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https://nshs.salinasuhsd.org/For-Students/Academics/Areas-of-Study/
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North Salinas High School

Areas of Study

English
 

English
 

Forty (40) units are required for graduation.
 
English courses asks students to read stories and literature, as well as more complex texts that provide facts and background knowledge in areas such as science and social studies. Students will be challenged and asked questions that push them to refer back to what they’ve read. This stresses critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills that are required for success in college, career, and life.
Mathematics

Mathematics

Thirty (30) units of Math required for graduation; twenty (20) units must be in high school math, including Math 1. All courses are offered to meet high school math graduation requirements unless otherwise specified.
 
Since 2010, 45 states have adopted the same standards for English and Math. These standards are called the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Having the same standards ensures all students receive an equitable education, even if they change schools or move to a different state. Teachers, parents, and education experts designed the CCSS to prepare students for success in college and the workplace. To meet the challenges of the CCSS, our district will be adopting and implementing an “Integrated Math” pathway that will replace “Traditional” courses.
English Language Development
 

English Language Development
 

Students are assessed with the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) before they are enrolled in the appropriate level of ELD. Decisions regarding course placement in Designated ELD should be made based on individual student data, including time in US schools, former schooling, additional proficiency data, graduation credits accrued, and teacher recommendations. One year or ten credits of English Language Development are accepted by the UC or CSU systems as meeting one unit of the English subject requirement. A maximum of twenty (20) credits of ELD is applied to satisfy the English graduation credit requirement.
Health Science
 

Health Science
 

5 Credits (Required for Graduation).
 
Health Education is a required semester course. The following subjects will be covered: Mental/Emotional Health, Stress Reduction, Suicide, Sleep, Nutrition, Healthy Relationships/Consent, Human Trafficking, Bullying/Cyberbullying, Communication/Conflict, Abuse/Violence, Alcohol, Tobacco/Vaping, Medicine/Drugs, Understanding Sexuality, Reproductive Health/Human Growth, Infectious/Chronic (non-communicable) Diseases, Sexually Transmitted Infections/HIV.
Intro to Ethnic Studies
 

Intro to Ethnic Studies
 

5 Credits (Required for Graduation).
 
Ethnic Studies is a required semester course. In this semester course, students will utilize the themes of indigeneity, intersectionality, coloniality, and hegemony to explore issues of self and communal identities, examine intergenerational trauma and foster collective hope and healing. Through an interdisciplinary and critical lens, students will learn the histories of Indigenous, African-American, Latin-American/Raza, Asian-American, Filipino, Pacific-Islander, Undocu-Studies, LGBTQ+, women’s studies, environmental justice studies, and movements for social justice. Through this, students will gain the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for transformational change through the positive image of self and community.
Physical Education
 

Physical Education
 

Twenty (20) credits of Physical Education required for graduation.
 
This course is designed to give students the opportunity to learn through a comprehensive sequentially planned Physical Education program in accordance with the California Content Standards. Students will be empowered to make choices, meet challenges and develop positive behaviors in fitness, wellness and movement activity for a lifetime. Emphasis is placed on students analyzing skills for effective movement. Units of instruction include: personal fitness emphasis, fitness concepts and techniques, cardio respiratory endurance training, nutrition, individual activities, aquatics (where accessible), rhythms and dance, and dual activities.
Science

Science

Twenty (20) units are required for graduation.
 
Students must complete two years of science courses that meet the equivalent of one year of physical science and one year of biological science. *Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, all entering students or students taking science for the first time are required to successfully complete NGSS Biology and NGSS Chemistry or NGSS Physics, or complete the Agricultural Science Pathway.
Social Studies
 

Social Studies
 

Thirty (30) units of Social Science are required for graduation including World History/Geography, U.S. History, Government, and Economics.
 
The objective of the history–social science curriculum is to set forth, in an organized way, the knowledge and understanding that our students need to function intelligently now and in the future. The Social Science disciplines (history, geography, economics, political science, anthropology, psychology, sociology, and the humanities) span the major dimensions of human experiences, locally and globally. Students will learn the cultural, economic, geographic, historical, political, psychological and social dimensions of our society, along with other cultures and countries. Without the knowledge that these disciplines convey, our students will be buffeted by changes that are beyond their comprehension. But with a firm grounding in history and the related disciplines, students will better understand human behavior and the social dimensions of the world, acquiring skills useful in law, government, diplomacy and many other careers.
Visual and Performing Arts
 

Visual and Performing Arts
 

Students are required to complete Twenty (20) units of either Visual and Performing Arts and/or Career Technical Education for graduation.
 
Visual arts students create art using a variety of drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture media, including ceramics. The creation of art is combined with the study of Art History, analyzing art, and connecting art to careers. Performing arts includes dance, music and theater. The emphasis for dancers is on Mexican traditional dance and its related disciplines. Musicians learn to read music and play an instrument, develop technical proficiency, and perform for parades, field shows, concerts, contests, and pep band throughout the school year. Vocal music students learn the basics of good vocal sound, breath support, and articulation and to express themselves in both group and solo settings. Theater students perform as actors, designer technicians and audience members and at the end of the year, will create, produce, and perform their own show.
Career Technical Education
  

Career Technical Education
  

Students are required to complete Twenty (20) units of either Visual and Performing Arts and/or Career Technical Education for graduation.
 
Visual arts students create art using a variety of drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture media, including ceramics. The creation of art is combined with the study of Art History, analyzing art, and connecting art to careers. Performing arts includes dance, music and theater. The emphasis for dancers is on Mexican traditional dance and its related disciplines. Musicians learn to read music and play an instrument, develop technical proficiency, and perform for parades, field shows, concerts, contests, and pep band throughout the school year. Vocal music students learn the basics of good vocal sound, breath support, and articulation and to express themselves in both group and solo settings. Theater students perform as actors, designer technicians and audience members and at the end of the year, will create, produce, and perform their own show.