Comprehensive High School Curriculum for Grade 12: Preparing Students for the Future
Welcome to our Grade 12 curriculum page! We offer a wide range of courses designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need for their future academic and career paths. Our curriculum includes rigorous academic courses, practical life skills classes, and specialized advanced placement (AP) courses. From exploring the depths of British literature in English Language Arts 12 to understanding the principles of physics, our Grade 12 curriculum is designed to cater to diverse interests and learning needs.
Cyber Charter High School Grade 12 Curriculum
English Language Arts 12
Prerequisite: English Language Arts 11
In English Language Arts 12 students delve into British literary traditions, from the ancient Anglo-Saxon writings to modern works. Students will engage with a variety of texts, including fiction, poetry, drama, and nonfiction, honing their comprehension and literary analysis skills. The course also includes interactive activities to enhance students' oral language skills and creative writing.
Honors English Language Arts 12
Prerequisite: English Language Arts 11 (90% or Higher) or Teacher Recommendation
This advanced year-long course invites students to delve into British literature, from ancient texts such as the epic of Beowulf to contemporary works. The course includes rigorous lessons focusing on academic inquiry, literary analysis, and inferential evaluation. Students will also have additional opportunities to create and participate in project-based learning activities.
Introduction to Communications and Speech
Prerequisites: English Language Arts 12
This year-long course provides students with a deep understanding of verbal and nonverbal communication, including cultural and gender differences in listening and responding. The course includes engaging lectures and interactive activities, with a focus on self-awareness and perception in communication. Students will also learn how to create informative and persuasive speeches, and analyze various speeches.
AP English Language & Composition
Prerequisites: English Language Arts 11 (90% or Higher) or English Language Arts 11 Honors, and Teacher Recommendation
This college-level course prepares students for the AP English Language and Composition Exam. The course is fast-paced and designed for highly motivated students. It includes critical reading, writing, classroom assignments, and discussion activities. Students will also increase their prose knowledge of many styles and genres.
AP English Literature & Composition
Prerequisites: English Language Arts 12 (90% or Higher), or English Language Arts 12 Honors, or AP English Language & Composition, and Teacher Recommendation
This college-level course equips students to critically analyze all forms of literature. Students will interpret meaning based on form, examine the characteristics of literary genres and periods, and critique literary works through expository, analytical, and argumentative essays. The course also prepares students for the AP English Literature and Composition Exam.
Precalculus
Prerequisite: Algebra II or Algebra II Honors
This yearlong course emphasizes function families and their representations. Precalculus is a thoughtful introduction to advanced studies leading to calculus. The course briefly reviews linear equations, inequalities, and systems and moves purposefully into studying functions. Students then discover the nature of graphs and deepen their understanding of polynomial, rational, exponential, and logarithmic functions. Scaffolding rigorous content with clear instruction, the course leads students through an advanced study of trigonometric functions, matrices, and vectors. The course concludes with a short study of probability and statistics.
Precalculus Honors
Prerequisite: Algebra II (90% or Higher) or Algebra II Honors, or Teacher Recommendation
This yearlong advanced math course starts with a unit on the nature of functions and complex numbers before moving into matrices, systems, and linear programming. Students return to functions focusing on graphing various function types and completing a performance task on production schemes. Students explore rational functions in-depth and conclude the first semester with right triangle and circular trigonometry. In the second half of the course, students synthesize what they have learned to graph and solve trigonometric functions. They also study vectors, conics and analytic geometry, statistics and probability, mathematical modeling, and sequences and series.
Financial Math
This practical yearlong course connects mathematical concepts to personal and business settings. It covers a range of topics including personal financial planning, budgeting, banking, taxes, insurance, long-term investing, buying a house, consumer loans, economic principles, traveling abroad, starting a business, and business data analysis. The course encourages mastery of math skill sets, including percentages, proportions, data analysis, linear systems, and exponential functions.
Statistics and Probability
Prerequisite: Geometry or Geometry Honors
Statistics and Probability is a yearlong course that offers an alternative for students who may not wish to pursue more advanced mathematics courses. It begins with a comprehensive study of probability, sampling, and population comparison. The course then delves into data distribution and data analysis. In the second half of the course, students will learn to create and analyze scatter plots, study two-way tables and normal distributions, and apply probability to conditional probability, combinations, permutations, and sets.
AP Calculus AB
Prerequisite: Precalculus (90% or Higher) or Precalculus Honors, or Teacher Recommendation
This yearlong, college-level course prepares students for the Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus AB Exam. Major topics of study include a review of pre-calculus, limits, derivatives, definite integrals, mathematical modeling of differential equations, and the applications of these concepts. There is an emphasis on using technology to solve problems and draw conclusions. The course utilizes a multi-representative approach to calculus with concepts and problems expressed numerically, graphically, verbally, and analytically.
AP Statistics
Prerequisite: Algebra II (90% or higher) or Algebra II Honors, Statistics and Probability, or Teacher Recommendation
This yearlong, college-level course introduces students to the major concepts and tools for collecting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data. Students cultivate their understanding of statistics using technology, investigations, problem-solving, and writing as they explore concepts like variation and distribution; patterns and uncertainty; and data-based predictions, decisions, and conclusions.
AP United States History
Prerequisite: World History (90% or Higher) or World History Honors, or Teacher Recommendation
This yearlong, college-level course guides you from the early settlement of the New World to contemporary times, preparing you for the AP United States History Exam. You'll delve into key areas like national identity, economic transformation, immigration, politics, and more. The course also sharpens your analytical and writing skills as you learn to assess historical materials and express your understanding.
Environmental Science
Our year long Environmental Science course surveys key topics, including the application of the scientific process to environmental analysis, ecology, energy flow, ecological structures, biochemistry, and biogeochemical cycles. Students explore these topics and conduct hands-on, unit-long research projects. They accurately apply the scientific method and process, including the creation of hypotheses. The course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the environment and the impact of human activities on it.
Biology
Our year long Biology course immerses students in the study of life and living organisms, integrating traditional concepts with real-world applications. The course covers a broad range of topics, including biochemistry, cell biology, cell processes, heredity and reproduction, the evolution of life, taxonomy, human body systems, and ecology. Students engage in both hands-on wet labs and virtual lab options, providing a comprehensive and interactive learning experience. The course culminates in students taking the required state Keystone exam in Biology, ensuring they have mastered the key concepts and are ready for advanced studies.
Physical Science
Prerequisite: Biology
Biology is a yearlong course delves into the fundamental concepts of chemistry and physics. Students explore the chemical building blocks of our physical world, the composition of matter, and the properties affecting motion, forces, and energy on Earth. The course also covers the properties of electricity and magnetism. Interactive virtual labs and hands-on wet lab options enhance students' understanding of physical science.
Chemistry
Prerequisite: Biology or Honors Biology
This rigorous yearlong course engages students in the study of the composition, properties, changes, and interactions of matter. The course includes eighteen virtual laboratory experiments and covers topics such as electrochemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, nuclear chemistry, and real-world applications of chemistry. Wet lab options are also available for a more hands-on experience.
Chemistry Honors
Prerequisite: Biology (90% or Higher) OR Biology Honors, Teacher Recommendation
This advanced course provides an in-depth study of chemistry, emphasizing mathematical problem-solving and practical applications. Topics include atomic theory and structure, chemical bonding, states and changes of matter, chemical and redox reactions, stoichiometry, gas laws, solutions, acids and bases, and nuclear and organic chemistry. The course includes interactive and hands-on laboratory activities that enhance concept knowledge and develop scientific process skills like research and technical writing.
AP Biology
Prerequisites: Biology (90% or Higher) or Biology Honors, or Teacher Recommendation
This college-level course prepares students for the Advanced Placement (AP) Biology exam. Over the year, students will study biochemistry, cells, enzymes and metabolism, cell communication and cell cycle, gene expression, evolution and genetic diversity, and ecology. The course includes a lab section focusing on virtual lab activities, simulations, and data analysis related to the course content.
AP Environmental Science
Prerequisites: Chemistry (90% or Higher) or Chemistry Honors, or Teacher Recommendation
This course provides students with the content and skills needed to understand the various interrelationships in the natural world, identify and analyze environmental problems, and propose and examine solutions to these problems. The course covers human population dynamics, interrelationships in nature, energy flow, resources, environmental quality, human impact on environmental systems, and environmental law. The laboratory- and field-based activities will be completed virtually and via experiments that students can easily perform at home with common materials.
Physics
Prerequisite: Chemistry or Honors Chemistry, Precalculus (Can be Taken Concurrently)
This yearlong course introduces students to classical and modern physics, emphasizing a conceptual understanding of basic physics principles. Topics include Newtonian mechanics, energy, thermodynamics, waves, electricity, magnetism, and nuclear and modern physics. Students will engage in mathematical problem-solving, abstract reasoning, and critical thinking about the physical world. The course includes interactive virtual labs and hands-on lab options, encouraging students to ask questions and formulate hypotheses.
Physics Honors
Prerequisite: Chemistry (90% or Higher) or Chemistry Honors, Precalculus (Can be Taken Concurrently), or Teacher Recommendation
This rigorous yearlong course provides an in-depth study of physics at an honors level. The curriculum emphasizes abstract reasoning and real-world applications of physics concepts. Topics are examined more thoroughly than in the general physics course, providing a solid foundation for college-level coursework. Course components include one- and two-dimensional motion, momentum, energy and thermodynamics, harmonic motion, waves, electricity, magnetism, and nuclear and modern physics. Students participate in various interactive and hands-on laboratory activities that enhance concept knowledge and develop scientific process skills, including scientific research and technical writing.
Read More In Our High School Course Guide
Spanish I
Our yearlong Spanish I course provides a comprehensive introduction to high school Spanish, focusing on four key areas of foreign language study: listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Each unit is structured around an ongoing adventure story, a new vocabulary theme, and a grammar concept. Students engage in interactive games that reinforce vocabulary and grammar, reading and listening comprehension activities, and speaking and writing exercises. The course also includes multimedia cultural presentations that cover major Spanish-speaking regions in Europe and the Americas.
Spanish II
Prerequisite: Spanish I
Spanish II is a yearlong course continues the introduction to Spanish, focusing on four key areas: listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Each unit features an ongoing adventure story, a new vocabulary theme, grammar concept, interactive games, reading and listening comprehension activities, speaking and writing activities, and cultural presentations. The course covers major Spanish-speaking areas in Europe and the Americas, providing a comprehensive understanding of the language and culture.
French I
Our yearlong French I course offers a thorough introduction to high school French, emphasizing four key areas of foreign language study: listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Each unit is centered around an ongoing adventure story, a new vocabulary theme, and a grammar concept. Students participate in interactive games that reinforce vocabulary and grammar, reading and listening comprehension activities, and speaking and writing exercises. The course also features multimedia cultural presentations that cover major French-speaking areas in Europe and across the globe.
French II
Prerequisite: French I
French II is a yearlong course, students continue their introduction to French, reviewing and building upon the fundamental aspects of the language: listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Each unit includes an ongoing adventure story, a new vocabulary theme, grammar concept, interactive games, reading and listening comprehension activities, speaking and writing activities, and cultural presentations. The course covers major French-speaking areas across the globe, offering a broad understanding of the language and culture.
German I
Our yearlong German I course provides a comprehensive introduction to high school German, focusing on four key areas of foreign language study: listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Each unit is structured around an ongoing adventure story, a new vocabulary theme, and a grammar concept. Students engage in interactive games that reinforce vocabulary and grammar, reading and listening comprehension activities, and speaking and writing exercises. The course also includes multimedia cultural presentations that cover major German-speaking regions in Europe.
German II
Prerequisite: German I
German II is a yearlong course continues the introduction to German, focusing on four key areas: listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Each unit features an ongoing adventure story, a new vocabulary theme, grammar concept, interactive games, reading and listening comprehension activities, speaking and writing activities, and cultural presentations. The course covers major German-speaking areas in Europe, providing a comprehensive understanding of the language and culture.
Art History I
Our year long Art History I course provides high school students with a comprehensive overview of art history. The course is organized chronologically and by world regions, covering a broad range of topics. These include early medieval and Romanesque art, art from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries, fifteenth-century European art, sixteenth-century Italian art, the master artists, High Renaissance and Baroque art, and world art from Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Pacific cultures. The course also delves into eighteenth and nineteenth-century art in Europe and the Americas, as well as modern art from these regions.
Music Appreciation
Our year long Music Appreciation course introduces students to the history, theory, and various genres of music. The course takes students on a journey through music history, from the earliest forms of music to contemporary pieces from around the world. The first section of the course covers early musical forms, classical music, and American jazz. The second section explores modern traditions, including gospel, folk, soul, blues, Latin rhythms, rock and roll, and hip hop. The course also examines the relationship between music and social movements, and how the emergence of a global society and the prominence of the Internet are making music more accessible worldwide.
Lifetime Fitness IV
Required for all 12th-grade Students
Lifetime Fitness IV is a quarter-long course specifically designed for 12th-grade students. It aims to equip students with the necessary skills to achieve lifetime fitness. The course covers a broad range of topics, including safe exercise practices, injury prevention, nutrition and weight management, consumer product evaluation, and stress management.
Throughout the course, students are encouraged to assess their individual fitness levels based on the five components of physical fitness: cardiovascular health, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition. These personal fitness assessments serve as a foundation for students to design fitness programs that cater to their individual fitness goals.
Healthy Living
This one-semester course invites students to make responsible and informed decisions in important aspects of life, as well as consider healthy attitudes and behavior patterns.
Contemporary Health
This one-semester course examines and analyzes various health topics. It places alcohol use, drug use, physical fitness, healthy relationships, disease prevention, and mental health in the context of creating a healthy lifestyle. Students examine practices and plans they can implement to carry out a healthy lifestyle and the consequences they can face if they do not follow safe practices.
Digital Citizenship and Career Exploration
This 1-quarter, pass/fail course provides students with a comprehensive overview of online learning, independent work, safety, and effective study habits. A mixture of direct-instruction videos, interactive tasks, authentic projects, and rigorous assessments prepares students for high school by teaching them critical study skills.
Capstone Graduation Project
Required for all 12th-grade Students
This yearlong course is a culmination of the student's learning journey, allowing them to apply classroom lessons in real-world settings through the Graduation Project. The project is student-driven, tailored to their career and academic interests. Under the guidance of a staff member, students will learn and utilize essential skills such as planning, conducting research, developing a research paper, and presenting their graduation project to a staff committee. This hands-on experience not only solidifies their learning but also prepares them for future academic and professional endeavors.
As well as Electives including:
And Keystone Exam Prep Courses Including:
Keystone Algebra I PrepKeystone Biology Prep
Keystone Literature Prep
A Safe & Supportive Online Learning Environment
Parents as Learning Partners
In our online tenth-grade, we view education as a collaboration between school and home. We actively involve parents in their child's cyber schooling, providing regular updates, resources, and support. Together, we can illuminate a bright future for your child.
Prepare for Success with 12th Grade at PA Virtual High School
Our Grade 12 curriculum is designed to provide students with a robust and comprehensive educational experience. We aim to prepare students not only for their upcoming college journey but also for the diverse challenges they will encounter in their future careers and personal lives. With our wide range of courses, students can explore their interests, hone their skills, and build a strong foundation for lifelong learning. Enroll your student today and empower them for success beyond high school.
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