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The Westport Board of Education is considering adding 10 new courses at Staples High School in English, science, art and music.
In addition, the plan calls to delete four courses in science and English. Three English classes would be offered every other year instead of every year.
In science, honors physics, AP physics C mechanics, AP physics C electricity and magnetism, medical terminology, chemistry B and physics B would replace AP physics C, physical science 1B and physical science 2B.
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Staff Development Lynne Shain said the changes in the science course offerings is a reorganization while medical terminology finishes an allied health sequence.
Harry Rossvally, Staples Science Department chairman, said mechanics and electricity and magnetism are currently offered together in the AP physics C class.
The College Board, however, is changing the standards, and more time is needed to teach both, he said, so they elected to split both into separate classes.
He said he doesn’t expect most students to go through both classes, however.
Additionally, the changes mean students who take a higher level physics and don’t do well can now switch to physics B, Rossvally said.
Right now there is no place for those students to go if they decide they need to drop the class in October, he said.
Medical terminology is the final piece to a sequence to have students certified through St. Vincent’s School, he said, which will allow students to either move ahead in school after high school or find a well-paying job.
Few schools offer the certification, he said, but Danbury High School does, and Staples course offerings are similar.
In English, school officials are proposing Irish literature, but they are also proposing to cut American literature and composition, which is a semester course.
Liz Com, Staples English Department chairwoman, said the full-year English 3 course covers quite a bit of American literature.
Additionally, she said, there is a very popular class on contemporary American literature.
The Irish literature course not only features reading, but there is also music, film and art involved with the coursework.
Com said school officials are examining other non-American literature areas that could be included.
“We want to add things that are not for English majors,” she said. “We want the kids to enjoy reading but not have to be scholars.”
I think the offering of new science classes is great, especially since AP Physics is considered my some to be the hardest class in school. But I think people are missing the point in English. All english classes can be interesting and educational if they concentrated more on getting better books into the curiculum. More updated books, with more relevance to young adults lives and the 21st century would be better suited for anxious high schools, instead of mainstay classes the teachers know front to back. Maybe everyone could learn something new.