Teaching & Learning

The Fine Arts Program in the Brockton Public Schools provides an aesthetic, intellectual and stimulating atmosphere for creative and technical proficiency. The sequential arts program is designed to awaken the child's awareness to beauty in life and nature and to develop a deep appreciation of social and cultural backgrounds.

In art, students learn to express their own ideas and emotions through various art forms and media, encouraging personal growth and a developed sense of self-esteem. Art offers opportunities for students to grow and make connections in life. It fosters development of problem solving skills through exploration and opens doors for growth and development which otherwise may never have been discovered.

As students progress they are given the opportunity to investigate and analyze past influences in the arts and society as well as present trends.

Student artists are encouraged to respond to this knowledge by using their advancing skills to create meaningful pieces of art.

The Brockton Public Schools Fine Arts Program, K-12, adopts the vision of the Massachusetts Arts Curriculum Framework, which states, "Learning in, about and through the arts develops each learner's capacity to make meaning from experience, respond to creativity and contribute to our society." The Fine Arts Program in the Brockton Public Schools embraces the Guiding Principles of the Arts Framework.

The Brockton Public School System has a diverse student population and currently services students from a variety of countries, including Albania, Angola, Brazil, Cambodia, Cape Verde, China, Haiti, India, Korea, Laos, Lithuania, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Vietnam, and several Spanish-speaking countries.

English Language Arts

Mathematics

Classical and Modern Languages

Students in the Brockton Public Schools may choose to study Chinese, Latin or Spanish at the middle/K-8 schools, beginning in grades 6 or 7, as well as at Brockton High School in grades 9-11. Levels range from CP to Honors and years 1 through 5, International Baccalaureate (IB) and Advanced Placement (AP). Students with advanced foreign and/or native language skills, as well as English, may be eligible to enroll in the Medical Interpretation and Translation Program in French/Haitian Creole, Portuguese/Cape Verdean Creole or Spanish. In addition to a variety of course options available for study, there are language specific club activities offered at Brockton High School. Students should view their Student Handbooks and talk with their foreign language teacher in order to pursue these offerings. Students who meet the criteria, may be invited to join the Foreign Language Honor Societies.

The purpose of the societies is to recognize high achievement of high school students in their pursuit of acquiring a second language, and to promote a continuing interest in foreign language studies.

We expect students to access technology in order to be prepared for college and careers. Students may use the IRCs in their respective schools, a public library or their own personal computers at home. Personal devices may be accessed during class time at the discretion of the teacher.

"To have another language is to possess a second soul."

Charlemagne

The philosophy of the Foreign Language Department of the Brockton Public Schools reflects the Guiding Principles of the revised Massachusetts World Languages Curriculum Frameworks of 1999 and Common Core State Standards Frameworks, as well as the ACTFL World-Readiness Standards for Foreign Language Learning. We believe that:

• The primary goal of a modern Foreign Languages program is communicative proficiency. The primary goal of the classical foreign language program is to interact with the ancient minds through reading comprehension and translation.
• Foreign Language study integrates the study of languages with the study of the cultures in which the languages are used.
• Foreign Language study connects with all other disciplines.
• Foreign Language study is most effective when started at an early age, but all students benefit from reading, writing, and conversing in at least one language in addition to their first language.

The program goals are to:

• Promote excellence in the teaching and learning of foreign languages.
• Provide learning opportunities in a variety of foreign languages, both modern and classical.
• Encourage students to become lifelong learners of foreign languages and cultures.
• Encourage students to adopt a global view and understanding of the world
• Implement the Massachusetts Foreign Languages Curriculum Frameworks and align with the Common Core State Standards Frameworks.

By focusing on the five Foreign Languages content strands of Communication, Culture, Comparisons, Connections and Communities, students learn to communicate in a new language and use it to gain understanding of people and cultures. Students practice communication through interpersonal, interpretive and presentational modes. In addition, students learn to use the language to acquire knowledge in other disciplines, and to participate in local and international communities. The Massachusetts Foreign Languages Curriculum Frameworks define four stages of proficiency:

• Stage 1, in which students use single words and common phrases and expressions
• Stage 2, in which students use sentences and other recombination of words and phrases
• Stage 3, in which students use sentences and paragraph-length messages
• Stage 4, in which students use sentences, paragraph-length and essay-length messages

Music Education

Wellness Education

The BPS Wellness curriculum provides students with the opportunity for optimum development of their physical, emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual well-being.

Click below for the Brockton Public Schools' Wellness Policy. 

It is our goal that through interactive classroom instruction and project-based learning, students will gain the knowledge and skills needed to make lifestyle choices that result in a healthier and happier future.

National Health Education Standards are critical to the healthy development of children and youth. The Standards were developed to:

• Improve student learning across the nation by providing a foundation for curriculum development, instruction, and assessment of student performance.
• Set high and challenging expectations for all students
• Provide measurable knowledge and skill learning outcomes
• Ensure that Health Education is emphasized from kindergarten through twelfth grade
• Provide a guide for enhancing preparation and continuing education of health teachers

1. Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health.
2. Students will analyze the influence of family, peers, culture, media, technology, and other factors on health behaviors.
3. Students will demonstrate the ability to access valid information and products and services to enhance health.
4. Students will demonstrate the ability to use inter-personal communication skills to enhance health and avoid or reduce health risks.
5. Students will demonstrate the ability to use decision-making skills to enhance health.
6. Students will demonstrate the ability to use goal-setting skills to enhance health
7. Students will demonstrate the ability to practice health-enhancing behaviors and avoid or reduce health risks.
8. Students will demonstrate the ability to advocate for personal, family, and community health.

COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS

• AAA of Southern New England

• Brockton Police Department

• Brockton Fire Department

• District Attorney's Office

• UMass Extension Family Nutrition Program

Vocational and Career Education

Elvio Ferreira
Director of Vocational and Career Education, Grades 6-12
508-580-7665
[email protected]

The Vocational and Career Education department offers approximately 60 elective courses to students at Brockton High School.

These courses are available to all BHS students, opening new avenues and possible career opportunities.

For more on Brockton High's CTE offerings, click here.

A Parent's Guide to Special Education (click here)

Parent IEP Checklist:

The Guidance Department is comprised of school psychologists, school adjustment counselors, guidance counselors and bi-lingual counselors. A consulting psychiatrist also provides services to students.

The mission of the Brockton Public Schools Guidance Services Department is to provide a comprehensive and developmental guidance and counseling program that promotes resilience and excellence in education.

The program assists students to develop into confident, independent and productive members of our wider community.

Confidentiality is extremely important in the student-counselor relationship. It is vital that the student is informed that material shared in the counseling session remains confidential. It is the counselor's professional responsibility to limit access to personal information to those who have a "need and right to know". In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the confidentiality rights of a student under the age of eighteen reside with the parent or legal guardian.

The goals of our department are formulated to:

• help students develop the ability to make carefully considered decisions in personal, social, career and educational matters.
• support parents in developing the understanding and skills necessary to help their children with educational and career choices.
• assist students and parents to widen their range of choices in career and educational alternatives.
• help students, parents, teachers and administrators to deal with problems within the classroom and the wider school environment.
• assist students to strengthen their self-perception so they may better recognize their need for appropriate counseling services, while in school or later in life.
• provide sound clinical practices to serve the mental health needs of the school community.

What is Title I?
Title I is a federally funded program that provides supplemental instruction and material for students who qualify. Brockton is a School – Wide Title I program, meaning all students in the district are considered Title I. Services are provided to make sure that all students meet performance standards. Title I services provided with federal funds are based on the academic needs of students. Students who qualify for academic support may be served in all areas of education. Students are assessed throughout the school year using formative, summative, and performance assessments. These assessments inform teachers about instructional services that students need to increase performance and academic achievement. DESE- Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, distributes the money to local school districts based on the number of families who are below a specific income level.

What is Parents Right to Know?

In English

En français

En espagnol

En portugais

As a parent of a student in the Brockton Public Schools, you have the right to know the professional qualifications of the classroom teachers who instruct your child. Federal law allows you to ask for certain information about your child's classroom teachers and requires us to give you this information in a timely manner if you ask for it. Specifically, you have the right to ask for the following information about each of your child's classroom teachers:

• Whether the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has licensed or qualified the teacher for the grades and subjects he or she teaches.
• Whether the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has decided that the teacher can teach in a classroom without being licensed or qualified under state regulations because of special circumstances.
• The teacher's college major; whether the teacher has any advanced degrees and, if so, the subject of the degrees.
• Whether any teachers' aides or similar paraprofessionals provide services to your child and, if they do, their qualifications.