Social Studies

0.5 Credit Level 2 NCAA

This course will follow a chronological overview of U.S. immigrant History as well as thematic sections to cover significant and current issues.  U.S. immigrant history is as much about exclusion as it is about inclusion.  One goal of the course is to provide historical context to debates about citizenship, immigration reform, and integration.  The other goal of the course is for students to explore their own family’s immigrant history.  Students will hone their critical thinking, reading and writing skills through student centered activities. By the end of this course, students will gain a greater understanding of both immigration history and America’s national narrative.  

Requirements for placement: junior or senior status 

0.5 Credit Level 2 NCAA

As a chronological and thematically based course, students will investigate the historical context of Germany to understand the effects of World War 1 in creating a discriminatory atmosphere towards European Jews. This analysis seeks to create an understanding of the events leading up to, contributing to, and after the Holocaust in a present day application to our role in the world.

Requirement for placement: Junior or Senior status 

0.5 Credit Level 2 NCAA

This extension course is designed to provide students with a continued understanding of geography and an appreciation for past civilizations while moving towards the modern era of European History. This is a continuation of the Western Civilization course of study and will pick up after the Hundred Years War. Studies follow a thematic approach to the Renaissance, Reformation, Age of Exploration, and Absolute Monarchs of Europe that incorporate project-based learning and class discussions. 

Requirements for placement: sophomore, junior, senior status     

0.5 Credit Level 2 NCAA

This course is designed to give the student a survey look into American culture set upon the backdrop of famous and important trials throughout American history. We will pay particular attention to why these trials captured the public’s attention at the time they occurred and why they still have a hold on the popular imagination today. Students will work on student centered projects with a heavy emphasis on project based learning.

Requirements for placement: junior or senior status

0. 5 Credit Level 2 NCAA

This course is an introduction to the behavioral sciences. Sociology presents an introductory survey of the individual in society.  Sociology focuses on the systematic understanding of social interaction, social organization, social institutions, and social change. Sociologists investigate the structure of groups, organizations, and societies, and how people interact within these contexts. Students in this course will study various sociological methods such as case study, survey, and statistical evaluations.  Topics receiving major attention are collective behavior, communication, socialization, deviance, and culture. In this course students will learn the basics of sociology through a variety of readings, blogs, social experiments and video clips and “do” sociology through regular data workshops and group projects where they will test theories and recognize the social issues we all experience. 

Requirements for placement: junior or senior status.

0.5 Credit Level 2 NCAA

Students will investigate a thematically based study of the development, structure, functions, and politics of American Government at the federal, state, and local levels. The study of foreign policy, the government’s role in our economy, and current events are integrated into discussion. This course is an action oriented program, which involves student participation in the election process in order to combine the theory of the classroom with the realities of government in their role and responsibilities as a faithful American citizen. As part of their senior service project, students are required to work a minimum of ten hours in a municipal, state, or national election campaign.

Requirements for placement: senior status

0.5 Credit  Level 3     NCAA

The focus of this course is to prepare students to participate in exercising their political responsibilities as thoughtful and informed citizens, as well as give students an analytical perspective on government and politics in the United States. Emphasis is placed on how systems of government are founded, function, and impact individual, local, state, and national decisions. Students will read and analyze U.S. foundational documents, Supreme Court decisions, and other texts and visuals to gain an understanding of the relationships and interactions between political institutions and behavior. They will read and interpret data, develop evidence-based arguments, and engage in research-based projects. As part of their senior service project, students are required to work a minimum of ten hours in a municipal, state, or national election campaign.

Requirements for placement: 85% average in all classes and signature of your second term US History Teacher

1 Credit Level 4 NCAA

AP United States Government and Politics is a college-level introduction to key political concepts, ideas, institutions, policies, interactions, roles, and behaviors that characterize the constitutional system and political culture of the United States. Students will read and analyze U.S. foundational documents, Supreme Court decisions, and other texts and visuals to gain an understanding of the relationships and interactions between political institutions and behavior. They will read and interpret data, develop evidence-based arguments, and engage in an applied civics or politics research-based project.  This course is preparation for the Advanced Placement United States Government and Politics examination, which students will be offered to take in May. As part of their senior service project, students are required to work a minimum of ten hours in a municipal, state, or national election campaign.

Requirements for placement: overall 90 average; senior status and signature of your second term US History Teacher

1 Credit Level 2 NCAA

This survey course includes the study of the United States from the Colonial Period to the Present.  Emphasis is placed on political, social, economic, geographic, and cultural factors, which have shaped the course of events that has allowed the United States to gain independence, expand, and develop into a modern day world power.  Students will read and analyze primary source texts and visuals to gain an understanding of the relationships and interactions between political institutions and behavior. They will read and interpret data, develop evidence-based arguments, and engage in student centered research-based projects. An emphasis of this course’s thematic focus will be on the political, social, economic, geographic, and cultural factors that led to the development of the United States from a colonial territory to a world superpower.

Requirements for placement: junior status

1 Credit Level 3 NCAA

The Honors Level American History program is designed to provide students with an accelerated look into America’s history with a focus on developing higher level skills such as; analysis, evaluation, critical thinking, logical reasoning, and problem solving. Students will be required to regularly write historical essays and papers throughout the course. The course will include the study of the United States from the Colonial Period to the present with an emphasis on the social, political, and economic factors that have shaped the nation. 

Requirements for placement: junior status; 85% average in all classes and signature of your second term World Cultures teacher

1 Credit Level 4    NCAA

In a College Board designed and approved curriculum students will learn how to use the AP Historical Thinking Skills and the AP Connecting Themes to understand the nine periods of United States history from pre-contact America to the modern era. Students will work on AP Exam strategies in preparation to take the AP exam for potential college credit. 

Requirements for placement:  junior status; 90% average in all classes and signature of your second term World Cultures teacher

1 Credit Level 2        NCAA

This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the ancient and medieval societies of Western Europe with an emphasis on the culture, geography, and government systems. Classes are student driven with a focus on project based learning. The course begins with ancient Greece and extends through the end of the Hundred Years War.  

Requirements for placement: freshman status

1 Credit Level 3 NCAA

The Honors World Cultures course is one component of the interdisciplinary Moreau Honors Program that integrates the English, World Cultures, and Old Testament courses through long-term projects, analytical thinking, critical reading, research techniques, and class interaction. The course emphasizes a comprehensive treatment of world cultures in order to inform students about the origin and development of the world’s major civilizations. The course encourages the formation of students’ critical thinking skills needed to make objective judgments about historical and contemporary issues. It also presents a global perspective of the forces and movements that have made the past continuous with, and relevant to, the present. Honors students are actively engaged in higher-level critical thinking and student-centered activities in order to analyze, interpret, and evaluate the historical and cultural patterns of the world. Throughout the year, students participate in the following activities: individual and group presentations, debates, role playing, discussion and reenactment of battles, technology-based projects, and web quests.

Requirements for placement: previous record; high verbal scores on the entrance exam; signature of school counselor