Course Descriptions

English Language Arts, Gr 7: Students will focus on building foundational literacy skills and knowledge to read and respond to various types of literature, build their knowledge base, and strengthen existing abilities. Students’ ability to think abstractly increases. Seventh graders continue to examine and challenge the ideas of others and expand their ability to express and justify their own points of view through reading, listening, writing, and speaking.

English Language Arts, Grade 7, Hon/Adv: This is an enriched course which dives deeper into the content knowledge of context through a multicultural diversity of text and types of text, and it provides an extension of the regular grade course work in relation to expression and reception. Students will read at least two novels independently with a selection of short stories and other paired texts over the course of the year. 

Civics (Grade 7, Semester): U.S. founding documents; representative democracy; law; personal finance; U.S. political system; civic participation and responsibility.

Geography, (Grade 7, Semester): Cultural geography emphasizing Eastern Hemisphere; places and regions; physical systems; human systems; relationships between people and their environment.

Civics, Hon/Adv (Grade 7, Semester) and Geography, Hon/Adv (Grade 7, Semester): Advanced level of work described above.

Life Science: Progression of knowledge and understanding from earlier grades of the core ideas to include the structure and function of cells and their connections to organs and organ systems; the interactions between living organisms and between biotic and abiotic factors; explanations of genetic variations, results of genetic mutations, and impacts of genetic technologies; and the patterns of change in populations of organisms over a long period of time; the relationship between natural selection; and the reproduction and survival of a population with the integration of science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts from the science framework.

Advanced level Life Science: Advanced level of the Life Science description above.

Mathematics, Gr 7: Students will analyze proportional relationships and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems; apply and extend previous understandings of operations with fractions to add, subtract, multiply, and divide rational numbers; use properties of operations to generate equivalent expressions; solve real-life and mathematical problems using numerical and algebraic expressions and equations; draw, construct, and describe geometrical figures and describe the relationship between them; solve real-life and mathematical problems involving angle measure, area, surface area, and volume; use random sampling to draw inferences about a population; draw informal comparative inferences about two populations; and investigate chance processes and develop, use, and evaluate probability models.

Accelerated Mathematics, Gr 7: At the accelerated level, students will engage in rigorous study of proportional relationships, operations using rational numbers, linear equations and systems of linear equations, linear functions, random sampling and data distributions, transformations, real-world applications of area and circumference of two-dimensional figures, and surface area of three-dimensional figures. Grade 7 Accelerated Math is a compacted course, which means that all of the content of Grade 7 Mathematics, half of Grade 8 Mathematics, and some standards from Algebra I with Probability are compressed into this single course. Therefore, the curriculum moves at an accelerated pace. Opportunities are provided for students to master mathematical content and skills; develop the ability to make sense of problem situations; and build conceptual understanding that serves as the foundation for Grade 8 Accelerated Math and high school mathematics. The primary goals of the course are to foster independent learning, encourage in-depth exploration of the content, and build the skills necessary for Algebra I with Probability. Daily homework and some out-of-class projects are required.

Physical Education: Skill execution as opposed to the acquisition of skills which are integrated into games, sports, rhythms, and gymnastics.

English Language Arts, Gr 8: Students will analyze sources of reading span all subject areas, cultures, and formats as students begin to recognize the interconnectedness of their world. These texts also become sources for research. Students in the middle level begin to discern the validity and credibility of information, as well as the importance of employing that discernment in today’s world. Students also learn the importance of citing their sources to acknowledge the work of other academics and to build their own credibility as researchers and writers. Writing in the middle grades becomes more rigorous as the emphasis on organization and textual evidence becomes a daily requirement. Writing is fostered and sustained by both shorter pieces of writing and longer, more challenging works. Students hone their vocabulary literacy by paying attention to connotative meanings, understanding their audience, and their academic and domain-specific vocabulary. They also continue to develop their language and grammar skills as they review foundational knowledge and build upon it with new concepts in their writing through reading, listening, writing, and speaking.

English Language Arts, Grade 8, Hon/Adv: This is an enriched course which dives deeper into the content knowledge of context through a multicultural diversity of text and types of text, and it provides an extension of the regular grade course work in relation to expression and reception. Students will read at least two novels independently with a selection of short stories and other paired texts over the course of the year. 

World History to 1500, Gr 8: Chronological history of the world: survey of early and classical civilizations; world expansion of agrarian and commercial civilizations from beginnings to 1500.

World History to 1500, Hon/Adv Gr 8: Advanced level of work described above.

Physical Science: Progression of knowledge and understanding from earlier grades of the core ideas to include the composition and properties of matter; examining forces and predicting and developing explanations for changes in motion; the conservation of energy, energy transformations, and applications of energy to everyday life; and types and properties of waves and the use of waves in communication devices with the integration of science and engineering practices and crosscutting concepts from the science framework.

Advanced level Physical Science: Advanced level Physical Science work described above.

Mathematics, Gr 8: Students will know that there are numbers that are not rational, and approximate them by rational numbers; work with radicals and integer exponents; understand the connections among proportional relationships, lines, and linear equations; analyze and solve linear equations and pairs of simultaneous linear equations; define, evaluate, and compare functions; use functions to model relationships between quantities; understand congruence and similarity using physical models, transparencies, or geometry software; understand and apply the Pythagorean Theorem; solve real-world and mathematical problems involving volume of cylinders, cones, and spheres; and investigate patterns of association in bivariate data.

Accelerated Mathematics, Gr 8: Students will engage in rigorous study of algebraic and graphical representations of problems; function notation and language; linear, quadratic, and exponential relationships; data regression; probability; and the real number system including both rational and irrational numbers. Accelerated Math 8 is a compacted course, which means that approximately half the content of Grade 8 Mathematics and a majority of the content of high school Algebra I with Probability are compressed into this single course. Therefore, the curriculum moves at an accelerated pace. Opportunities are provided for students to master mathematical content and skills; apply reasoning and problem solving skills to real world situations; and build conceptual understanding that serves as the foundation for all high school mathematics. The primary goals of the course are to foster independent learning, encourage in-depth exploration of the content, and build the skills necessary for high school mathematics courses. Daily homework and some out-of-class projects are required. 

Physical Education: Skill execution as opposed to the acquisition of skills which are integrated into games, sports, rhythms, and gymnastics.