Practical Arts
Department of Academics | Meeting the Needs of ALL Learners
Practical Arts
Engineering, Technology, Business, Family & Consumer Science and Computer Education
Engineering, Computer Science, Technology Education, Business Education, and Family & Consumer Science: Classes in all of the subjects with the practical arts include hands-on experiences designed to help students make the connection between academic theory and practical applications for the real world. While these subjects encompass a wide variety of competencies and information, they are bound together by the common thread of College and Career Readiness Skills and meet the high school graduation requirements for Practical Arts as outlined by the New Jersey State Department of Education. Their main purpose is to educate students to meet the challenges ahead of them, whether they plan to start a career immediately after high school or to continue their education.
Computer Science/Literacy-Computers are used as a tool for learning at all grade levels. In elementary schools, the computer literacy program includes hands-on learning activities that enhance and reinforce classroom skills.
Each elementary school has classroom computers and a computer laboratory, where students are taught keyboarding, the appropriate use of applications, Internet safety, coding, and how to apply computer skills to solve real-world problems.
Computer literacy cycles are required courses for all sixth, seventh and eighth-grade students. Working in a computer laboratory, the students are immersed in hands-on, problem-solving activities related to real-world issues through the use of industry-standard applications including spreadsheets, presentation apps, and word processing apps.
At East Brunswick High School, all computer courses are electives. The choices range from the introductory to a comprehensive study of computer programming in our AP Computer Science courses.
Business Education-The business education program is designed for students preparing to enter college or business school as well as students interested in starting a career immediately after high school. The program begins at Churchill Junior High School, with electives in Keyboarding Applications, Accounting, and Financial Literacy, and continues at East Brunswick High School. Course sequences in Accounting are offered along with Introduction to Business, Introduction to Marketing, Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship, Business Law, and International Business and Politics Honors.
Family and Consumer Sciences- The program begins at Hammarskjold Middle School with a cycle course covering topics such as interpersonal skills, self-awareness, basic nutrition, shopping tips, and the use of small appliances. It continues at Churchill Junior High School, where four semester electives are offered. In Creative Living I, students work in the food lab, study nutrition, and learn the basics of clothing construction and sewing machine operations. Creative Living II includes units on food preparation, sewing, and interior decorating. In Culinary Essentials, students learn more advanced food preparation techniques, and in Food Science and Nutrition, they explore the scientific aspects of food and nutrition and the way in which these relate to their daily lives.
At East Brunswick High School, the family and consumer sciences electives are scheduled by the semester or for a full year. They include a comprehensive series of three courses in Culinary Arts, Culinary Arts I through III, Everyday Foods, Food For Fitness, Food Science and Nutrition, Fashion Merchandising, and Retailing, Human Growth and Development, a Teacher Cadet Program and Preschool Education (Preschool Education classes meet for a double period for the entire year).
Cooperative Education-Cooperative education gives East Brunswick High School students who are 16 or older the opportunity to have part-time jobs that suit their aptitudes, interests, and career choices. The students attend school in the morning for a minimum of five periods a day and work for standard wages in the afternoon for a minimum of 15 hours a week. The classroom and workstation are closely integrated, each reinforcing the other. Cooperating employers are carefully selected to provide the most up-to-date training available. The State Department of Education, in cooperation with the State Department of Labor, has established criteria that a prospective employer must meet to qualify. Students may choose cooperative education as a means of earning and saving money for college or for learning a skill that leads directly to employment after high school.
Engineering & Technology Education-The technology education program is a progressive sequence of courses designed to encourage students to use the design cycle to solve real-world problems. It begins in our elementary schools where students learn to code simple programs and use Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) to solve problems. In Hammarskjold Middle School all sixth graders have a cycle course in STEM and the opportunity to take two STEM electives. At Churchill Junior High School, electives include Fundamentals of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering I, STEM I & II, Communications Technology, and Introduction to Woodworking.
The elective program becomes more varied and complex at East Brunswick High School. The courses, which are scheduled by the quarter, the semester, or for a full year, are as follows: Electronics Engineering I & II, Mechanical Engineering I & II, Engineering Capstone Honors, Architectural Drawing and Design, Computer Graphics I & II, Web Design I & II, Silk Screen Printing, Photography, Video Production I & II and Video Production Workshop. Workshop courses for advanced students are available in most areas.