In alignment with the NCSS, the primary purpose of our social studies department is to help students make enlightened decisions that inspire collective empathy and responsibility as citizens of a culturally, ethnically, and socio-economically diverse, democratic society in an ever-connected world. Our students are given the skills, as well as the information, to make a positive change through their actions as well as their engagement in society. More specifically, our courses are designed to facilitate both historical and human understanding through a varied curriculum that focuses on human geography, world civilizations and history, United States History, patterns and practices of government, and the psychological and sociological explanations that have defined all human interactions. Our curriculum also incorporates multiple learning strategies that are task- or skill-oriented and knowledge-based.