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Program of Studies
OCSD Curriculum

Parent Academy Meetings
11/21/2023 Curriculum and Rubicon Atlas (Presentation  Recording)

Academic Services

Director of Academic Services: Dr. Curt Nath 
609-399-1290 Ext. 5416 |
Email

Director of Student Services:
Dr. Lauren Gunther
609-399-1290 Ext. 8752 |
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Secretary to the Directors of Academic Services, Curriculum & Facilities: Heather Hays
609-399-1290 Ext. 8757 |
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Ocean City School District Curriculum 
The Ocean City School District takes pride in a curriculum that not only meets the state's standards and expectations but also encourages students to strive to reach their potential. We are continually refining our learning standards for students. National and state standards as well as local experts shape our district curriculum. Teachers are provided many professional development opportunities to research and learn the most current best practices, enabling them to have the tools needed to provide your child with the best possible education.

Please click here to access the Ocean City School District Curriculum site.

We are committed to excellence in the Ocean City School District. We provide a learning environment in which all students learn the New Jersey Student Learning Standards and acquire the skills, knowledge, and attitudes to become responsible contributing citizens in a changing global community.  This website allows all district stakeholders access to our curriculum maps. Curriculum mapping is a calendar-based method of organizing and planning what is happening in district courses at specific points during the school year.

District curriculum maps are summative and describe what students will experience during the year in specific content areas. Maps are broad guidelines of what will be covered in each course. The actual delivery of instruction by teachers varies to address the needs of the students. Well-written curriculum allows students to acquire the same content and provides all students with equal access to high academic standards and expectations. Our public site gives you access to course calendars and curriculum maps that include unit abstracts, content expectations/standards, essential /focus questions, and key concepts.  At this time, our online curriculum includes K-12 core subjects and electives.  We hope you find our curriculum site to be a useful educational tool.

Accessing the Ocean City School District Curriculum Maps:

  • Place cursor over "All Curriculum / Browse" menu. In the dropdown menu, click on a tab to view information about the Unit Calendar or Curriculum Map
  • Filter by Grade Level and/or Subject
  • Click on the Browse button
  • Click on the link under the Course tab

New Jersey Student Learning Standards
In 1996, the New Jersey State Board of Education adopted the state's first set of academic standards called the Core Curriculum Content Standards. The standards described what students should know and be able to do upon completion of a thirteen-year public school education.  Over the last twenty years, New Jersey's academic standards have laid the foundation for local district curricula that is used by teachers in their daily lesson plans.  Revised every five years, the standards provide local school districts with clear and specific benchmarks for student achievement in nine content areas.

On June 3, 2020, the State Board of Education adopted the 2020 NJSLS in the following content areas:

These standards truly represent a foundation from which districts will build coherent curriculum and instruction that prepares each New Jersey student with the knowledge and skills to succeed in our rapidly changing world. They will put New Jersey again at the forefront of national education by including the following:

  • Climate Change across all content areas, leveraging the passion students have shown for this critical issue and providing them opportunities to develop a deep understanding of the science behind the changes and to explore the solutions our world desperately needs;
  • Computer programming in all grade bands K-12, ensuring all students receive a 22nd-century education in the critical computational thinking skills that are the underpinning of so much of our work and so many of our transactions; and
  • National standards for science and visual and performing arts, ensuring access to, and opportunity in, science and the arts, for every New Jersey public student.

The New Jersey Student Learning Standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics were adopted by the New Jersey State Board of Education in May 2016 and are not currently under review. English Language Arts Instructional Units and Mathematics Instructional Units were created in collaboration with educator teams to assist districts in creating standards-based curriculum and assessment.

Curriculum Implementation Schedule

 

By September 2022

        LINKS TO FULL STANDARDS

        LINKS TO SUMMARY OF CHANGES

EXCUSAL FROM CLASS OR PROGRAM

Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:35-4.7, any child whose parent or guardian presents to the school a signed statement that any part of instruction in health, family life education, or sex education is in conflict with his or her conscience or sincerely held moral or religious beliefs shall be excused from that portion of the course (not the entire health course, only that portion or any part of instruction). Requests must be presented in a signed statement, include the specific standard for excusal, and submitted to the building principal.  As with many other aspects of state mandated curriculum, the New Jersey Legislature has not provided an option to opt out of the requirements under P.L. 2001, c. 32. Rest assured that we are implementing this curriculum in a way that is consistent with state law, that addresses universal principles such as respect and dignity for all, and that does not promote any political ideology. If you have specific questions about aspects of the curriculum, please feel free to contact us. 

(BOARD OF EDUCATION POLICY 5250):  The Board of Education directs that a student be excused from any part of the instructions in health education, family life education, sex education, or instruction that includes dissection of animals that the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) of the student or the adult student finds morally, conscientiously, or religiously offensive.  A request for excusal must be presented in a signed statement and submitted to the Principal.  An excused student shall be assigned to an alternate program of independent study on a substitute topic within the health education, family life education, or sex education program.  The parent's or legal guardian's right of excusal applies to any alternate program as well. No excused student will be penalized by loss of credit as a result of his/her excusal, but a student will be held accountable for successful completion of any alternate program assigned. (N.J.S.A. 18A:35-4.7)

2020 NJSLS Resources

NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION CONTACTS

The New Jersey State Board of Education

The New Jersey State Board of Education has 13 members who are appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the New Jersey State Senate. These members serve without compensation for six-year terms. By law, at least three members of the State Board must be women, and no two members may be appointed from the same county. The Commissioner of Education serves as both the secretary and as its official agent for all purposes. The State Board also has a nonvoting student representative selected annually by the New Jersey Association of Student Councils.

The State Board adopts the administrative code, which sets the rules needed to implement state education law. Such rules cover the supervision and governance of the state’s 2,500 public schools, which serve 1.38 million students. In addition, the State Board advises on educational policies proposed by the Commissioner and confirms Department of Education staff appointments made by the Commissioner. The State Board conducts public meetings in Trenton on the first Wednesday of each month. The State Board Office publishes an agenda in advance of each meeting to notify the public of the items that the State Board will be considering. The public is invited to participate by providing comments on proposed rules either at a public testimony session or by submitting written comments on proposed rules. Proposed rules for education in the state are also published in the New Jersey Register. Written comments on proposed rules are accepted 30 to 60 days following publication in the Register and may be sent to the State Board office at the Department of Education. The State Board can be contacted by emailing stateboardoffice@doe.nj.gov

Cape May County Department of Education

The Cape May County Superintendent of Schools/Office of Education serves as a focal point of general support, oversight and routine communication between local districts and the New Jersey Department of Education. The County Office is lead by an Executive County Superintendent and a core staff, which includes an Executive County Business Official, ECBO, a County Education Specialist, CES, and a County Supervisor of Child Study, CSCS.  The Office provides services to local school districts in the areas of budgeting/finance, operations and facilities, curriculum and instruction, special education, teacher evaluation and certification, transportation, and monitoring and compliance.

NJDOE Curricular Frameworks
The New Jersey Department of Education's Division of Teaching and Learning has developed new curricular frameworks for English language arts and mathematics for kindergarten through grade twelve. The frameworks are aligned with the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for English language arts and mathematics and will replace the model curricula for those subjects.  The purpose of the frameworks is to provide educators with a tool to guide conversations around curriculum and instruction that should be taking place in schools/districts around the state. The frameworks focus on the standards and skills in order to provide a logical sequence of instruction with the goal of mastering the standards at each grade level.

New Jersey State Assessments
The Office of State Assessments (OSA) coordinates the development and implementation of New Jersey's statewide assessment program, which is designed to measure student attainment of the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards.  The OSA works collaboratively, within the department, and with school districts, to collect and report information about student academic achievement in order to inform instruction, increase student learning, and help parents and the public assess the effectiveness of their schools.

Wilson Reading Program
OCHS offers students the Wilson Reading Program. This program is a reading and writing program designed for students with dyslexia or language-based difficulties. It teaches students decoding and encoding (spelling) skills. 

NGSS

The Next Generation Science Standards introduce an exciting approach to science instruction. These new standards, or performance expectations, link three dimensions of learning. These are the Core Ideas, Crosscutting Concepts and Science & Engineering practices. Implementation of the new standards began in the 2016-2017 school year for grades 6 and above. The kindergarten through fifth grade implementation occured in the 2017 - 2018 school year. Updates to the standards were released this past spring and will be reviewed and addressed by September of 2021.

The Crosscutting Concepts invites students to explore the connections within Earth and Space Science, Life Science, Physical Science, and Engineering design as well as allows them to see these connections across many curricular areas. Some examples of these would include cause and effect relationships and patterns. We see the use of patterns in science, art, spelling, math and many other content areas. This helps students understand the “science” behind much of our lives.

The Science and Engineering Practices involve the process by which scientists investigate and explore the world around us. The new standards follow an inquiry based approach to learning. By using this “hands on” approach to studying, students have a deeper understanding of our world and can better apply that knowledge in any setting.

The Disciplinary Core Ideas are those key ideas in science that have the broadest level of importance within science and engineering. They are grouped traditionally into the four domains of Life Science, Earth and Space Science, Physical Science and Engineering. These domains would include the study of the universe, life cycles, ecosystems, biology, matter and energy, waves, and engineering design, to name a few.

New Jersey Department of Education
In addition to its policy and regulatory roles in the state's education system, the Department of Education is in charge of a variety of functions that require a transaction with the department.  The services include certification of teachers and administrators; application to be an approved provider; purchasing; granting charters to charter schools; offering grant opportunities; and various other services.

Statewide Assessment Schedule
The Federal Legislation No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) requires that each state administer annual standards-based assessments to students in grades 3 through 8, and at least once in high school.  Federal expectation is that each state will provide tests that are grounded in rigorous state content standards and that assess student achievement in language arts literacy, mathematics and, at three benchmark grade levels, science.

New Jersey Student Learning Assessment

Each spring, the New Jersey Department of Education requires all students in grades three through eleven to take an annual computer-based assessment in math and language arts. Beginning Spring 2019, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), was replaced by the new state assessment called the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment (NJSLA) for Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA).

The New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA) are aligned to the New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS), which focus on critical thinking skills and students' ability to read, write, speak, listen and solve "real-world" problems independently. The standards were developed with the goal of ensuring all students are college and career ready and were internationally benchmarked to ensure students are academically competitive with their peers around the world.

The New Jersey Student Learning Assessments are intended to mark students’ progress towards the stated goal of college and career readiness.  The assessments are also meant to provide feedback to the district regarding the efficacy of our current curriculum and instruction.

Family Guides: Supporting Learning for Your Student

Seek Common Ground and Student Achievement Partners have created Family Guides to help  anyone helping a child to learn during an academic year – learn more about what children should know and be able to do, grade by grade, in math and literacy. 

These guides provide information on the most important things students should be learning, and how to reinforce learning with everyday activities, tips for talking to teachers and online resources that match the most important content.

K-12 Family Guide (English)

K-12 Family Guide (Spanish)

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and Title I
The No Child Left behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 was signed into law on January 8, 2002 by President Bush.  The Act represents the President's education reform plan and contains the most sweeping changes to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) since it was enacted in 1965. NCLB changes the federal government's role in K-12 education by focusing on school success as measured by student achievement.  The Act also contains the President's four basic education reform principles:

» stronger accountability for results,
» increased flexibility and local control,
» expanded options for parents, and
» an emphasis on teaching methods that have been 
   proven to work.

NCLB remains in effect until June 30, 2016 and will be replaced by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) signed into law December 10, 2015

OCHS Program of Studies

Academic rigor, student activities, and parent involvement are embedded in the educational program at Ocean City High School. Students can choose from over 200 courses, including 18 Advanced Placement courses. Our program also offers a complete honors program in the four core subjects and world language. Unique to the study of world languages, Ocean City High Schools and has a computer lab dedicated to speaking and listening and offers courses in American Sign Language.

2023 - 2024

2024 - 2025

 

OCIS Program of Studies

2019 - 2020

2020 - 2021

OCPS Program of Studies

2020 - 2021

2022 - 2023

Assessment Information

Student Achievement 2022-2023 (NJSLA, SAT, ACT, MAP, AP)

Student Achievement 2022-2023 (GPA, DLM, Access 2.0)

What Parents Should Know About Assessment 2023-2024

QSAC

2022-2023 District NJQSAC Placement

2022-2023 District NJQSAC DPR

K-12 Health Curriculum

2022 - 2023