History and Music Honors is an innovative social science course in which students learn to connect the political, social, economic, and spiritual climate of Western civilization to the music and art it has produced. This course begins in ancient Greece and travels through each period up to the present. Students will improve academic literacy through primary source analysis, close reading of a college level text, and comparisons of various historical articles. Vetting sources for research and solid study skills will be introduced and practiced. In addition, we will examine artwork and music from every historical period. In the course, skits and presentations are assigned so that students live out historical events. History and Music Honors course celebrates the gift of music from God as an outlet for creative expression and how the aesthetic of art changes as the times change. This course serves as preparation for future AP courses in the social sciences.

Beginning in the Renaissance and continuing through the modern period, Modern World History examines historical eras through literature, science, theology, economics, and art. Specific topics include the Industrial Revolution, globalization, and the economic philosophies of capitalism, socialism, communism, and mercantilism/imperialism. Through creative hands-on projects, debates, primary source documents, and more, students explore events that shape our world and learn how the actions of individuals can impact the course of world history.

AP Human Geography explores how people shape places and how places shape people, connecting real-world issues like migration, culture, politics, cities, and development to the landscapes students see every day. Students learn to think like geographers by analyzing maps, spatial data, and case studies from around the world, building the skills needed to interpret global patterns, regional differences, and local impacts.

As this is an AP course, consider the following instructor standards: knowledge of world geography (continents, countries, regions); "nose in the news" to be abreast of world events; ability to effectively take notes (Cornell, mind-mapping, outline method, for example); independent reading of the course text (even when not assigned).

IMPORTANT NOTE: Because AP courses are taught at a college level, freshmen should enroll only if they already demonstrate advanced writing, reading comprehension, and communication skills; students without this foundation may find the pace and expectations especially challenging.

AP World History: Modern is a college-level survey of global history from c. 1200 CE to the present, focusing on the major events, ideas, and turning points that have shaped the modern world. Students investigate diverse societies across Afro-Eurasia and the Americas, examining empires, revolutions, industrialization, global conflicts, decolonization, and contemporary globalization. Through analyzing primary and secondary sources, practicing historical comparison, causation, and continuity and change over time, and developing written arguments, students learn to think and work like historians.

Successful completion of the course requires students to have strong skills in critical reading, analytical writing, and understanding how the past informs today’s global issues. Students are expected to have these skills from the first day of school.

This course explores the major events that have shaped the United States from reconstruction to the present. Through historical simulations, primary source document analysis, debate, and discussion, students learn to recognize cause and effect as both relate to history. Students also learn to identify major historical turning points and develop historical interpretations of the American past. Students learn how an individual can help shape the course of a nation.

Students must take a US History course in order to graduate.

This course explores American history while building the analytic skills and content knowledge necessary to deal critically with issues and events in the development of the United States. Commensurate to the rigor of a freshman level college US history course, AP US History prepares students for intermediate and advanced college courses. Through simulations, debate, discussion, and inquiry-based projects, students learn to assess historical materials—their relevance to a given interpretive problem, their reliability, and their importance—and to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. AP US History also helps students prepare for decision-making beyond the classroom by developing the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions on the basis of informed judgment, and to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in a variety of written formats. Students will be prepared to take the AP exam in May.

Students must take a US History course in order to graduate.

For more than a decade, the College Board's AP Program worked alongside colleges, universities, and secondary schools to create this AP course in African American studies. The course is designed to offer high school students an evidence-based introduction to African American studies. The interdisciplinary course reaches into a variety of fields—literature, the arts and humanities, political science, geography, and science—to explore the vital contributions and experiences of African Americans. Students will think critically about history and contemporary circumstances, evaluating issues under the guidance of a caring Christian faculty member.

Students enrolled in AP courses may choose to take the College Board's AP exam in May. For AP African American studies, in addition to an exam, students will conduct a year-long topical research assignment—of their choosing—that culminates in a 8 minute presentation in which they will present their claim and defend their resources.

ECONOMICS/US GOVERNMENT PAIRING: The semester-long courses Economics and U.S. Government are paired. Students who enroll in Economics will automatically be enrolled in US Government the next semester. A civics course (government and/or economics) is required for graduation.

In this course, students learn Constitutional history, the role of the three branches of the national government, and the structure of the national, state, and local government. Students also study government budget analysis, the voting process, and public choice economics analysis of government programs and special interest groups. Through a variety of teaching methods including lectures, simulations, group activities, discussions, and debates, this course prepares students to participate in the American political system as part of an informed electorate.

ECONOMICS/US GOVERNMENT PAIRING: The semester-long courses Economics and U.S. Government are paired. Students who enroll in Economics will automatically be enrolled in US Government the next semester. A civics course (government and/or economics) is required for graduation.

Students learn about the “economic way of thinking” and the applications of this reasoning to their daily lives. This is not a course in business, personal finance or investing, but rather an investigation of fundamental concepts of economics such as scarcity, opportunity cost and marginal analysis, the role of prices in allocating goods and services, applications of the supply and demand model to various public policy issues, market structures and antitrust policies, environmental economics, and the role of the Federal Reserve and money.