Civics examines the structure and function of American systems of government and the role of citizens in the political process. This course explores the crucial role that citizens have in accessing power and mediating the forms of power that government and corporations have in American society. Civics classroom work encourages and leads students to authentic democratic participation and builds a strong sense of civic identity. Instruction is student-centered, utilizes multiple resources and pedagogical strategies, provides access to multiple forms of complex text, and is driven by authentic group projects.

This course will focus student learning on the peoples, ideas, and forces that have shaped our world, and enable students to investigate their place in and capacity to act in an increasingly interdependent global society. It will allow students to appreciate the rich cultures that exist across the world. This course will advance through a combination of content knowledge, inquiry, and appropriate analytical skills in a literacy-rich fashion. These thematic investigations will include an emphasis on interdisciplinary social sciences and build understanding of cultural, institutional, economic, and technological patterns that, along with geography, have set the human stage.

This course covers the founding and settling of the City of Chicago.  From the founding to the present, this course will examine when, where, how, and why different ethnic groups settled in Chicago and how neighborhoods were founded.  This course will examine Chicago’s economic impact and rights of citizens in Chicago, the socio-economic plight of citizens in the city, and the racial and social disparities experienced by citizens in the City of Chicago. Students develop knowledge concerning the impact of technological change on Chicago and the economic and demographic forces that have helped shape the city’s history.

This course will provide an introduction to all aspects of business. The impact and application of computer technology as it relates to business will also be introduced. Students will develop proficiency in technology related to the workplace, including all Microsoft Office Products and the Google Apps for Business. Emphasis will be placed on using the computer, along with workplace communication skills (thinking, listening, composing, revising, editing, and speaking), math, and problem solving. Students will be introduced to a wide range of careers in business and technology. Representatives of the industry, through guest speakers, will reinforce career and pre-employment skills. In addition, students will complete individual and team projects that will be presented to peers.

In English I students will engage in grade-level Common Core State Standards (CCSS) aligned reading and writing practices, through a wide range of literary and informational texts to bridge their learning from middle school to high school. Students will engage in practices to support their emerging mastery of the CCSS for Writing in their grade band and express themselves in multiple writing formats, including narratives, investigative reports, literary analyses, and research papers. Across all writing formats, students will write in the conventions of the CCSS writing modes. Students in English I will employ academic English in discussions that align with CCSS for Speaking & Listening.

In English II, students will engage in grade-level Common Core State Standards (CCSS) aligned reading and writing practices, through a wide range of literary and informational texts that will build upon English I. Students will engage in practices to support their mastery of the CCSS for Writing in their grade band and express themselves in multiple writing formats, including narratives, investigative reports, literary analyses, and research papers. Across all writing formats, students will write in the conventions of the CCSS writing modes. Students in English II will employ academic English in discussions that align with CCSS for Speaking & Listening.

In English III, students will engage in grade-level Common Core State Standards (CCSS) aligned reading and writing practices through a wide range of literary and informational texts that will emphasize college and career preparation. Students will engage in practices to support their emerging mastery of the CCSS for Writing in their grade band and express themselves in multiple writing formats, including narratives, investigative reports, literary analyses, and research papers. Across all writing formats, students will write in the conventions of the CCSS writing modes. Students in English III will employ academic English in discussions that align with CCSS for Speaking & Listening.

In English IV, students will engage in grade-level Common Core State Standards (CCSS) aligned reading and writing practices, through a wide range of literary and informational texts that will prepare them for post-secondary experiences. Students will engage in practices to support their mastery of the CCSS for Writing in their grade band and express themselves in multiple writing formats, including narratives, investigative reports, literary analyses, and research papers. Across all writing formats, students will write in the conventions of the CCSS writing modes. Students in English IV will employ academic English in discussions that align with CCSS for Speaking & Listening.

Students examine the principles of various media, including, but not limited to, print journalism, photojournalism, broadcast journalism, internet blogging, basic audio and video production, public relations, and media/press kits. Students create media using journalistic techniques and standards, study the role of law and ethics in journalism, the responsibility of journalists to the public, the First Amendment to the Constitution, and analyze bias in various media outlets. Students will work on creating and writing a school newspaper or newsletter, maintain a school blog, and use audio-visual and editing software to create school, community, and student-centered video productions. Students will also analyze documentary film formats.

Students will engage in a variety of physical activities designed to promote and develop lifelong health and skill-related fitness. Experiences may include, but are not limited to: fitness-based activities, fitness testing, health-related concepts, individual and team activities, and wellness walking. Students will also engage in a classroom-based health course that includes the following components of health: physical, spiritual, emotional, mental, environmental, and social.

Seminar courses are provided at grades 9-12.  Each course is focused on the varying needs at each grade level.  Grades 9 and 10 practice the note-taking, time management, study, social and human relations skills they need every day in their academic and elective subjects and in their “real” lives outside of school.  We have also partnered with EMBARC, a program that provides community-driven, experience-based learning opportunities. Grades 11 and 12 Seminars focus on study skills, post-secondary explorations, college applications, financial studies, resume writing, job applications, and consumer education.

This course is designed to introduce non-native Spanish-speaking students to basic functional proficiency in Spanish with an emphasis on vocabulary development. Students will learn basic conversational topics, such as greetings and farewells, making descriptions of themselves and others, finding out information, talking about one’s family, ordering food, identifying personal belongings, identifying public buildings and places, making plans, making purchases, etc. The course enhances four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The emphasis is on student-student and student-teacher interactions to simulate real-world situations. Differentiation will be made for native speakers of Spanish.

This intermediate course is designed to introduce students to more advanced grammar structures in Spanish with an emphasis on sentence structure and verb tenses. It continues to enhance and further develop the four basic skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students will be able to speak and write in the present tense, past tense, and future tense, plus the use of high-frequency irregular verbs. Students will be able to read passages and write paragraphs and short essays. The course focuses on a communicative-based approach that emphasizes fluency. As a result, students will engage in oral skits that model common real-life situations. Differentiation will be made for native speakers of Spanish.

The Public Speaking/Speech course is aimed at introducing students to the basic concepts of communication. It aims to make students not only better communicators, but better rhetoricians; people capable of using sound and ethical rhetoric and of analyzing other forms of communication for subtle usage of logos, ethos, and pathos. Regardless of which career path you choose, you will have to interact with people. Learning to communicate well and speak with poise is among the most beneficial skills with which you can leave high school. To get a job, you will have to go through an interview and, irrespective of how knowledgeable and well-qualified you are for the position, you must be able to convince the interviewer(s) that you are the best candidate. So, open your mind, clear your throat, and get ready to overcome your fears and become a better orator.

The study of United States History allows students to understand the people, ideas, and forces that have shaped this country. Moving through the development of our maturing democracy will allow students to explore both their individual and our collective place in an interdependent global society. Students will access diverse texts to explore what it means to live in America by studying the people, key ideas, and events that shaped our history, and include a focus on the struggles to achieve class, ethnic, racial, and gender equality, and the successes and failures that have shaped who we are.

This course will focus student learning on the people, ideas, and forces that have shaped our world, and enable students to investigate their place in and capacity to act in an increasingly interdependent global society. It will allow students to appreciate the rich cultures that exist across the world. This course will advance through a combination of content knowledge, inquiry, and appropriate analytical skills in a literacy-rich fashion. These thematic investigations will include an emphasis on interdisciplinary social sciences and build understanding of cultural, institutional, economic, and technological patterns that, along with geography, have set the human stage.

The students learn and enhance their written and oral communication skills by presenting their views and opinions to the class. Students learn how to arrange and present debates, speeches, and interviews to be effective leaders in today’s society.