Social Studies

Supervisor of Social Studies- Andrea Brennan

abrennan@westfieldnjk12.org

908-789-4546

K-12 Social Studies Program

The mission of the Social Studies program is to help students become active citizens who think critically and make informed choices about global, national, local and personal issues in an increasingly diverse and interdependent world.

The Social Studies curriculum provides students with opportunities to acquire knowledge about human societies and relationships by engaging students in activities that increase their capacities to think reflectively and to identify, interpret, assess, evaluate, and draw conclusions regarding the continuing issues and problems that confront human societies.

Students are increasingly required to adapt to changes in their social, political, and economic environments. To provide a body of knowledge to help them successfully meet these challenges, students study a variety of social sciences beginning in Kindergarten. In the elementary curriculum (grades K-5) students study individual and group identity, citizenship and belonging, cultural diversity, economics and geography each year. The 4th grade curriculum consists of U.S. history, focusing on the foundations of the U.S. government. The 5th grade curriculum invites students to recognize the growing importance of their role in the global community. Students practice global thinking as they investigate regional case studies to understand the changing relationship between people, places, and resources.

World history is introduced in the 6th and 7th grades, students learn how humans survived and thrived during prehistoric periods. Students then consider how the first settled civilizations grew into expansive empires. The 8th grade course focuses on civics and U.S. history from the Revolutionary time period through the Civil War and Reconstruction.

At Westfield High School, the core curriculum consists of study in world history/cultures and U.S. History. In addition to the required three-year core program, the Social Studies department presents a range of electives in history, political science, economics, and the behavioral sciences. Each of these electives is designed to provide students with the opportunity to pursue further knowledge and skills in more specialized social studies fields and /or to provide students with the opportunity to study social sciences at the college level.