Great Neck Public Schools

The Office of Instruction is pleased to share these secondary school course profiles. Please click on the underlined course names to access each profile. (We are working diligently to complete the work required to complete and provide links for all secondary courses.) As you read each of the descriptions, please keep in mind the District's approach to the teaching of challenging topics which are summarized below.

Teaching Challenging Topics

• Masterful educators are facilitators of learning who, rather than who use their classrooms as platforms for personal expression, present topics from a viewpoint-neutral position without imposing their beliefs and opinions on students.  
• As a community of learners, educating students in critical thinking skills is one cornerstone of our work.
• A comprehensive education responsibly explores controversial topics. To fully prepare the next generation of citizens and to equip our students with critical thinking skills, we will not avoid controversial topics. The documents and materials used to explore challenging topics are intended to provide insight into disparate viewpoints; it should not be inferred that the views expressed in these materials are the views of the classroom instructor or the District.
• We will strive to handle them with students in an age-appropriate manner and without inserting our personal opinions or biases.
• We educate and prepare students for the future by having them study, debate, and understand historical and current events, research and understand perspectives of complex issues from all angles. We believe our role is to guide students, and this work is complemented by speaking with their parents/guardians about their viewpoints and perspectives. This approach allows students to develop their own perspectives.
• We affirm confidence in our teachers to help students negotiate challenging issues with appropriate and civil discourse.
• We support teachers' professional discretion for the selection and use of materials in keeping with the concepts noted above.