secondary school work books

Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans

High School Worksheets

The 9th-12th grade band materials support student learning for students at the ninth, tenth, eleventh, or twelfth grade levels. Many items can be used to teach basic skills that will be necessary for ninth through twelfth graders to master reading, writing, and spelling skills. Locating materials by grade band can help you with students who are progressing more quickly than their grade level with their skills mastery, but it can also help with students who are still working on the core skills from a previous grade, as well as a mixed classroom of multiple learners. Below are free, printable worksheets, which are ready to be used or duplicated for home or classroom.

Narrator’s Point of View Flow Chart

This flowchart helps students identify the correct point of view. They answer “yes” and “no” questions to identify the correct point of view.

Spot It: Unnecessary Words

Practice identifying unnecessary words with this printable worksheet on editing and proofing. Students will be asked to read through a series of sentences and circle the ones that contain unnecessary words. This activity is great for use both at home and in the classroom.

Active Voice: Which One?

Students will practice identifying active voice with this printable verbs activity. This worksheet asks students to read through the given sentences and circle the number of each sentence that is in active voice. Ideal for 8th – 10th grade, but can be used where felt appropriate. This activity can be used both at home and in the classroom by parents, teachers, or students.

Charles Dickens Visits America

In 1842 Charles Dickens was probably the most famous English language author in the world. In this year he visited America. Students read about the trip and answer the questions.

Charles Dickens: David Copperfield and His Aunt

Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, published in 1849, is one of his most famous works. Students read the passage and answer questions.

Circle It! Correct Punctuation

Students will practice identifying correctly used punctuation in this printable activity. They will be asked to read through the given sentences and circle the number of the sentences that have correct punctuation. Ideal for 6th – 12th grade, but can be used where needed.

Correcting Dangling Modifiers

Now it’s time to correct the dangling modifiers in sentences!

Correcting Misplaced Modifiers

Your student will correct the misplaced modifiers in this worksheet.

Edgar Allan Poe and the Fall of the House of Usher

In this activity, students read a passage from Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” and write what they think the underlined words mean.

Edgar Allan Poe: The Oval Portrait

In this activity, students read a passage from Edgar Allan Poe’s 1842 short story “The Oval Portrait” and answer questions.

Elegy for Lincoln: Walt Whitman’s Poem

In this activity, students read a “O Captain! My Captain!” about Abraham Lincoln and his death. Students then answer questions about the poem.

Explaining Oxymorons

This oxymoron worksheet is awfully good!

Figurative Language: Find the Hyperbole

This hyperbole worksheet is the best ever!

Find the Misplaced Modifiers

See if you can identify the other misplaced modifiers in this printable grammar worksheet. This grammar activity for middle school students is great for improving reading and writing skills. While it is ideal for 7th – 9th grade, it can be used where needed. This misplaced modifiers activity is perfect for both parents and teachers to use in the classroom or at home.

Higher Grades KWL Chart Template

KWL charts are helpful tools to teach students how to approach problem solving. This template is designed for students in middle school and high school.

How to Write a Thesis Statement

This activity helps students develop a strong thesis statement for their essays by providing practice writing sample statements.

How to Write an Introduction: Bridge Building Activity

This activity is designed to help students learn about writing introductions through a fun bridge building activity to join the lead noun card and thesis statement card.

How to Write an Introduction: Different Leads

This is a fun, creative activity where students explore ways to include factoids, stories, metaphors and more to create “hooks”. A great activity to help students develop strong introductions.

How to Write an Introduction: Lead Types

Creating an attention-grabbing lead isn’t always easy but it’s very rewarding to students when they are able to create engaging introductions. This activity provides great practice to build better introductions!

How to Write an Introduction: Lead, Bridge, and Thesis

Let’s combine it all! This activity helps students use thesis statements, bridges and leads to write strong essay introductions.

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Great Books High School 9–12

The Great Books High School program combines high-quality literature, student-centered discussion, and activities that support reading comprehension, critical thinking, speaking and listening, and writing. We provide outstanding classroom materials and inspiring professional development. We help students get the most out of reading and interacting with their teachers and classmates, while providing instruction and support in Shared Inquiry, a method of learning that gives teachers the approach they need to help their students succeed.

For more than 50 years, schools that integrate Great Books materials and our inquiry-based approach to learning into their curriculum have been helping their students become independent readers and thinkers while enhancing the instructional skills of their teachers.

• Balancing literary and informational texts
• Building knowledge in the disciplines
• Providing a staircase of text complexity
• Requiring text-based answers
• Focusing on evidence in writing
• Expanding vocabulary

“How do we challenge students to get to their very best selves and their biggest potential? In that, you have to be able to think critically. You have to be able to write well. You have to be able to articulate your thoughts. You have to collaborate with others—we think Great Books enhances all of these abilities for us.”

Debra Ciochina Director of Teaching and Learning-Secondary Duneland School Corporation Chesterton, IN

The Shared Inquiry Method of Learning

Shared Inquiry is an active and collaborative search for answers to questions of meaning about a text. It is a research-supported method of learning that promotes deeper thinking through reading, discussion, and writing. Shared Inquiry enables teachers to work with students in an exciting intellectual partnership through a range of interpretive activities that stimulate students’ thinking. The Shared Inquiry approach develops students’ reading comprehension, critical thinking, and communication skills in the context of thinking about genuine problems of meaning raised by a rich work of literature.

Teachers who learn Shared Inquiry:

Rooted in the Socratic method, Shared Inquiry is distinct in its focus on high-quality texts and the participation of a trained leader who helps participants arrive at their own well-reasoned interpretations of the text. There are a variety of ways to implement Great Books programs, but Shared Inquiry always involves close reading, questions, collaboration, and reflective thinking.

• Meet key learning standards through inquiry-based, collaborative approach
• Engage all students in higher-level reading, thinking, and discussion
• Integrate critical thinking and social-emotional learning into the curriculum to provide essential skills students need to be college and career ready
• Prepare students to thoughtfully consider different points of view, listening to others and responding appropriately

“Discussions are a great way for students to get to know each other and listen to each other’s thoughts and ideas. Great Books Shared Inquiry helps me hit the essentials every time—close reading, well-reasoned writing, and formal discussion.”

Marc-Paul Johnsen English Teacher La Academia at Denver Inner City Parish Denver, CO

“As a curriculum director, I work with teachers to use the Shared Inquiry process to provide the most rich and rigorous literacy program possible so that all students, regardless of neighborhood or social-economic background, have the ability to genuinely be ‘college and career ready’ through the interaction of authentic literature and development of true critical thinking.”

Natalie Flores Curriculum Director BSNBCS Brooklyn, NY

Students who learn Shared Inquiry:

• Use reading comprehension strategies purposefully
• Develop their own opinions and claims about a text
• Support ideas with textual evidence, and weigh evidence for divergent ideas
• Go beyond initial responses to think deeper about issues
• Develop social and emotional intelligence through respectful dialogue and collaboration
• Create a collaborative classroom community with support from their peers and teachers

Great Books Program Features

In Great Books programs, students’ critical thinking develops through careful reading, attentive listening, thoughtful speaking, and purposeful writing.

Critical Thinking

Students explore problems of meaning by:

Generating ideas Giving evidence Responding to each other

• Read aloud fluently
• Annotate a text
• Interpret word meaning
• Recall facts and cite details
• Generate ideas about meaning
• Infer, evaluate, and revise ideas
• Find evidence to support ideas
• Routinely write notes and questions
• Organize, develop, and support ideas
• Edit and revise writing with peer review
• Use different writing forms for different purposes

Speaking and Listening

• Share questions
• Express and clarify ideas
• Explain and support ideas
• Listen and respond to others’ opinions
• Recall ideas and evidence heard in discussion

Research-Based Learning with Fiction and Nonfiction

Trained Over

Impacted Over

Schools Have Used Our Materials/Training

Great Books has over 50 years of experience imparting key principles and practices of inquiry-based teaching. Our method, known as Shared Inquiry, has been used in thousands of classrooms across the country and around the world. Our programs are currently in use in countries worldwide, including Australia, Bermuda, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Guatemala, India, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam. No other organization or company has more history or expertise at making inquiry-based teaching and learning succeed than Great Books.

Great Books inquiry-based programs have been recognized as effective by the US Department of Education, and independent research has shown that regular, sustained used of Shared Inquiry improves reading comprehension, writing, and critical thinking for students from a wide range of demographic backgrounds and achievement levels.

High-Quality Literature

The Great Books High School program features outstanding literature by award-winning authors. Stories are selected for their engaging, vivid writing and for their ability to support multiple interpretations and thought-provoking discussions, as well as for their diversity of settings, themes, genres, and writing styles.

William Faulkner, author of “Barn Burning”

Standards and Alignments

Great Books programs combine classroom materials and an inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning to provide the essential elements students need to meet and surpass the goals of Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

Great Books programs help teachers develop the competencies and skills outlined in the Danielson Framework for Teaching, adopted by school districts as a road map of professional practice designed to guide, support, and evaluate teachers. Great Books programs promote the most effective teaching practices outlined in the Danielson Framework.

As your school implements the NAGC recommendations for gifted education, Great Books materials and professional development can help you meet the classroom practices and teacher learning components described in the NAGC’s six programming standards. The table below highlights the student outcomes and evidence-based practices met by Great Books programs.

Our training and follow-up consultation services focus on Shared Inquiry as a method—and on the shift the teacher makes to become the model of an active learner who is leading, facilitating, and enhancing the learning of others through questioning and gradual release of responsibility to the students. This emphasis on teacher development and growth and on student-centered learning harmonizes with both Danielson’s Framework for Teaching and Marzano’s Teacher Evaluation Model, specifically in the areas of questioning and discussion strategies, the teacher’s role in Shared Inquiry, and content and preparation in a student-driven learning environment.

Customize Your Approach

Our materials help your students develop the critical thinking, close-reading, and analytical skills they need to be college and career ready. Our questioning and discussion techniques help teachers become better discussion leaders.

If your teachers and students are not sure how to integrate inquiry-based teaching and learning into their daily routines, we can help you identify the key problem areas for your students and teachers. No matter what curriculum, literacy program, or textbook you’re using, we’ll work with you to develop a customized approach that integrates our products and/or professional learning into your classroom routines. Please contact us to schedule a time when we can meet and start developing the approach that works best for you.

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Grades 9–12

StudySync 9 –12: A Comprehensive High School English Curriculum

Bring Literature to Life for Every Learner

At Grades 9–12, StudySync provides unprecedented instructional choice, presenting teachers with thematic units, novel study units, teacher-created units, and chronological options at grades 11 and 12—ALL while ensuring 100 percent of standards are met, regardless of which path is chosen. Every day, students interact with high-quality classic and contemporary literature that’s rigorous, culturally relevant, and presented in a highly engaging digital format.

• Provides instructional choice with thematic units, novel studies, teacher-created units, and chronological options for American and British Literature.
• Features a continuously growing library of over 2000 classic and contemporary texts.
• Supports interchangeable print and digital use.
• Includes extensive writing and research practice.
• Automatically embeds scaffolds, so ALL students reach their potential.

Components for StudySync 9–12

StudySync’s print and digital resources are designed to be used interchangeably for teachers and students in all types of classrooms. The print materials support the digital platform so that teachers and students can switch seamlessly between individual devices, shared devices, or device-free structures depending on levels of access and the needs of students.

Digital Components

Student Digital Subscription

In the StudySync digital student platform, 9–12 students can access assignments, view completed work in their binder, and search the StudySync digital library of texts. When students log in, they see assignments that have yet to be completed. When students choose an assignment, they have automatic access to any scaffolds or graphic organizers associated with that lesson. 

Teacher Digital Subscription

In the StudySync digital teacher platform, teachers can view all the lessons and components in a unit, modify lessons and activities as necessary for the needs of their classroom and students, explore Prompts, Blasts, Skills, and Texts in the StudySync Library, access student work and grade book, and modify student settings for language proficiency and supplemental language. In the digital platform, teachers have access to all components of lessons, lesson plans, scaffolds, and supplemental materials.

Print Components

StudySync’s targeted print materials support the digital platform, as well as varying levels of access to curricular content and the needs of middle school students.

Student Reading and Writing Companion

The print Student Edition allows students to transition to offline work seamlessly. It includes every text from the Thematic units, as well as all accompanying Think Questions, Skills Focus, and Writing Prompts. Sample student annotations appear in the margins of every First Read and Close Read text to provide students with a model for effective annotation and analysis. The Student Edition also includes Writing Process, Writing Skill, and Grammar lessons from the Extended Writing Project. 

Teacher Edition Print Companion

The print Teacher’s Edition places the essential elements of the lesson plans, scaffolds, and supplemental materials alongside reproductions of pages from the print Student Edition, providing teachers with point-of-use tools for instruction, scaffolding, and extension.

Print Novels and Full-Length Works

Take advantage of our robust offering of print novels. At Grades 9–12, 3 or 4 Novel Studies accompany each unit and include comparative reading and writing lessons. High School Novel Studies each feature a full 30-day instructional path with pacing and integrated writing, meeting 100% of standards.

Use our novels for full-class study, literature circles, independent reading, or in a reading workshop model – also perfect for building intentional and connected classroom libraries!

Sign up to learn more about StudySync , including free resources for your high school classroom.

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Our 2020-21 Writing Curriculum for Middle and High School

A flexible, seven-unit program based on the real-world writing found in newspapers, from editorials and reviews to personal narratives and informational essays.

Update, Aug. 3, 2023: Find our 2023-24 writing curriculum here.

Our 2019-20 Writing Curriculum is one of the most popular new features we’ve ever run on this site, so, of course, we’re back with a 2020-21 version — one we hope is useful whether you’re teaching in person , online , indoors , outdoors , in a pod , as a homeschool , or in some hybrid of a few of these.

The curriculum detailed below is both a road map for teachers and an invitation to students. For teachers, it includes our writing prompts, mentor texts, contests and lesson plans, and organizes them all into seven distinct units. Each focuses on a different genre of writing that you can find not just in The Times but also in all kinds of real-world sources both in print and online.

But for students, our main goal is to show young people they have something valuable to say, and to give those voices a global audience. That’s always been a pillar of our site, but this year it is even more critical. The events of 2020 will define this generation, and many are living through them isolated from their ordinary communities, rituals and supports. Though a writing curriculum can hardly make up for that, we hope that it can at least offer teenagers a creative outlet for making sense of their experiences, and an enthusiastic audience for the results. Through the opportunities for publication woven throughout each unit, we want to encourage students to go beyond simply being media consumers to become creators and contributors themselves.

So have a look, and see if you can find a way to include any of these opportunities in your curriculum this year, whether to help students document their lives, tell stories, express opinions, investigate ideas, or analyze culture. We can’t wait to hear what your students have to say!

Each unit includes:

Writing prompts to help students try out related skills in a “low stakes” way.

We publish two writing prompts every school day, and we also have thematic collections of more than 1,000 prompts published in the past. Your students might consider responding to these prompts on our site and using our public forums as a kind of “rehearsal space” for practicing voice and technique.

Daily opportunities to practice writing for an authentic audience.

If a student submits a comment on our site, it will be read by Times editors, who approve each one before it gets published. Submitting a comment also gives students an audience of fellow teenagers from around the world who might read and respond to their work. Each week, we call out our favorite comments and honor dozens of students by name in our Thursday “ Current Events Conversation ” feature.

Guided practice with mentor texts .

Each unit we publish features guided practice lessons, written directly to students, that help them observe, understand and practice the kinds of “craft moves” that make different genres of writing sing. From how to “show not tell” in narratives to how to express critical opinions , quote or paraphrase experts or craft scripts for podcasts , we have used the work of both Times journalists and the teenage winners of our contests to show students techniques they can emulate.

“Annotated by the Author” commentaries from Times writers — and teenagers.

As part of our Mentor Texts series , we’ve been asking Times journalists from desks across the newsroom to annotate their articles to let students in on their writing, research and editing processes, and we’ll be adding more for each unit this year. Whether it’s Science writer Nicholas St. Fleur on tiny tyrannosaurs , Opinion writer Aisha Harris on the cultural canon , or The Times’s comics-industry reporter, George Gene Gustines, on comic books that celebrate pride , the idea is to demystify journalism for teenagers. This year, we’ll be inviting student winners of our contests to annotate their work as well.

A contest that can act as a culminating project .

Over the years we’ve heard from many teachers that our contests serve as final projects in their classes, and this curriculum came about in large part because we want to help teachers “plan backwards” to support those projects.

All contest entries are considered by experts, whether Times journalists, outside educators from partner organizations, or professional practitioners in a related field. Winning means being published on our site, and, perhaps, in the print edition of The New York Times.

Webinars and our new professional learning community (P.L.C.).

For each of the seven units in this curriculum, we host a webinar featuring Learning Network editors as well as teachers who use The Times in their classrooms. Our webinars introduce participants to our many resources and provide practical how-to’s on how to use our prompts, mentor texts and contests in the classroom.

New for this school year, we also invite teachers to join our P.L.C. on teaching writing with The Times , where educators can share resources, strategies and inspiration about teaching with these units.

Below are the seven units we will offer in the 2020-21 school year.

September-October

Unit 1: Documenting Teenage Lives in Extraordinary Times

This special unit acknowledges both the tumultuous events of 2020 and their outsized impact on young people — and invites teenagers to respond creatively. How can they add their voices to our understanding of what this historic year will mean for their generation?

Culminating in our Coming of Age in 2020 contest, the unit helps teenagers document and respond to what it’s been like to live through what one Times article describes as “a year of tragedy, of catastrophe, of upheaval, a year that has inflicted one blow after another, a year that has filled the morgues, emptied the schools, shuttered the workplaces, swelled the unemployment lines and polarized the electorate.”

A series of writing prompts, mentor texts and a step-by-step guide will help them think deeply and analytically about who they are, how this year has impacted them, what they’d like to express as a result, and how they’d like to express it. How might they tell their unique stories in ways that feel meaningful and authentic, whether those stories are serious or funny, big or small, raw or polished?

Though the contest accepts work across genres — via words and images, video and audio — all students will also craft written artist’s statements for each piece they submit. In addition, no matter what genre of work students send in, the unit will use writing as a tool throughout to help students brainstorm, compose and edit. And, of course, this work, whether students send it to us or not, is valuable far beyond the classroom: Historians, archivists and museums recommend that we all document our experiences this year, if only for ourselves.

October-November

Unit 2: The Personal Narrative

While The Times is known for its award-winning journalism, the paper also has a robust tradition of publishing personal essays on topics like love , family , life on campus and navigating anxiety . And on our site, our daily writing prompts have long invited students to tell us their stories, too. Our 2019 collection of 550 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing is a good place to start, though we add more every week during the school year.

In this unit we draw on many of these resources, plus some of the 1,000-plus personal essays from the Magazine’s long-running Lives column , to help students find their own “short, memorable stories ” and tell them well. Our related mentor-text lessons can help them practice skills like writing with voice , using details to show rather than tell , structuring a narrative arc , dropping the reader into a scene and more. This year, we’ll also be including mentor text guided lessons that use the work of the 2019 student winners.

As a final project, we invite students to send finished stories to our Second Annual Personal Narrative Writing Contest .

DECEMBER-January

Unit 3: The Review

Book reports and literary essays have long been staples of language arts classrooms, but this unit encourages students to learn how to critique art in other genres as well. As we point out, a cultural review is, of course, a form of argumentative essay. Your class might be writing about Lizzo or “ Looking for Alaska ,” but they still have to make claims and support them with evidence. And, just as they must in a literature essay, they have to read (or watch, or listen to) a work closely; analyze it and understand its context; and explain what is meaningful and interesting about it.

In our Mentor Texts series , we feature the work of Times movie , restaurant , book and music critics to help students understand the elements of a successful review. In each one of these guided lessons, we also spotlight the work of teenage contest winners from previous years.

As a culminating project, we invite students to send us their own reviews of a book, movie, restaurant, album, theatrical production, video game, dance performance, TV show, art exhibition or any other kind of work The Times critiques.

January-February

Unit 4: Informational Writing

Informational writing is the style of writing that dominates The New York Times as well as any other traditional newspaper you might read, and in this unit we hope to show students that it can be every bit as engaging and compelling to read and to write as other genres. Via thousands of articles a month — from front-page reporting on politics to news about athletes in Sports, deep data dives in The Upshot, recipes in Cooking, advice columns in Style and long-form investigative pieces in the magazine — Times journalists find ways to experiment with the genre to intrigue and inform their audiences.

This unit invites students to take any STEM-related discovery, process or idea that interests them and write about it in a way that makes it understandable and engaging for a general audience — but all the skills we teach along the way can work for any kind of informational writing. Via our Mentor Texts series, we show them how to hook the reader from the start , use quotes and research , explain why a topic matters and more. This year we’ll be using the work of the 2020 student winners for additional mentor text lessons.

At the end of the unit, we invite teenagers to submit their own writing to our Second Annual STEM writing contest to show us what they’ve learned.

March-April

Unit 5: Argumentative Writing

The demand for evidence-based argumentative writing is now woven into school assignments across the curriculum and grade levels, and you couldn’t ask for better real-world examples than what you can find in The Times Opinion section .

This unit will, like our others, be supported with writing prompts, mentor-text lesson plans, webinars and more. We’ll also focus on the winning teenage writing we’ve received over the six years we’ve run our related contest.

At a time when media literacy is more important than ever, we also hope that our annual Student Editorial Contest can serve as a final project that encourages students to broaden their information diets with a range of reliable sources, and learn from a variety of perspectives on their chosen issue.

To help students working from home, we also have an Argumentative Unit for Students Doing Remote Learning .

Unit 6: Writing for Podcasts

Most of our writing units so far have all asked for essays of one kind or another, but this spring contest invites students to do what journalists at The Times do every day: make multimedia to tell a story, investigate an issue or communicate a concept.

Our annual podcast contest gives students the freedom to talk about anything they want in any form they like. In the past we’ve had winners who’ve done personal narratives, local travelogues, opinion pieces, interviews with community members, local investigative journalism and descriptions of scientific discoveries.

As with all our other units, we have supported this contest with great examples from The Times and around the web, as well as with mentor texts by teenagers that offer guided practice in understanding elements and techniques.

June-August

Unit 7: Independent Reading and Writing

At a time when teachers are looking for ways to offer students more “voice and choice,” this unit, based on our annual summer contest, offers both.

Every year since 2010 we have invited teenagers around the world to add The New York Times to their summer reading lists and, so far, 70,000 have. Every week for 10 weeks, we ask participants to choose something in The Times that has sparked their interest, then tell us why. At the end of the week, judges from the Times newsroom pick favorite responses, and we publish them on our site.

And we’ve used our Mentor Text feature to spotlight the work of past winners , explain why newsroom judges admired their thinking, and provide four steps to helping any student write better reader-responses.

Because this is our most open-ended contest — students can choose whatever they like, and react however they like — it has proved over the years to be a useful place for young writers to hone their voices, practice skills and take risks . Join us!

High School Workbooks & Books

Prepare your students for academic success in and out of the classroom with our wide variety of engaging high school books and workbooks. Learn about world history, geometry, biology, geography, and other important topics through interactive activity books and workbooks, as well as important historical events and people through informative nonfiction readers and chapter books, and so much more!

Top 10 Best-Sellers in High School Workbooks & Books

Carson Dellosa Education

Skills for Success Spanish Resource Book Grade 6-12 Paperback

Spectrum Algebra Workbook Grade 6-8 Paperback

The 100+ Series™ Spanish Resource Book Grade 6-12 Paperback

Mark Twain Media

Cursive Writing: Instruction, Practice, and Reinforcement Workbook Grade 4-9 Paperback

Biology Workbook Grade 6-12 Paperback

Understanding the U.S. Constitution Workbook Grade 5-12 Paperback

Health, Wellness, and Physical Fitness Workbook Grade 5-12 Paperback

Physical Science Workbook Grade 5-12 Paperback

The 100+ Series™ Geometry Workbook Grade 8-10 Paperback

Exploring Fractions Resource Book Grade 6-12 Paperback

Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, what's the standard high school curriculum you should take.

Coursework/GPA

Are you wondering what a typical high school curriculum looks like? Do you want to know what classes you'll be taking as a high school student?

Read this guide to learn about the standard high school curriculum, high school graduation requirements, and what classes colleges expect you to have taken.

How to Find Your School's Curriculum

This is a general guide to high school curricula. It was created by researching national education standards, as well as the curricula of high schools across the country. While the information below applies to many students , not all high schools teach the same courses, follow the same course sequence, or have the same curriculum requirements. Use this information as a guideline to research your own high school's curriculum more in-depth.

To find your own school's curriculum, talk to your academic adviser . You can also look on your school's website, searching for "graduation requirements", "course sequence" or something similar. Your high school's course catalog will also usually contain this information.

Which Subjects Should You Take More Rigorous Courses In?

In addition to explaining typical graduation requirements, each core subject in this guide includes ways to exceed basic requirements and strengthen your transcript . However, trying to go the extra mile in every subject can be exhausting and lead to you getting burned out. Because colleges appreciate depth more than breadth, concentrate on putting extra effort in the area(s) you plan to continue studying in college.

For example, if you plan on majoring in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) field, try to follow our guidelines for exceeding expectations in your math and science classes, and worry less about taking advanced courses in English and history (although still work to get solid grades in those courses). Similarly, if you plan on majoring in something like journalism, concentrate most of your effort on taking advanced English classes and additional English electives.

Also, if you are looking at attending a highly competitive college , know that most expect applicants to have taken honors or advanced classes if their school offers them, and most also require or highly recommend completing four years in each core subject (math, science, English, and social studies).

Standard High School Curriculum

Below is information on the typical classes a high school student will be expected to take, organized by subject. Each subject includes classes that are required to graduate high school, classes colleges expect students to have taken, and suggestions for ways to impress by going beyond these expectations.

Requirements:

• Four years of English are required to graduate high school.
• Freshman and Sophomore years: Classes during these years will be primarily focused on developing writing and critical reading skills.
• Junior year: This year will focus on American literature, as well as continued development of writing skills.
• Possible electives include British literature, creative writing, and world literature.
• Colleges will expect all high school graduates to have completed four years of English.

To Exceed Expectations:

• There are two AP English classes: English Language and Composition (usually taken junior year), and English Literature and Composition (usually taken senior year).
• There are three IB literature classes: Language A: Literature, Language A: Language and Literature, and Literature and Performance.
• Also consider taking additional English electives in areas that you're interested in, such as literature or writing.

• At least three years of math, including algebra and geometry, is required to graduate high school.
• Algebra 2/Trigonometry
• Pre-Calculus
• (Not all students start with Algebra 1, and not all students complete all the above courses or follow the above order exactly)
• Most colleges require three-four years of math for non-STEM majors, including algebra 1 and 2 and geometry.
• For STEM majors, most colleges require four years of math, sometimes including pre-calculus and calculus.
• Take four years of math.
• Take math at the highest level offered by your school, such as at an honors or AP level.
• There are three AP Math classes: Calculus AB, Calculus BC, and Statistics.
• There are four IB Math classes that cover roughly the same material but vary in difficulty and speed.
• Take pre-calculus and calculus, if possible.
• Take additional math-related electives such as statistics and computer math.

Requirements

• Two to three years of science, including biology and chemistry, is required to graduate high school.
• Freshman year: Biology
• Sophomore year: Chemistry
• Junior year: Physics or Earth Science
• Students who are more confident in their math and science skills typically take physics, while those who are not take earth science instead.
• Senior year: optional electives
• Potential electives include astronomy, environmental science, and human biology.
• Most colleges require two-three years of science for non-STEM majors.
• For STEM majors, most colleges require four years of science, including physics.
• Take four years of science.
• Take honors or accelerated classes your first three years.
• Take physics instead of earth science your junior year.
• AP science classes include: Biology, Chemistry, Physics (1,2, and C versions), and Environmental Science
• There are seven IB science classes: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Design Technology, Environmental Systems and Societies, Sports, Education and Health Science
• You can also take more career-focused classes if your school offers them, such as job shadowing at a hospital.

Social Studies

• Three years of social studies, including US history, is often required to graduate high school.
• This can be a human geography course or another introductory social studies class.
• Sophomore year: World history
• Junior year: US History
• Possible electives include psychology, US government, and anthropology.
• Most colleges require completing at least two years of social studies, often including US history and World or European history classes.
• For students planning on majoring in a related field, such as political science or history, most colleges require they have completed four years of social studies.
• Take four years of social studies.
• AP options during these three years include Human Geography, World History, European History, and US History
• AP electives include Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Psychology, US Government and Politics, and Comparative Government and Politics.
• IB classes for social studies are offered under the group entitled "Individuals and Societies".
• Ten classes are offered on varying subjects.

Foreign Language

• Foreign language requirements can vary greatly by school.
• Most high schools require students to complete one-two years of foreign language.
• Most colleges require one-two years of a foreign language, and highly competitive schools may require or recommend up to four years.
• Most high schools and colleges require that these credits all come from the same foreign language. For example, if your high school requires two years of foreign language, taking Spanish 1 and Spanish 2 will meet that requirement, but taking Spanish 1 and then switching to Italian 1 often won't.
• Take one foreign language all four years of high school, including AP level if possible.
• You may also want to consider taking a second foreign language.

Other Classes

These are classes that are not part of the core curriculum, but may still be a part of graduation requirements.

• Most high schools require students to complete a certain number of credits in order to graduate. Core requirements (such as those listed above) usually do not fill all these credits, so extra space in your schedule can be used to take electives.
• Electives can be regular, honors, or AP level.
• They can relate to a core subject, such as statistics, creative writing, and zoology, or not, such as choir, drawing, and woodworking.
• Many high schools require students to complete one-four years of physical education. This may be waived if you participate in a school sport.

How to Use This Information

Now that you know what the typical high school curriculum looks like, you can use this information to make more informed decisions about your own high school classes. Some actions to take include:

• Think about your course sequence early, ideally starting freshman year if possible.
• Reflect on your course choices each quarter or semester. Are you on track to graduate on time? Are you taking the classes you need to get into the colleges you want and the major you want? Talk to your academic adviser if you're not sure.
• Think about the subject areas where you want to exceed expectations and choose your classes accordingly. However, don't be afraid to drop to a lower level if you're having a lot of trouble with a particular class.

What's Next?

Wondering if you're taking enough challenging classes? Check out our guide to learn what a rigorous high school course load looks like .

Do you know what colleges look for on your transcript? Learn what a high school transcript is and why it's so important to colleges.

Want to get more detailed information about the classes you should take? Check out our guides to choosing classes for English , Math , Science , History , and Foreign Languages !

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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For many secondary schools seeking to establish a Reading For Pleasure culture, Tutor Time Reading Spines are already being successfully used as an approach to promote a love of reading. However you chose to embed Tutor Time reading, we hope you will find something of interest on this list of books recommended by our Curriculum Advisors.

A guide for teenagers for building mental resilience to help them through their teenage years and give them coping strategies for life.

A candid exploration of the state of outrage in our culture, and how we can channel it back into the fights that matter, from presenter and DJ Ashley 'Dotty' Charles.

A summary of the history of Woman's football, leading up to the Women's World Cup 2023.

A positive look at the news, from all sources, looking at real events that are having good effects on people and the planet, as well as a guide to what fake news is and how to spot it.

Looks at issues surrounding social values and ethics.

The stories of 21 women explorers and adventurers from all over the world.

A life skill guide to help be confident, resilient and to overcome your own challenges, from the England footballer and manager Gareth Southgate.

THE GLOBAL PHENOMENON THAT HAS TOUCHED THE HEARTS OF OVER 9 MILLION READERS

Offers a gentle introduction to the concept of empathy and thinking of others.

'I don't know where to stop praising Benny and this amazing book' - HEATHER MORRIS, The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Highly designed and vibrantly colourful, this collection of scripts from BBC Radio 2's Pause for Thoughtshowcases the incredible insights that the different faiths in the UK today offer to people of all religions - and to those of none. Together, these pieces provide a guide to finding happiness and achieving psychological wellness, despite all the challenges we face. In both the selection of pieces and in the contemporary design, the emphasis is on pausing - on stopping readers in their tracks and offering new ways of perceiving and connecting with each other. The book features an exciting range of commentators with great public profile, such as comedians Shazia Mirza and Paul Kerensa and ex-Communard Richard Coles, with a Foreword by the show's presenters, Chris Evans and Vanessa Feltz. Each of the book's seven chapters has a theme, reinforcing the overall inspirational and positive message of the book: Live Boldly, Challenge Perceptions, Understand, Connect, Love, Be Thankful, Let Go. A superb gift as well as an inspiring self-purchase.

A short introduction to Black British history, abridged from the adult edition of 2017.

Explores the history of the world through voyages made along the Silk Roads.

A history of post-war Black Britain told through the lens of these groundbreaking songs.

Barack Obama's autobiography about his early life, adapted for a young teen audience.

Based on his own experiences, Frederick Joseph gives a tool box of ways for anti-racists to confront their own and other people's perceptions and actions.

A 16-year-old girl is drawn to activism after she witnesses the police shooting of her unarmed friend

A young boy tries to help his new classmate, Celeste, who has become sick due to the effects of pollution.

Follows the lives of ordinary high school students as typical literary tropes of teenage novels such as zombie invasion and terminal illness are played out in everyday life around them.

Teenager Ant is involved in a secret sexual relationship with best friend Charlie but their dynamic is challenged when an old friend returns to their school

Our top 10 HiLo books for KS3

These are books that teachers can provide to KS3 pupils with a lower reading level, without them appearing too young for their age. They also allow for paired or shared opportunities between readers of different abilities.

Nicky and Kenny find themselves in danger when they get lost on the Yorkshire Moors in a snowstorm.

A brief introduction to the life and work of Lupita Nyong'o.

In World War II, three teenage Navy recruits endure the rigours and dangers of the notorious Arctic convoys.

Twelve-year-old Hanh is offered a job as a shop assistant in Hanoi, soon learns that the job offer was a lie and finds herself working in virtual slavery in an illegal garment factory.

Sophie, a chess prodigy, must use all her strategic skills to help her grandmaster father escape from Winter Palace prison.

A radical, ghoulish and humorous re-telling of the Sleeping beauty fairy tale

Trapped and alone on the salt marshes, Jodie is troubled by a haunting presence.

Discover silly and strange space science.

Young Quom Erro and his human friend Zak Nine are in trouble. They're stuck in Planet Alcatraz's most infamous jail cell: a huge metal cylinder that's sunk into the ground but open to the sky. The boys are certain they can climb out, but they quickly discover the cunning secret of the pit. When they make too many movements, the floor sinks and the pit grows even deeper. Will the boys manage to climb out or will their hopes dwindle as the circle of sky overhead shrinks to a distant dot?

When Tulsi and Satchen discover a trapped whale in a fishing net while rowing out to an island near their seaside home, they try to free it.

Lewis wants to follow his dream of playing football and training with a proper team but his mother is unwilling to support him for her own reasons.

A thirteen-year-old girl, struggling with feelings of abandonment after her last placement ended, struggles to have faith in her new foster family's desire for her to be with them.

A boy with the ability to stop bullets is recruited into a secret organisation which trains children with special powers to keep the city safe from terrorist attacks.

A teenage boy trying to scavenge enough to live on in an e-waste dump in Ghana gets caught up in a gang war.

A hotel guest has nightmares about a man with six eyes and long, sharp nails.

A hotel guest is punished when he tries to escape from the building.

A teenager and her friends take up a school challenge to live without their phones for six weeks in order to win a cash prize

The classic Christmas story presented with dyslexia friendly font and paper.

A German teenager discovers a tale of football and unbreakable friendship when he sets out to return a football badge to its owner in England.

A new boy wonders about the history of one of his team's players.

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A rhyming story in which Frog goes for a day out to the seaside.

To survive their third year of training, Skandar and his friends must complete a series of terrifying trials across the Island’s elemental zones, while Skandar's sister battles her own demons to decide which side she is on

After being dunked in tomato juice, the stink is gone but the scarlet red colour remains. Now exiled, he must struggle to save the citizens who shunned him.

A sizzling and heart-racing new story set in the Kingdom of Ilya.

Bluey and Bingo play their favourite games.

Join Bingo and Bluey as they prepare for bed.

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National curriculum in England: secondary curriculum

The national curriculum secondary programmes of study and attainment targets for key stages 3 and 4.

Applies to England

National curriculum: secondary curriculum.

Ref: DFE-00183-2013

PDF , 2.18 MB , 105 pages

This is the statutory secondary national curriculum, including programmes of study and attainment targets for all subjects at key stages 3 and 4.

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Schools are not required by law to teach the example content in [square brackets] or the content indicated as being ‘non-statutory’.

Updated to include details of the programmes of study for science at key stage 4.

Added programmes of study for English and mathematics at key stage 4.

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K-12 Education

California could require kids to learn how to manage money. Should voters decide curriculum?

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A ballot initiative that would require a personal finance class in high school circumvents the usual process for curriculum changes.

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School curriculum is usually the purview of education experts, but this fall it could be decided by California voters, who will vote on adding a new requirement for high school students: a one-semester class in managing personal finances.

California’s Secretary of State is poised to certify that the California Personal Finance Act is eligible for the November ballot, which would add financial literacy to the list of high school graduation requirements beginning with the class of 2030.

Students would learn about paying for college, online banking, taxes, budgeting, credit, retirement accounts, loans, how the stock market works and other topics. The issue is critical, organizers said, as students face a shifting economy and difficult decisions about college, careers and their futures.

“No one comes out of the womb knowing how to manage their credit score. It has to be taught,” said Tim Ranzetta, co-founder of a personal finance education nonprofit and a chief backer of the initiative. “And right now there’s a dramatic gap between what students know and what they need to know. We have to change that.”

Voters seem to agree with him. A 2022 survey of adults nationwide showed that nearly 90% support a financial literacy requirement in high school, and nearly as many wished they had taken such a course when they were students. 

That’s not surprising, considering the financial woes many people incur. The average credit card debt in California is $8,366, the sixth-highest rate in the country, and 1 in 6 borrowers nationwide are in default on their student loans . 

Financial literacy already in classrooms

But some education experts have pushed back, not because they’re opposed to financial literacy for students but because they question whether voters are best equipped to dictate what’s taught in classrooms.

Currently, the state’s History-Social Studies framework includes a one-semester course in economics , required for graduation, that covers much of the same material proposed by the financial literacy ballot initiative proponents. Financial literacy is also included in first, second and ninth grade curriculum. First graders, for example, learn that money can be exchanged for goods and services, and people make decisions about how to spend their money.

But Ranzetta said the curriculum, which was last updated in 2017, doesn’t focus enough on financial literacy. Personal finance is covered for only a few weeks in the economics course; the rest covers more abstract economic concepts like international trade, resource allocation and the benefits and drawbacks of capitalism. Individual teachers can choose how much they want to focus on certain topics.

State Superintendent Tony Thurmond wouldn’t answer questions about the ballot initiative, although he endorsed it. Linda Darling-Hammond, president of the State Board of Education, also wouldn’t answer questions. 

Leaving curriculum decisions to voters is ‘a bad idea’

The proposed ballot initiative so far has almost zero opposition, but some are questioning the idea of letting voters — and not education experts — decide what students learn in the classroom. Ordinarily, curriculum in California is developed by a group of teachers and subject-matter professionals who serve on the Instructional Quality Commission , which meets publicly six times a year. New curriculum is subject to multiple reviews, edits and public vetting, ultimately going before the State Board of Education for adoption. Local school boards can adjust curriculum according to the needs of their students.  

“Most voters don’t know much about education policy, and having them decide what can be taught in schools is a bad idea,” said Morgan Polikoff, an education professor at the University of Southern California. “We already have a process in place for adopting curriculum, and if people are unhappy with it there are plenty of avenues to have their voices heard — they can go to meetings, they can vote people out of office, they can talk to their representatives.”

“No one comes out of the womb knowing how to manage their credit score. It has to be taught.” Tim Ranzetta, co-founder of next gen personal finance

Polikoff worries that adopting curriculum through ballot initiatives could set a dangerous precedent. Religious or anti-LGBTQ curriculum, for example, could be approved by voters, setting up costly and lengthy legal showdowns with the state Department of Education. 

Curriculum can be complicated, as well. When writing new curricula, the Instructional Quality Commission looks at the broader context, making sure students get new material every year that builds on what they learned previously, subjects don’t overlap and topics are flexible enough for teachers to adapt lessons to the individual needs of their students. Textbooks and tests are also taken into consideration. 

Legislature weighs in

Most curriculum updates and changes originate with the commission, but sometimes the Legislature weighs in. The state’s new ethnic studies and media literacy requirements, for example, stemmed from Assembly bills. Another bill, AB 2097 , would add computer science as a graduation requirement.

AB 2927 , a financial literacy bill proposed by Democrat Kevin McCarty of Sacramento, would actually do almost the same thing as the ballot initiative. The bill would require financial literacy as a graduation requirement, although it would go into effect until 2031, a year later than the ballot measure.

Bruce Fuller, education professor at UC Berkeley, said he worries about the increasing politicization of curriculum — either from the Legislature or those pushing for ballot initiatives.

“We have these political interests unabashedly trying to control what’s taught in the classroom, instead of leaving it up to teachers and locally elected school boards,” Fuller said. “We should trust those folks to devise thoughtful curriculum that’s appropriate for their students.”

He also questioned the ever-growing list of graduation requirements. High schools only offer six or seven class periods a day, and with more required classes there’s less room for art and other electives. Some districts have started adding an extra period so students can fit in all the classes they need to take to graduate, finish a career pathway and qualify for California’s public universities. 

“We have these political interests unabashedly trying to control what’s taught in the classroom, instead of leaving it up to teachers and locally elected school boards.” Bruce Fuller, education professor at UC Berkeley

“I’m not sure how adding more required classes is going to motivate restless teenagers,” Fuller said. “With more requirements, we’re giving them almost no chance to study things they’re actually interested in.” 

McCarty’s bill  is not the Legislature’s first attempt to wade into financial literacy. A dozen bills requiring financial literacy have died or been vetoed in recent years, in most cases because financial literacy curriculum already exists and the state already has a system for adopting curriculum.

As Gov. Jerry Brown wrote in 2018 when he vetoed a bill that would have made financial literacy materials available to teachers: “This bill is unnecessary. The History-Social Science Framework already contains financial literacy content for pupils in kindergarten through grade 12, as well as a financial literacy elective.”

“I recognize the value of the process, but it’s slow and so far it hasn’t worked in California. The issue is too urgent and too popular to wait any longer.”      Tim Ranzetta, co-founder of next gen personal finance

Ranzetta said the Legislature’s inability to pass a financial literacy curriculum is what spurred him to take the matter directly to voters.

“I recognize the value of the process, but it’s slow and so far it hasn’t worked in California,” he said. “The issue is too urgent and too popular to wait any longer.”     

Ranzetta grew up in New Jersey, where his father was a banker and his mother was a community volunteer who raised six children. He learned financial literacy from his parents, and assumed other young people did, too. It wasn’t until he started volunteering at an East Palo Alto high school that he realized many students are clueless about money, and that ignorance can hamper them throughout their lives. But they were eager to learn, he said, and share the information with their parents.

That experience inspired him to start NextGen Personal Finance, which offers free financial literacy curriculum and training for teachers. At least 7,000 teachers in California and more than 100,000 nationwide have participated, he said.

A class that demystifies money

At Berkeley High, Crystal Rigley Janis teaches two economics classes and three personal finance classes, covering topics she wishes she knew as a young person: how to negotiate a salary, not relying on gut instinct when investing, and avoiding individual stocks in favor of index funds.

“It took me 15 years to understand those things, and it probably cost me millions of dollars,” said Rigley, who worked for several years at a wealth management firm before going into teaching. “I don’t want other people to make the mistakes I did.”

Eliza Maier, a senior, was so inspired by Rigley’s class that she opened a Roth IRA when she turned 18 and transferred money from her low-interest savings account. The class, she said, helped demystify money and the role it can play in major life choices.

“We learned that money isn’t good or bad – it’s a tool,” Maier said. “It can help you realize your goals. It can help you be prepared for whatever happens in your life. I didn’t know anything about money when I started taking this class, but I think it’s so important, especially for high school students.”

more on financial literacy

California keeps expanding school curricula. What about improving key subjects?

Why California should make personal finance a high school graduation requirement

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Carolyn Jones covers K-12 education at CalMatters. A longtime news reporter, she’s covered education for nearly a decade, focusing on everything from special education to state funding policies to inequities... More by Carolyn Jones

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Aurora Beacon-News | Indian Prairie School District 204 to add AI to…

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Aurora Beacon-News

Aurora beacon-news | indian prairie school district 204 to add ai to curriculum.

A task force created to look at the potential uses and downsides of AI in Indian Prairie schools presented its findings to the district’s Board of Education at its meeting on Monday.

Task force members said AI has the potential to transform education, both for students and teachers, but that these tools must be used in an ethical and responsible way. They recommended the district embrace AI tools instead of blocking them, which is the district’s current policy.

“This is happening faster than anything I’ve seen in my 30 years of education,” said Steve Wick, a task force member and teacher at Neuqua Valley High School. “It’s almost astounding what generative AI can do for us and some of the possibilities it will open the door for.”

Generative Artificial Intelligence, more commonly known as AI, is a computer software tool that studies a large amount of information, such as documents, photos or audio, and then, when prompted by a person, can create similar content based on the information it was trained on, according to a blog post by IBM Research.

The point of using AI tools in classrooms is not to replace jobs, creativity or human connection, task force members said. Instead, these tools should be used to enhance what teachers are already doing, making their jobs easier and helping their students learn better.

For students, one of the main uses of AI tools in the classroom will be creative brainstorming, particularly through photo generation tools like Adobe Firefly and Canva’s AI tool, according to the task force’s presentation.

These tools will not replace normal brainstorming steps but will instead be an additional tool that students can use, task force members said.

AI tools like Microsoft Copilot can also act “almost as a tutor” for students who are struggling with certain content, said Tania Moneim, a task force member and instructional specialist for equity and innovation. Not all families are able to pay for tutors, so these tools might help fill that gap, she said.

However, task force members were careful to say that these tools will not replace face-to-face human interaction between teachers and their students. Wick said he has previously used an AI tool to help him tutor a student in a subject he had not personally taught in several years, helping to remind him of certain things while checking behind the tool to make sure it was correct.

New technology often shifts education in new directions, according to Moneim.

She said that, because of calculators, teachers now place less emphasis on students memorizing simple math, which has freed them up to teach students an explanation of how those answers are found and how to solve more complex problems.

Using AI tools in classrooms will likely have a similar effect, Moneim said.

While AI tools will be widely available only to high school students in the district, with middle school students having access to some tools like Adobe Firefly, lessons about AI will soon be integrated into curriculums from elementary to high school.

In elementary school, students will learn what AI is at a basic level, according to Moneim. She said these students are already being taught how to correctly and safely use the internet, so these lessons will fit right in.

In middle school, students will begin using the AI tools and learning more about them, with a particular focus on the ethics of using AI, according to Shelli Kelsey, a task force member and instructional technology educator at Fischer Middle School.

She said sixth-grade students will get a deeper look at what AI is, seventh-graders will begin engaging with AI tools and eighth-graders will begin creating their own AI tools.

At the high school level, AI tool use will likely vary between schools and individual classrooms, Wick said.

AI tools are not only being considered for student use. Task force members said that teachers will be able to use these tools to speed up their everyday tasks, create better assessments and personalize lessons to individual students based on their progress.

Indian Prairie School District Board members expressed some concerns about AI use in schools, particularly around academic dishonesty and writing. However, they said they applauded the task force’s efforts and intentional look at the new tools, and they agreed that their use should be encouraged.

Board member Justin Karubas said that, in addition to other efforts, new policies should be made defining what academic dishonesty looks like after AI tools are allowed to be used.

Ethical use is one of the four focus areas in a document created by the task force that is designed to guide AI use in Indian Prairie schools. That document, available on the district’s website, says that students will be taught to critically analyze the information and content that AI tools produce for them.

Students will also be taught the limitations of AI and their biases, the document says. Because generative AI tools are trained on large sets of data, any biases in the data they are trained on will appear in the outputs of the tools.

Task force members said these lessons are important because students are likely already using AI tools on their own time. As tools advance and become part of everyday life, students may also have to use these AI tools in their future careers, they said.

According to District 204 Director of Innovation Brian Giovanini, the AI tools being opened up for high school student use next year will not cost the district any extra money as they are already built into existing digital platforms the district regularly pays for.

The task force is set to meet twice next school year to evaluate the current implementation of AI across the district, Giovanini said.

“I think it’s incredibly important to keep this task force going into the future, as this is going to evolve constantly,” said District 204 School Board President Laurie Donahue.

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Perpich News

Perpich arts high school studio arts department presents: junior curriculum exhibition “emerging”.

Perpich Studio Arts Juniors presented their Curriculum Exhibition “Emerging” on Thursday, May 9, 2024. The exhibition is showing until early September, 2024.

The exhibition includes artwork created in Perpich art classes during Quarters 3 and 4 by members of the Class of 2025 and features animation, video art, drawings, paintings, darkroom-based analog & digital photography, prints, sculpture, and digital art. The students selected two pieces of artwork that they were proud of or they felt represented them well to be displayed for the exhibition.

A media screening took place during the exhibition opening. The show included work from Media and Visual students. Guests were invited to also visit the Basta Gallery for “The Portrait” exhibition. The still images were shown on screen in the Performance Hall during the Media Screening and will be displayed as framed, printed photographs in the Basta Gallery until next Fall.

Junior Studio Arts students and instructors gather on the Perpich campus prior to their exhibition opening on May 9, 2024

In the exhibition statement, the students said, “Perpich is a different experience for everyone and each artist emerges differently than when they arrived. We spend a year as an egg, taking everything in and growing, so that we can become the next version of ourselves. These pieces from our Junior artists are the summation of our experiences we have had that shape our world. Come back next year to see us take flight!”

Congratulations to all the students, and their instructors, on a wonderful exhibition!

A sample of works exhibited during “Emerging”

Hononegah High School in Rockton recognized nationally for STEM curriculum

ROCKTON, Ill. (WIFR) - Hononegah Community High School, 307 Salem St. in Rockton, earns recognition for its career readiness program from a national organization.

On Tuesday, Project Lead the Way named Hononegah a 2023-24 Distinguished High School. In total, 13 high schools from Illinois were recognized by the nonprofit .

Project Lead the Way helps students across the country develop skills in science, technology engineering and math, also known as STEM, so they are ready for life beyond the classroom. PLTW offers Distinguished Launch, Distinguished Gateway, Distinguished High School and Distinguished District categories.

School leaders are celebrating the accomplishment made by PLTW students and educator Mrs. McLivege, calling the achievement an honor for the school.

For more information, visit the PLTW website.

Copyright 2024 WIFR. All rights reserved.

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Iowa Department of Education names Christopher Kaftan as new superintendent of the Iowa Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Iowa School for the Deaf

• Thursday, May 9, 2024
• Press Release

Full Release in American Sign Language

DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Education today announced Christopher Kaftan as the next superintendent for Iowa Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Iowa School for the Deaf. He is replacing John Cool, who is retiring after 34 years of service to Iowa School for the Deaf and 12 years of service to Iowa Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired, most recently as interim superintendent.

Kaftan brings over two decades of experience as a director of student services, director of curriculum and instruction, principal and teacher. He is currently the student services director at The Learning Center for the Deaf in Framingham, Mass., where he supports nearly 200 deaf and hard of hearing students in grades K-12.

“Encouraged by Superintendent Kaftan’s leadership and support, we continue our collective work to ensure every student who is blind, visually impaired, deafblind, deaf or hard of hearing experiences a world class education that inspires them and prepares them for bright futures,” said Iowa Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow. “We thank each member of the IESBVI and ISD community who participated in the search process for their critical role in this important decision.” The Department formed an 11-member search committee including parents, faculty, staff, alumni and organizations like the Iowa Association of the Deaf to equally represent ISD and IESBVI. The Department conducted three public listening sessions last fall and two IESBVI and ISD listening sessions in January to draft the superintendent leadership profile. The search committee then conducted a nationwide search supported by Innivee Strategies, a nationally recognized search firm. Finalists recommended by the search committee participated in a public candidate forum, including an input survey, and met with ISD and IESBVI students, staff and leadership.  "Christopher Kaftan demonstrated a genuine commitment to supporting the Blind and Visually Impaired community throughout the search process. As a member of the ISD/IESBVI search committee, I am excited to welcome him as the next Superintendent and look forward to collaborating with him to support the needs of Blind and Visually Impaired students throughout Iowa." said Michael Hoenig, Blind representative.  Originally from New York, Kaftan taught students with visual impairments and coordinated services with school districts to ensure blind and visually impaired students’ needs were met inside and outside the classroom. Additionally, he has more than two decades of experience in deaf education. “We’re looking forward to welcoming Christopher Kaftan to Council Bluffs,” said Susan MacDonald, search committee member representing the Iowa Association of the Deaf. “During the interview, he clearly showed the deaf and hard of hearing community his commitment and passion for deaf education and the future of our community’s children.”  Kaftan holds a bachelor’s degree in history and secondary education and a master’s degree in deaf education from Gallaudet University. He has also earned a graduate certificate in special education administration from Johns Hopkins University. “I look forward to working with Mr. Kaftan as he joins the Iowa School for the Deaf and Iowa Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired team as superintendent,” said Deborah Elder, Chief Operating Officer at Iowa Department of Education. “Mr. Kaftan brings a strong commitment to serving every student, both on campus and statewide. His experience in providing a high-quality program with a dual focus on state academic standards and the expanded core curriculum will enhance ISD/IESBVI’s focus on meeting each student’s individual needs.” Kaftan’s start date is July 1. He will travel across Iowa to support IESBVI students, families, educators and staff, and will serve ISD at the Council Bluffs campus.

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Mayor Adams Announces Curriculum On Hate Crimes And Their Impact For New York City Schools

April 30, 2024

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced the release of ‘ Teaching About Hate Crimes and their Impacts ,’ a series of hate crimes lessons designed to teach students in New York City public schools about hate crimes and bias incidents, as well as their impact on individuals and communities. As hate crimes continue to rise around the nation, with a particular influence on young people, the New York City Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes (OPHC), with support from the New York City Department of Education (DOE), partnered with Facing History & Ourselves to develop the curriculum and provide training for educators.

‘Teaching About Hate Crimes and their Impacts’ includes five lessons that empower educators to enrich students’ understanding of diversity, sharpen critical thinking skills, and foster a culture of increased civic engagement — all of which are crucial skills for instilling social responsibility. Students will learn to identify motives and behaviors that cause hate crimes, examine the impacts of current hate crime trends on communities, and design initiatives that promote inclusion and collective action.

“Our children are at a breaking point, and investing in programming that fosters a greater understanding of diversity and the importance of inclusion is an important way to dam one of the many rivers that feeds the sea of hate,” said Mayor Adams . “Despite the uptick in hate crimes we are seeing across the city and nation — whether it be against someone’s religion, culture, gender, sexual orientation, or anything else — we know that New York City is the greatest city in the world because of our extensive diversity. This curriculum builds on our ‘Breaking Bread, Building Bonds’ initiative and will help ensure that our school children are part of the solution to stamp out hate wherever it rears its ugly head.” 

The lessons are available to students in grades 6-12 and are offered as a virtual resource to the public on the OPHC and Facing History & Ourselves’ websites. Facing History & Ourselves has trained DOE’s educators on the hate crime curriculum with more training opportunities forthcoming over the next year.

The city legislatively mandates the OPHC to produce a hate crime curriculum for schools. ‘Teaching About Hate Crimes and their Impacts’ satisfies that mandate and reaffirms the Adams administration’s commitment to combat the rising number of hate crimes across the five boroughs. Facing History & Ourselves will regularly reexamine these lessons with the OPHC to offer updates and keep them current.

‘Teaching About Hate Crimes and their Impacts’ is one of the OPHC’ initiatives that combats hate, bias, and discrimination. In early 2023, Mayor Adams launched ‘Breaking Bread, Building Bonds,’ which aimed to bring 10,000 New Yorkers together to learn about common bonds, share cultures and traditions, and break down silos. In only 11 months, ‘Breaking Bread, Building Bonds’ surpassed the goal of bringing 10,000 New Yorkers together with the support of the Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit, the New York City Commission on Human Rights, the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development, and others.

“Hate has no home in our schools, and we are proud to partner with the OPHC in the fight against bigotry,” said DOE Chancellor David C. Banks . “We are educating our youth about the dangers of hate both to meet this challenging moment in our world and to build a brighter future for us all.”

“Cross-cultural literacy is essential to counteract hate and reduce bias incidents,” said Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) Director Deanna Logan . “This curriculum ensures our students receive that additional comprehensive education. We appreciate Mayor Adams’ leadership and support in the positive engagement of the youngest New Yorkers to promote learning and understanding as essential resources for public safety.”

“With bigotry and hate on the rise across the globe, including right here in our own community, it is more important than ever that we give teachers and students the tools to discuss these difficult topics in a thoughtful way,” said Pam Haas, executive director, Facing History & Ourselves . “Our experience with developing curriculum to combat bigotry and hate for nearly 50 years has shown that as students develop their knowledge and understanding, they exhibit greater empathy and choose to stand up.”

As part of the MOCJ, the OPHC takes a holistic approach to preventing hate crimes, developing and coordinating community-driven prevention strategies to address biases fueling such crimes, and fostering healing for victims and their communities.

About Facing History & Ourselves

Facing History & Ourselves uses the lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate. Facing History & Ourselves’ classroom resources and professional development offerings examine racism, antisemitism, and prejudice at pivotal moments in history and helps students learn about the impact of choices made in the past and connect them to the choices they will confront in their own lives. Facing History & Ourselves believes understanding shared history and how it informs attitudes and behaviors allows participants to choose a world of equity and justice.

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