Join the NAF Business Academy to get started learning about the world of business, the language of business, and personal finance.  Students get to learn critical financial skills that can be put to use immediately.  Students learn the importance of establishing and maintaining good credit, how to save money, how to invest, and how to prevent mistakes that can cost you in the long run.

Prerequisites:

Successful completion of Algebra 1 or greater by the end of 9th grade. Note: Incoming 9th graders will be enrolled in the NAF Health cohort with all other academy 9th graders.  All business academy classes begin in the 10th grade.

Required Courses:

Accounting & Marketing 

Principles of Accounting provides students with an understanding of the accounting process and how it facilitates decision making by providing data and information to internal and external stakeholders. Students learn that accounting is an integral part of all business activities. They learn how to apply technology to accounting by creating formulas and inputting data into spreadsheets. Students also examine career opportunities and the professional certifications and designations earned by individuals in the accounting profession.

Marketing introduces students to the objectives, strategies, and tools that are important to marketing. Students become familiar with each phase of marketing and with strategies to build business and brand equity for both large-scale operations (such as hotel chains) and smaller businesses (such as restaurants). They learn how to assess marketing niches, understand customer and consumer needs, and conduct basic market research. As students study the benefits and potential drawbacks of various marketing channels, they develop an integrated marketing campaign that uses a range of appropriate marketing channels.

Financial Planning & Professional Ethics

Financial Planning provides students with an overview of the job of a financial planner. Students learn to consider how all aspects of financial planning might affect a potential client, and learn about the importance of financial planning in helping people achieve their life goals. This course includes lessons on saving, borrowing, credit, and all types of insurance, and covers various types of investments. Students also examine careers in financial planning.

The Professional Ethics course provides a solid understanding of why ethics is important in every profession. After an introduction to several philosophies that inform ethics today, students explore the characteristics of an ethical professional. Students consider the range of dilemmas faced by managers and employees in the workplace. They learn about the qualities of effective leaders and the tools modern professionals use to instill an ethical workplace culture. Throughout the course, students have opportunities to refine their personal sense of ethics as they begin to build an ethical foundation for their professional future.

Economics

Business Economics introduces students to the key concepts of economics as they pertain to business. This course discusses the American economy and the factors that influence the success of businesses and products. It describes forms of business ownership, discusses the relationship of labor and business, and provides a broad overview of the global economy. Students also examine careers in business, both as employees and as business owners.

Note:

Some classes may be taken concurrently or out of order.