Advanced Placement Courses

Studio Drawing, Studio Art - 2D Design, and Studio Art - 3D Design

The AP Art and Design program consists of three different courses and AP Portfolio Exams—AP 2-D Art and Design, AP 3-D Art and Design, and AP Drawing—that correspond to college and university foundations courses. The exam is a portfolio of work created by students to demonstrate inquiry through art and design and development of materials, processes, and ideas over the course of a year. Portfolios include works of art and design, process documentation, and written information about the work presented. In May, students submit portfolios for evaluation based on specific criteria including skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas and sustained investigation through practice, experimentation, and revision, guided by questions. AP Art and Design courses are for all students who are interested in inquiry-based thinking and making. Although there is no prerequisite for AP Art and Design courses, prior experiences learning about and making art and design support student success in AP Art and Design.

Spanish

AP Spanish Language and Culture is equivalent to an intermediate level college course in Spanish. Students cultivate their understanding of the Spanish language and culture by applying interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational modes of communication in real-life situations as they explore concepts related to family and communities, personal and public identities, beauty and aesthetics, science and technology, contemporary life, and global challenges. Students will continue to build proficiency in the areas of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. This course is taught exclusively in Spanish.

German (online through GA Virtual School)

AP German Language and Culture is a course for rising seniors and is a yearlong course.  The course emphasizes communication by applying interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational skills in real-life situations.  This includes vocabulary usage, language control, communication strategies, and cultural awareness.  The course is taught almost exclusively in German.  Highlights of the class include reading Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Das Nibelungenlied in the original German.

AP Language & Composition (11th graders)

AP English Language and Composition is an introductory college-level composition course that focuses on the development and revision of evidence-based analytic and argumentative writing, the rhetorical analysis of nonfiction texts, and the decisions writers make as they compose and revise. Students evaluate, synthesize, and cite research to support their arguments. Additionally, they read and analyze rhetorical elements and their effects in nonfiction texts—including images as forms of text— from a range of disciplines and historical periods.

AP Literature & Composition (12th graders)

AP Literature and Composition is a year-long course typically taken your senior year of high school. This class engages students in the careful reading and critical analysis of literary works. Through the close reading of selected texts, students deepen their understanding of the ways writers use language to provide both meaning and enjoyment for their readers. In this course, we read a variety of texts ranging from short stories to plays to full texts. Because this is a literature class, there is a lot of reading and writing, but it is manageable and is balanced with full class discussions.

Calculus AB

AP Calculus AB is a yearlong college-level course offered to rising juniors or seniors that have successfully completed Accelerated Precalculus, Precalculus, or non-AP Calculus.  Course study will include limits, differential calculus, and integral calculus and is equivalent to a Calculus I course at most colleges and universities.  There is a summer assignment that includes a review of Precalculus, Algebra II, and Geometry topics often needed throughout Calculus.  

Calculus BC (students will also receive an AB subscore if they take the AP exam)

AP Calculus BC is a yearlong college-level mathematics course covering selected topics in Calc 1 and Calc 2.  This course is offered to those who are familiar with Calc 1/AB.  Students should review this content prior to the first day of school.  Course study will include limits, differential calculus, integral calculus, polar calculus, and infinite series.

Statistics

AP Statistics is a year-long introductory college-level statistics course that introduces students to the major concepts and tools for collecting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data. Students cultivate their understanding of statistics using technology, investigations, problem-solving, and writing as they explore concepts like variation and distribution; patterns and uncertainty; and data-based predictions, decisions, and conclusions. There is a summer assignment that focuses on descriptive data analysis.

Computer Science Principles

AP Computer Science Principles is a college-level course that focuses on the principles that underlie the science of computing and the course develops the thinking skills that computer scientists use. You will work independently and collaboratively to creatively address real-world issues using the tools and processes of computation. Skills learned include making connections between concepts in computing; designing a program to solve a problem or complete a task; apply abstractions in computation and modeling; analyzing computational work; communicating ideas about technology and computation. In this course, ALL STUDENTS CAN LEARN COMPUTER SCIENCE. No prerequisites needed, just a desire to learn.  

Computer Science A

AP Computer Science A is a college-level course that focuses on object-oriented programming. You will become familiar with the concepts and tools of computer science as you learn a subset of the Java Programming language. Learning is hands-on work to design, write and test your own computer programs that solve programs or accomplish tasks. Skills learned include designing programs, developing algorithms, and writing code to implement them. Testing and debugging your programs. Documenting and explaining how the program code works. A prerequisite of AP CSP and Algebra 2 are strongly encouraged.

Biology (9th graders and/or 10th through 12th)

AP Biology is an introductory college-level biology course open to all students regardless of grade level.  In the course, students cultivate their understanding of biology through inquiry-based investigations as they explore topics like biochemistry, cells, evolution, energetics, genetics, ecology, information storage and transfer, and system interactions.  AP Biology is ideal for students interested in majoring in biological sciences, medicine, health sciences, and many others.  If you did well in honors or gifted biology, you will have the appropriate background to be successful in this course.

Chemistry (10th through 12th)

AP Chemistry is an introductory college-level Chemistry course. Students cultivate their understanding of Chemistry as they explore content such as atomic structure, intermolecular forces and bonding, chemical reactions, kinetics, thermodynamics, and equilibrium. These topics are not explored in depth during 10th-grade Chemistry; therefore students who are interested in majoring in chemistry, pharmaceuticals, health sciences, forensics, and many other related fields find this course very beneficial to build a foundation for collegiate studies. If you did well in AP Biology in 9th grade, honors Chemistry, or gifted Chemistry, you will have the appropriate background for this course.

Physics 1 (11th graders)

AP Physics 1 is an algebra-based, introductory college-level physics course. Students cultivate their understanding of physics through inquiry-based investigations as they explore these topics: kinematics, dynamics, circular motion and gravitation, energy, momentum, simple harmonic motion, torque, and rotational motion.   Students must have completed Algebra II prior to taking this course.  It is a rigorous course that requires students to put in time and effort to practicing the physics principles.

Environmental Science (9th through 12th)

AP Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary course that focuses on ecological processes, human impacts on the earth, and how to resolve or prevent natural and human-made environmental problems. It is recommended that Biology is taken before taking this course.

Physics C

Mechanics is a calculus-based, college-level physics course. It covers kinematics; Newton’s laws of motion; work, energy, and power; systems of particles and linear momentum; circular motion and rotation; oscillations; and gravitation. Students must have taken AP Physics 1 previously and must at least be concurrently enrolled in calculus when taking AP Physics C.

Human Geography (9th graders)

AP Human geography is an elective course for rising freshmen who have excelled in middle social studies and are interested in taking Advanced Placement level courses in high school. This course introduces students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth’s surface.  Some major topics covered include population, migration, culture, political geography, agriculture, and urban geography. The typical workload for AP Human Geography includes a lot of vocabulary, weekly readings, free-response questions, and a project with every unit.  Students who are self-motivated, disciplined with their work, and enjoy learning about the world will succeed in this course.

World History (10th graders)

AP World History is offered to rising sophomores and is a year-long course.  The course invites students to take a global view of historical processes and contacts between people in different societies, with an emphasis on the past thousand years. Major interpretive issues among historians will be explored, as well as the techniques used in interpreting both primary historical evidence and secondary sources.  Students will pay particular attention to change and continuity over time, the characteristic institutions and values of societies, and the way such institutions and values are affected as a result of cultural contacts among peoples.  In assigned readings and class discussions, there will be an emphasis on critical thinking.  Students who are self-motivated, disciplined with their work, and enjoy learning about the world will succeed in this course.

US History (11th graders)

AP US History is offered to rising Juniors and is a yearlong course. Students cultivate their understanding of U.S. history from c. 1491 CE to the present through analyzing historical sources and learning to make connections and craft historical arguments as they explore concepts like American and national identity; work, exchange, and technology; geography and the environment; migration and settlement; politics and power; America in the world; American and regional culture; and social structures. We assign weekly readings from our AMSCO text and in class we focus on discussion, analyzing documents, and critical thinking/problem-solving. Students who enjoy learning about history and are self-motivated will be successful in this course.

US Government & Politics (12th grade, 1/2 of the school year)

AP US Government & Politics is offered to rising seniors and is a half-year course often teamed with AP Macroeconomics. This course focuses on the principles of the republican form of government, as well as, the politics of how government works.  Students who have an interest in government service, politics, or who want to understand the world around them will thrive in this class. 

Macroeconomics (12th grade, 1/2 of the school year)

AP Macroeconomics is offered to rising seniors and is a half-year course often teamed with AP American Government. This course focuses on our national economy including the study of Real GDP, inflation, and how governmental policies impact the national economy. AP Macroeconomics is ideal for students interested in majoring in business at the collegiate level. There is a minimal amount of math and typically students looking for connections between what they read and see on television and what they learn do very well in this course.

European History

AP European History is offered to rising sophomores through seniors and is a two-semester course. This course is a ‘big picture’ introduction to the history of Europe beginning with the Renaissance in 1450 and culminating in the modern Europe of 2021. The class makes multitudinous connections among historical developments in different times and places including, but not limited to, the interaction of Europe and the world at large, European economic, commercial, social and cultural developments, and the emergence and consolidation of the modern European nation-state.

AP European History is designed to be the equivalent of an introductory college or university survey of modern European history. The workload reflects the level of the course.  AP Euro is ideal for students who have a love of history and who are interested in the study history at the collegiate level.  

Psychology

AP Psychology is offered to rising sophomores through seniors and is a full year course. Students cultivate their understanding of the systematic and scientific study of human behavior and mental processes through inquiry-based investigations as they explore concepts like the biological bases of behavior, sensation and perception, learning and cognition, motivation, developmental psychology, testing and individual differences, treatment of abnormal behavior, and social psychology. There is a lot of reading and writing in this course.