ELA  

This course will work to help students become more polished readers and more concise writers. This class serves as a continuation of the speaking, reading, and writing skills students began to strengthen in middle school, but works to challenge students to venture outside of the text and apply the knowledge that has been acquired. The course will close with an individual book project unit, that will afford students the opportunity to develop a close relationship with the novel of their choice. There will be a heightened emphasis on spelling awareness and decoding, as well as thinking about the relationship between the student’s beliefs and thoughts, and why they possess them (metacognition). All of our units will be centered on Essential Questions, in an effort to increase application and comprehension skill. Specific strategies and modeling around word study, vocabulary, writing, decoding and analysis will work to prepare students to transition into upper level high-school courses.

U.S. History and Geography  

The 9th grade U.S. History and Geography course explores United States history and geography from the Civil War to the present. The twist in the curriculum comes from using Detroit—our history and geography—as the focal point in our inquiry. Students will read, analyze, research, and explore primary and secondary source documents and artifacts to learn about events, trends, and transformations happening in Detroit that connect with the broader themes of U.S. History. Through our partnerships, students will do extensive field research utilizing the resources of local museums and experts in the community. Students will then be able to construct their own accounts of historical events, trends, and people and publish their work in a bi-monthly newsletter. The ultimate goal, however, is to combine a wide range of student accounts, editorials, and narratives to publish a comprehensive historical magazine for each era we study that showcases our student’s best work. These magazines will then be made available as supplementary materials throughout the DPSCD.

Integrated Math (also known as CPM or College Preparatory Mathematics)  

The point of this introductory high school course is to take students beyond classifications – algebra, geometry -- and help students see math for what it truly is: a  beautiful, rigorous search for truth. In today’s world, determining what is true is becoming harder and harder. Mathematics is our greatest and most impressive creation for this and one of our oldest. Through exploration, mostly trial and error, we have come to understand this language of the universal truths. Our hope is that in this course, students come to see the power and beauty in this generational gift from our past that most certainly holds the keys to unlocking our best future.

Physical Science  

Reaching the Next Generation Science Standards with a place-based and STEM-focused units for social justice. This is a discovery course in which student groups design experiments, collect and analyze data in order to understand the processes of science and the basic concepts and laws of Newtonian mechanics, properties of matter, electricity and magnetism and energy, and waves. Science will help us explain how the world works with words and math to back up our claims. Students will show mastery of the material by designing an action project to change the injustices we will discover together.

Introduction to Human Centered Design and Engineering  

Students will participate in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) design cycle through their exploration of human-centered design and engineering. Aiming to build a more socially just world, students will develop data-driven designs for their school and community. Through this work, they will learn the habits of mind and communication tools needed to explore problems, develop and iterate on solutions, and present their designs to stakeholders of their community.

Spanish I  

Students will learn fundamental phrases and vocabulary in an enjoyable way through Comprehensible Input. The goal is to have the students fluent enough for basic conversation at a novice level. They will be working on national standards as described by ACTFL, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. These skills are gained through actively listening and responding to meaningful stories or conversation. Emphasis is placed on conversational and literary skills through natural language acquisition by engaging imagination in story-telling and by working on social justice issues relating to identity, food, literacy and immigration.

Cyber Security-Cisco Cybersecurity Specialist certification recognizes security professionals who have attained specialized in-depth expertise and proven knowledge in the essential areas of proactive cyber threat detection and mitigation. The program designed for professional security analysts and leveraging the features of Cisco and other network security products used today, the Cisco Cybersecurity Specialist certification focuses on the topics of event monitoring, security event/alarm/traffic analysis, and incident response.

Computer Science-Our world keeps getting smarter. In fact, technology drives most major industry today – so Cass Tech high school students can count on some serious opportunity after college. Software development. Data processing. Dreaming up the next must-have app or electronic. From innovative startups to global giants – and everything in between – careers in computer science can take you there. Our program in computer science clicks with students who appreciate technology, analytics and details. But there’s also lots of room for creativity and imagination! It’s a constantly evolving industry that requires its professionals to evolve, too. Computer science careers include programmers, systems analysts, support specialists, engineers, app and game developers, database administrators and more.

Robotics-With more and more schools adopting VEX Robotics as a platform to enrich and enhance science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses, there is a need for an integrated program which allows teachers to seamlessly add VEX into their classrooms. These offerings were developed by forward-thinking organizations with years of experience creating the tools to keep STEM education exciting and inspiring.

Computer and Manufacturing-Manufactured items are part of everyday life, yet most students have not been introduced to the high-tech, innovative nature of modern manufacturing. This course focuses on the mechanical engineering aspects of modern manufacturing. Using a combination of skills developed in prior Project Lead the Way (PLTW) courses and new software applications Cass Tech students discover and practice:

• Manufacturing history
• Manufacturing processes
• Product design
• Robotics
• Milling
• Automation

The class ends with a final factory simulation where students work together to create a real factory production system incorporating all aspects of the course content.