Randolph Heights has been teaching the Core Knowledge curriculum since 1999, and was recognized as an official Core Knowledge school in December 2006. The Core Knowledge sequence is a solid, specific, sequenced, shared curriculum that emphasizes what students need to know to become well-rounded learners. "Core Knowledge is an attempt to define, in a coherent and sequential way, a body of widely used knowledge taken for granted by competent writers and speakers in the United States. Because this knowledge is taken for granted rather than being explained when it is used, it forms a necessary foundation for the higher-order reading, writing and thinking skills that children need for academic and vocational success."--E.D.Hirsch, Jr., author of Cultural Literacy and The Schools We Need. At Randolph Heights, the Core Knowledge sequence is taught in the areas of American and world history, geography, science, visual arts, music, and literature. The sequence is a result of a long process of research and consensus-building undertaken by the Core Knowledge Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to excellence and fairness in early education. All of the Core Knowledge curriculum is aligned with the Minnesota State Standards.