Humanities Academy 2008-2009 Information for Incoming 9th Graders

Welcome to Soquel High School! Here is information you need for this summer and for next year.

A. HUMANITIES ACADEMY COURSES

9th grade: Intensive World Cultures and Geography Humanities Academy Intensive English 9

10th grade: Intensive World History Humanities Academy Intensive English 10

The Humanities Academy prepares eligible students to take Honors and Advanced Placement (AP) courses in their junior and senior years:

11th grade: AP US History* Honors American Literature English 11*

12th grade: AP American Government** (semester) AP English Literature and Composition***
AP Macroeconomics** (semester)

* Application for and enrollment in these classes are open to all students at Soquel High School; the AP US History teacher determines the eligibility and selection process. There are currently two sections (approx. 60 students) of AP US History. Students who are not accepted into AP US History must take US History. The Honors American Literature teacher determines the eligibility and selection process for Honors American Literature. There are currently two sections of Honors American Literature (approx. 60 students); students who are not accepted into Honors American Literature may take Intensive English 11, English 11, or Science Fiction.

** Application for and enrollment in this class is open to all students at Soquel High School. If the AP Social Studies offering becomes over-subscribed, then an eligibility and selection process will be established.

*** Application for and enrollment in this class is open to all students at Soquel High School; the AP English teacher determines the eligibility and selection process for AP English. The number of sections of AP English Literature and Composition is dependent on student interest; students who are not accepted into AP English may take Intensive English 12, English 12, or Science Fiction.


B. CRITERIA FOR CONTINUED ENROLLMENT

Students accepted into Soquel High School’s Humanities Academy are assumed to be academically motivated and university-bound. Therefore, academic performance is an essential criterion for continued enrollment. Students need to maintain minimum C semester grades for both semesters of the 9th grade year in order to enroll in the Humanities Academy for 10th grade. Students who are unable to maintain at least a C for both semesters of both English and Social Studies will be enrolled in regular Intensive English 10 and regular World History for 10th grade. A contract that outlines student expectations and parent/guardian support responsibilities must be signed by both student and parent/guardian and submitted with the required summer essays on the first day of school.

Important: Humanities Academy students’ enrollment in the Honors and AP levels of 11th grade English and Social Studies is not automatic. As noted above, these courses are offered to all Soquel High School students, and enrollment is competitive.

C. SOQUEL HIGH SCHOOL COURSE REQUIRMENTS

The additional semesters of Social Studies that Humanities Academy students take during 9th and 10th grades impact scheduling for other SHS and Santa Cruz City Schools graduation requirements. These requirements are:

Applied Arts (5-units): All students must complete one semester of Applied Arts. Typically, freshman students meet this requirement by taking E-Literacy, a computer skills course, and students who are not enrolled in Humanities Academy are automatically enrolled in the E-Literacy class. Humanities Academy students are not required to take E-Literacy, but they must meet the Applied Arts requirement by taking another Applied Arts class during high school.

Health (5-units): All students are required to pass a one-semester Health class. This class is typically taken in the freshman year.

There are several options available to students to meet these requirements:

1. Applied Arts:

· Take E-Literacy or another Applied Arts course at SHS; e.g., Web Design, Beginning or Advanced Wood, Beginning or Advanced Drafting, or Beginning or Advanced Manufacturing Technology. In addition, eligible students may take a one semester or one year ROP course such as Floral Design, Administration of Justice, Environmental Horticulture, Economics of Marketing, Mill Cabinetry, Vet Science, Computer Graphics, or Sports Occupations during 10th, 11th, or 12th grade by taking an additional 7th class (one semester)
· Take an approved Applied Arts course during the 10th, 11th, or 12th grade school year at another accredited institution
· Take an approved equivalent Applied Arts course over the summer between 10th or 11th grade at another accredited institution
· Take another subject during the summer at an accredited institution so that the SHS school year schedule can accommodate taking an Applied Arts class.

2. Health:

· Take Health at SHS as an additional 7th class (one semester) during 10th, 11th or 12th grade
· Take Health at SHS in a regular 6-period schedule during 10th grade by deferring one semester of PE until 11th or 12th grade
· Take Health during summer school if offered
· Take an approved equivalent Health course at another accredited institution; e.g., Cabrillo College’s HS 10 – Personal Health


D. SUMMER ASSIGNMENTS

Social Studies:
Read The Other Side of the Sky: A Memior (Farah Ahmendi and Tamim Ansary, 2005). A quantity of the book will be in stock at The Capitola Book Café, referenced under “Humanities Academy 9.”

Citing evidence from the book, write an essay in which you describe three tenets of Afghani culture that were unfamiliar to you.

English/Language Arts:
Read To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee, 1960). Write a structured and textually supported essay in which you analyze the role and meaning of a recurring theme in the text. Discuss how the author employs this theme to provide the reader with an insight on life. Support your thesis with quotations from the text.

For BOTH English and Social Studies assignments, please adhere to the following criteria:

Due on the first day of school
Nor more than two pages, typed, doubled spaced
Times New Roman, 12 pt font
Adhere to the format to the right in your heading:
Your name
Subject
Date

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Page last updated 6/08 by Madeline Britton, Librarian