Departments, Academies, Pathways & More

Welcome to the home of Palmdale High School Academic information. Here you will find information on everything from our dynamic academic departments and programs to course descriptions and graduation requirements.

Social Science

Palmdale High School's Social Studies Department is committed to developing students' understanding of our cultural interdependency and the significant connections between our present, past and future. Our courses challenge students to become knowledgeable and participatory citizens who value the traditions and freedoms of our democracy. We offer a sequential and disciplined approach to study skills that prepares students for the academic challenges of our college preparatory and advanced placement programs as well as those of a post secondary education.

English

The English Department of Palmdale High School offers an integrated program which seeks to demonstrate to students that all areas of study are interrelated and to foster an awareness of the necessity of communication and thinking skills in all aspects of life.

The course of studies in English is designed to foster a sequential development in reading, writing, speaking, and thinking skills. The program recognizes that student abilities and future goals vary. Therefore, classes are designed so that students will be challenged and that they will be able to achieve within their own capacities. The course of studies emphasizes a mixture of skills necessary for the college-bound but also provides course work needed by job-oriented students. All courses seek to encourage skills and mastery of the state standards, as they help to promote the development of the whole individual.

Industrial Technology

Our Industrial Technology Department includes several courses that offer students the opportunity to learn real-world skills. Many of these courses offer an internship at local work sites. Four career pathways lead students through their high school years towards a career as well as post-secondary education. Three of the pathways within the department are included in a California Partnership Academy named “F.A.S.T.”. The Falcon Academy of Sustainable Technologies is a state recognized program that leads students towards exciting careers and education related to emerging technologies.

Visual and Performing Arts

Palmdale High School's Visual and Performing Art Department continues a long-standing tradition of excellence in arts education in the Antelope Valley. Our high school art program is one of the finest in the district, offering students a variety of classes with varying levels of difficulty to further challenge our students. Some of the classes offered by our talented staff include drawing, painting, photography, ceramics, Drama, concert band, Orchestra, guitar, chorus, and visual communications. Our students excel in their artistic endeavors as they learn from a knowledgeable staff that teaches classes using the California State Standards for art.

The Palmdale High School Visual and Performing department consists of eleven teachers offering over 25 different classes within the arts. Our students are given the chance to show off their talent on campus, in the community, and throughout the state of California as they compete and perform in a number of events throughout the school year. Our students consistently receive state, national, and international honors as well as numerous scholarships.

We are proud of our extensive, challenging, high-quality programming in the visual and performing arts, and are always looking to add new and exciting classes to our already dynamic program.

Mathematics

The math department at Palmdale High is committed to providing all students with an exceptional learning program that will excel their future careers and academic activities. We offer courses ranging from Math Intervention to Advance Placement Calculus. Students are taught through the use of the latest technology and a wide variety of teaching methods in order to nurture a deep understanding of mathematical concepts. The school as a whole has given an extensive amount of resources to help the math department succeed in developing the desire in students to become life-long learners of math. Whether the student is preparing to enter a field which requires advance mathematics or a field that is not so inclined, the teachers in the math department are dedicated to helping every student succeed.

Behavioral Science

Healthful Living, a Behavioral Science, ninth grade, two semester, 10 unit course, is required for graduation.The curriculum is structured with primarily social issues covered in first semester and physical issues covered in second semester. Those issues generally encountered by our teenage population will be covered. Providing our students the knowledge to deal with many of the critical issues they may have to respond to during their high school years and beyond.

Agricultural Science

The Palmdale High School Agriculture Program is currently one of the largest in the region and boasts an enrollment of more than 500 students. The program consists of a variety of working areas including a farm laboratory, a working shop, 3 shade houses, a greenhouse, and vineyard. The Goal of the department is to incorporate science standards into an agriculture setting while still meeting the needs of our vocationally minded youth. This is being accomplished through the utilization and application of technology in our classrooms and laboratories, which leads to critical and higher order thinking skills.

Foreign Language

This world is no longer a place where one language meets the needs of society. Knowledge of a foreign language is necessary to communicate and link students’ understanding with the meaning of tolerance and acceptance of other people and culture. Foreign Language proficiency is becoming a necessity to succeed in our economically and politically interdependent world. Our Foreign Language Department is dedicated to ensure that our students here at Palmdale High School experience the learning of the foreign language in a meaningful way, so they are able to take their education’s practical value and enhance their academic achievements in any professional field of their choice.

Special Education

The goal of the Department of Special Education is to provide appropriate educational programs in the least restrictive environment for all students with disabilities. In providing educational services to students with disabilities, the PHS Special Education Department is responsive to the continually evolving nature of the field of special education, the requirements of federal and state legislation, court mandates, and the relationship between special and general education.

Further, it is believed that the goal of providing appropriate special educational services to students with disabilities can be achieved by working together with parents (i.e. natural/adoptive parents, legal guardians, and surrogate parents). It is our goal to continually work to improve and strengthen our special education programs and services is based upon the following principles:

Educational services are built on an appropriate evaluation that determines the level of support, related and/or instructional services required to meet the individual educational needs of students.

Educational services are provided in the least restrictive environment and to the maximum extent appropriate with non-disabled appropriate peers.

Educational services should emphasize the educational needs of the students.