Social Studies

America’s Past 

Year-long / Required 

The fifth-grade social studies curriculum focuses on the study of America’s past. In our first unit, students review and practice basic geography and map skills, including labeling features on maps, determining absolute location using latitude and longitude, and identifying physical features of the United States. Students discover how and why Europeans came to the New World. Throughout the year in humanities, we work toward understanding our diversity as a class and appreciating the diverse people and cultures of the United States. The students explore the actions of the British that angered the colonists in the 1700s, and factors that led to the American Revolution. The students discover the main ideas in the Declaration of Independence, and later they will uncover how the unlikely victory of the colonists in the American Revolution unfolded. Students also spend time exploring and interpreting the remaining freedom documents, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Finally, we end our yearlong study of America’s past with a unit on the causes and events of the Civil War. Each social studies unit in fifth grade provides an opportunity for each girl to recognize her personal rights and responsibilities as a young citizen. These historical topics push each student to grow and apply critical thinking and discussion skills while developing a deep knowledge of American heritage and ideals. 

Prerequisite: None  
Grade level: 5 
Credit earned: 1.0 MS Social Studies 

Identity, Community, Civilization 

Year-long / Required 

Sixth grade social studies curriculum is part of an integrated humanities program focused on a year-long study of ancient cultures. Understanding the characteristics of civilization becomes a lens through which we examine a wide range of ancient people. Throughout the year, students investigate civilizations including India, China, Greece, and Coast Salish. We begin each unit by exploring maps to identify physical features of each region and seeing how geography influenced the location of early settlements. Students explore the culture and achievements of each civilization. Throughout the year, students develop an understanding of different types of government and begin to compare and contrast different civilizations. Activities, projects, and historical fiction immerse students in the cultures and civilizations studied. Students practice a variety of academic skills including developing and supporting claims, presentation, note taking, study strategies, researching, and citing sources.

Prerequisite: None  
Grade level: 6 
Credit earned: 1.0 MS Social Studies 

Civics, Citizenship, and Power in the United States 

Year-long / Required 

Main areas of focus for eighth-grade social studies are the U.S. Constitution, Washington state history, and United States history. The course is rooted in the study of the history, structure, and purpose of the U.S. government and Constitution. This study prepares the students to be informed and active democratic citizens. In the winter, we turn our attention to Washington state as students learn about geography, indigenous experiences, westward expansion, and the road to statehood. Next, we do an in-depth, thematic study of the fight for equality for Black people in America and women. Finally, we explore what it means to be American through the study of immigration policy, attitudes, and experiences. In addition to a historical perspective, each area of focus also includes a close look at relevant current events, including Supreme Court cases, election coverage, and social movements. Through class activities, group projects, essays, and presentations, students develop critical skills such as understanding varied perspectives, analyzing primary and secondary source material, forming oral and written arguments, implementing annotation strategies, and research.  

Prerequisite: None  
Grade level: 8 
Credit earned: 1.0 MS Social Studies 

Psychology is the study of how we think, feel, and behave. This course is designed to give students an introduction to this subject by examining the major psychological perspectives including behavioral, cognitive, and social-cultural. Cognition, perception, learning, human development, motivation, and personality are some of the topics of the class.  Through reading, demonstration and research, students will gain a better understanding of who they are and how they function as humans. They will also use their own lives as a practice field for applying the concepts.

Indigenous Peoples

Note: This course is offered in alternate years. It will be offered again in the 2025-2026 school year.

Indigenous voices are present across our world, both historically and today. This course is part of our commitment to centering those voices that have been historically marginalized and oppressed. Students explore the past and present of indigenous peoples through a social justice lens, challenging Western concepts of "knowledge," "history," and "religion." Students will study communities around the globe, as well as those living and fighting for recognition in our own nation and region.

Themes of origin, spirituality, language, legal structures, resistance, and reparations guide our inquiry, and students investigate personal and institutional opportunities for reconciliation today.

Prerequisite: None
Grade level: 11, 12
Credit earned: 1 bin Social Studies

East Asian History, 1500-1945                                                                                    

This course is a broad survey of the rich and complex history of East Asia from 1500 up until the end of WWII. It begins by evaluating the term “Asia” and the challenges involved in defining this region. The class will then turn to a chronological organization of the region’s history since 1500, examining various significant turning points for different political systems of East Asia up until the end of WWII in 1945. Along the way we will examine the extent to which imperialism, modernization, nationalism, and migration impacted the lives of different states and groups of people. Specific turning points that will be examined include: the advancement of global trade networks and centralization of East Asian societies; the impact of European colonialism; the rise of the Japanese Empire; the contest for China between the Nationalist and Communist parties; and the atrocities of WWII and the Tokyo Trials. Students will engage closely with an array of primary and secondary sources, weigh multiple perspectives, and develop their own evidence-based arguments in research and writing assignments, as well as class discussions.

Prerequisite: None
Grade level: 11, 12
Credit earned: 1 bin Social Studies

The History of Food & Power                         

Note: This course is offered in alternate years. It will be offered again in the 2025-2026 school year.                    

This course examines how power dynamics have determined both who feeds societies and how food has been produced, distributed, and consumed. The course begins with an examination of world trade systems during the 16th-19th centuries, when the development of new colonial powers caused vast societal and environmental changes in cuisines and labor systems across the world. In the next unit, students investigate how “American” food has been shaped by immigration and self-determination, using case studies of Chinese-American cuisine and soul food. Lastly, students investigate the union organizing of the United Farmworker’s Movement in the 1960s in order to evaluate the methods of the labor movement in California and its allies in the Pacific Northwest. Students will analyze a diverse set of artifacts and sources for the course, with significant research and writing assignments. The course also immerses students into local history by our relationship with the education department of the Wing Luke Museum, which aids in the invitation of guest speakers and/or educational neighborhood food tours. It also enables students to get a food worker’s card through the King County Public Health department that will allow them to engage in hands-on cooking experiences in our FRidge. Students will be taught recipe research and preparation techniques of culturally significant foods directly by FRidge Chefs. Recipes will be tasted and discussed after each kitchen class as an opportunity to synthesize their learning.

Prerequisite: None
Grade level: 11, 12
Credit earned: 1 bin Social Studies