Next year Interpersonal Communications (IPC) will only be offered at the accel level, eliminating the prep level all together. The decision was made after the IPC teachers at both levels found that the curricula were very similar and that accel was often only harder due to longer time requirements on presentations, while all the skills were the same, Language Arts division chair Karen Raino said.

“It seemed unfair to base placement on [students] reading and writing levels, when in fact students of all ability levels can either excel or be weaker [in communicating],”she said.

With little knowledge about how well a student may be at interpersonal communication, they decided to eliminate prep because the teachers believe that all students can be successful in the accel version of the class, Raino said.

“You want to give credit where credit is due,” she said. “And often, I think prep kids are unfairly penalized by just earning level three credit when in fact, they might excel in the area of interpersonal communication.”

Another reason for the combination is the benefit for units such as the cultural diversity unit. By merging the prep and accel classes, Raino hopes that conversations will be richer, with a heterogeneous representation of all students.

“Throughout life, students will be working in diverse groupings (academic levels, race, socioeconomic status, gender, etc.), so practicing those skills in a heterogeneous grouping benefits all students,” IPC teacher Tammy Miller said.

IPC focuses on oral literary and the development of effective expressive vocal and physical delivery skills, as well as listening skills, nonverbal communication, group dynamics, conflict resolution, persuasion and other interpersonal skills, Miller said.

“You will always need to get along with other people, to communicate effectively with other people, to express your viewpoint in a rhetorically sensible way,” English teacher Cynthia Adamson said. “All of those are life skills that are the groundwork for positive relationships, positive marriages, positive job performance. So no matter what you do in your life, IPC of course would benefit [you].”

Teachers have already started to prepare for the combination, and they will have workshops over the summer to prepare and plan supports for students who may need extra help with research and complex text comprehension, Raino said.

“Hopefully the same level of learning will be available with removing prep because it is important students realize that taking the class seriously will only help them,” former IPC student Heidi Hauch ‘16 said. “Having good communication skills is vital for success.”