• A reminder, winter break is Dec. 23 through Jan. 1. We wish all our Redhawk families a happy and healthy holiday season! We can’t wait to see everyone back on Jan. 2, 2025.
  • Liberty Central School District will dismiss early today, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, The Elementary School will dismiss at noon and the Middle and High School will dismiss at 12:15 p.m. All after-school activities will be canceled including Boys and Girls Club.
  • A new temporary traffic pattern will be in effect at Liberty Elementary School starting Monday, Dec. 16. Please see details of new traffic pattern here.

Social Studies Courses at LHS

Global History and Geography| 9 and 9H

The first part of a two-year study of Global History and Geography contains five units of study.  The first unit focuses on an introduction to the methods of social sciences:  history, geography, economics, political science and culture.  The second unit covers the period from Early Man (4000 BC) to the end of the Classical Civilizations (500 AD).  It includes the rise and fall of Great Empires and the emergence and spread of belief systems: Animism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese philosophies, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  The third unit focuses on Expanding Zones of Change and Encounter (500 AD to 1200 AD).  The next unit explores the Global Interactions that include Japan, China, and the emerging European countries.  The final unit of study introduces the First Global Age (1450 to 1770), which concentrates on the rise of Meso-American Empires and the encounter between people of the Americas, Africa, and Asia.

  • Grade:  9
  • Prerequisites: successful completion of 8th grade social studies; placement in Honors based on 8th grade performance and teacher recommendation. In order to receive a recommendation for an Honors-level course, the student must have a 90 average.
  • Length: 40 weeks
  • Final Evaluation: Cumulative Test
  • Credits:  1

Global History and Geography | 10 and 10H

The second part of a two-year study of Global History and Geography begins with the Age of Revolution (1750 to 1914), which includes the Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment, and the Political, Social, and Economic Revolutions.  The next unit covers the Crisis and Achievement of the Global World (1900 to 1945).  This unit explores the impact of technology, and the causes and effects of the major World Wars.  The third unit presents the 20th century since 1945.  The last unit of study focuses on Global Connections and Interactions:  economic trends, modernization, urbanization, global migration, science and technology, the environment, poverty, international terrorism, women’s emerging role and human rights.  Students are required to pass a Regents examination in June in order to meet graduation requirements.

  • Grade:  10
  • Length: 40 weeks
  • Prerequisites: successful completion of 9th grade social studies; students in Honors must be in 9H and must maintain an 85 average. In order to receive a recommendation for an Honors-level course, the student must have a 90 average in a Regents-level course or 85 in an Honors-level course.
  • Final Evaluation: Cumulative Test
  • Credits: 1

United States History and Government – 11

The history of the United States is the history of a great experiment in democracy.  The basic principles set down by the Declaration of Independence became the guiding ideals underlying the nation’s development.  Our history has encompassed a continual search for ways in which to apply these principles.  The United States Constitution was a major step toward codifying the principles, but as the history of our country clearly shows, the document represented only the first step in achieving “justice and equality for all”.

The 11th grade U.S. History and Government course is a one-year course.  This syllabus divides American history into six general areas.  It attempts to relate the past events with the present and future civic lives of the students.  The basic social science tools such as the historical method, simple economic analysis, and a study of the political and social institutions are employed.  Concepts and understandings are built upon those developed in previous grades.

The student will examine major issues in a depth consistent with their backgrounds and intellectual capacities.  This course should help to deepen their respect for the fundamental American values of respect for the individual regardless of one’s background, equality before the law, belief in a government of laws (not of men), and the obligation of all for responsible participation as citizens in the community and nation.

The six general areas are:  Constitutional Foundations (Colonial Era to 1865), United States Industrialization (1865 to 1900), The Progressive Movement (1900 to 1920), Prosperity and Depression (1917 to 1940), The U.S. in an Age of Global Crises (1933 to 1960), and A World in Uncertain Times (1960 to the present).  Students are required to pass a Regents examination given in June in order to meet requirements for graduation.

  • Grade:  11
  • Length: 40 weeks
  • Final Evaluation: US History Regents
  • Credit: 1

United States History and Government I and II – SUNY Sullivan (SCCC)

This course is designed to provide a college-level experience and preparation for the NYS Regents Exam in June.  This course will be divided into two semesters, American History I and American History II with each semester will be worth 3 credits from SUNY Sullivan.  An emphasis is placed on interpreting documents, mastering a significant body of factual information, and writing essays. Topics include colonial America, revolutionary ideology, constitutional development, Jeffersonian and Jacksonian democracy, nineteenth-century reform movements, and Manifest Destiny. Other topics include the Civil War and Reconstruction, immigration, industrialism, Populism, Progressivism, World War I, the Jazz Age, the Great Depression, the New Deal, World War II, the Cold War, the post-Cold War era, and the United States at the beginning of the twenty-first century. This course will fulfill the United States history graduation requirement.

In addition to the topics listed above, the course will emphasize a series of key themes throughout the year. The themes will include discussions of American diversity, the development of a unique American identity, the evolution of American culture, demographic changes over the course of America’s history, economic trends and transformations, environmental issues, the development of political institutions and the components of citizenship, social reform movements, the role of religion in the making of the United States and its impact in a multicultural society, the history of slavery and its legacies, war and diplomacy, and finally, the place of the United States in an increasingly global arena. The course will trace these themes throughout the year, emphasizing the ways in which they are interconnected and examining the ways in which each helps to shape the changes over time that are so important to understanding United States history.

Through this course, students will be provided with content, practical knowledge of U.S. history, practice in critical thinking activities, and experience in effective writing techniques that will better prepare them for not only the NYS Regents Exam but also their future education. This will be a rigorous course, but it will also be enjoyable. Hard work and dedication will be essential to success.

  • Grade:  11
  • Prerequisites: Successful completion of 10th grade social studies
  • Length:  20 weeks each course
  • Final Evaluation: Cumulative College Final per semester, Term Paper per semester, and US History Regents
  • Credits:  1 high school and 3 college credits per semester/course (with tuition payment)

Economics and Economic Decision Making | 12 and 12H

This one-semester course is designed to provide students with the economic knowledge and skills that will enable them to function as informed and economically literate citizens in our society and in the world.  Emphasis is given to rational decision-making rather than consumer education, although this emphasis will encourage students to become wiser consumers as well as better citizens.

Upon completion of the course, students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of basic economic concepts such as scarcity, supply and demand, markets, productivity, opportunity cost, specialization, productive resources, interdependence, growth and economic systems.  Students will also come to understand the operation of the economic system of the United States.  Instruction will include discussing the roles of various components of American economic systems, the interdependence of the world economies, the political and social impact of economic decisions, and the economic impact of political and social decisions.

The units in economics include the following:  Introduction to Economic Systems, Elements of the Economy (Microeconomics), Bringing Economic Systems Together (Macroeconomics), The United States, and The World Economy.

  • Grade:  12
  • Prerequisites: successful completion of 11th grade social studies; placement in Honors based upon 11th grade performance and teacher recommendation
  • Length:  20 weeks
  • Final Evaluation: Cumulative Test
  • Credits: ½

Participation in Government | 12

The primary purpose of this one-semester course is to facilitate and encourage the development of civic-minded individuals capable of effectively fulfilling the office of “citizen,” which is a fundamental precept of democracy and right guaranteed by the Constitution.

The course poses challenges to each student:

  • acceptance of responsibility for active involvement in determining and delineating issues to be explored
  • pursuit of information needed to define, analyze, and develop resolutions to each issue
  • the carrying out of activities that support the resolution of each issue
  • the drawing together of relevant information, skills, and understandings from past educational and/or life experiences, and
  • focusing these on the resolution of real issues

Students must also assume the role of citizen as it applies to the program by accepting the responsibility for involvement and successful fulfillment of the tasks.  Success in the course is contingent upon successful completion of a mandated set of 15 hours, which encompasses 20% of the students final average.

Units of study include:  Purposes of Government; the U.S. Constitution; Political Protest; Elections and Campaigns; Party Patterns and Voter Behavior; Political Spectrum and Ideology; Public Opinion, Mass Media and Propaganda; Interest Groups, Public Policy and the Budget Process, the Judicial System, Selected Amendments, and Supreme Court Cases.

  • Grade:  12
  • Length:  20 weeks
  • Final Evaluation: Cumulative Test
  • Credits:  ½

Political Science | SUNY Sullivan (SCCC)

This course is designed to be an introduction to the American government, its historical foundations, institutions and political processes. The purpose of this class is to teach you about the institutions, practices, and history of politics and government in the United States. This course will cover a great deal of ground, as we will discuss the Constitution, the three branches of the federal government, interest groups, public opinion, campaigns, elections, and parties. For each subject, we will examine some of the leading perspectives in political science, and we will incorporate current events and our personal experiences, as well.

  • Grade:  12
  • Prerequisites: Successful completion of 11th grade social studies
  • Length:  20 weeks
  • Final Evaluation: Cumulative College Test or Project
  • Credits:  ½  high school and 3 college credits (with tuition payment)