Curriculum Description

ASL possesses a centrally managed, Common Core Standards based curriculum with objectives and outcomes that are carefully defined. Individual instructors then have the responsibility to expand and enhance the basic curriculum by augmenting it with current resources and practices. The curriculum is under continual content and quality review.

Academic Classes

Courses at American School of Leadership are offered in Math, Science, Literature, Composition and Social Studies. Additionaly, we offer special Career courses in Preparatory Business and Technology. However, students are required to complete general education requirements that are described in greater detail in the programs section.

School eLibrary

To accommodate student and faculty needs, American School of Leadership offers its library services online. This online distribution of information is well suited to the needs of today’s knowledge worker and offers a functional version of the types of information systems our students and faculty will be expected to use throughout their careers.

The eLibrary with its collection of databases is available to all students and faculty, at any time and from virtually any location where an Internet connection is available through a safe and secure password protected login.

The electronic libraries provide students with the required level resources. ASL has partnered with the Library and Information Resources Network, which meets all the above descriptions.

Definition of a Unit of Credit

ASL course units are credit-based and are awarded upon passing an end of course assessment. Each student is awarded 1 unit of credit per course unless the course specifically indicates differently.

Mathematics

Algebra1: Two-semester course that solidifies topics such as real numbers and probability, provides an in-depth coverage of writing, solving and graphing equations and inequalities, functions and their graphs, graphing linear, exponential and quadratic equations, solving systems of equations and inequalities, quadratic equations and functions, radical and rational expressions and equations, and graphing translations, including rotations, dilations, and reflections.

Algebra2: Two-semester course that covers advanced algebraic concepts such as trigonometry, statistical analysis, and permutations and sequences and series. Students learn to manipulate and use matrices in various formats to determine data relationships. Functions are given center stage in this course, delving into function types such as polynomial, logarithmic, quadratic, exponential and rational and periodic. Upon completion, students will have the necessary and vital skills needed to experience success in state standardized tests and national exit exams.

Geometry: Two-semester hands-on and lecture-based course that features an introduction to geometry, including reasoning and proof and basic constructions. Students are taught how to organize and meld geometrical and algebraic concepts through writing, analyzing and using proofs. An in-depth coverage of triangle relationships (similarity and congruency) and quadrilaterals enables a student to further hone such concepts as surface area and volume, circles and transformations. Trigonometry is given due credit with topics including tangent ratios and the Laws of Sine and Cosine. Students are introduced to specific geometry topics, such as Golden Connections, Taxicab Geometry, Fractals and Topology.

Pre-Calculus: Two-semester course with explores in great detail the relationship that exists between advanced algebra topics and trigonometry objectives. An exploration into the nature of graphs (including the twelve basic functions) is provided along with nonlinear systems, polynomial and rational functions. Logarithmic knowledge and application is developed. A large portion of the class focuses on trigonometric graphs and identities. Other topics include vectors, parametric equations and sequences and series. The students are introduced into the world of calculus, by exploring topics of limits, continuity, derivatives and the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.

Science

Biology: This two-semester course covers an in-depth view of biological science concepts. A brief section of biochemistry leads into an overview of ecology and the interactions of the environment and populations of living organisms. A comprehensive section on cellular biology and genetics exposes students to biology on a small scale that leads to the theory of evolution and the history of life on earth. The remainder of the course explores the complexity and variety of life on earth with sections devoted to simple organisms, plants, invertebrates and vertebrates as well as human biology.

Chemistry: Designed as a two-semester, this course covers the foundation for the composition, structure and reactions of matter. Beginning with a discussion of scientific measurements, and general properties of matter, a good deal of the course covers the structures of the atoms, the periodic table, types of bonds and equations. Other topics involve students in states of matter, reactions and the energy involved in chemical change. Sections on organic chemistry are also included as well as a brief overview of nuclear chemistry. This course requires students to have a solid foundation in math as calculations and conversions are basic components of chemistry.

Physics: This course provides the foundation for an understanding of the laws that govern the concepts of motion and energy. This course relies on the use of mathematics to represent and illustrate different phenomena, so students need to have a strong math background to be successful. Major themes on this course include mechanics, states of matter, waves and light, energy and magnetism and modern physics.

English Language Arts

ENGLISH 1 + 2: Two-semester course that focuses on a variety of text: literary, expository, and informational. Each unit in the course contains different lessons: Skills, Literary/Expository, Informational, Communication, Grammar, and Writing lessons. This course covers literary skills such as Plot €“ flashback and foreshadowing, Setting €“ time and sequence, Characterization – dialogue, Theme €“universal theme, Style €“ figurative language, and Narrator €“ different types. Units include topics: Literary; Analysis-Poetry; Autobiographies, Essays and Personal Accounts; and World Literature, theme is origin myths. Students also learn classics such as Homer€™s The Odyssey and William Shakespeare€™s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Informational Text reading skills are taught using consumer, workplace, technical, and public documents. Writing Lessons cover The Writing Process and also include a Research Workshop. Essay topics in the course include Business Letter, Research Paper, Literary Analysis Essay, Persuasive Essay, and Personal Narrative Essay.

ENGLISH 3 + 4: Two-semester Literature based course. The course is organized by chronological time period that includes: Anglo-Saxon and Old English Period: 449-1066; The Medieval Period: 1066-1485; The Renaissance 1485-1660; 17th & 18th Centuries (Restoration & Enlightenment): 1660-1798; Romantic Period 1798-1832; Victorian Period: 1832-1901; and Modern Period: 1901-1950. Each unit contains an introduction to the time period using a timeline and background lecture that discusses the philosophical, political, religious, ethical, and social influences of each time period. Authors represented include Homer, Chaucer, Boccaccio, William Shakespeare, Francesco Petrarch, Mary Wollstonecraft, Queen Elizabeth I, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Elizabeth Barret Browning, Robert Browning, and Virginia Woolf. The course contains also contains a World Literature unit with stories from India, Europe, China, and Spain. The course also includes Informational Lessons, Communication lessons, Grammar Lessons, and Writing Lessons.

Social studies

World History: Designed as a two-semester course, in which World History is presented to students as an integrated study of the political, economical, and social aspects of history. Topics covered include pre-history, the Nile and the Fertile Crescent, the Indus Valley, China’s ancient civilizations, early American civilizations, Greece and Rome, the Middle Ages, the Crusades, African civilizations, East Asia, Renaissance and Reformation, the Global Age, Absolutism, Enlightenment and revolution, The Industrial Age, The Age of Revolutions, industrial nationalism, the New Imperialism, World War I and its aftermath, Fascism and dictatorship, the holocaust and World War II, origins of the Cold War, and conflict and cooperation in the modern world.

U.S. History: Designed as a two-semester course, providing students with a concrete understanding of the timelines associated with the birth of the United States and its historic figures. The course is also designed to engage the student in undertanding the complex events in history that occurred and that lead to the current political position of the country.

U.S. Government: Designed as a one-semester high school course, students will examine all facets of American Government from its formation to its present-day role as a global power. Topics discussed include: The foundations of American Government, participating in government, the legislative branch, the executive branch, the judicial branch, civil liberties and law, state and local government, and global, political, and economic systems.

Economics: Designed as a one-semester course, students will analyze the aspects of both the current American economy and the global economy as a systematic entity. The primary topics summarized in this course include the primary principles of economics, aspects of microeconomics, business and labor, monetary principles and banking, fundamentals of macroeconomics, government and its role in the economy, and conventions of current global economies.