The high school Social Studies Department designs its courses to provide a challenging learning environment that promotes academic excellence and recognizes the unique abilities of each student. The Social Studies Department expects each student to:

• Develop the ability to connect the past and the present by applying methods of historical research; use
a variety of sources to demonstrate cause and effect relationships in history.

• Acquire geographical skills and understand and apply the main themes of geographic analysis.

• Acquire economic literacy and apply it to U.S. and world economic institutions in order to be an
effective citizen and to enhance personal economic decision-making.

• Acquire political literacy in order to be able to participate effectively in the U.S. democratic process.

• Be able to evaluate controversial issues and apply this knowledge through debates and other methods
of presentation (both written and verbal).

•   Develop a multicultural awareness and sensitivity, recognizing that judgments about people of different
     cultures are usually shaped and influenced by the standards and values of the culture in which one
     lives.

• Develop the competency to acquire, organize, evaluate, and report information for the purposes of
solving problems and clarifying issues.

The Middle School Social Studies Department designs its courses to provide a learning environment that promotes academic excellence and recognizes the uniqueness of each individual student. It is the objective of the Social Studies Department that the students will:

•    Acquire geographical skills and be able to identify geographically major areas of the world.

•    Acquire the ability to connect the past and the present by applying methods of historical research; use a variety of sources to demonstrate cause and effect relationships in history.

•    Acquire basic economic literacy of U.S. economic institutions in order to effectively pursue citizenship responsibilities and to enhance personal economic decision making.

•    Acquire basic political literacy to enable students to effectively participate in the U.S. democratic process.

•    Understand controversial issues and develop thinking skills through the use of position papers and position statement analysis on tests and in debates.

•    Develop a multicultural awareness and sensitivity, recognizing that our judgments about people of different cultures are usually shaped and influenced by the standards and values of the culture in which we live.

•    Develop the competency to acquire, organize, evaluate, and report information for the purposes of solving problems and clarifying issues.

•    Emphasize study skills throughout the year in 7th and 8th grades.