Curricular Areas

The core curriculum represents the general education essential and beneficial to all students regardless of their career aspirations. It is a purposefully determined set of the intended and agreed upon essential learning targets, reflecting high performance standards, which all students should be expected to successfully demonstrate.  

There must be rigor in the core curricula so that students become better thinkers and problem solvers who can apply and transfer what they learn to the world beyond school.  In order to prepare all students for future success, we strive to make our K-12 core curriculum authentic, coherent, integrated, problem-centered, and performance-based.  The Grand Island Public Schools offer a comprehensive curricula in in grades K-12, which includes the following areas:
•    K-12 language arts,
•    K-12 mathematics,
•    K-12 science,
•    K-12 social studies,
•    K-12 instructional technology,
•    K-12 physical education,
•    K-12 vocal music,
•    5-12 instrumental music,
•    6-12 visual arts,
•    6-12 technology education,
•    6-12 family and consumer science (FCS),
•    9-12 world languages,
•    9-12 business education, and
•    9-12 theatre.

The curriculum design components that are developed for each course or grade level are as follows:
•    K-12 philosophy and beliefs statements, which guide the K-12 curricular program;
•    K-12 curriculum design frameworks, which conceptually organize and connect the district’s curriculum by program standards (strands),
•    K-12 program standards, which
•    K-12 enduring understandings, which
•    K-12 essential questions, which
•    Course/grade level curriculum standards, which represent the essential learning targets and content for each course and grade level;
•    Course/grade level design maps, which link together the program and course/grade level standards, enduring understandings, essential questions, unit titles, estimated time frames and pacing, unit assessments, and key vocabulary concepts.