9-12 Standards

High School Curriculum

When school begins in August 2012, students and teachers across Georgia will embrace the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS) in English Language Arts and Math. The Georgia Performance Standards will continue to be used for the teaching of Science and Social Studies.

The high school curriculum builds on the foundation set forth from pre-kindergarten through middle school and includes a variety of course offerings, programs, and pathways. Courses in English Language Arts help students improve writing skills, reading comprehension, and vocabulary. These offerings include but are not limited to American Literature, British Literature, World Literature, Multicultural Literature, and Composition. High school math includes Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Calculus. To succeed in college and careers, Algebra and Geometry are necessary. The more competitive college programs require that high school students have taken four years of math. Science teaches students to think analytically and apply theories to reality.Offerings include courses such as biology, chemistry, forensic science, anatomy, physics, and physical science. In order to understand local and world events, high school students study the culture and history that has shaped them through courses such as government, civics, economics, psychology, sociology, history, and geography. Foreign Languages allow students to stretch themselves beyond the basics. Many colleges require at least two years of study in the same foreign language. Research indicates that students who participate in the arts often do better in school and on standardized tests. The arts help students recognize patterns and discern differences and similarities outside a traditional setting. Athletics and clubs afford additional opportunities for students to enhance their educational experience. 

Dalton High School (DHS) offers two college level programs, the Advanced Placement (AP) program and the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, which offer students college level work while in high school. Morris Innovatve High School (MIHS) offers students a different academic environment featuring a hybrid system of online learning, project-based learning and a quarter system for the academic year. Students have the opportunity to choose a flexible schedule, to accelerate their learning to graduate early and to participate in dual enrollment with Georgia Northwestern Technical College.

The Advanced Placement program is a challenging academic program designed to provide motivated high school students with college-level academic courses.  High school students who complete AP courses demonstrate their mastery of subject material by earning qualifying grades on AP examinations.  Dalton High School has offered Advanced Placement courses and exams since 1986.  Currently, students can choose from the following AP classes:  AP Language and Composition, AP Literature and Composition, AP World History, AP U.S. History, AP Government, AP Human Geography, AP European History, AP Microeconomics, AP Psychology, AP Statistics, AP Calculus, AP Music Theory, AP Studio Art, AP Chemistry, AP Biology, and AP Physics.

The International Baccalaureate program is a rigorous pre-university program leading to assessments in six subject areas.  It offers a challenging and demanding educational experience across the full curriculum.  Beyond completing college-level courses and examinations, IB students are also required to engage in community service, individual research, and an inquiry into the nature of knowledge.
Authorized as an IB World School in 1999, Dalton High School currently offers the following IB courses: IB English, IB Math, IB Math Studies, IB History of the Americas, IB Chemistry, IB Biology, IB Psychology, IB German, IB French, IB Spanish, IB Latin, IB Visual Arts, IB Music, and Theory of Knowledge.

The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.   To this end, the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programs of international education and rigorous assessment.  These programs encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate, and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right. The IB Learner Profile is the IB mission statement translated into 21st century learning skills.  IB learners strive to be:  Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-minded, Caring, Risk-Takers, Balanced, and Reflective. The student enrolled in the IB program follows a rigorous 4-year plan to earn the IB Diploma.

Pathways provide a vital structure for organizing and delivering quality programs through learning and comprehensive programs of study (POS). These pathways help students negate their way to greater success in college and career. Used as an organizing tool for curriculum design and instruction, pathways provide the essential knowledge and skills. It also functions as a useful guide in developing programs of study bridging secondary and postsecondary curriculum and for creating individual student plans of study for a complete range of career options. As such, it helps students discover their interests and their passions, and empowers them to choose the educational pathway that can lead to success in high school, college and career. It is important to understand that Pathways are for ALL students of ALL capabilities. Some students have earned a college education in a particular field to find themselves realizing that they did not know the demands of a particular career. These pathways help bridge the ideal career to reality.

Dalton High School offers the following Pathways:

Army JROTC
Broadcast / Video Production
Culinary Arts
Early Childhood Education
Emerging Technology
Financial Management - Services
Fine Arts
Graphic Design
Horticulture
Law & Justice
Marketing & Management
Project Lead the Way
Small Business Development
Teaching as a Profession
World Languages

MIHS offers the following Pathways:

World Languages ( through Rosetta Stone)
Computer technologies
Academy of Media Arts
Academy of Healthcare Science
Academy of Student Leadership
Academy of Translation and Interpretation