Board of Education members approved proposals on October 27 to add five new courses to the current course offerings at LZHS. Students will now be able to sign up for Advanced Placement (AP) World History, AP Macroeconomics, AP Psychology, AP Environmental Science, and a new Industrial Technology course.
“What happened was that the Board of Education made it clear that they would like the school to increase AP offerings so that we’re giving students…an increased opportunity for college credit,” Eric Hamilton, assistant principal of curriculum and instruction, said.
The administration considered the AP courses the school was not currently offering and found where new ones could fit in the system.
“I took a look at the AP courses that we are offering and the courses that could be offered through AP, and then analyzed where courses could fit in,” Hamilton said. “For example, AP offers Latin. We don’t have anyone that could teach Latin. But we do have teachers that teach World History. We’re not having to add something that’s totally brand new to the school.”
AP World History will be worth one credit, will be open to any grade level, including freshmen, and will satisfy the world history requirement for graduation. With this addition, students will be able to take an AP social studies course all four years of high school.
Kathy Brown, Board of Education member, was the only “no” vote for this reason.
“I have a huge problem offering AP to freshmen,” Brown said at the Board meeting. “They will sign up unknowingly and it will put the kids through too much stress.”
Hamilton emphasized the necessity for a discussion between the student, his or her parents, his or her middle school teacher, and the department chair before students are admitted to the class.
The addition of AP for freshmen also comes as an attempt to keep up with other area schools like Stevenson, Mundelein, and District 214 schools, which are already offering freshmen AP courses.
The Board also approved AP Macroeconomics, which will be worth one credit, will be open to juniors and seniors (based on successful completion of or concurrent enrollment in a US History class), and will satisfy the consumer education requirement for graduation, like Honors Economics.
The course focuses on the economic system as a whole, emphasizing the study of national income and price determination, among other topics, according to the College Board.
AP Psychology will be worth one credit and will be open to juniors and seniors. The administration reported an increase in the number of students taking psychology classes in the last few years.
AP Environmental Science will be worth one credit (as opposed to current AP science courses, which are worth two credits and are two periods long) and will be open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
The course will provide students with the scientific principles, concepts, and methodologies required to understand the interrelationships of the natural world, and will analyze natural and manmade environmental problems, according to the College Board.
Advanced Robotics and Engineering would come as part of a restructuring of the Industrial Technology course path to focus more on engineering and hands-on work, designing and building simple machines. This will allow students to follow an architectural or engineering design course path.
The courses will cost an estimated $15,040 to write the curriculums and purchase textbooks and materials. The classes will all run next year provided enough students sign up.
Kaitlyn Etienne contributed to this article.