Course Selection 2019-20
Overview
Pelham Memorial High School provides open access to all Honors and Advanced Placement courses. Before students decide to enroll in these more rigorous courses, they are encouraged to discuss the expected level of work with parents, teachers and school counselors to determine if placement in one or more of these courses is in the student's best interest. Finding a balance in terms of requirements, rigor, choice and time for studying, as well as extra-curricular activities are all important when making these decisions and managing time is essential to reducing stress.
Please review the resources on this page and feel free to reach out to teachers or your school counselor with any questions.
Additional Resources
What's New 2019-20?
WHAT’S NEW?! 2019-2020 Course Offerings at PMHS:
STUDIO IN CERAMICS 2 - 1/2 Credit (Half Year)
Students will continue to develop skills in hand building: pinch, coil, and slab construction. Students will learn to create larger pieces while developing refinement of form, and will learn additional glazing techniques.
GLOBAL ARTS - 1 Credit (Full Year)
Global Arts is an elective course that will satisfy the mind of the art and culture curious. Over the course of the year the class will examine art objects specific to a series of cultures from around the world. We will explore the ways in which these objects are used, made and how different cultures have their own concepts of aesthetics. As a class we will analyze art objects in a cultural context and learn how specialized objects play a role in various societies. This course will utilize two and three dimensional design techniques and creative problem solving, using the elements and principles of design. Introduction to art history and exposure to a variety of world cultures will guide students towards an appreciation of both craft and design.
MANDARIN CHINESE 4 - 1 Credit (Full Year)
This course focuses on the Chinese language and culture through the study of a wide range of topic areas related to current events, history, art and literature. The course is designed to strengthen all four skills of language: reading, writing, speaking and listening. The course includes the study of vocabulary and grammar. Projects and presentations are assigned during the year.
DRAMATIC LITERATURE (ADELPHI UNIVERSITY) - 1 Credit (Full Year)
This college-level dual enrollment course focuses on playwrights of the modern period, such as Ibsen, Shaw, Brecht, Chekhov, and O’Neill, with some study of contemporary playwrights whose works reveal the influence of their modern predecessors. This is an advanced English course (which can earn students 3 college credits through Adelphi University) for 12th-grade students that focuses on modern literature that is written for performance. This class will investigate elements of dramatic literature and the various forms of drama that have evolved from modern realism to comedy of manners to theater of the absurd, to farce. Students will focus on the exploration of drama, humor, gender and identity through various forms of modern theater. Additionally, dramatic literature will be studied comparatively within the fields of non-fiction, theater history, theater production, and cinema. This course will fulfill the English 12 requirement. While there is no formal entrance criteria, students are advised that this is a college-level class with appropriately rigorous expectations. The approximate cost for the class is $390.00. Students will complete a senior project throughout the year during this course.
ENGLISH 12: A STUDY IN MODERN DRAMATIC LITERATURE - 1 Credit (Full Year)
This full-year senior English course will focus on modern literature that is written for performance. This class will investigate elements of dramatic literature and the various forms of drama that have evolved from modern realism to comedy of manners to theater of the absurd, to farce. Students will focus on the exploration of drama, non-fiction, humor, gender and identity through various forms of modern theater. This course teaches students how to analyze and discuss contemporary plays and how to communicate their analyses in writing. The course encourages students to express their perspectives through in-class discussions and through writing. This course will fulfill the English 12 state requirement. Students will complete a senior project throughout the year in this course.
AP COMPUTER SCIENCE PRINCIPLES - 1 Credit (Full Year)
This AP level course offers a multidisciplinary approach to the underlying principles of computation. It is a course that is equivalent to a first-semester introductory college computing course. The course will introduce students to the creative and broader aspects of programming, abstractions, algorithms, large data sets, the Internet, cybersecurity concerns, and computing impacts. AP Computer Science Principles also gives students the opportunity to use current technologies to create computational artifacts for both self-expression and problem solving.