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    Grade Five History/Geography classes focus on Medieval Europe, Africa and Asia, taking a multicultural approach to women in history.

    Students learn about the rise of Islam, the great African kingdoms of the Middle Ages, Christendom, Mongols, early Western European Renaissance and the Reformation, the rise of England and Spain as nation states.

     Fifth graders also celebrate Medieval Day each Spring. On this day, short individual research papers, including source lists, are due; optional group projects are assembled for extra credit; costumes are worn; and a festive assembly is held for family and friends to see the results of all the students' hard work.
     Fifth graders also generate a Multicultural Time Line which decorates their classroom for the entire year. Given a year between 400 and 1400, each student selects important events for as many cultures as s/he can research and illustrates them individually. The result is depicted by the many, many colorful dated and annotated drawings that line the walls of the fourth floor throughout the year.

Sixth Grade—The New World and Early United States History

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     Grade Six students engage in a comprehensive study of American history from the explorers to the 20th century.  The classes delve into the development of new North American colonies and the qualities that define a civilization. We begin by using the pre-Columbian native civilizations as a touchstone for judging all future civilizations in North America. Our first goal is to understand the cultural advancements made by Native Americans before the arrival of the European Explorers. Secondly, we investigate the accomplishment of the European Explorers, as well as some international explorers such as Cheng Ho of China and Ibn Buttuta of Morocco. For the second half of the year, we study the development of the first colonies in what is now Virginia and Massachusetts and we follow the development of the early United States through the end of the Revolutionary War, concentrating on prominent historical figures and daily life in the 13 colonies.

Seventh Grade—United States History

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    The seventh grade curriculum covers the history of the United States from the Articles of Confederation to the end of the 19th century. The major units of the course include the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, the first six presidents, Jacksonian democracy, westward expansion, slavery and the causes of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the American industrial boom of the late nineteenth century.

Eighth Grade—20th Century World History

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    In the eighth grade course students explore 20th century world history in three distinct units. The first part of the course focuses on the history of several Western powers, specifically Britain, France, Germany, the United States, and Russia and the Soviet Union, from late nineteenth century imperialism through the advent of the Cold War. The course begins with a discussion of imperialism at the end of the 19th century and moves into the causes of World War I. 

    After examining the war and the tenuous postwar peace established by the various treaties of the Peace of Paris, students learn about the Treaty of Versailles, the difficulties faced by Weimar Germany, the Great Depression, the rise of Hitler, the collapse of international peace and World War II.  In studying the peace conferences at the end of WWII, the students then consider the tensions which led to the Cold War and the dawn of the nuclear age.

    The second part of the course covers the same period, 19th century imperialism through the advent of the Cold War, from the point of view of China and Japan. After discussing culture for context, Chinese history from the Opium War and Japanese history from the end of isolation are explored not only to provide a more complete picture of the early 20th century, but also to demonstrate how imperialism and world war manifested themselves in Asia and to provide context for the better understanding of the Cold War that followed.

    After the first two parts of the course on the histories of the West and the East until the Cold War are completed, students explore the Cold War and late 20th century history. The curriculum is designed to build upon what has already been discussed in the West and the East, life in Stalin's Soviet Union, life in the U.S. during the Cold War, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, China under Mao and beyond, and the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. The final unit also provides students with the foundation for understanding current events in other areas of the world which have not been discussed, namely, India and partition, the Iran-Iraq War and the Arab-Israeli conflict.