Connecting the behavior of invisible (to the naked eye) particles governed by the principles of quantum mechanics to the world we can see and touch requires a host of inferences, almost none of which can be extrapolated from experience. Molecular-level sensemaking thus relies upon intellectual resources that must be developed in large part by formal learning environments. Over a decade of research at the college-level indicates that centering instruction around scaffolded progressions of core ideas can help students cultivate, organize, and use their disciplinary knowledge to explain and model a range of phenomena. Informed by this literature, we have adapted a core-idea centered, evidence-based undergraduate general chemistry curriculum for use in high school. Our adaptation process, which was a collaborative effort between researchers and classroom teachers, is described in detail with emphasis on alignment between the Next Generation Science Standards and our materials. Efforts reported here represent a first-in-class model for high school curriculum development wherein conceptual progressions developed and validated at the college level form the basis for high school coursework.