ELECTIVES RATIONALE

Education researcher Marzano states, choice “has been linked to increases in student effort, task performance, and subsequent learning.” Cresset electives are selected and designed to encourage academic growth and development. Each elective course gives students an avenue for choice and functions as a vehicle for core content standards.  Students are challenged to work independently or with their peers through course requisites.  Given these opportunities, students learn with peers and perceive themselves as similar, leading to greater liking and closer relationships.  

GRAPHIC ARTS

Art Media, Film Photography, Digital Photography, Yearbook

COMPUTER SCIENCE

Intro to Programming

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Spanish I, Spanish II, Spanish III

French I

MATHEMATICS

SAT/ACT PREP 

ART MEDIA 

The High School Art Media Course takes a journey through various art making materials. Students get the opportunity to learn how important artists use both 2D and 3D media. They will also research and practice techniques in order to complete major projects.

ART DESIGN 

The High School Art Design Course emphasizes the elements and principles of design. This points to a Creator God of order and beauty. We will explore working with and within these building blocks of creativity, to compose works of art.

FILM PHOTOGRAPHY 

The High School Film Photography Course guides students through the basics of camera mechanics using film, and the developing process to produce black and white prints. We will learn from prominently historical photographers and learn how to identify the components of quality photographic images.

FRENCH I*

French I will expose students to a general introduction to the French language. We will be focusing on four skills: listening, speaking, reading and limited writing. There are two main objectives to the course: Foremost is to give the students the ability to carry on a simple conversation. The second is to provide the students with instruction that teaches a basic understanding of French culture, vocabulary, and grammatical concepts.

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY 

The High School Digital Photography Course reinforces and expands on the control of taking and editing the digital image. Students will work through multiple photographic challenges using digital cameras to capture quality images. They will then progress the images through editing applications to produce their final photos for critique with their classmates.

HEALTH

This course equips students with knowledge, attitudes, and skills to make health-promoting decisions. The class addresses the physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of health. The rationale is that positive health is not a one-time decision but a series of decisions contributing to the development of a beneficial lifestyle.

INTRO TO PROGRAMMING

Computer programming is a project-based course designed to introduce computational concepts and basic programming skills. Students will learn the notion of computation, some simple algorithms, C programming language, and how to use IDE (Integrated Development Environment). They will develop confidence in their ability to write small programs through accomplishment of specific goals. They will also learn the idea of what is possible when they think about how to use programming to accomplish goals in their future studies.

SAT/ACT PREP

The SAT/ACT Prep Course is designed to strengthen critical thinking and problem-solving skills for students to be better prepared for the math area of SAT and ACT tests. With Geometry and Algebra II as prerequisites, the course will provide students with an in-depth review of each relevant concept and attribute as needed while working on mock problems. While dealing with a plenty of problems, students will get exposed to and used to various patterns of problems and develop appropriate skills as needed to solve the problems.

SPANISH I*

Spanish I will expose students to a general introduction to the Spanish language. We will be focusing on four skills: listening, speaking, reading and limited writing. There are two main objectives to the course: Foremost is to give the students the ability to carry on a simple conversation. The second is to provide the students with instruction that teaches a basic understanding of Spanish culture, vocabulary, and grammatical concepts.

SPANISH II*

Spanish II is designed to build upon knowledge gained in Spanish I. It will reinforce listening, speaking, reading and writing. Emphasis is on perfecting pronunciation, mastery of the basic grammatical structures, and increased communicative proficiency.

SPANISH III

Spanish III is designed to build upon skills leaned in Spanish I & II as well as an introduction to new vocabulary, structures and expressions. Students will be expected to expand their vocabulary range to include more sophisticated terms, use advanced language expressions, verb tenses and grammatical concepts such as the pluperfect and the subjunctive mood. Students will view Spanish language films and read selected Spanish literature. 

*Two years of a Foreign Language are required for all students.