Description
The Social Studies Department provides a variety of courses that are tied to the social sciences and the humanities in order to promote civic competence. Areas such as government, history, economics, geography, sociology, and psychology are utilized to help students make informed and reasoned decisions as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society.
Instructional emphasis is placed on acquiring and applying knowledge and skills that will enable students to construct new and integrated approaches to resolving issues in an increasingly interdependent world. Students enrolled in Social Studies courses will utilize texts, primary and secondary sources, maps, graphs, charts, photographs, films, and other related materials to help students construct a framework that integrates knowledge within and across disciplines. Through the use of writing and student projects, students will have the opportunity to acquire information and manipulate data, develop and present ideas, arguments, and policies, and construct categories of information such as cause/effect, sequence, comparison/contrast, or analogy.
Although two and one-half years of high school Social Studies are required in grades 9 - 12, three years or more of Social Studies is strongly recommended, as many colleges have a required minimum of three years high school Social Studies credit.