3225 WILKENS AVENUE
BALTIMORE MARYLAND 21229
TEL: 410.644.1770

Semester/Year Course: Full Year

Required/Elective: Required

World History is a dynamic discipline that includes more than mere memorization of facts. It requires an understanding of the trends and transitions that drive history. Thus, in addition to learning about the major civilizations of the world, we will explore what sustains these civilizations; what leads to their rise, prosperity, and fall; and the roles climate and geography play in these transitions. We will also seek to understand how civilizations interact with one another and how an understanding of peoples of the past might shed light on our own times, and vice versa.

 

Required/Elective: Required

Course Objective: U.S. History is a course for students to use historical and geographical analysis to explore the history of the United States. Students will be encouraged to think critically about influential events, issues, and people in the American experience. This is a two-semester survey of our history from the age of exploration and discovery to the present.

Semester/Year Course: Full Year

Required/Elective: Required

Course Description: U.S. History Honors is a course that includes analysis of primary and secondary historical data to explore the history of our nation. Students will use various sources to think critically about events, issues, and people that influenced American history. This is a two-semester survey of our history from the age of exploration and discovery to the present.

Required/Elective: Required

This is a mandated course for seniors. The American political and legal systems are complex and constantly changing. A basic understanding of how our federal, state, and local governments work, as well as an examination of our legal system, is the course target. A brief survey of classic political science opens the course with a focus on antecedents of the American system. An analysis is done of the creation of our Constitution and its construction and targeted outcomes. The major institutions of government, including the three branches, political parties, voting and elections, interest groups and the media, policy making, etc. are included. The origins and operational procedures of the legal system are examined, as well as practical applications of the law. A special effort is made to incorporate local (Baltimore) and state (Maryland) systems and history wherever possible. The major exit competency will be the acquisition of status as a well-informed, knowledgeable, conscientious, and informed citizen and voter.

Semester/Year Course: Full Year

Required/Elective: Elective

In conjunction with the College Board, the US Government Course is offered as an Advanced Placement course leading to the awarding of college credit upon successful completion of a nation-wide qualifying exam with a minimum score. The six major course themes are provided by the College Board and the subsequent units of instruction and activities are created by the teacher. The entire curriculum must be submitted to the College Board for approval. The course begins with an examination of the Constitutional Underpinnings of the US Government including a study of the Constitution and its creation. Next political beliefs and behaviors are studied including public opinion. Political parties, interest groups, and the mass media are next as areas of study including their effects on the political process. A major theme regarding the Institutions of National Government is next. In this theme the three branches of government are examined in detail as well as interrelationships among the three. Public Policy and its development and application are studied next with a focus on the bureaucracy and formation of policy agendas. Finally civil rights and civil liberties are examined in great detail especially in relationship to the 14^th Amendment and the Constitution.

Semester/Year Course: Full Year

Required/Elective: Elective

Course Description: AP U.S. History is for qualified applicants who wish to complete studies in high school equivalent to an introductory college course in U.S. history.   This course is a two semester survey from the age of discovery and exploration to the present. Students will use various sources to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the events, issues, and people that have created our history.

Semester/Year Course: Full Year

Required/Elective: Elective

In a diverse society such as our school, exposure to non-traditional and non-western modes of history is a significant target. To that end, the history of those of African origin is significant. This course examines the entire spectrum of that experience from the “Mother” continent to North America, the colonies, the U.S. experience, and today. An examination is done of the African homeland and the magnificent cultures and kingdoms that existed there. The horrors of the Middle Passage and the onset of slavery are examined in detail. The period of captivity both in the new colonies and the other Americas is studied, as well as the failure of the Constitution and the new nation to address the status of millions of persons of African origin. The history and status of free blacks is examined also. The tortuous road to the Civil War is covered as the nation continued to struggle with its burden of slavery. The culture of slavery is examined, as well as protests, some violent, against it. The conflict of the Civil War and its aftermath in Reconstruction is closely studied to understand how progress was made and lost. The origins and nuances of the Jim Crow system are then reviewed with a focus on black life, both urban and rural. The appearance of individuals such as Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. duBois, Marcus Garvey, and others is noted and their efforts studied. The facets of the Great Migration and the shift to urban society are examined, as well as the majesty of the Harlem Renaissance. World War II and tide of rising expectations are then reviewed. The last unit examines in great detail and the Civil Rights Era, utilizing the PBS “Eyes on the Prize” series as a guide. Throughout the course supplemental activities examining cultural aspects such as literature, music and dance, will be included.

Semester/Year Course: Full Year

Required/Elective: Elective

This course is designed to give students an introduction to psychology. Students will learn about the history and people that formed the basis of psychology, and will explore the theories and practices that make up this ever changing science. This course will provide the educational foundation for future study in this field.