communities. Students will further develop their ability to express themselves in spoken and written Mandarin Chinese.

*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA

Mandarin 3 Honors

Mandarin 3H is an advanced language course designed for students identified during their first two years as superior Mandarin students, who wish to become fluent in Mandarin and prepare themselves for Mandarin 4 AP. This course broadens the range of grammatical structures the students can effectively use in communication. Considerable emphasis will be given to enriching the students’ active vocabulary and increasing their ability to comprehend and express themselves in spoken and written Mandarin. The students will be required to speak in Mandarin in various situations ranging from class discussions to oral presentations and skits. Students will be able to read with comprehension selected short stories and various articles. This course includes a closer look at the classic and modern Chinese culture, enriching the student’s vocabulary and deepening his or her awareness of the Mandarin-speaking world. This class is conducted mainly in Mandarin and students are expected to speak in Mandarin at all times.

*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations

Spanish 2 Honors

Spanish 2H is an accelerated course designed to challenge the student who, during his/her first year, has actively participated in class, mastered the grammar and vocabulary presented in level one and/or demonstrated the ability to advance more rapidly than the average college preparatory student.  The teacher will aid students in acquiring the following skills: increased oral proficiency on a variety of topics, an expanded vocabulary, the ability to read selections appropriate to intermediate level students and increased ability to write essays.  The course materials are designed to stimulate conversation and to perfect that skill, striving to imitate the native speaker’s pronunciation, accent, and rhythm, as the student’s abilities increase.  Students will also become more informed about some of the contemporary problems and difficulties affecting Hispanic communities.  Students will further develop their ability to express themselves in spoken and written Spanish.

*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA

Spanish 3 Honors

Spanish 3H is an advanced language course designed for students identified during their first two years as those superior Spanish students, who wish to become fluent in Spanish and prepare themselves for Spanish 4 AP. Students will practice the major grammar structures previously studied, as well as more complex grammar concepts, including expanded uses of the subjunctive mood.  Considerable emphasis will be given to enriching the students’ active vocabulary and increasing their ability to comprehend and express themselves in spoken and written Spanish.  Students will be required to speak in Spanish in a variety of situations ranging from class discussion to oral presentations and situations.  Students will be able to read with comprehension selected short stories and newspaper and magazine articles. They will also become more informed about some of the contemporary problems and difficulties affecting Hispanic communities.  This class is conducted in Spanish, and students are expected to speak Spanish at all time.

*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations

AP Spanish Language & Culture

AP Spanish language covers the equivalent material of a third-year college course in advanced Spanish composition and conversation.  The aims of this two-semester course are: to improve dramatically the student’s speaking ability; to review systematically grammar previously studied; to master — orally and in writing — new and more complex grammar concepts; to expose students to the literary use of Spanish and to increase both their literal and critical reading skills; to prepare students for the Advanced Placement Spanish Language Examination; and to enhance the students’ knowledge of the cultural diversity of the Spanish-speaking world.  Students will be required to speak Spanish in a variety of situations ranging from class discussions to oral presentations and debates.  Students will read newspaper and magazine articles, short stories, poems, and excerpts from novels or plays by peninsular and/or Latin American authors.  The selected class materials are designed to stimulate and perfect conversation and to assist students in the imitation of the native speaker’s pronunciation, rhythm, moods and humor as their abilities increase. This class is conducted in Spanish, and students are expected to speak Spanish at all times.

*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations

Geometry Honors

This course follows generally the description of the traditional geometry course but provides extensive experience from early stages with the devising, presentation, and defense of student proofs and the theoretical consideration of the nature of proof (direct and indirect; in two-column, flow, and analytical paragraph form).  The Honors course includes a more extensive coverage of solid geometry, an introduction to analytic geometry and trigonometry, and opportunities for curricular enrichment in problem-solving.  Additional topics include vectors, trigonometric identities, conic sections, and the study of trigonometric and circular functions. Within the context of Geometry, the Honors course includes more challenging algebraic applications, such as solving quadratic, rational, irrational, logarithmic, and exponential equations. This course is designed for the student who successfully completed Algebra 2H as a freshman, but any student may apply.  A Texas Instruments TI-83 or TI-84 series graphing calculator is required.

*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA

Algebra 2 Honors

This course is offered to entering freshmen who have demonstrated mastery of Algebra 1 content.  The course includes in-depth analysis of higher degree polynomials; analysis, interpretation and graphing of rational functions, including asymptotic behavior; an in-depth consideration of the conic sections, including transformations.  Students who successfully complete Algebra 2 Honors typically enroll in Precalculus Honors after the completion of their Geometry course. A Texas Instruments TI-83 or TI-84 series graphing calculator is required.

*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA

Precalculus Honors

Precalculus mathematics is a course designed for the student who intends to continue the study of mathematics in the direction of the natural or physical sciences and is an intensive preparation for Calculus.  Most of the course is an analysis of families of functions and relations – polynomials; rational function; radical functions; trigonometric functions, including an intense study of right triangle trigonometry, its applications to vectors, circular functions, and trigonometric identities; logarithmic functions; and exponential functions — and their graphs both algebraically and through the graphing calculator, including an introduction to the fundamental aspects of Calculus. Significant independent work is considered a requirement for this course – students will be asked to perform independent study tasks, including (but not limited to) viewing and taking notes from screencasts, taking online quizzes, and collaborative learning. A Texas Instruments TI-83 or TI-84 series graphing calculator is required.

*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations

AP Calculus AB

This course is designed for the student who is interested in pursuing a college major with a strong emphasis in mathematics. The course will cover three main topics of Calculus:  limits, derivatives, and integrals. The course will emphasize a multi-representational approach to calculus with concepts and solutions expressed graphically, numerically, and analytically. The course emphasizes conceptual understanding of derivatives, integrals, and limits, as well as applications of these concepts. In order to develop these concepts, functions and graphs are a fundamental part of this course.  A Texas Instruments TI-83 or TI-84 series graphing calculator is required.

*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations

AP Statistics

This course is designed to give students a foundation for further studies in math while emphasizing preparation for majors in psychology, sociology, and other non-calculus fields. The course is intended for students wishing to complete the equivalent of a one-semester non-calculus based college course in statistics and will introduce them to the major concepts and tools for collecting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data.  A Texas Instruments TI-83 or TI-84 series graphing calculator is required.

*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations