Freshman Big History students compare ways different cultures approach their own origin story.

Critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and communication. 

These are the 21st century skills that Carondelet students develop during their 4 years as students in the Social Studies Department. Three years ago our department embarked on a new curriculum approach which helps ready our students for both college and career. The following programs have been enthusiastically adopted by our teachers:

• Students engage their natural capacity for curiosity when they make real-world connections in the history classroom. We adopted the Big History curriculum last year for all our freshman classes to enable our students to make meaningful connections across broad historical time frames. Evidence-based reasoning and interdisciplinary thinking are promoted and developed throughout the school year. This year we are modifying our Big History curriculum to place more emphasis on modern time periods.
• School-wide surveys and elevated student engagement indicated the success of the Freshman Big History program. Since the Big History curriculum develops academic skills which we want students to carry over to the higher grades, we are extending the Big History curriculum through the sophomore year. Our new required sophomore course, Big History: The Next Threshold , students will continue to deepen the skills of inquiry and writing, and will also develop their oral presentation skills throughout the year.
• Due to student interest, we are now offering AP Macroeconomics during the spring semester to our senior students.
• Throughout the four years at Carondelet, students will encounter project-based learning in the Social Studies department. Students complete the Little Big History Project in their Freshman year and participate in National History Day during their junior year. Both projects involve student-selected topics, intensive research, teamwork, and oral presentation of their research findings. It is our firm belief when students are fully engaged in the process of inquiry, learning becomes more meaningful and important skills are developed. In addition, we offer Model United Nations and Mock Trial as extracurricular activities.

From left: Phil Miller, Matthew Brecht, Gaeby Todesco, Miranda Cozzone, Joanie Larsson, Mitch Ward.

Our Social Studies Department is glad to welcome Matthew Brecht as our new teacher! Matthew will be teaching AP Government and Politics, and Civics this year. He is a recent graduate of St. Mary's College and is currently wrapping up his Masters in Teaching. In his spare time he loves to mountain bike and snowboard.

Introducing The Carondelet Fathers  Club! This new social  club and community service organization is created to promote the spirit of volunteerism with dads and their daughters. Getting involved provides you with the opportunity to meet new friends, share laughs, and serve side-by-side with other  fathers to assist in community service events, school events and further strengthen the CHS community.

Thursday, Sept. 5 at 6:00 p.m. 
Convent - Community Room

Learn more about it and get involved. Dinner and refreshments will be served. 

Register here  

Throughout the year many organizations in our community provide service opportunities for our students. You will always be able to find a link in our e-newsletter to a list of current opportunities which will be constantly updating. 

Did you do service over the summer? If you did, we would love to hear about it. You can log your service hours and tell your service story through our new online platform, Mobileserve. Find out how to create an account. 

If you have questions about finding a service opportunity, logging your service hours or want to chat about social justice issue you're passionate about, visit Ms. Terry in Campus Ministry!  ( [email protected]  or 925-686-5353 x141)

Parent Involvement Program (PIP) opportunities are available for families to sign-up on the Parent Volunteer page. 

Keep in mind that before parents can sign up for a volunteer position, they must first clear all requirements. Details are listed on the page above.

Positions available

- Visions of Christmas 

Some positions are posted now. Others will be added over the next few weeks.

It takes the power of more than 600 volunteers to make Visions a success, which means we NEED you. The greatest number of PIP hours are provided during Visions, so don't miss this opportunity.

Volunteer Opportunities   View all job openings  

Freshman Families

You are required to participate in Visions of Christmas with a minimum of 8 hours of service or through a gift-in-kind donation. Please click here for specifics. 

*Gift donation deadline is Oct. 31, 2019

For questions, please contact:  Lauren Barbano '99  [email protected]  

Secure your tickets now for Visions of Christmas by becoming a sponsor.  

Our new sponsorship benefits include VIP seating, reserved parking, premium champagne, and brand-name exposure to over 3,000 attendees and the entire Carondelet community.  View our sponsorship levels and make your contribution online today.

Donate to Visions
Gift-in-kind donations from our community are essential to the success of Visions of Christmas.  Your generous donations are used in our silent auction.

A few gift ideas:
* Vacation home or travel experiences
* Tickets to concerts or sporting events
* Fine wine
* Ask your favorite restaurant to donate a gift  certificate
* Visit one of our registries to donate a gift at Amazon , Crate & Barrel , Macy's , Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma .  

Please inform us of your Gift-in-Kind donation.