Academies

AP Capstone is an innovative diploma program that provides students with an opportunity to engage in rigorous scholarly practice of the core academic skills necessary for successful college completion.

AP Capstone is built on the foundation of two courses — AP Seminar and AP Research — and is designed to complement and enhance the in-depth, discipline-specific study provided through AP courses. It cultivates curious, independent, and collaborative scholars and prepares them to make logical, evidence-based decisions.


How AP Capstone™ Works

 

Students typically take AP Seminar in the 10th or 11th grade, followed by AP Research. Students who earn scores of 3 or higher in AP Seminar and AP Research and on four additional AP Exams of their choosing will receive the AP Capstone Diploma™. This signifies their outstanding academic achievement and attainment of college-level academic and research skills. Alternatively, students who earn scores of 3 or higher in AP Seminar and AP Research will receive the AP Seminar and Research Certificate™ signifying their attainment of college-level academic and research skills.



Overview of the Pedagogical Framework

 

Throughout the program, students consider and evaluate multiple points of view to develop their own perspectives on complex issues and topics through inquiry and investigation. The AP Capstone program provides students with a framework that allows them to develop, practice, and hone their critical and creative thinking skills as they make connections between various issues and their own lives. Teachers should help students understand that this process is recursive, not linear. This recursive process allows students to go back and forth between the processes as they encounter new information

 

AP Seminar

 

In this foundational course, typically taken in grade 10 or 11, students develop and strengthen analytic and inquiry skills, exploring two to four relevant issues chosen by the student and/or teacher. Students learn to consider an issue from multiple perspectives, evaluate the strength of an argument, and make logical, fact-based decisions. Students will question, research, explore, pose solutions, develop arguments, collaborate, and communicate using various media.

 

Themes and Topics

Themes that allow for deep exploration based on student interests, local and/or civic issues, global or international topics, and concepts from other AP courses are typically selected. For example, students might explore the question of whether national security is more important than a citizen’s right to privacy; or whether genetic engineering is a benefit to society.

 

Seminar Assessment

During the course, students complete a team project and presentation, an individual paper and presentation, and take a written end-of-course exam. The AP Seminar Exam score is based on all three components and is reported on the standard 1–5 AP scoring scale.

AP Research

 

AP Seminar is a prerequisite for AP Research.

 

The second course in the AP Capstone experience allows students to design, plan, and conduct a year-long research-based investigation on a topic of individual interest. Through this inquiry and investigation, students demonstrate the ability to apply scholarly understanding to real-world problems and issues.

 

Students further the skills developed in AP Seminar by understanding research methodology, employing ethical research practices, and accessing, analyzing, and synthesizing information to build, present, and defend an argument. Students may choose to

 

  • Dig deeper into a topic studied in an AP course
  • Work across academic areas with an interdisciplinary topic
  • Study a new area of interest, perhaps one for further study at the college level

Research Assessment

At the end of the research investigation, students submit an academic thesis paper of about 5,000 words, present their thesis, and orally defend their work. The AP Research Exam score is based on the paper, presentation, and defense, and is reported on the standard 1–5 AP scoring scale.
 

Coming Soon!

Coming Soon!

Welcome to the Law Academy at Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High. The Law Academy offers students a chance to gain real world experience. Through our partnership with The Patino Law Firm, we are involved with the Justice Teaching program. Once a month, a group of 3-5 lawyers joins us in class to lead the students through real case studies that students will be working with down the road if they continue their education in legal studies.

Extra-curricular Opportunities:

Since not every student interested in the law wants the same career, we have options to pick from. First, we have an excellent relationship with the North Dade Justice Center, the courthouse just up Biscayne Blvd. We have a running internship program with the judges there, who work with our students multiple days after school every week and show them how the system works behind the scenes. This is great experience to put on a resume that most high schoolers will not have. Also at the North Dade Justice Center, there is a program called TeenCourt. This is a relatively new program that the justice department has started in which delinquent offenders will accept guilt, and then report to the TeenCourt for their sentencing. Former TeenCourt offenders are also required to sit on future juries to make disciplinary decisions. Our students have the option to train and eventually participate as a prosecutorial or defense attorney in front of a judge making a decision on an actual case. This is an excellent first step for those students dreaming of becoming an attorney. Also, we have placed students as interns with plenty of local firms involving different types of law. This is excellent real world experience for our students that puts them steps ahead of their competition.

Student Court

Next, at Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High we have founded our new Student Court. Those students involved, will undertake the roles of judge, defense attorney, prosecutor, jury, bailiff, and the clerk. Under my supervision, they will run the court that decides disciplinary action for most Level 1 and Level 2 offenders at our school. This is also a program that few high schools run. Thanks to generous fundraising efforts by the Patino Law Firm, we will be constructing our very own Courtroom here at ATM that will be used for class activities as well as Student Court.

Competitions

This year, we will be participating in the We The People, Moot Court, Mock Trial, and Project Citizen competitions. The We The People competition is a mock congressional hearing in which our students participate as expert witnesses in front of real judges and lawyers. This is a national competition, and we hope to be chosen as the representatives from Florida. Moot Court consists of teams of two who argue an appellate case chosen by the District against other schools in front of real judges from Florida. Last school year, we made it to the final round of Florida’s 3rd District Court of Appeals. We hope to continue to the State Finals this year. This year ATM will unveil our first ever Mock Trial team in which our students will compete in a criminal trial against other schools while acting as the lawyers and witnesses necessary for the case. Project Citizen is a competition in which students create a public policy solution to fix a problem in their community. This competition has led to multiple bills being passed by the Florida Congress. Last year, our Project Citizen team was crowned state champions in Florida for oral hearings. Our students have the opportunity to actually make a change in our local community, something that I hope interests all. Feel free to contact me if you have any more questions about the Law Academy or anything that it offers

At the Academy of Information Technology (AoIT), we engage students by using computer technology as a lens through which everyday problems are analyzed, approached and solved. Students learn how to think as professionals and rediscover the wonder and joy of learning. The AoIT is one of the foundations on which Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High was built upon. We serve a diverse multi-cultural community and we bring them a world class eduction. The AoIT has delivers two-strands; digital design and cybersecurity. The Academy of Information Technology provides:

  • NAF Track Certification
  • Cutting edge education
  • Industry vetted curriculum
  • Support from the local business partners
  • Opportunities for paid internships
  • Education-based field trips
  • Industry certification

The Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High School Hospitality and Tourism Program was established in 2009 and has an open enrollment enrollment policy. Our AOHT program became a NAF Nationally Distinguished Academy in the 2013-2014 School year and became one of three finalists for the Sanford I. Weill Award of Excellence becoming one of the top three academies in the nation.  It continued to be a Nationally Distinguished program in the 2014 - 2015 school year and in July 2015 won the Sanford I. Weill Award for Excellence and became the number one academy in the United States. Our program continued to be a Nationally Distinguished Program for the 2015 – 2016 school year and has been the number one ranked Academy of Hospitality and Tourism for the past three years.

As part of the National Academy Foundation, founded in 1982 by Sanford I. Weill, our academy fosters partnerships between the business and higher education institutions in our community and is part of a system of over 760 academies across the nation covering the areas of Finance, Hospitality and Tourism, Engineering, Information Technology and Healthcare.

Our AOHT program provides our students with a unique curriculum that offers them exponential opportunities, which we feel, can only be found at our school. Each course we offer has a focus on the oral and written communication skills and requisite knowledge needed for a successful career in one of the world's largest service industries. Through a curriculum that provides an in-depth look at all aspects of hospitality and tourism, including coursework in business, geography, hospitality, event planning, sports and entertainment management and economics, our students graduate with the necessary tools they will need to be successful in the extensive field of hospitality and tourism, while developing employability skills, as well as, preparation for college.

The Academy of Hospitality & Tourism operates as a small learning community and is located in more than 110 high schools nationwide. Meeting the needs for academic instruction and practical industry-related work experience to prepare young people to enter this exciting field is more critical than ever. Through their Academy experience, students gain an understanding of the connections that exist between their education and the workplace. Academy teachers and industry mentors provide students with the curriculum and guidance necessary for rewarding careers. With more than 500 travel-related companies participating as business partners, the Academy fosters the personal, analytical, technical and communications skills needed for a career path in hospitality and tourism.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbijbsW6DPA

http://naf.org/

The mission of ATM MESA is to promote the understanding of our world’s oceans and fragile coastal ecosystems by investing in our students’ education through rigorous academics, meaningful field trips, volunteerism, and community activism.

Marine Science I and II

Students taking marine science will learn some of the most important aspects in the study and understanding of the ocean and marine life.

In marine science I we focused on the chemical and physical aspects of the ocean and their importance to marine life. We study from the origin of the oceans, its salinity, its currents, the dynamic that takes place between ocean and atmosphere in regulating the climate around our planet, the ocean zones and lifestyles, the historical progress of mankind in the study of the great depths of the ocean, and how technology have offered us a better knowledge and understanding of our blue planet.

However, this amazing adventure continues since we still have a long way to go in gaining a better understanding of the serious implications between human impact such as pollution and global warming.

In marine science ii, we focused on the biological aspect of marine life, all of marine life from microbes to invertebrates and vertebrates. Here you will learn and gain a better understanding of what type of organisms we have in the different marine ecosystems. You will learn that since the ocean covers two thirds of our planet there are microorganisms that despite their small size provides much of the oxygen all living organisms need to exist.

You will learn how solar energy is transformed into chemical energy through the amazing process of photosyntesis. And how this minute orgasnisms called phytoplankton provides the foundation of the whole food chain and food web where even top predators such as the sharks or the giants of the oceans, the whales, obtain their needed nourishment.

On the other hand, we have strange creatures living in the great depths of the ocean and which even in complete darkness will form the foundation for a complete dark and cold flourishing deep water ecosystem.

We may not embark on oceanographic cruises to explore the vast ocean, but you will have the opportunity to adventure in kayaking field trips to collect marine invertebrates to enrich your learning in the classroom. You can also keep the marine invertebrates and fish alive and take care of them in our 70 gallons fish tanks in the classroom. You will learn about invading marine species and be able to carry out a lab with real organisms and dissect them to learn about their feeding habits.

In marine science we do not forget about our environment and how we can be better citizens by contribuiting to our planet care. We will offer you the opportunity to get involve in community service through coastal clean ups to get community hours required for your graduation. We do have a green house where you will be able to nurse mangrove “propagules” until they are ready to be planted in key areas of biscayne bay to recover our lost coastal mangrove forest.

Do not hesitate come and enroll in a marine science class.

Coming Soon!

Coming Soon!

Marketing Flyer