With my classes, I cover the period from 1850 to our days. But it is peculiar to the training colleges, where I work. Personnally, I prefer before this period. For me, when witnesses are still involved, when there is no real hindsight, it is not really History, but tropicality. I have to say that I am french, so the school programms (I hope the expression is comprehensible for you) must be different from yours.
P.S: Do not hesitate to correct my grammatical mistakes, I still have to learn.