Family & Consumer Sciences (FACS) Program
Welcome to the Family and Consumer Sciences Department. We hope that this site will help you better understand our programs and course selections. For more information contact you child’s school or Counseling Center.
New York State Educational Learning Standards for Family and Consumer Sciences
The New York State Education Department has established learning standards for Family and Consumer Sciences denoting the skills and abilities each student should attain at various levels of his or her education – middle and high school levels.
Middle School Level
Family & Consumer Sciences (FACS) is a project-based course of study designed to help adolescents live in a society of constant change and to improve their quality of life. During FACS, students learn and apply essential skills in the context of real-life situations that are relevant to adolescents in order to gain the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to meet their present and future responsibilities as family members, consumers, home managers, and wage earners.
FACS is based on the understanding that the ability to reason, think critically and creatively, and to reflect on one’s actions, will empower adolescents to act responsibly toward themselves, their families, their peers, their school, their community, and the larger society. Throughout the program students are given the opportunity to practice communication skills, leadership skills, management skills, and thinking skills in order to build confidence, work more effectively in teams, and prepare for life in high school. FACS also provides multiple opportunities for students to read, write, and compute in the context of real-life situations. FACS at O’Rourke Middle School consists primarily of hands-on activities taught over three grade levels in order to allow student maturation and experiences related to the course concepts to develop.
High School Level
Family & Consumer Sciences (FACS) offers students opportunities to learn and practice skills that will prepare them to be successful in their personal, family, school, community and work lives.
* See individual course descriptions in the BH-BL High School curriculum/course guide for specifications.