The following is a list, with a brief summary, of the advanced learning courses available at T.R.H.S.S..
AP U.S. History: Taught by Mr. Sohl. AP U.S. History is a college-level course. Students interested in the class should expect to delve deeper into U.S. History and its important events and people. Students can expect to write a good deal about topics and significant segments in units covered. Another important aspect of the course will be that students will study primary source documents to further their understanding of a person or event. The class will also talk about important eras and trends. Students are responsible for keeping up with the pace.
Advanced Honors History: Taught by Mrs. Adelizzi and Mr. Sohl. Advanced Honors History is the preparation course that will continue into AP U.S. History. Students can expect to learn at a relatively quick pace, a great span of American History in this class. Students will be given a textbook to be used for this class and the AP class. To be successful students will need to retain their knowledge picked up throughout the year and read to grow their understanding. Events and people will be more extensively picked apart by students in class discussions and writings. Students are expected to be able to write, take good notes, and apply knowledge to understand primary source documents in tests and other assessments.
AP Government and Politics (AP Gov): This class is currently taught by Mr. Sohl. AP Gov is a course designed to teach students about the workings of the American government and its political functions. AP Gov is a rigorous course based on analysis, textbook reading, concept comprehension, and class participation. Students are expected to be prepared to work and earn their way to passing the class and AP exam. The class is a college level course.
Political & Legal Education (PLE): Mr. Sohl teaches this class as well. PLE is broken into different segments throughout the year. The first marking period students are connected with political organizations and campaigns that align with their views. Students will also have to attend local committee or council meetings to get a feel and understanding of their local political environment. The second and third marking periods are when students will get to develop their own piece of legislation on an issue that they are passionate about and eventually go to a model congress in Trenton. By the end of the course students will get to go to Washington, D.C. and tour importants sites and places.
World Affairs: Taught by Mr. Powitz. This class is largely discussion based and is honors level. World Affairs will follow current events, as well as the build up to those events, such as the history behind current U.S. Foreign Policy. Terrorism, both domestic and foreign, is a focal point for World Affairs. Classes also analyze elections as they happen.
Human Growth & Socialization: This course is currently led by Mr. O’Leary. Human Growth & Socialization is a course on the entry level of psychology. Students will get a chance to understand why humans act the way they do. Interesting topics that will be covered throughout the course are: school start times, cell phone addiction, depression, anxiety, social groups, relationship options; sensation, learning, and motivation. Students are expected to participate in class activities.
AP Literature and Composition (AP Lit): Taught by Mrs. Angona-Perry and Mr. Becker. AP Lit is a class for those interested in reading and analyzing the reading while participating in class discussions about the reading. Students are responsible for reading outside of the classroom multiple times. Literature topics from the 16th to 21st centuries. Some topics will be: Drama, prose, fiction, expository literature, and poetry. AP Lit will also include writing while being timed or writing using textual evidence. Class discussions are also to be expected by students and they should be willing to participate in them.
AP Language and Composition (AP Lang): This class is taught by Ms. Scala. AP Language and Composition is a rigorous class that will provide opportunities for students to improve their writing, reading, and verbal skills. AP Lang students are expected to be able to read and take notes on various pieces, as well as be able to flesh out essays or be able to break down topics and readings. Students interested in AP Lang must be able to participate in class discussions, should be able to speak in front of their peers, and come up with strong arguments.
Advanced Honors English: Mrs. Korey teaches this class. Advanced Honors English is the preparation class for AP Literature. This class involves a good amount of reading and writing, as well as debates, students who are interested should be willing to do the work. The entire year will consist of four units: The Meaning of Morality, Fight For Freedom, The Language of Love, and The Search for Identity. Students will also have a chance to express their likes in literature.
Humanities: This course is taught by Mrs. Perry. This class will focus on fine arts, such as architecture or music, etc. Students will understand how these art forms were expressed in certain eras and time periods. These humanities will be broken down into five main categories. The Introduction will include pieces on understanding humanities. Love/Metamorphoses will focus on greek arts and myths based around love. Death/Transformation will focus on related pieces.
Theatre Arts: Taught by Mrs. Perry. Students will study all types of theatre, including technical theatre and musical theatre. The class involves a lot of speaking and is perfect for those looking to improve their speaking skills. Group work will be a major factor in the class. The class is also described as a light and exciting class for students to take.
Creative Writing/Speech: Led by Mrs. Wyckoff. The course is divided in two; Creative Writing (MPs 1 & 2) and Public Speaking (MPs 3 & 4). You will study varying genres of writing, podcasts, poetry, the spoken word, photo essays, and short stories. During the speaking half of the class, you will study the differing speeches you will probably have to give in life. You get to express yourself in a unique way in this class with all of the projects and speaking opportunities.
World Literature: Mrs. Busse teaches this class. World Literature is available in the place of English 4. The course will involve studies of various literature types, including American Literature and British Literature. Students will gain an understanding of the differences and the similarities of literature in different cultures and time periods. This class is highly recommended for those who enjoy reading, there will also still be writing that will prepare students for their future studies as well.
AP Statistics (AP Stats): Mr. Sager instructs this course option. AP Stats is just as it sounds, the class is based around the study of statistics. Students can expect to solve some statistical problems and write about how it went. The class uses subjects common in the world around us, including data collection used in politics or in pharmaceutical experiments. Students will also conduct their own experiments to collect data from as well. The main skills necessary to perform well in AP Stats are writing, PEMDAS, and the Order of Operations. The class will require students to be willing to study the material.
AP Calculus (AP Calc): Mrs. Highton and Mrs. Zaner lead this class option. AP Calc is a high level mathematics class. AP Calc will prepare students for the basic levels of math that they will see used in college which will be helpful once students do get to college. Some of the interesting subjects that will be taught are rates of change over time, also looking back to see how these rates changed, and solving for X. The class is a mixture of Algebra, Algebra 2, and Pre-Calculus skills students learnt in past years.
AP Computer Science: Mr. Miller teaches this class. AP Computer Science is a college-level option for students. The class will teach and apply the Java programming language. The main learning goals in this course will be to instill knowledge of the social and ethical effects of computing systems, using data structures, organization, algorithms, data processing, and how to solve problems. By the end of the year students can expect to understand the basics of how Java programming applies to design and object-oriented programming.
Computer Science: Mr. Miller teaches the CP and Honors versions of these classes. Both classes are available as math electives. The Python language will be taught in both courses. The CP class will provide learning in topics such as networks, physical computing, real world issues, security, databases, and computational thinking. Honors Computer Science will cover variables, input/output, critical thinking, matrices, algorithm development, recursion, arrays, strings, functions, control constructs. Honors uses C++ programming along with the Python language.
AP Environmental Science: Taught by Mrs. Wallace. The class will use real-world examples for discussion and learning, including interesting popular culture events. The main studies for the class focus on our natural world. Students will understand the challenges posed to our environment today and the causes of those problems. Some specific issues will be population problems, biodiversity, ecosystems. The class will also talk about what could happen in the future to the environment. This class is a good stepping stone to college.
AP Chemistry (AP Chem): Mrs. O’Leary teaches this course. AP Chem is a useful course for those interested in a science career. Twice a week students will have a lab. The class’ purpose is to challenge a student on their skills and remembrance of chemistry. Students will be taught how to properly apply the lessons they learn to the entire course.
Authentic Science Research (ASR): Mrs. Girtain teaches this class. ASR is a very different option for students to take. The topic of study will be developed, researched, and reported on by the student following extensive time and study. Freshman are able to take up this class which will last the rest of their high school career. Students will be able to make important connections, get scholarships, and/or enter competitions.
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