Academics

Keefe Tech student

Overview

Recognizing the unique demands of quality career technical programs and the necessary rigor and relevance of a competitive college preparatory education, Keefe Technical provides students with comprehensive opportunities that best guarantee success beyond their high school experience. Our expectation is that every student graduates understanding their need for collegiate-level learning and is fully prepared to succeed. Keefe Technical guidance counselors work with students in the development of a four-years-and-beyond career plan. Each student focuses on his or her best PATHWAY: honors-level four-year college preparation, traditional college preparation or post-secondary two-year technical program preparation.

Grade nine students experience a rigorous academic schedule while beginning their career exploration of all of our fourteen career technical programs. Traditional college-preparatory offerings provide the solid ground that translates to success on state academic assessments but also are vital to the highly technical program that they will decide upon for grades 10, 11 and 12. At the conclusion of the freshmen year, students are placed in one of the fourteen career technical programs below.

For sophomore year through graduation, students alternate weeks between academic coursework and career preparation.

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Mathematics

The Mathematics curriculum is structured to best address the broad needs of students. All courses are designed for students who learn best in an applied approach. The department advances five major goals for students:

Learn to value mathematics as a tool to explore relationships between mathematics and the many disciplines it serves.
Gain confidence in using mathematical power to make sense of new problem situations and the world we live in.
Develop ability in solving problem situations independently and in a cooperative group setting.
Given opportunities to read, write and discuss ideas, use the signs, symbols and terms of mathematics.
Gather evidence, make conjectures, develop and support rationale using mathematical reasoning.

Students are required to successfully complete the objectives of six credits of mathematics coursework but may elect up to eight credits. Aspects of mathematics that emphasize real-life situations are integrated regularly throughout all the mathematics courses. All courses are college preparatory and fully address the goals and objectives of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks.

The Honors mathematics pathway moves from Algebra Two to Geometry to Advanced Algebra and Pre Calculus with senior year expectation of Calculus. Additional electives are available dependent upon student career plans. The majority of students follows a college preparatory pathway beginning with Algebra One but may elect Honors-level courses

The need for technological proficiency is recognized at all levels and in all courses. Students are encouraged and trained to use calculators to speed arithmetic calculations, for advanced analysis, and to explore relationships and concepts, visualize solutions and promote hypothetical modeling of real-life situations. Additional methods utilizing computer software for exploration and analysis are also employed in all courses.

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English

Students are required to take and successfully complete an English course each year, minimally six credits overall with eight or more credits possible. The curriculum combines traditional academic materials that address the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks with integrated career technical activities related to the Senior Project requirement in order to provide students with the practical experience necessary to succeed in a competitive work force.

Freshmen and sophomore pathways begin with integrated coursework - Literature and Composition 1, 2, 3, and 4 - supported by reading enrichment or writing workshops. The junior year core coursework for all students is World Literature. In the senior year, core coursework is American Literature. Both junior and senior English core courses parallel social studies core courses. Students then choose from a variety of electives such as Film and Literature, Literature and the Theater, Mythology & Folklore, English Literature, Adventure and Fantasy Literature or Literature of Dissent. Core courses are offered at the honors-level or traditional college preparatory.

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Science

The Science curriculum is designed to provide for students who will pursue a career immediately after high school, as well as for those students who will continue their education. Offerings in the physical, life, and environmental sciences emphasize hands-on learning and the practical application of science in the classroom, shop, and everyday life.

Students are required to take a science course every year. The Honors-level pathway moves through Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Anatomy & Physiology. Regular college preparatory pathways have options of Engineering & Technology, Environmental Science and additional laboratory experiences in Biology.

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Social Studies

Social Studies is the integrated study of the social sciences to prepare young people to become responsible citizens. Social studies education is an essential priority to sustaining our constitutional democracy. Responsible citizenship rests on the notion that young people must be educated to understand the complexities of human society and to govern themselves competently. Civic efficacy is the readiness and willingness to assume citizenship responsibilities and to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good of citizens in a pluralistic, democratic society of an interdependent world. To develop civic efficacy, the social studies curriculum strives to build four capacities in young people: disciplinary knowledge, thinking skills, commitment to democratic values, and citizen participation.

The Keefe Technical High School Social Studies Curriculum, based on the standards as set in the Massachusetts and Social Science Curriculum Framework, is integrative and conceptual in nature. It is designed to integrate the major strands of social studies: history, civics and government, geography, and economics while examining the larger themes and ideas of history and the social sciences. The intent is that students will be provided with multiple opportunities for rich experiences and in-depth study as they progress through the grades.

Primary focus is placed on the mastery of the core knowledge for each subject area and the concepts and skills in the social sciences that are essential to all American citizens. Problem solving, collaboration, and civic responsibility are strongly emphasized and integrated throughout the curriculum, as is the development of research, reading, writing, and study skills. The reading and analysis of primary documents is an important feature throughout the curriculum. Technology and research provide a key foundation for acquiring the necessary knowledge, skills, and content.

Social studies pathways, whether honors-level or traditional college preparatory, begin with U.S, History as a two-year mastery sequence in preparation for the state assessment. The core courses for junior and senior year are World History II and Law & Society. These courses connect with language arts courses for the same years.

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Electives

Keefe Tech offers electives reinforcing career technical learning and lifelong learning. Some examples are: Microsoft Office Applications, Computer Assisted Drawing, Video Production, Business Management, Web Site Development, Nutrition, Fine Arts, Technology Knowledge & Skills and Yearbook Production. Foreign language preparation is provided in Spanish.

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Physical Education/Health Education

Physical Education will be a required course for all students (unless medically excused) in all grades and will be connected to Health & Wellness education, making a complete 5-period, 1-credit course. Throughout the four years, the experience will be comprised of planned activities and presentations provided by counselors, contract service providers and the instructors themselves. Counselors will provide lessons on personal / social topics such as self-esteem, dating violence, and harassment. Our New Beginnings counselor will provide informative presentations on alcohol & substance abuse and the criminal justice system. The regular instructors will follow the Massachusetts Curriculum frameworks in health and physical education, which will be expanded over a four-year experience, while enhancing the program with experiential learning focused on cooperative team development and individual self-discovery using our newly built Wing Speed Adventure course challenges.

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Special Education Department Programs

The philosophy of the Special Education Department is consistent with current state and federal mandates. Specialized courses and approaches to learning are designed to help students meet high expectations and the challenges of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. Student needs are identified by the team meeting process and are met through instruction within a variety of educational settings.

Services may include: support within the general education classrooms, additional support beyond the general classroom settings, and/or replacement of general education settings with small, specialized classes in an effort to meet the needs of varying levels of student abilities. While addressing individual student goals and benchmarks, all levels of classroom instruction and support services are based on alignment with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks.

The Special Education Department works to advance general education curricula and the Massachusetts Common Core of Learning. Students are taught using specially designed materials and methods, cooperative learning approaches, and through the use of assistive technology devices and systems. Every effort is made to include students within general education settings. Paraprofessional support, in some instances, is provided in both academic and vocational settings in an effort to maximize student potential.

Each instructor within the Special Education Department is assigned a caseload of special education students to serve as that student’s contact person. This instructor becomes another vital link to guidance, academic and vocational personnel. All efforts are made to help promote student inclusion, to foster support and success, and to update information regarding individual students.

It continues to be the overall intent of the department to remediate weaknesses; thereby increasing student skills and student self-image in order to meet the challenges of general education, Massachusetts Frameworks, and the MCAS requirements.

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English Language Learner Program (ELL)

The English Language Learner Program welcomes students from all countries and language groups who do not speak English as their first language, and who require assistance completing schoolwork in English.

The ELL Program provides a variety of services to its students and has two components: English as a Second Language (ESL) and Sheltered English Immersion (SEI).

In English as a Second Language courses, students receive intensive instruction in English. ESL courses are offered at beginning, intermediate, and advanced, in ESL levels 1-5. These rigorous courses help students improve their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills; in addition to preparing students to meet the competency standards of the MCAS.

Sheltered English Immersion allows English Language Learners to attend mainstream academic classes with their English-speaking peers. Language support services are provided by bilingual aides to ensure success in the content area academic classes of mathematics, science, and social studies.

Additionally, English Language Learners are actively enrolled in all of Keefe Tech’s Career/Technical Education programs; including Automotive Technology, Business Technology, Carpentry, Cosmetology, Culinary Arts, Early Childhood Education, Electrical, Graphic Communications, Health Careers, Horticulture and Landscaping, Information Systems, Metals Technology, Plumbing, and Visual Design and Communications. Language support services are provided in these classes to ensure meaningful participation and success while students continue to acquire English.

English Language Learners at Keefe Technical High School have full access to the wide variety of programs, activities, and clubs offered at the school and language is no barrier! Right now ELLs are actively participating in football, soccer, volleyball, basketball, baseball, cheerleading, cross-country and track, the Dance Club, the Art Club, the Drama Club, Business Professionals of America, and Skills USA, and more! Keefe Tech’s ELL students are Student Athletes of the Month, Team MVPs, make the Honor Roll, and belong to the prestigious National Honor Society!

For more information about programs please call Anita Gonzalez @ 508-416-2100 extension 271.

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Eligible seniors may also be eligible to utilize their career and Technical Skills in a paid position through the Cooperative Education program.