Warsaw Adds AP Courses, Cuts Debate, Dance History
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Every year Warsaw School Corp. looks at what classes it might add and which ones should be cut. During the school board public work session Tuesday, Chief Academic Officer David Robertson presented on new course offerings for the 2015-16 school year. Four new courses at the high school already approved will include ACT/SAT Prep, Advanced Placement Physics, AP World History and AP French. New high school courses requested for 2015-16 include Advanced Creative Writing, English 11 CP Int. and U.S. History, Select Dance Ensemble, German II and JROTC Let III. Courses to be deleted at the high school include debate, film literature II, dance history and appreciation, and English 11 CP and U.S. History. In the Warsaw Area Career Center, the new offering will be Engineering-Robotics for Women. Ten classes will be deleted, ranging from Communication Processes to Global Economics BMIT. Many of the course deletions are due to low student interest. Ten other courses at the WACC will be revised to meet state requirements, ranging from Digital Electronics to Plant and Soil Science AG. Ronna Kawsky, WACC director, said academies will be formed within the school and student must meet certain criteria to join. The criteria include that a student must complete all requirements for Core 40 with Academic or Technical Honors; complete each course with a “B-” or higher in required academy courses; sequence of six semesters of study within a particular academy required; and earn dual credit and/or national certification. The students in an academy will be awarded a Career Academy certificate and be recognized at graduation. A student may complete more than one career academy. Robertson said staff at the two middle schools are looking at moving schedules from nine-week classes to six-week classes for electives. The reduction would let students explore opportunities while the school builds STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) continuum. The four cores – language arts, math, science and social studies/history – would be kept. Students would be required to take physical education, health and literature. However, students could pick two of three “wheels” for their remaining classes. The wheels, comprised of options a student is interested in, include Exploratory, STEM and Full-Year Courses. Robertson said the change at the middle school is still being investigated, but he wanted the board to know what is being considered. The board’s regular monthly meeting is Monday at 7 p.m. in the central administration building.
