Social Studies

The goal of our Social Studies curriculum is to develop historically literate, globally aware, and socially responsible citizens who will use their education productively. The elementary curriculum focuses on providing students with historical knowledge of early United States history, awareness of the earth's physical, cultural, and political geography, occasions to explore empathy, responsibility, and fairness, and skills in critical thinking, research, writing, and presenting.

Students begin with their familiar environment and advance to families, homes, schools, neighborhoods, and communities in other environments. This approach enhances students' abilities to examine other places and times. Students learn to work in groups, to share, to respect the rights of others, and to care for themselves and their possessions. They acquire knowledge of history to understand the present and plan for the future. Social studies at this level provides students with the skills needed for problem solving and decision making, as well as for making thoughtful value judgments.

Our rich cultural setting in Berkshire County provides us with the opportunities for fascinating field trips. Forays to Plymouth Plantation, the Colonel Ashley House, the Institute for American Indian Studies, the Berkshire Museum are a few of the trips used to make the work in our classrooms come alive.

At the upper school level, the department works to help students comprehend the human story. This is achieved by provoking student curiosity through a modern day exploration of the world around us and by insights to cultural diversity and investigations of our increasingly complex and interdependent world.

The foundation for this approach lies within the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks and extends above and beyond them, offering both core subjects and a wide range of electives spanning such disciplines as history, geography, civics/government, economics, sociology, anthropology, psychology, criminology, journalism, and more.

Our teaching and learning practices vary from group/project/inquiry-based learning methods to individual and classroom centered practices. Students can expect to develop a range of skills in analyzing, synthesizing, judging and predicting, as well as writing, presenting, debating and working cooperatively. The department's offerings are designed to help awaken in students a curiosity about the world in which they live.