Belmont High School 2023-24 Program of Studies Overview
Enhance student learning through integrated courses like World Experience Honors, focusing on cross-curricular connections, collaboration, and real-world problem-solving. The program aims to develop students' critical thinking, communication, and social-emotional skills in a smaller, engaging community setting.
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Belmont High School 2023 - 24 Program of Studies School Committee Presentation January 3rd, 2023
Process: Considering New Course Offerings Student Interest & Student Voice Access & Equity Research on Best Practices Scheduling Considerations Resources & Budget Implications
Staffing & Budget New courses for 2023-24 are staffing neutral Minimal Budget Impact Funding for summer curriculum development work (existing) Materials and resources provided from a combination of existing materials and texts, with new sources purchased through existing departmental budgets (existing)
NEW COURSE PROPOSALS World Experience (Integrated Studies) Gender in Literature (English Language Arts) Styles of Acting (Visual & Performing Arts) Cooperative Games & Adventure Education (Phys. Ed) Lifetime Sports & Fitness (Phys. Ed)
World Experience Integrated Studies - Grade 9
World Experience Honors Description: This is a full year, double-block, integrated course available for all grade 9 students that fulfills 9th grade English and World History requirements. This course is open to all students. Students must choose to opt in to this learning experience. This course will be taught by two teachers over a double period and provide an integrated learning experience in a smaller community of approximately 50 students. The curriculum will be organized around common, thematic units that focus on connections among content and skills. In this course, English literature and World History students will develop collaboration, communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills while making meaningful cross-curricular connections and working with their peers on interdisciplinary projects.
Rationale: The goals of the Belmont Public Schools and the in-progress Vision of a Graduate work focus on building up students social emotional skills, increasing racial equity, and developing students critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills. Increasing opportunities for students to learn in an integrated way helps them to Focus on applying content knowledge and skills to real world problems; Connect skills and knowledge from different disciplines; Build transferable skills - collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, communication, and citizenship; Leverage strengths from one discipline to support their learning in other areas Additionally, integrated studies are inherently centered on student identity and promote the development of student agency. Teachers at Belmont High School have recently created and launched two integrated courses, Social Justice by the Numbers and The History of Hip Hop. Based on the success of these two classes, the BPS goals, and educational research, we seek to expand our integrated studies offerings so that all students, not just those who have space in their schedule to enroll in elective courses, can benefit from this style of learning.
Opportunities for Students Content and Skills: Transfer knowledge and skills among disciplines Integrate knowledge and skills from different disciplines Make connections among disciplines Social Emotional Learning: Build a relationship and work with more than one adult on common content and skills Become a member of a smaller community of students as you adjust to BHS Promote student agency and identity development
Gender in Literature English - Grade 9-12
Gender in Literature (H) Description: This course offers an opportunity for students to deepen their understanding of gender identity through engagement in novels, plays, short stories, poems, and film. Students will learn to use an intersectional lens through which to read works by authors such as Audre Lorde, Toni Morrison, Louise Erdrich, Chimamanda Adichie, Amy Tan, James Baldwin, and Chuck Palahniuk to examine self-identity, constructions of gender, and the nuances of language, voice and power. Students will write critical analyses of a variety of texts and films and explore their own lived experiences through class discussions and critical and reflective writing and thinking.
Rationale: The goals of the Belmont Public Schools and the in-progress Vision of a Graduate work focus on building up students social emotional skills and increasing racial equity. An opportunity for students to learn about race and gender more deeply helps them to Build awareness and empathy for dimensions of difference Feel seen and heard in a supportive classroom community Analyze all kinds of texts including fiction, film, and lived experiences Appreciate the value of diverse perspectives in civil discourse Develop reading, writing, research, and oral communication skills
Styles of Acting Visual & Performing Arts - Grade 10-12
Styles of Acting Description: This is a mid-level acting class to serve as a bridge between Acting 1 and Advanced Acting, or an additional elective option for students looking to deepen their acting skills.The content of the class will be an exploration of various styles of acting, primarily through scene study. Scene Study selections could include Shakespeare, Commedia dell Arte, Melodrama, Realism, Naturalism, Comedy and Film/TV. Students will rehearse and present work throughout the semester, with actor s laboratory feedback sessions informing the majority of their work. Rationale: Provide an opportunity for 10-12th grade students who have taken Acting 1, or have equivalent extracurricular experience looking for a mid-level acting study course, focused on developing dramatic acting skills. This class would run next year in place of Acting 2: Improvisation for Actors, providing an opportunity for 12th grade students who took Acting 2 in 10th grade and Advanced Acting in 11th grade to take a 12th grade theater elective.
Cooperative Games & Adventure Learning Physical Education - Grade 11-12
Cooperative Games & Adventure Learning Description: Students will work to improve their fitness levels and enhance their interpersonal skills through a social emotional learning setting, with a focus on adopting a physically active lifestyle in a cooperative learning environment. The course will run a combination of adventure education, wilderness sporting, team sports, as well as a continuation of the personal fitness training practices learned in prior PE courses. Some activities would include low rope elements, cooperative games, surviving in the outdoors, orienteering, backpacking, camping, archery, snowshoeing, as well as team sports like Soccer, Basketball, Flag Football, Floor Hockey, Baseball and Rugby.This course is designed to help students practice interpersonal, communication, collaboration and resiliency skills by engaging in group problem solving activities and games. Rationale: This course is a combination of several quarter PE courses restructured into a semester course model in order to better align to scheduling needs.
Lifetime Sport & Fitness Physical Education - Grade 11-12
Lifetime Sport and Fitness Description: Students will work to further develop skills to promote lifelong fitness levels through recreational game play and mindful practices. The course will run a combination of individual and net sports, recreational games, meditative movement activities, as well as a continuation of the functional fitness and circuit training learned in prior PE courses. Some activities would include net sports like volleyball, pickleball, badminton, as well as recreational games like frisbee, golf, and backyard games. In addition, the course will include activities such as yoga, tai chi, pilates and dance to enhance students' mindfulness in their daily movement practices. This course encourages students to take risks through participating in a variety of physical activities in a range of team, dual and individual-based sports and studio based exercise activities. Rationale: This course is a combination of several quarter PE courses restructured into a semester course model in order to better align to scheduling needs.
Additional Changes Changes to current courses: Visual and Performing Arts Raise the level of all Level 2 Visual Art courses from CP to Honors Rename all Digital Art/Animation courses to Media Arts Rename Electronic Music to Music Production 1 Math Adjust the grade level of The Beauty of Math elective to include Grade 11
Additional Changes Physical Education Remove Quarterly PE courses (Fitness Games, Rec Sports, Team Sports, Mindful Movement, Strength Training, Outdoor Pursuits) Remove the Mindful Marauder program Change the course description for Wellness course to reflect the updates that have been made instructionally and curricularly in recent years Update the Physical Education Independent Study language to reflect consistent practice with academic independent studies and more clearly outline the procedure for approval.
