A major effort continues throughout the district to ensure the implementation of a comprehensive Social Studies program in grades K-12 that provides students the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to be active, informed, responsible citizens who are contributing members of their communities. The vision of the Newark Public Schools Social Studies Program is one that fosters, for all students, the ability to understand their world and to have an appreciation for the heritage of America with a high degree of literacy in civics, history, economics, and geography. In achieving this vision students must:

• Acquire a basic understanding and appreciation of American traditions and values based on knowledge of history and of the development and functioning of the American constitutional system of government;
• Develop critical thinking skills which enable them to function as lifelong learners and to examine and evaluate issues of importance to all Americans;
• Acquire basic literacy in the core disciplines of Social Studies and have the basic understandings needed to apply this knowledge to their lives as citizens;
• Understand World History as the context for United States History and as a record of the great civilizations and cultures of the past and present; and
• Participate in activities that enhance the common good and increase the general welfare.