History and Social Studies

The history/social studies curriculum goals are to help students acquire the knowledge, judgment, and skills to participate intelligently and responsibly in civic life and to continue to learn for themselves. Essential skills of reading and writing expository materials, using library resources and technology, reading maps, interpreting documents and data, preparing research papers, and participating in discussions are taught and reinforced in all courses, grades 9-12.

All courses have a required summer reading component. Students are assigned one to three titles to be read by September and are responsible for obtaining reading lists when they select their courses. An assessment of the students‘ understanding of the books is done in the fall.

Sue Bairstow, Department Head

Susan Bairstow is the new head of the 6-12 Social Studies and History Department. She has been a member of the faculty since 2006, predominantly teaching 9th and 10th grade World History.  Sue also originated the Race, Class and Gender curriculum for sophomores, juniors and seniors at Weston High School, where she focuses on equality and social justice issues. She recently concluded a term as WEA Union President for the 2020-21 school year and served as a faculty representative on the Instructional Support Team at Weston High School. Prior to her time in Weston, Susan worked at Lexington High School.  She has a Master’s of Organization Leadership from Endicott College, a Master’s of Education from UMass/Boston and completed her undergraduate work at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio. Susan currently lives with her husband and two children in Natick.

Faculty

Note: There is always the possibility that courses listed in the Program of Studies may not run due to low enrollment or budget constraints.

The history/social studies curriculum goals are to help students acquire the knowledge, judgment, and skills to participate intelligently and responsibly in civic life, and to continue to learn for themselves. Essential skills of reading and writing expository materials, using library resources and technology, reading maps, interpreting documents and data, preparing research for presentation, and participating in discussions are taught and reinforced in all courses, grades 9-12.

Some courses have a required summer reading component. Students may be assigned one to three titles to be read by September and are responsible for obtaining reading lists. An assessment of the students’ understanding of the books is done in the fall.

Grades 9-12 Standards