• CONNECT — Newton South’s Interdisciplinary Smaller Learning Communities

    Designed for the upper grades, these linked sets of interdisciplinary courses creating small learning communities of students and teachers who work together as a team. Through CONNECT, students study several subject areas in depth, meet with experts in the field, and engage in collaborative projects that integrate knowledge from the different disciplines. By exploring interrelationships between fields, students will better understand each subject and its relevance and applications in the real world. Whichever program you choose, the goal of CONNECT is synergy: what you are learning in one class will enrich understanding in the other.

     

    Global Communities (a three year program beginning in Grade 10)

    Curious about what happens when cultures come together? Find out how that blending affects global culture, economics, politics and the environment in the CONNECT program called Global Communities: Co-existence and Conflict. Beginning in grade 10, students participate in a “linked” history and English class. Our focus will be on global literature and history, while at the same time covering the main topics of non-linked courses.

     

    Physics & Music (Grades 11-12)

    Physics & Music is a linked course with one period per week devoted to electronic music. The course includes the study of traditional physics topics with an extra emphasis on the study of simple harmonic motion and waves. Students develop an understanding of the physics behind sound with the goal of completing original music projects.

     

    The DaVinci Program (a three year program beginning in grade 10)

    This program is a new project-based collaborative approach to learning science, technology, engineering, arts and math. This interdisciplinary, project-based learning program will be piloted with 10th grade students in the 2015-2016 school year, and be expanded to 11th and 12th grades in the 2016-2018 school years. The DaVinci program will provide students with the opportunity to build skills in experimentation, analytical problem solving, collaboration, presentation, communication, and artistic representation through authentic and student-driven learning. It will provide meaningful and relevant learning experiences for students at honors, college preparatory and advanced college preparatory levels.

    The goals of the DaVinci program are to foster student’s intrinsic motivation for exploring science, engineering, art, and math through a myriad of rigorous and authentic projects. Students who “learn on their feet” and have a desire to learn in a creative, project-based environment should sign up for this program. The essential questions that students will explore throughout their years in the program are: What is life? Does function follow form? How should energy be harnessed? Do my choices matter?