Welcome to our Upper Grades

Jorge Calixto
Director of Instruction

We have over 800 incredible students at our high grades campus, and we pride ourselves in offering them a quality education in a caring atmosphere. We truly love our students, and our jobs exist to pour into the minds and consequently the futures of each child in our building. We provide classes that will prepare our students for life. The high grades are the last stop before they spread their wings into the “real world.” We ensure that they are as prepared as they can be for those next steps through college and career readiness, guidance counseling, tailored courses to desired interests, and much more. Together we can make our children’s future be whatever they would like it to be.

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Explore Our Campus

Take a look at our course progression, graduation requirements, and twelve available majors to see how we prepare our students for their future.

When students first arrive to our school, they have the option to choose a major. It is not mandatory but can be very helpful to guide their interests and develop their skills. We offer majors in Visual Arts, Entrepreneurship, Dance, Music, Criminal Justice, Film, Drama, Health Sciences, Engineering, Journalism, Teacher Education, and Technology.

Course Progression

Check out our course progression to see the variety of classes that our students take during their high grades career. Each student’s course progression is reviewed and determined based on previous coursework and enrollment in honors and/or Advance Placement courses.

Science Electives

Anatomy and Physiology Honors – BLOCK
AP Biology – Year
Environmental Science – BLOCK
Forensics – Year
Physics – Year
AP Chemistry – Year

Visual Arts

Introduction to Visual Arts (T1) – BLOCK
Drawing and Painting I (T1/T2) – BLOCK
AP Art Studio (T3) – BLOCK Year-long

Engineering

Introduction to Engineering (T1) – Year
Principles of Engineering (T2) – Year
Engineering Design (T3) – Year

Teacher Education

Foundation of Education (T1) – Year
The Art & Science of Education (T2) – Year

Journalism

Introduction to Journalism (T1) – Year
Journalism 2/3: Advanced Journalism (T2/T3) – Year

Health Sciences

Introduction to Health Sciences (T1) – Year
EMT Training (T2) – BLOCK
EMT certification – off campus (T3)

Drama

Intro to Drama (T1) – Year
Advanced Drama – Year

(T1) connotes courses required to take for majors in 1^st year of study
(T2) connotes courses required to take for majors in 2^nd year of study
(T3) connotes courses required to take for majors in 3^rd year of study

Entrepreneurship

Introduction to Entrepreneurship (T1) – Year
Business Technology/Finance (T2) – Year
Senior Experience (T3) – Year

Film

Introduction to Film (T1) – Year
Advanced Film (T2/3) – Year

Music (Instrumental and Voice)

Band (T1-T3) – Year
String Orchestra (T1-T3) – Year
Choir Ensemble (T1-T3) – Year

Dance

Dance 1:Intro to Dance (T1) – BLOCK
Dance 2: Technique 1 (T1/T2) – BLOCK
Dance 3: Technique 2 (T2/T3) – BLOCK

Technology

Introduction to Technology – Year
AP Computer Science – Year
Technology Apprenticeship – Year

Criminal Justice/Law

Introduction to Criminal Justice and Law- Year
Debate/Mock Trial – Year
Criminal Justice Internship – Year

Other

AP Psychology – Year

	9th Grade	10th Grade	11th Grade	12th Grade
ELA	Perspectives of African-American Literature *H	Genre Studies *H	US Literature *H or AP English Literature	World Literature *H or AP English Language
Math – Track A	Pre-Algebra	Algebra 1	Algebraic Geometry	Algebra 2
Math – Track B	Algebra 1	Algebraic Geometry	Algebra 2	Pre-Calculus *H or Personal Finance
Math – Honors Track	Algebra 1 Honors and Geometry Honors	Algebra 2	Pre-Calculus *H	Calculus or AP Calculus
Science	General Science *H or Biology Honors 9	Biology *H or AP Biology	Chemistry	Science Elective: AP Chemistry AP Biology AP Environmental Science Anatomy & Physiology H Physics H Environmental Science Forensics
Social Studies	Perspectives of African-American and Latoni History *H	World History *H or AP World History	US History *H or AP US History	Polticical Science *H or AP Government
Spanish	Spanish 1 or Spanish NS 1	Spanish 2 or Spanish NS 2 or AP Spanish Language	Spanish 3 or Spanish NS 3 or AP Spanish Language or AP Spanish Literature
Seminar	Algebra 1 Seminar	English Seminar	Keystone Seminar	Senior Seminar
PE	1 PE credit sometime between grades 9 and 12
Elective		Elective 1	Elective 2	Elective 3


NS = Native Speakers
*H – honors course available

Dual Enrollment: Esperanza partners with Esperanza College to provide our students with opporutnities to take collegel-level courses to satisfy corresponding high school credits.

Current AP Offerings

Calculus
English Language
English Literature
Biology
Chemistry
Environmental Science
World History
US History
US Government
Art Studio (2D)
Psychology
Spanish Language
Spanish Literature
Computer Science A
Computer Science Principles

In order to graduate, we require that students have at least 27 credits, 100 hours of community service, and a completed post-secondary plan (three completed college applications and a completed FAFSA.)

We want our students to be leaders in their community by serving their community, and we teach our students to have vision for their future by creating options through college applications and career readiness programs.

Credit Breakdown