Courses Requirements and Selections

Math Courses:                                                            English:
INTEGRATED ALGEBRA**                                 ENGLISH 1-4
GEOMETRY**                                                        JOURNALISM**
TRIGONOMETRY                                                 DRAMA**
CALCULUS                                                           AP LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION
STATISTICS                                                          AP LITERATURE AND COMPOSITION
AP CALCULUS
AP STATISTICS

Science Courses:                                                                 Foreign Language:
BIOLOGY**                                                                       SPANISH 1-8
CHEMISTRY**                                                                  ITALIAN 1-8
EARTH SCIENCE OR PHYSICS**                                 FRENCH 1-8                  
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE                                        RUSSIAN 1-8
FORENSIC SCIENCE                                                        CHINESE 1-8
MICROBIOLOGY                                                              SIGN LANGUAGE 1-8
AP BIOLOGY                       Advanced Placement is offered for all Foreign Languages
AP CHEMISTRY
AP PHYSICS

Social Studies:                                                                    Music / Art Electives:
GLOBAL HISTORY**                                                     PAINTING1-8*
UNITED STATES HISTORY**                                      PHOTOGRAPHY1-8*
GOVERNMENT/ECONOMICS**                                  CERAMICS1-8*
PSYCHOLOGY*                                                                (At least 1 Art is required)
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW*                                             CHORUS 1-8*
PUBLIC SPEAKING AND DEBATE*                              PIANO 1-8*
AP GLOBAL HISTORY                                                   JAZZ BAND*
AP UNITED STATES HISTORY                                     MUSIC SURVEY*
AP PSYCHOLOGY                                                          (At least 1 Music is required)
AP CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
(* means at least 1 is required)


Rationale:

Most of the normal subjects are offered, with minor changes.  In math, only Integrated Algebra and Geometry are required. The rest of the maths are offered as electives. Three years of Science is required. Biology, Chemistry and a choice of either Physics or Earth Science. The rest of the sciences can be taken as electives. The normal Social Studies Subjects are offered. Only, Global History will be shortened to one year only. Then the student will take United States History followed by Government/Economics. Now on a students fourth year of Social Studies, he or she has a choice of taking either Psychology, Constitutional Law or Public Speaking and Debate.  Please note, if the student already took these classes as an elective in his or her first three years of high school, he or she now has this space for a different elective. For English, the first two years will be the basic Language and Literature of English. To Branch out, his or her Junior Year, the mandatory course that is offered for English is Journalism and for their Senior Year, the mandatory English course offered will be Drama. A wide variety of Foreign Languages are offered but none of them are mandatory, all can be taken as an elective. Lastly, a wide variety of Music and Art courses are offered. One year of your choice of Photography, Ceramics or Painting is required and one year of your choice of Music Survey, Chorus, Jazz Band or Piano is required. It is important that we offer a wide variety of courses so that each student leaves the John J. Belisario High School For The Gifted and Talented feeling they have learned a lot of different subjects and can make a decision on what they want to focus on in college.