Course Descriptions

English 9 Honors

This course covers the same material as English 9. There will be a greater emphasis on literary skills which will incorporate the study of the short story, drama, poetry, nonfiction, and fictional reading. Students develop skills in critical thinking, analysis, and writing. The rigor of the course is such that students will be required to read and write more extensively.

English 10 Honors

This course covers the same material as English 10, plus a stronger emphasis is placed upon literary analysis skills—especially in poetry. Students are expected to be able to recognize and discuss more subtle and complex meanings in the literature. They should have mastered basic writing skills. The reading requirements are more rigorous. Teacher recommendation and satisfactory completion of summer homework is required for enrollment in this class. Additional books are covered in this course.

AP English Language

This junior-level course is approved for AP status by the College Board. Students in this introductory college-level course read and carefully analyze a broad and challenging range of nonfiction prose selections, deepening their awareness of rhetoric and how language works. Through close reading and frequent writing, students develop their ability to work with language and text with a greater awareness of purpose and strategy, while strengthening their own composing abilities. Course readings feature expository, analytical, personal, persuasive, and argumentative texts from a variety of authors and historical contexts. Teacher recommendation and satisfactory completion of summer homework is required for enrollment in this class. Students who pass the AP exam may earn credit for their freshman year in college.

AP English Literature and Composition

This senior-level course is approved for AP status by the College Board. First semester is a broad survey of literary genres with extensive readings in short stories, poetry, and drama. Second semester focuses on literary novels and some additional poetry analysis. Teacher recommendation and satisfactory completion of summer homework is required for enrollment in this class. Students who pass the AP exam may earn credit for their freshman year in college.

English 12 Honors

This is a college preparatory course designed for students who have demonstrated exceptional reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. The course aims to deepen students’ understanding of literature and to enhance their writing and analytical skills. They will read and study a range of literary works, including novels, plays, poems, and non-fiction essays, and will learn to interpret and analyze these texts from a variety of perspectives. Class discussions, presentations, and group work will be used to promote collaboration, critical thinking, and effective communication skills. By the end of the course, students will have developed a deeper appreciation for literature and improved their writing and analytical skills, preparing them for college-level coursework and beyond.

AP Biology

AP Biology is an introductory-level college course. Students will use inquiry-based investigation to understand biology. Topics explored in this course include cellular processes, cell communication, energy, genetics, ecology, and information transfer. A minimum of 25% of the course will be devoted to hands-on lab work and investigation. Students will be able to apply scientific practices in each lab which includes data collection, data analysis, and forming conclusions based on the data.

AP Physics

This course is approved for AP status by the College Board. Algebra II is a prerequisite. AP Physics is a college-level course in the discipline of physics. Whether 1, 2, C: mechanics or C: electricity and magnetism is taught will depend on student demand.  Currently, AP Physics 1 is the most popular.  Students must purchase the calculator designated by the teacher for this class. Teacher recommendation and satisfactory completion of summer homework is required for enrollment in this class. Students who pass the AP exam may earn credit for their freshman year in college.“Offered every other year”

Honors Pre-Calculus

Pre-Calculus honors is a course that blends the fundamentals of Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and geometry into a course that prepares students for the rigor of Calculus. For this course, topics will be explored in the areas of algebra, functions, graphs, polynomials, rational functions, exponential functions, trigonometry, analytical trigonometry, and conic sections. Like pre-calculus, the honors level course requires students to enhance and develop critical thinking skills and logic when working.

Advanced Placement Calculus AB

This course is approved for AP status by the College Board. Students must have successfully passed Honors Pre-Calculus to take this class. Students work with slope and area of curves. They look into how those two ideas interact with each other through graphing, solving, and applying to the world around them. This class will require intensive study and homework time. Students must have the Texas Instrument T89 calculator. Teacher recommendation and satisfactory completion of summer homework is required for enrollment in this class. Students who pass the AP exam may earn credit for their freshman year in college.

AP World History

This 10th grade course is approved for AP status by the College Board. The AP World History course focuses on developing students’ understanding of world history from approximately 8000 BCE to the present. This college-level course has students investigate the content of world history for significant events, individuals, developments, and processes in six historical periods, and develop and use the same thinking skills and methods (analyzing primary and secondary sources, making historical comparisons, chronological reasoning, and argumentation) employed by historians when they study the past. The course also provides five themes (interaction between humans and the environment; development and interaction of cultures; state building, expansion, and conflict; creation, expansion, and interaction of economic systems; development and transformation of social structures) that students explore throughout the course in order to make connections among historical developments in different times and places encompassing the five major geographical regions of the globe: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. Teacher recommendation and satisfactory completion of summer homework is required for enrollment in this class. Students who pass the AP exam may earn credit for their freshman year in college.

AP U.S. History

This course is approved for AP status by the College Board. Advanced Placement United States History (APUSH) surveys the history of the United States beginning with the pre-Columbian era and ending with international affairs and domestic events in the post-1945 period to the 1990s.  The course is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of the political, economic, social, and diplomatic trends and themes in United States history. Some attention is given to historiography and more to the analysis and interpretation of historical documents. The course also focuses on providing students with the analytical skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the events, people, trends, and themes in U.S. history. Teacher recommendation and satisfactory completion of summer homework is required for enrollment in this class. Students who pass the AP exam may earn credit for their freshman year in college.

AP Microeconomics 

AP Microeconomics is a year-long course designed to develop students’ understanding of the principles that govern individual economic decisions and market interactions. Topics of study include supply and demand analysis, consumer behaviors and factor markets, with a focus on microeconomic theories.  

AP U.S. Government

This course is approved for AP status by the College Board. The main purpose of this course is to prepare students for the AP Exam in U.S. Government and Politics. Another important purpose is to give students a number of current and historical examples to relate the course material to.  The main areas of study in the course are aligned to the AP test: The Constitution and its underpinnings, political parties, interest groups, the media, Institutions of American Government, public policy, political behaviors and beliefs, and civil rights and liberties. Teacher recommendation and satisfactory completion of summer homework is required for enrollment in this class. Students who pass the AP exam may earn credit for their freshman year in college.

AP Psychology

This course is approved for AP status by the College Board. Students should expect a significant amount of reading and studying. Teacher recommendation and satisfactory completion of summer homework is required for enrollment in this class. Students who pass the AP exam may earn credit for their freshman year in college.

Honors Art III

This course is designed for students who desire to develop individual style and technique. An introduction to a variety of materials and methods will be used to enhance individual projects.

AP 2D &3D Art and Design

This rigorous course is designed for advanced senior art students who are interested in pursuing related majors in college. However, non-senior students who are serious about taking this course in their senior year should discuss with the teacher as soon as possible due to heavy workload of this course. There are three AP Art and Design Portfolio Exams: AP 2-D Art and Design, AP 3-D Art and Design, and AP Drawing, according to College Board. Students will choose one to submit based on their portfolio type. Students’ portfolio contains two sections: Sustained Investigation and Selected Works. The Sustained Investigation section requires students to demonstrate practice, experimentation, and revision guided by an inquiry (15 images of working process). The Selected Works section requires students to demonstrate skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas (5 art pieces). Both sections need written evidence to provide information about their work. Therefore, it requires a great amount of time and work inside and outside the classroom. Regular weekly meetings with the teacher are also required.

Spanish III Honors

This class emphasizes language, culture, traditions, and arts throughout the Spanish speaking world. Students are expected to be proficient in their verbal and writing skills so that their prior cultural and linguistic knowledge can be built upon to produce essays, speeches, conversations, and presentations in Spanish.

AP Spanish

This course is conducted entirely in Spanish, fostering full immersion in language and culture.  The course will prepare students for the AP Spanish Language and Culture Exam by building proficiency in the three modes of communication: interpersonal, interpretative, and presentational.  Students will deepen cultural understanding through authentic sources, aligned with the six AP themes. 

Students are required to pass four consecutive years of English to graduate.

English 9

This course covers basic literary elements, a broad survey of literature from classical to contemporary, different literary genres, and composition. Students will strengthen writing skills, primarily working on autobiographical, analytical, and persuasive essays. Emphasis will be placed on writing as a process and in developing a strong voice and perspective in their writing. Students learn to outline, edit, and revise.

English 10

This course covers basic literary elements, a broad survey of literature from classical to contemporary, different literary genres, and composition. Students will gain a more complex understanding of metaphor, allegory, symbol, irony, and allusion. There is a strong emphasis on poetry.

English 11

This course is a comprehensive survey of American literature from a Christian perspective. The survey is chronological, with literature divided into four major time periods. The writing emphasis is on narrative, literary analysis, and reflective compositions. Students study the political and social influences of each time period. They employ MLA standards for documentation and presentation.

English 12

This is a comprehensive chronological survey of British literature and a sampling of European literature. Students learn to evaluate a work’s literary artistry and consider the social and historical values it reflects and embodies. In composition, the focus is on literary analysis, reflective, and business writing. Students are required to do multimedia presentations in class.

Students are required to pass two years of a laboratory science (biology, chemistry, physics) to graduate.

Biology

Biology is the study of life. This course includes the introduction of topics which include cell biology, genetics, DNA, ecology, botany, zoology, and human body systems. This course meets the California NGSS life science standards. Students will use scientific investigation and data analysis to complete the laboratory component of the course. Students will be engaged with exploring the living world around them from a Biblical worldview.

Chemistry

Algebra I is a prerequisite. This is an introductory course in chemistry.  Students will participate in labs using mostly everyday chemicals to understand basic principles of how electrons govern the way matter combines and rearranges itself at the atomic scale. This course follows physical chemistry all the way through a basic primer on organic chemistry. Students must purchase the calculator designated by the teacher for this class.

Anatomy and Physiology

This course studies the histology, anatomy, and physiology of the human organ systems within the body. This includes muscle, bone, tissue, nerves, immune system and more. Students will be able to ask questions based on scientific facts as well as use investigative strategies to answer many questions that are posed in the class. Students will engage in laboratory work throughout the course.

Students are required to pass three years of math to graduate.

Algebra I

This course covers the fundamentals of algebraic skills which include algebraic expressions, operations, solving equations, graphing, linear functions, quadratic functions, probability and statistics, and geometric connections.  Students will explore and try to solve real-world problems, understand how to use a graphing calculator and express mathematical ideas.

Geometry

The course of geometry dives into the study of geometric concepts such as the basic elements of geometry, proofs, parallel and perpendicular lines, triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons, circles, trigonometry, surface area, volume, and congruency. Students will develop critical thinking skills as related to logic and reasoning for the purpose of solving equations.

Algebra II

Algebra 2 is a course designed to enhance and enrich the algebraic skills learned in Algebra 1. The topics covered in this course are solving for linear equations, inequalities, graphs, radical expressions, quadratic equations, functions, probability, and trigonometry. This course is designed for higher-order thinking skills as students prepare to enter a year of pre-calculus and higher.

Pre-Calculus

Pre-Calculus is a course that blends the fundamentals of Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and geometry into a course that prepares students for the rigor of Calculus. For this course, topics will be explored in the areas of algebra, functions, graphs, polynomials, rational functions, exponential functions, trigonometry, analytical trigonometry, and conic sections.

Students are required to pass three years of social studies classes to graduate.

World History

This course will provide students with an intensive and comprehensive study into the time periods from the Age of Exploration to the 20th century. Students will form connections between the various areas of the world when looking at the topics of trade, migration, cultures, and the different world powers. Each student will also engage in the development and enhancing of skills for research, analysis, document-based inquiry, and the use of primary and secondary documents.

U.S. History

United States History examines the chronological development of the American people, nation, and government. The foundation and growth of this nation will be studied as students dive into the major topics, such as the creation of the nation’s government, economics, culture, religious beliefs, military, and social aspects of the United States. The specific time periods covered in this course begin at the Reconstruction period to present day.

Government

The semester-long US Government course studies the origin, development, structure, and function of the United States government.  Students will be introduced to the founding documents, development and meaning of the Constitution, the three branches of government, civil rights and liberties, and policy formation. Critical thinking, collaboration with peers, and investigative inquiry will be required during this course.

Economics

Economics is a course that seniors will be enrolled in for a semester.  This course looks at the topics of scarcity, supply and demand, government regulations, trade, and current patterns in the United States.

Sociology

Sociology studies the behavior, development, structure, and functioning of groups and organizations embedded in a society.  Specific behaviors, relationships among different cultures, and ethical issues will be examined as they pertain to the societal make-up of a culture, community, and nation.

UCA requires all students to take Bible each year they are enrolled at our school. If a student earns an “F” in any semester of Bible, he or she will be placed on probation. If the student fails any subsequent semester of Bible, he/she may be asked to withdraw from UCA or re-take the Bible course.

Bible 9: Bible Survey and Christian Ethics

In order to prepare students for a thoughtful and impactful life of faith, this year-long course will lay a foundation for students in their understanding of the Bible and ethics. First, to lay the groundwork, students will be informed about the origins and reliability of the Bible and cover an overview of biblical content in all of the different books, genres, sections, and themes across both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. Having laid the foundation of Biblical literature, students will then examine a number of cultural-ethical topics and issues that face followers of Christ in their contemporary setting.

Bible 10: Biblical Metanarrative and Life of Christ

The entirety of Biblical literature attests to a single Grand Story (or metanarrative) that initiates at the beginning of creation in Genesis 1, and finds its resolution at the conclusion of all things in Revelation 22. At the center of this Grand Story is the climax, where God Himself puts into the flesh and blood of a poor Jewish Rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth, who lives a beautifully world-changing life, experiences an enigmatic death, and shocks the world with a powerful resurrection. In this year-long course, students will hone their skills in tracing the biblical metanarrative from the beginning, to Jesus, to our current situation, and on through to the end of the story. Since Christ marks the pivotal point in the story, students will spend a significant share of the class investigating the credibility of the Gospel accounts and the content of the life of Christ.

Bible 11: Romans and Revelation

Following the events of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, His disciples and the early community of faith wrestled with the implications of those realities. In Paul’s epistle to the Romans, we have a clear presentation of the theology, philosophy, and Christian living practices of the early Christian community. Furthermore, John’s Apocalypse (the book of Revelation), presents modern readers a window into an ancient genre that speaks to the realities of persecution, faithfulness, and empire. This year-long course is a study dedicated to unpacking the rich truths found in these two texts by analyzing the cultural and historical context surrounding ancient Rome, Palestine, and Asia Minor. In doing so, students will then be equipped to wrestle with these same concepts, struggles, and realities that face them in their own contemporary context.

Bible 12L: Love, Dating, and Marriage

This semester-long course will center on God’s views on Love, Dating, and Marriage. Christian love at its core grows out as a reflection of God’s love. Thus, love and Christian action should be the natural outworking of knowing more about Jesus and his love for others. This course will first provide a philosophical and ethical framework for students to approach the topics of love, dating, and marriage. Considering the biblical witness and Christian traditions in the area of romance, students will learn to think critically about relationships, and practically apply content covered in the class.

Bible 12W: Worldview

Ever since Marshall McLuhan first coined the term “global village,” the truth of this short phrase has only grown in its applicability to the modern world. As students interact with their global neighbors in real life and on various media, the need to understand their own worldview and the worldview of others becomes increasingly essential. This semester-long course solidifies the students’ understanding of the Christian worldview, and also explores the cultures, philosophies, and religions with which the students will inevitably have contact. Worldviews are discussed and analyzed in media, and students are then equipped to express missionally the Gospel in each of these contexts.

Students are required to pass one year of a visual or performing art class to graduate.

Choir

Choir introduces basic vocal technique. The class is designed to help students improve individual vocal and music skills. Understanding of the skills necessary to perform as a member of a group is necessary as well as demonstrating respect for other members of the group.  This course is a performance-based course and grades are reflective of the required participation.

Art I

Art 1 is an introduction to art that uses multi-media to expose students to different forms of art.  Students will learn and use the application of elements and principles of design to create projects.

Art II

Drawing and painting are the focus of Art II. Students are engaged in cooperative and independent work while using different strategies to complete projects.

Yearbook

This is a course where students work together to create a yearbook that encompasses the entirety of the school year. Students will get the feel for journalism as they will take pictures and conduct interviews at many school events. This course will help students deal with time management and to work with others to produce a timeless memory.

Media Production

This course introduces students to the marketing and audio/visual world. Students will learn how to create graphic designs and motion graphics. They will also get the opportunity to learn everything about filming, all the way from pre-production to post-production. This course will help students to understand what goes on behind the scenes of famous films, posters, magazines, and social media posts.

Fashion Design

This course will provide students with an introductory study of fashion design, the fashion industry and construction.  Instruction will cover fashion history, the contributions of famous designers, color theory, textiles, elements of design, hand sewing, pattern usage and development.  The class will prepare students for entry-level positions in the fashion world and post-secondary fashion instruction. Additionally, the students will acquire valuable skills to use throughout life.

Students are required to pass two years of foreign language to graduate.

Spanish I and Spanish II

These courses focus on developing fluency in reading, writing, listening, and speaking in the Spanish language. The goal of these courses is for students to be able to have a variety of conversations at the beginner and intermediate levels. Each class is one full year.

Students are required to earn 20 units of PE credit.

PE

The PE course introduces the fundamentals of team sports as well as individual activities that build stamina, endurance, and strength.  Learning how to maintain a healthy lifestyle through exercise and a proper diet are important topics for the course.

Weightlifting

Basic weight training techniques are demonstrated in this course to help keep students in the best physical fitness possible. Students have the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of endurance training, strength training, resistance training, and overall fitness training and conditioning.

LEAD (Leadership Education And Development)

This course is designed to develop and enhance leadership skills in students. It takes an in-depth approach to review theoretical practices of leadership through current theories and ideas. This theoretical approach is transferred to applicable situations where students put into practice what is learned. LEAD students are responsible for organizing events, rallies, dances and other student activities.

Sociology

Sociology studies the behavior, development, structure, and functioning of groups and organizations embedded in a society. Specific behaviors, relationships among different cultures and ethical issues will be examined as they pertain to the societal make-up of a culture, community, and nation.

Marketing Fundamentals

The Digital and Social Media Marketing course is a comprehensive, yearlong program designed to equip high school students with foundational knowledge and practical skills in modern marketing. Drawing from real-world practices and aligned with college-preparatory standards, this course empowers students to navigate, analyze, and create in the evolving digital landscape while integrating ethical practices and strategic thinking.

Entrepreneurship

Intro to Entrepreneurship is a cross-curricular, real world, project-based learning method that will instill the fundamentals of innovation, work ethic, financial stewardship, people skills, and excellence in business leadership. Over the duration of the course, students will design and launch a small business. Lessons learned in class are immediately applied to the created business with real world successes and failures. Students are given the resources to understand the basics of ideation, product and service design, pricing, marketing and sales, financial reporting, and community stewardship and actually implement these concepts to ensure deep understanding and retention.

Organics and Nutrition

This course looks at the basic concepts of nutrition and the effects of proper nutrition on human health. The effects of advances in food technology are discussed and analyzed. Part of the course requirement includes healthy choices for food preparation and cooking.