Online Elective Classes

Computer Science

Associated Student Body (ASB) Classes

Electives

Elective Class Descriptions

ASB Leadership

  • Prerequisites: None
  • Length: One semester
  • Occurrence: Fall Semester Only
  • Repeat: Can be taken up to four times for credit.

ASB Leadership is a group project based class designed to serve the social needs of our CPA school community. Students enrolled in ASB Leadership will be required to attend a weekly meeting every Monday to work with other class members on school community projects that include the following:

  • Student Leadership organizes election for Student Officers
  • Plan and Help Facilitate Student Activities such as Spirit Week, Symposium, Game Nights, Talent Show and much more.
  • Daily Discussion Forum monitoring- ASB leaders help to monitor student posts to help support the school community.
  • Daily Discussion Forum Content- ASB leaders will be required to create some of the DD devotions and activities.
  • Project Reach Out- Students will help to encourage and pray for students who have publicly announced their struggles in the Daily Discussion Forum.

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ASB News Leaders

  • Prerequisites: None
  • Length: One semester
  • Occurrence: Fall & Spring Semesters
  • Repeat: Can be taken up to two times for credit and additionally for no-credit.

ASB News Leaders is a group project based class designed to serve the print media of our CPA school community. Students enrolled in ASB Newsleader will be required to attend a weekly class meeting to work with other class members on school community projects that include the following:

  • Support the community by keeping them informed on all CPA news
  • Interviews students, staff and families to collect news stories
  • Attends school events to report and highlight the details of those events to the community
  • Designs and creates a monthly newsletter the is published for the community

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ASB Tech Team

  • Prerequisites: None
  • Length: One semester
  • Occurrence: Fall & Spring Semesters
  • Repeat: Can be taken up to two times for credit and additionally for no-credit.

ASB Tech Team is a group project based class designed to serve by organizing and creating Digital Media of our CPA school community. Students enrolled in ASB Tech Team will be required to attend a weekly class meeting to work with other class members on school community projects that include the following:

  • Organize School photos
  • Digital coverage of all school events
  • Monday Video Announcements in Daily Discussion Forum
  • Talent Show production

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ASB Yearbook

  • Prerequisites: None
  • Length: One semester
  • Occurrence: Spring Semester Only
  • Repeat: Can be taken up to two times for credit and additionally for no-credit.

ASB Yearbook is a group project based class designed to serve by organizing and creating an annual yearbook for our CPA school community. Students enrolled in ASB Yearbook Team will be required to attend a weekly class meeting to work with other class members on school community projects that include the following:

  • Organize School photos
  • Create school yearbook
  • 8th grade promotion slideshow
  • 12th grade Senior Farewell slideshow

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College & Career Prep I

High school students have many questions about the college application process, what it takes to be a successful college student, and how to begin thinking about their careers. In College and Career Preparation I, students obtain a deeper understanding of what it means to be ready for college. Students are informed about the importance of high school performance in college admissions and how to prepare for college testing. They know the types of schools and degrees they may choose to pursue after high school and gain wide exposure to the financial resources available that make college attainable. Career readiness is also a focus. Students connect the link between interests, college majors, and future careers by analyzing career clusters. Students come away from this course understanding how smart preparation and skill development in high school can lead into expansive career opportunities after they have completed their education and are ready for the working world. Students who complete College and Career Preparation I have the basic skills and foundation of knowledge to progress into College and Career Preparation II, the capstone course that provides hands-on information about the transition from high school to college and career.This course is built to the American School Counselors Association National Standards for school counseling programs.

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College & Career Prep II

High school students have many questions about the college application process, what it takes to be a successful college student, and how to begin thinking about their careers. College and Career Preparation II builds on the lessons and skills in College and Career Preparation I. The course provides a step-by-step guide to choosing a college. It walks students through the process of filling out an application, including opportunities to practice, and takes an in-depth look at the various college-admission tests and assessments, as well financial aid options. College and Career Preparation II also instructs students in interviewing techniques and provides career guidance. Students explore valuable opportunities such as job shadowing and internships when preparing for a career. Students who complete this course obtain a deeper understanding of college and career readiness through informative, interactive critical thinking and analysis activities while sharpening their time management, organization, and learning skills that they learned in College and Career Preparation I. College and Career Preparation II prepares students with the knowledge and skills to be successful in college and beyond.This course is built to the American School Counselors Association National Standards for school counseling programs.

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Computers in Business

  • Prerequisites: None
  • Length: One semester

In this course, students utilize their knowledge of computer applications to deliver a business idea in a professional “sales pitch,” by means of a student-led live, virtual presentation of their business in order to seek investor commitment.

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Creative Writing

Creative Writing is an English elective course that focuses on the exploration of short fiction and poetry, culminating in a written portfolio that includes one revised short story and three to five polished poems. Students draft, revise, and polish fiction and poetry through writing exercises, developing familiarity with literary terms and facility with the writing process as they study elements of creative writing.Elements of fiction writing explored in this course include attention to specific detail, observation, character development, setting, plot, and point of view. In the poetry units, students learn about the use of sensory details and imagery, figurative language, and sound devices including rhyme, rhythm and alliteration. They also explore poetic forms ranging from found poems and slam poetry to traditional sonnets and villanelles.In addition to applying literary craft elements in guided creative writing exercises, students engage in critical reading activities designed to emphasize the writing craft of a diverse group of authors. Students study short stories by authors such as Bharati Mukherjee and Edgar Allan Poe, learning how to create believable characters and develop setting and plot. Likewise, students read poetry by canonical greats such as W. B. Yeats and Emily Dickinson as well as contemporary writers such as Pablo Neruda, Sherman Alexie, and Alice Notley. Studying the writing technique of a range of authors provides students with models and inspiration as they develop their own voices and refine their understanding of the literary craft.By taking a Creative Writing course, students find new approaches to reading and writing that can affect them on a personal level, as the skills they gain in each lesson directly benefit their own creative goals. Students who are already actively engaged writers and readers learn additional tools and insight into the craft of writing to help them further hone their skills and encourage their creative as well as academic growth.All English elective content is based on the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) standards.

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Digital Photography

Digital photography covers the basics of how to take great pictures, along with tips for those trickier shots. Students will learn how to compose a shot, adjust for different lighting, capture motion, take photos at night, and the tricks for taking close-ups. Participants will also learn how to enhance their photos with lessons in image editing. Students will create a portfolio as they take pictures throughout the course to display their progression of work. The required equipment for this class includes either a smart phone, digital camera, or DSLR camera. Students will also need a computer for the image editing.

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Intro to Computers

  • Prerequisites: None
  • Length: One semester

In this course, students learn basic computer applications in word, spreadsheet, and presentation processing. Students also explore the structure and navigation of the internet, email, websites, domains, browsers, and internet safety.

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Intro to Typing

  • Prerequisites: None
  • Length: One semester

Students learn the elementary principals of keyboard typing, practicing them to improve mastery of speed and accuracy.

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Media Literacy

Media Literacy teaches students how to build the critical thinking, writing, and reading skills required in a media-rich and increasingly techno-centric world. In a world saturated with media messages, digital environments, and social networking, concepts of literacy must expand to include all forms of media. Today’s students need to be able to read, comprehend, analyze, and respond to non-traditional media with the same skill level they engage with traditional print sources. A major topic in Media Literacy is non-traditional media reading skills, including how to approach, analyze, and respond to advertisements, blogs, websites, social media, news media, and wikis. Students also engage in a variety of writing activities in non-traditional media genres, such as blogging and podcast scripting.Students consider their own positions as consumers of media and explore ways to use non-traditional media to become more active and thoughtful citizens. Students learn how to ask critical questions about the intended audience and underlying purpose of media messages, and study factors which can contribute to bias and affect credibility.This course is built to state standards and informed by The National Association for Media Literacy Education’s Core Principles of Media Literacy Education.

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Musical Instrument

  • Prerequisites: None
  • Length: One semester

Students receive credit for external musical instrument and/or voice performance lessons. Hours from the lesson instructor are documented for course credit.

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Reading Skills & Strategies

Reading is a course is designed to help the struggling reader develop mastery in the areas of reading comprehension, vocabulary building, study skills, and media literacy, which are the course’s primary content strands. Using these strands, the course guides the student through the skills necessary to be successful in the academic world and beyond. The reading comprehension strand focuses on introducing the student to the varied purposes of reading (e.g., for entertainment, for information, to complete a task, or to analyze). In the vocabulary strand, the student learns specific strategies for understanding and remembering new vocabulary. In the study skills strand, the student learns effective study and test-taking strategies. In the media literacy strand, the student learns to recognize and evaluate persuasive techniques, purposes, design choices, and effects of media. The course encourages personal enjoyment in reading with 10 interviews featuring the book choices and reading adventures of students and members of the community.This course is built to state standards and informed by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) standards.

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Website Design

  • Prerequisites: None
  • Length: One semester

This is a beginning hands-on introduction to using HyperText Mark-Up Language (HTML) to create web pages, which can be uploaded and displayed on the World Wide Web. Students will use HTML to create web pages with text in various sizes and colors, links to other sites, background color or patterns, graphics, tables and mailto links. Principles of design and color, as they apply to screen presentations, will be included.

The course introduces the student to HTML and Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) source code needed to create web pages. Discussion of copyright and universal accessibility issues, plus design and color concepts will be presented.

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World Geography A & B

Geography and World Cultures offers a tightly focused and scaffolded curriculum that enables students to explore how geographic features, human relationships, political and social structures, economics, science and technology, and the arts have developed and influenced life in countries around the world. Along the way, students are given rigorous instruction on how to read maps, charts, and graphs, and how to create them.

Geography and World Cultures is built to state standards and informed by standards from the National Council for History Education, the National Center for History in the Schools, and the National Council for Social Studies.

Geography and World Cultures is designed as the first course in the social studies sequence. It develops note-taking skills, teaches the basic elements of analytic writing, and introduces students to the close examination of primary documents.

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Writing Skills & Strategies

Writing Skills and Strategies develops key language arts skills necessary for high school graduation and success on high stakes exams through a semester of interactive instruction and guided practice in composition fundamentals. The course is divided into ten mini-units of study. The first two are designed to build early success and confidence, orienting students to the writing process and to sentence and paragraph essentials through a series of low-stress, high-interest hook activities. In subsequent units, students review, practice, compose and submit one piece of writing. Four key learning strands are integrated throughout: composition practice, grammar skill building, diction and style awareness, and media and technology exploration. Guided studies emphasize the structure of essential forms of writing encountered in school, in life, and in the work place. Practice in these forms is scaffolded to accommodate learners at different skill levels. This course is built to state standards and informed by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) standards.

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