We will vet and curate both on the front end and every semester, including regular evaluation of student feedback and success to determine which courses we will continue to offer.
Science, Technology, Engineering & Math
This course enables you to polish your algebra skills in order to study more advanced math; the course also is for students who intend to focus on areas outside of mathematics and the sciences in their college studies. The algebraic tools studied include those required for precalculus and calculus, as well as for the study of probability, statistics, computer science, and other quantitative fields. In this course, you will learn about graphs, polynomials, rational functions, exponential functions, and logarithmic functions.
This course exposes you to a variety of economic and business concepts, including but not limited to: scarcity, trade offs, opportunity costs, incentives, economic systems, economic institutions, corporate forms, business strategy, management, decision making, marketing, sustainability, labor issues, and finance. This class will use both the case study and seminar approaches utilized at business schools throughout the country.
This course is an overview of descriptive and inferential statistics. Statistics is inherently applied through the course, which emphasizes solutions to problems in a variety of applied settings. You will explore measures of location and variability, probability distributions, correlation and regression, sampling and sampling distributions, hypothesis testing, and estimation with confidence intervals for means and proportions.
This course focuses on recent U.S. History from 1960 to 2010. Vietnam, the Civil Rights Movement, Watergate, the rise of conservatism as well as the great changes in culture, and the role of the U.S. in the world will be explored. Cultural shifts, the changing nature of work, technological change, and their effects on social institutions will also be studied. One highlight of the course is the study of recent American history through plays, music, and film. The course will also teach the fundamentals of historical research and writing, culminating in a project involving research and a paper/project on a topic of your choice. Social movements, (e.g., the women’s rights movement, the civil rights movement, the gay rights movement, the labor and environmental movements) will be at center stage.
What entices communities to start movements of change? How do we best address social injustice? How do we empower ourselves as citizens to protect ourselves and our communities against inequity? What strategies can we employ to effect meaningful social change? Civic engagement is an act of problem-solving. As such, we will use moments in the long history of social justice movements in the U.S. and abroad to uncover the most thoughtful and impactful theories and practices for social action. Along the way, we will read, learn about, and discuss what strategies and processes we can use to effect social change in the communities in which we live.
Historian William H. McNeill once wrote, "The history of the world is the history of disease." Outbreaks of infectious diseases - whether parasitic, bacterial, viral, metabolic, or genetic - have threatened, devastated, and transformed human societies for thousands of years. The bubonic plague (commonly known as the Black Death), cholera, influenza, AIDS, Ebola, SARS, and now Covid-19 (to name the most feared and deadly of these diseases) have time and again engendered profound socio-economic, political, and cultural changes across the globe. Through a detailed analysis of major historical outbreaks of these diseases from the birth of humanity to the present day, this course examines the ways in which different societies in different eras have responded to pandemics, and how those responses altered and continue to alter the course of human history.
This course begins with studies of Earth’sclimate system and how it works across a range of time and space. These includeinvestigations of the circulations of the ocean and atmosphere and theirdynamic interactions such as monsoons, carbon, and other cycles; radiationbalance, the greenhouse effect, and other factors that force climate to change;and feedbacks in the climate system. We will further explore past climates andhow they give us insight into our present climate change considerations andpredictions.
What does it mean to be human? What connects us with thepeople who preceded us? This course will attempt to answer these questions byengaging with great texts from the deep past as well as the current moment and,above all, by asking you to bring your own lived experiences into the realm ofcare and critical analysis. In Seminar, you will engage with Plato and KendrickLamar, Dante and Audre Lorde, Shakespeare and Nicki Minaj through closereading, college-level writing, and intimate Seminar-style discussion. Thegoals of Seminar are to help you gain confidence in your reading, writing, anddiscussion abilities, to develop the skills necessary to succeed in college,and to affirm that your voice matters and it belongs, not only to yourself butto the story of humanity.
How did nigras, coloreds, and negroes become African Americans? This course examines the experiences and political thought of African Americans, beginning with their forced migration from Africa to the Americas. Because Black nationalism has historically climaxed at moments of African American disillusionment, the socio-political inclusiveness of American society can be gauged by the extent of African Americans’ real and imagined connection with Africa. You will also be introduced to the experience of people of African descent in other parts of the Americas (i.e., Caribbean, Brazil, and Latin America). You will discuss the political philosophies of such Black thinkers as Frederick Douglass, Edward Blyden, W.E.B. DuBois, Marcus Garvey, and Malcolm X Shabazz.
What are rights, and who deserves them? What should be the government's role in answering these questions and enforcing the answers? Which government (local, state, national, or extra-national) should have the most power in making these decisions? Which popular traditions and behaviors should the government work to preserve, and which should it try to abolish? These questions and others animated the history of Latin America and they continue to be at the forefront of important debates going on in the region today. In this class, we will explore decisions that were made in specific countries to answer these questions, as well as the consequences of these decisions. Instead of taking a strictly chronological approach, we will focus our study on specific regions and nation-states. We will explore the ways that the past continues to echo in present day Latin America and consider how people of diverse places, races, classes, cultures, and genders responded to changes over time.
In this course, you will explore a wide variety of classic and contemporary authors and texts to build literacy skills and content important for college, the workforce, and civic participation. Based on the popular Odell Education High School Literacy Program, this course is the second step of a four-year high school sequence that empowers students through student-centered and student-led analyses of robust texts and topics. The course firmly roots literacy in texts and ideas - you explore texts worth reading and ideas worth considering. *This is a year-long course.
In this course, youwill explore a wide variety of classic and contemporary authors and texts tobuild literacy skills and content important for college, the workforce, andcivic participation. Based on the popular Odell Education High School LiteracyProgram, this course is the third step of a four-year high school sequence thatempowers students through student-centered and student-led analyses of robusttexts and topics. The course firmly roots literacy in texts and ideas - youexplore texts worth reading and ideas worth considering. *This is a year-long course.
In this course, youwill explore a wide variety of classic and contemporary authors and texts tobuild literacy skills and content important for college, the workforce, andcivic participation. Based on the popular Odell Education High School LiteracyProgram, this course is the fourth step of a four-year high school sequencethat empowers students through student-centered and student-led analyses ofrobust texts and topics. The course firmly roots literacy in texts and ideas -you explore texts worth reading and ideas worth considering. *This is a year-long course.
In this course, you will explore the question of happiness. What is it? How is it achieved? You will learn the features of the mind that lead us to think the way we do, and the research that can help us change. You will engage in a series of challenges designed to increase your own well-being and build more productive habits. You will ultimately be prepared to successfully incorporate a specific wellness activity into your life. The course is an interdisciplinary course, integrating Psychology with English Language Arts through a focus on discussion, reading, and expository writing.
The goal of this course is to explore the mystery of what makes us tick - do we control our mind or does our mind control us? Can we trust what we remember? What is love? The course explores these and other questions of the mind. This is an interdisciplinary course, integrating Psychology with English Language Arts through a focus on discussion, reading, and expository writing.
We all be long to many groups. You’re a member of your family. You may belong to as ports team or the crowd watching a sporting event. Why do we feel and act differently in different groups? Why do we play different roles? How are your individual experiences shaped by society and how do your individual actions, in turn, shape society? Is it possible to resist the lure of a group? Should we? These are some of the many questions we will explore in this course. The course is an interdisciplinary course, integrating Sociology with English Language Arts through a focus on discussion, reading, and expository writing.
This course pairs classic poetry with original spoken word to put your voice at the center of learning. This highly engaging, interactive course empowers expression and strengthens social-emotional skills by using multi-genre writing, reading, speaking and listening, giving you the opportunity to “speak back” and “share your truth.” With a focus on peer-to-peer learning with collaborative teaching, research, writing, revision, workshops, publishing, and performance, you will learn about how to connect with your story and your power. The Words Ignite course uses multiple methods and intelligences to create a learning community that fosters self-confidence, identity, interpersonal skills, empathy, cultural activism, and self-advocacy through the lens of literacy and public speaking.
This course teaches standard and non-conventional methods of creating animation using various techniques. You will learn basic software, master main stages of story creation, and explore principles of working with graphics using critical thinking. You will develop the skills and mindset needed for future careers in creative industries like digital art and content management.
From ideation to execution, you will pick a social issue to promote. Leveraging digital marketing tools like TikTok, Wix, and Canva, you will learn to accelerate social change with advertising, brand positioning and marketing analytics. This will prepare you for the skills and mindsets needed for future careers in roles like strategic manager, financial analyst, policymaker and marketing manager.
Want to learn to Run The Future? This course is for you! You will learn about entrepreneurship as a career path, through the lens of Black entrepreneurs who have gone before you. You will go on a journey to develop your own entrepreneurial identity, skills, and eventually your own new venture concept. You will engage with real-world entrepreneurial activities in each lesson, completing multiple projects related to your own startup venture, and you will build a portfolio throughout the course that can be the foundation for building a viable venture during or soon after the course. This course is focused on Black entrepreneurial identity but is open to all! Note: This course is for 11th-12th graders only.
This course uses a case-based approach to give you a practical look into the professional lives of lawyers and legal thinking. By studying and debating a series of real legal cases, you will sharpen your ability to think like lawyers who research, write and speak persuasively. The course will focus on problems that lawyers encounter in daily practice and on the rules of professional case law. This is an interdisciplinary course, integrating an introduction to law with English Language Arts through a focus on discussion, reading, and analytical writing.
This course introduces you to the basics of nutrition science and helps foster more informed food and beverage consumers. This course starts with an exploration into the science of nutrition and builds on that as you explore the basics of planning a healthy diet. You will apply basic scientific principles in a section on cooking skills, followed by an in-depth look at nutrients including their chemical structures, dietary sources, and impact on health and disease. This course is relevant for students who are exploring career paths in the health, nutrition and dietetics fields.
In this course, you will investigate and explore your sense of purpose: deepening your understanding of who you are as an individual, what strengths you bring to your communities, and what motivates you to engage in the world. Your understanding of your purpose will then inform your journey to explore different career fields. You will expand your perspective on potential career options, gain skills to engage and grow your connections, build a professional portfolio to reflect your skills and experiences, and chart a purpose-driven path for your future.
This course’s insightful content illuminates the music and cultural connections of Black music from the 1600s to the present, embodied in its multiple genres, both secular and religious, such as plantation songs, folk spirituals, ragtime, blues, jazz, gospel, R&B, freedom songs, hip-hop, and neo-soul, as it explores the historical depth and profound impact of this music in the United States and the world. The goal of this course is to expand your awareness, appreciation, and knowledge of the glory and variety of African-American music and the far-reaching contributions of its most salient exponents.
Love listening to music? Music is an art as well as science, and through this course, you will learn how to appreciate both its emotional and intellectual content. This course provides you with the tools to understand what is going on technically when you are listening to music so that your experience is not limited to a wash of sound that produces a certain feeling. This includes the development of an attentive style of listening, the introduction and systematic study of the building blocks of music, and enhancing awareness of the leading musical styles of selected Western and non-Western cultures.
The Power of Public Speaking course will help you become an influential public speaker – a very valuable leadership and career skill! You will get a thorough introduction into the components of effective public speaking, including strong organization, content, and delivery techniques. Through a variety of speaking and reflection assignments, you will be empowered with the foundational core skills on your journey to skillful communication. Special attention is placed on organizational speech patterns and outlining, and class activities are adapted more closely to relate to your career goals. Additionally, the course will offer you valuable tips from Toastmasters and esteemed communication scholars on presenting career and scenario-specific speeches.
Structuredaround the 5 Practices for OrchestratingProductive Mathematics Discussions (Smith & Stein, 2018), this courseis the first step of a three-year high school sequence built upon theComprehensive Mathematics Instruction Framework to meet the expectations ofCollege and Career Ready Standards. You will participate in low-threshold, highceiling tasks that explore one-variable statistics; linear equations,inequalities and systems; two-variable statistics; functions; exponentialfunctions; quadratic functions; and quadratic equations.
*This is a year-longcourse
High-dosage math tutoring is designed to provide Algebra 1 students with scaffolded support. Based on the Illustrative Mathematics curriculum, each tutoring lesson is associated with a lesson in the Algebra 1 course so that students get the prerequisite preparation they need to succeed in the associated Algebra 1 lesson. Students receive tutoring in groups of 2-4 students. Tutors are college students, advanced degree candidates, and teachers vetted and trained by Coursello (course partner).
*This is a year-long offering.
Structured around the 5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions (Smith & Stein, 2018), this course is the second step of a three-year high school sequence built upon the Comprehensive Mathematics Instruction Framework to meet the expectations of College and Career Ready Standards. You will participate in low-threshold, high ceiling tasks that explore constructions and rigid Transformations, congruence, similarity, right triangle trigonometry, solid geometry, coordinate geometry, circles, and conditional probability. Note: A prerequisite for this course is Algebra I. *This is a year-long course.
High-dosage math tutoring is designed to provide Geometry students with scaffolded support. Based on the Illustrative Mathematics curriculum, each tutoring lesson is associated with a lesson in the Geometry course so that students get the prerequisite preparation they need to succeed in the associated Geometry 1 lesson. Students receive tutoring in groups of 2-4 students. Tutors are college students, advanced degree candidates, and teachers vetted and trained by Coursello (course partner). *This is a year-long offering.
Structured around the 5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions (Smith & Stein, 2018), this course is the third step of a three-year high school sequence built upon the Comprehensive Mathematics Instruction Framework to meet the expectations of College and Career Ready Standards. You will participate in low-threshold, high ceiling tasks that explore sequences and functions; polynomials; complex numbers and rational exponents; exponential equations and functions; transformations of functions; trigonometric functions; and statistical inference. Note: A prerequisite for this course is Algebra I and Geometry. *This is a year-long course.
High-dosage math tutoring is designed to provide Algebra 2 students with scaffolded support. Based on the Illustrative Mathematics curriculum, each tutoring lesson is associated with a lesson in the Algebra 2 course so that students get the prerequisite preparation they need to succeed in the associated Algebra 2 lesson. Students receive tutoring in groups of 2-4 students. Tutors are college students, advanced degree candidates, and teachers vetted and trained by Coursello.
*This is a year-long offering.
Using Python® as a primary tool, you will explore and become inspired by career paths that utilize computing, discover tools that foster creativity and collaboration, and use what you have learned to tackle challenges like app development and simulation. This course is endorsed by the College Board, giving you the opportunity to take the AP Computer Science Principles exam for college credit based on a passing AP score. Note: A prerequisite for this course is Computer Science Essentials, listed under the STEM section.
You will cultivate your understanding of coding through analyzing, writing, and testing code as you explore concepts like modularity, variables, and control structures. This course is endorsed by the College Board, giving you the opportunity to take the AP Computer Science A exam for college credit based on a passing AP score. Note: A prerequisite for this course is Computer Science Essentials.
Whether seeking a career in the growing field of cybersecurity or learning to defend your own personal data or a company’s data, we will establish an ethical code of conduct while learning to defend data in today’s complex cyberworld.
AP Physics 1 is an algebra-based, introductory college-level physics course. You will cultivate your understanding of physics through classroom study, in-class activity, and virtual, inquiry-based laboratory simulations as you explore concepts like systems, fields, force interactions, change, conservation, and waves. The course anchors on and integrates the following science practices: modeling, mathematical routines, scientific questioning, experimental methods, data analysis, argumentation, and making connections. Students will be prepared for the AP Physics 1 exam should they chose to take it in the spring. Note: A prerequisite for this course is Geometry, and you may concurrently take Algebra II (or equivalent). You should be fluent and comfortable in using these underlying mathematical concepts to succeed in this course. *This is a year-long course.
AP Physics C is a year-long, calculus-based, college-level physics course, which combines two semester long classes: AP Physics C: Mechanics and AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism. This course is especially appropriate if you’re planning to specialize or major in one of the physical sciences or engineering. You will cultivate your understanding of physics through classroom study and activities as well as hands-on laboratory simulations as you explore concepts like change, force interactions, fields, and conservation. The course anchors on and integrates the following science practices: visual representations, question and method, representing data and phenomena, data analysis, theoretical relationships, mathematical routines, argumentation. Students will be prepared for both AP Physics C exams should they chose to take them in the spring. Note: You should have completed or are concurrently taking AP Calculus (AB, BC) or an equivalent Calculus course. *This is a year-long course.
With an emphasis on Deaf culture, you will develop the receptive and expressive skills to communicate and interact successfully within the Deaf community. You will develop ASL communication skills through synchronous and asynchronous assignments, conversation sessions with the instructor, small groups of peers, instructional videos, discussions about culture, and collaborations on group projects. Additionally, you will learn the foundational vocabulary and grammar of ASL. While both expressive and receptive skills will be the focus of the class, emphasis will be placed on expressive skills.
With an emphasis on Chinese culture, you will develop their skills in listening, reading, writing in Chinese, forming grammatically correct structured sentences, and most importantly, conversation. This will be accomplished through synchronous and asynchronous assignments, conversation sessions with the instructor and a group of peers, instructional videos, discussions about culture, and collaborations on group projects.
With an emphasis on Latin American culture, you will develop their skills in listening, reading, writing in Spanish, forming grammatically correct structured sentences, and most importantly, conversation. This will be accomplished through synchronous and asynchronous assignments, conversation sessions with the instructor and a group of peers, instructional videos, discussions about culture, and collaborations on group projects.
Spanish 2 builds on Spanish 1. You will further develop your skills in listening, reading, writing in Spanish. In Spanish 2, you will learn to communicate in spontaneous spoken conversations on familiar topics, including food, weather, and hobbies using a variety of practiced or memorized words, phrases, simple sentences, and questions. These goals are accomplished through synchronous and asynchronous assignments, conversation sessions with the instructor and a group of peers, instructional videos, discussions about culture, and collaborations on group projects.
