WILMINGTON, MA — The Wilmington School Committee unanimously approved a long list of recommended changes to the Wilmington High School Program of Studies as their meeting on Wednesday night.
The following NEW courses have been added to the WHS Program of Studies:
- AP Physics
- International Business
- Honors Statistics
- Math Topics (combining 2 half-year courses of Introduction to Trigonometry and Introduction to Probability & Statistics into 1 full-year course
- Italian IV
- French V
The following courses have been DROPPED and will no longer be offered at WHS:
- Business Communication (skills already taught in other business courses)
- Theory of Understanding (lack of teacher availability)
- Digital Video (no longer necessary after addition of ‘Media Productions’ this year)
- Modeling with Mathematics
- Popular Music (lack of enrollment & teacher availability)
- Music theory (lack of enrollment & teacher availability)
The following courses will undergo name changes:
- ‘Food and Nutrition’ will now be ‘Culinary Arts’
- ‘American Law’ will now be ‘Criminal Justice’
- ‘Introduction to Media Production’ will now be ‘Media Productions 1: Foundational’
The following courses had course descriptions updated to reflect the most current and accurate guidelines related to course content and state standards:
- Marketing/Advertising
- Film Studies
- Chemistry (H) and (A)
- Physics (H) and (A)
- Aquaculture
- Environmental Studies
- AP World History
- AP US History
- Interdisciplinary Honors U.S. History 10
- World Regions and Cultures
- Facing History and Ourselves
- Criminal Justice
- Studio Art I: Foundational
- Studio Art II: Intermediate
- Media Productions 1: Foundational
- AP Spanish
- Spanish II (H) and (A)
- Spanish V (A)
- Introduction to American Sign Language I and II
- French II, III and IV (H)
- Italian II (A)
- Physical Education
The final change involved including a “Target Proficiency Level” in all World Language courses. This would indicate that a passing student has achieved a specific proficiency level according to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
The vote came following a detailed presentation by WHS Principal Linda Peters.
School Committee members had a few comments.
Member MJ Byrnes noted she was disappointed to see two performing arts courses eliminated for the FY16-17 year. Peters noted that while those two courses weren’t generating interest, there is plenty of interest in other performing arts courses.
Chairwoman Peggy Kane asked Peters if the high school has any plans to change its graduation requirements. Peters noted that one potential change in the near future could be adding a foreign language requirement.
Member Manny Mulas was happy to see International Business added to the Business Department’s offerings.
Watch the meeting, courtesy of Wilmington Community Television, below. Discussion on the high school program of studies begins at 54:30 and runs until 1:07:30.
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