Financial Literacy
As a district, we recognize the importance of financial literacy for every student. Our goal is to raise awareness of important financial literacy concepts amongst the youth of our community. Our hope is that these topics serve as conversation starters to get students thinking and talking about financial literacy in preparation for managing their own financial health in the future. This page will continue to develop as we highlight important topics and provide helpful resources.
Business and Computer Science Vision
The Business & Computer Science Department is striving to provide courses and instruction that equip our students as rising young professionals. In each course, we work to integrate career connections, transferable soft skills, computational thinking, driving improvement and ethical decision-making as tools for success in daily life. Financial literacy is certainly a critical soft skill for our students as they build success now and for the future.
Importance of Financial Literacy
High school is the perfect time to learn personal finance skills because students are nearing the time to start making their own decisions about their own money for the first time. When students learn personal finance in high school, they are able to quickly solidify their knowledge as they put it into practice.
Check out these 7 reasons why all students should learn personal finance.
Personal Finance Classes
At the high school, we are proud to offer two courses focused specifically on personal finance. These course offerings provide students with the opportunity to acquire the skills necessary to build a strong and secure financial future.
This course is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary for successful money management. Making wise decisions and establishing short and long-term financial goals are essential “life skills” that young people often fail to benefit from during their early wealth-building years. Students learn to plan for their future through in-depth lessons on money management, banking, budgeting, credit, paychecks, consumer shopping, basic saving and investing concepts, and making major purchases such as education, automobiles and housing. Students participate in classroom activities, banking simulations and hands-on projects to fully integrate real-life applications. This course is recommended for all students regardless of their future career paths.
Open to: Grades 10, 11, 12
Credit value: 0.5 credits, semester course
Honors Finance and Investment:
This course expands upon basic financial knowledge acquired in the Personal Finance course. Finance is defined as the management of money. Topics include calculating payroll, the role of taxes, borrowing money, retirement planning, investing in the stock market, bonds, mutual funds, and risk management through insurance. Students participate in simulations including a Virtual Stock Market and hands-on projects. This course provides a breadth of knowledge in finance for students interested in building their future wealth and those interested in business or finance as a career.
Open to: Grades 11, 12
Credit value: 0.5 credits, semester course
Prerequisite: Completion of Personal Finance with an 80% or higher or teacher recommendation.
Credit
Your credit score can work for you or against you! You can build, defend and take advantage of great credit regardless of your age or income.
Student Loans
The student loan process can be time-consuming and complicated. There are many resources to help simplify the process.
Retirement Planning
High school might seem early to think about retirement savings, but in reality, the sooner you start saving, the better financial state you will be in for retirement and the better chance you will have of meeting your financial goals.
Taxes
Taxes shift resources from private individuals and businesses to the government. This resource explains why we pay taxes, the types of taxes and compares income tax versus payroll tax.
Budgeting
Once you graduate from high school and/or college, get a job, and move out of your parent's home, it is imperative to keep a budget to manage your finances. This infographic and article will give you some ideas about what considerations should be included in your budgeting. Build good habits and start budgeting now! Learning how to manage your finances before money mistakes happen can help you avoid making mistakes. Recent high school and college graduates have a unique—possibly once-in-a-lifetime—opportunity to set long-range monetary goals and develop lifelong healthy financial habits.