• Social-Emotional Learning and Career Readiness

     

    Two critical and unique elements of the HACS curriculum are Standards sets for Personal and Social Service (PSS) and College and Career Preparedness (CCP). These standard strands cover a range of essential skills and dispositions, and encompass a set of attributes necessary to promote the growth of young adults who are ready for college, the workforce, and at the most basic level, adulthood.

     

    HACS recognizes that social-emotional learning has become a critical component of education nationwide in general and in the Anchorage School District in particular. HACS not only explicitly teaches these critical skills but assesses them for all students through the completion of PSS standards. The student’s advisor is the mentor through which PSS standards are assigned, assessed, and earned.

     

    Elements of PSS include:

     

    • Personal Growth

    • Service to the Community

    • Personal Expression

    • Health

    • Social Skills

     

    Students engage in activities in and out of school to cover the standards in each of the three levels of PSS. The culmination of each level is a PSS Advancement in which students present the growth they’ve made as a result of completing this work to a panel including their advisor, teachers, administrators, and peers. A PSS advancement is a celebration of learning in the truest sense.

     

    CCP standards cover a range of skills and attributes necessary for a successful transition to college and the working world. Also set at three levels of increasing complexity and demand, CCP standards include:

     

    • Professional etiquette

    • Personal finance

    • Internet safety

    • Ethics

    • Career exploration

    • Collaboration


    PSS and CCP standards round out a HACS education by complimenting academic skills with the unquantifiable attributes that standardized tests don’t measure. These elements of student growth and development are as important as content knowledge. Whether it’s perseverance, social-emotional intelligence, metacognition, or executive functioning, these abilities indicate potential and success as much if not more so than academic ability. Students earn 3 elective credits in each of these content areas, which are required for graduation from Highland Academy.