710 FRESHMAN CURRICULUM

This course is required of all incoming ninth graders. Introduction to Technology will introduce students to technology as it specifically relates to the Pingree environment. Topics will include Server/Client concepts and applications, file sharing, storage and retrieval from networked directories, student email, online library catalogs, and subscription databases. Also covered will be ethical use of technology and the Internet including copyright infringement and plagiarism, etc. Diversity Sensitivity will offer students an opportunity to reflect on and discuss issues of diversity. Topics may include race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and class. The course will assist students with developing a language with which to discuss these issues. Course materials will include a variety of literature, film, and current events to help expose students to these topics. Personal Health and Development will provide students with the opportunity to further develop their knowledge and understanding of human development and behavior with an emphasis placed on learning to make safe and healthy decisions. Read more

History

The primary task of Pingree's History Department is to help our students achieve a deeper and clearer understanding of the world in which they live and to equip them with the tools and information which will enable them to become informed and thoughtful citizens of their world.  In the three-year requirement, Pingree students pursue a thematic approach to their study of World History, exploring a wide range of political, social, economic, and cultural events, ideas and issues.  Although we value chronology and incorporate it carefully into each of our courses, we believe that the interdisciplinary and thematic approach encourages students to think more abstractly and critically about history, to draw connections across a wide continuum of time and place, and to connect the past to the present.  We intend that their study of the significant events, ideas, and individuals that constitute the history of our world will provide our students with a solid context for their own development as citizens and as young adults.

We believe that we can best support this development by helping our students acquire and refine the analytical skills they will find necessary to succeed both at Pingree and in the future.  We are specifically concerned with teaching our students to think critically and articulate their thoughts clearly.  To achieve the former, students are introduced to a wide range of traditional and non-traditional source materials ranging from textbooks to fiction, film, and art, with a particular focus on primary sources.  To achieve the latter, we actively encourage excellent research and writing skills in all of our students.  In the course of their three-year requirement, students will write analytical and evaluative essays, as well as creative essays, source analyses and research papers.

Students will also be allowed ample opportunity to merge their developing technological skills with their study of history in the form of webquests, electronic newspapers, short films, web-pages and the like.  Lastly, we emphasize the development of excellent research skills across the curriculum, providing students with continuous experience in seeking and identifying a wide range of legitimate and useful sources, and practice in evaluating, analyzing, and synthesizing this source material effectively.

The three-year History requirement is broken down as follows:  All ninth graders take THEMES AND ISSUES IN WORLD HISTORY; tenth graders, MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY; and eleventh graders, U.S. HISTORY.  Electives are offered contingent upon sufficient student enrollment and are open to juniors (with departmental permission) and seniors. 

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LANGUAGES

The Language Department believes that learning another language better prepares our students for the multilingual and multicultural world of today. Being able to communicate in more than one tongue enriches our understanding of other cultures and also broadens our view of the diversity within our own culture. In French and Spanish, the language of the classroom is the target language. The goal of the department is for students to be conversant in another language, or in the case of Latin, to have a reading knowledge of the language and an awareness of the classical past.

Students are required to fulfill three consecutive levels of French, Latin, or Spanish. A fourth and fifth year for Advanced Placement is also offered for qualified students in all three languages. In addition, a sixth level is offered in French and Spanish, which can be taken for advanced or honors credit depending upon departmental recommendation and sufficient enrollment. Our program is proficiency-oriented, and beginning with the first year, the department stresses listening, speaking, reading, and writing in French and Spanish, and reading comprehension in Latin. Extensive use is made of our Language and Computer Labs.

Language Department Honors Requirements

In order to stay in advanced/honors courses, a student must have at least an 87% average. Students in regular language classes who have an average of 93% or better, will be given the choice of moving up to advanced/honors courses.
Those students who do not meet these standards may follow a prescribed course of work during the summer and take an assessment at the end of August. Given successful completion of the work and the assessment, they will then receive permission to move into the advance/honors work.

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MATHEMATICS

Mathematics is a primary intellectual discipline and is accepted as a vital part of a liberal arts education.  The specific objectives of the Mathematics Department are to provide our students with the opportunity to develop their potential in mathematics to the fullest, to equip our students with technical proficiency in the various mathematical skills that are required for advanced study, to train them in the process of logical reasoning, and to encourage original and independent thought.  The importance of mathematics in all aspects of modern society makes it a departmental priority to create a program which attempts to represent the ideas, achievements and works of all peoples and cultures, and makes this discipline an essential part of any secondary curriculum.

The mathematics courses at Pingree stress the importance of traditional skills and encourage their application to contemporary problem-solving situations.  We recognize the importance of technology in today’s education and have incorporated their use into the curriculum.  Computer facilities are available and all students are encouraged to make use of them as their interest, time and course requirements dictate.  Graphing calculators are required for all courses, and the department recommends the Texas Instrument TI 83 or 84 Plus calculator.

Honors Level and AP courses are fast paced and require students to be self-motivated, independent thinkers who are  willing to apply consistently high effort.  Students wishing to take an Honors or AP level course must have maintained an A- average, if their current course is not an honors course, or a B+ average, if their current course is an honors level course, and be recommended by their current teacher, or have departmental approval.

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SCIENCE

The goal of the Department is to introduce students to a body of knowledge in each scientific discipline so that they develop scientific literacy, become responsible citizens, and confront issues in today's society.  At the same time, it is hoped that students will become more curious, acquire an interest in science, and improve their independent thinking in problem-solving situations. Only students who have demonstrated excellent ability and interest in science are allowed to take two sciences in any one academic year.  In any case permission must be granted by both the head of the science department and the academic dean.

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THE ARTS

Art is a vital and necessary ingredient in the educational process.  It addresses the value and the diversity of human experience.  It expands our capacity to see, feel, experience, understand and appreciate everything else.  We believe that it motivates learning in many directions.  We believe strongly in an approach to the teaching of art that will not only develop the student's technical and practical skills in the creative and/or performing arts, but will strive to tap the creative potential in each student.  With permission of the instructor, some art courses may be taken at the honors level, requiring additional work.  Most courses require additional periods of studio time.

Art Department Honors Requirements

Students who have demonstrated the interest, skill and effort may take honors art courses, with permission of the department.

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