At the September Board of Education meeting, 20 class and curriculum proposals were brought forward for consideration. Some highlights include Yoga III, Spanish Language Arts, a second Spanish for Heritage learners course, and a Latin American Cinema course. Additionally, both Yoga I and Graphic Design were proposed to be offered at SC.

“Something special about LT is that we’re always looking to innovate in the courses that we offer, and I think that’s really exciting,” Principal Jennifer Tyrrell said. “That innovation occurs because of ideas from our teachers, sometimes our administrators, and even our students. We always say there is something for everyone at LT, but really, the truth is there [are] multiple somethings for everyone at LT. We want to keep being the leaders in our offerings so that we can meet our students’ needs and match the areas that they are passionate about.”

The Curriculum Review Committee, headed by Scott Eggerding, director of curriculum and instruction, takes new course requests and works with division chairs of each department to consider how the new course will fit within the whole curriculum, Drew Eder, division chair of counseling & student support services said. Additionally, there is a committee that meets every spring with about 30-40 teachers and administration from different parts of the school; they bring perspectives and knowledge to help determine if that course/curriculum would be beneficial for the student body.

“I think that innovation and passion within different courses is so important,” Eder said. “LT’s academic program guide is one of the characteristics that separates our high school from other high schools in the area. Our electives and our course offerings are incredible. Hearing from students and allowing our teacher’s opportunities to [express areas they think] our students should learn more about, and keeping that fresh so students can have new learning experiences ensures our courses meet the evolving needs of our students and community.”

While there are a few new additions to the Language Arts Department, the Spanish Language Arts course will be designed to enhance the proficiency of native or heritage Spanish speakers, Bilingual Coordinator Julie Jacobo said. The goal of the class is to maintain and further develop strong literacy in both Spanish and English, reinforcing the principles of the multilingual program: high academic achievement, bilingualism, biliteracy, and sociocultural competence.

“The course emphasizes critical reading, comprehension, and analysis of texts in Spanish,” Jacobo said. “Students will benefit from taking this course because the course fosters academic excellence. The course amplifies students’ bilingualism and biliteracy. The course supports the development of biliteracy skills that are essential for academic success and future professional opportunities while promoting cultural identity.”

Another course that will be offered, based on popular demand, is Yoga I, Kurt Johns, division chair for physical welfare, said. After high demand at NC and a desire for it at SC, LT will be expanding yoga to be offered at SC. While freshmen are still required to take freshman PE, sophomores will get the chance to choose from a variety of courses, one being Yoga I.
“The thought was we really want to provide an opportunity for our students to get engaged in yoga a little sooner,” Johns said. “We were a little hung up in space in the past, but with some of the construction that has been happening at SC, space has allowed us to bring yoga over.”

Additionally, LT will begin to offer a Yoga III course for students who have taken both Yoga I and Yoga II. One perk of this class includes the opportunity to become a certified yoga instructor. 

“We’ve seen SEL benefits to it, and we really wanted to try to propose this Yoga III course where we would really be the first high school that we’re aware of to offer something in line for students to have the opportunity to become a certified instructor, which could lead to employment opportunities when kids go off to college or whatever their post-high school plans are,” Johns said.

For some electives, students are able to opt into the credit/no credit. This means if a student passes the class (letter grade of D or higher), the student will receive credit for completing the class but no actual letter grade; however, a drawback is that sometimes the NCAA will recalculate the “credit” grade as a D, ultimately, hurting students’ GPAs.

“One of the considerations is the equity that our students’ high school transcript all their experiences in high school,” Eder said. “Making sure the high school transcript is equitable is one consideration. The other consideration is that the NCAA started recalculating credit/no credit grades to be a D, which puts our students at a disadvantage.”

A large-scale communication is forthcoming from LT administration to thoroughly explain the removal of credit/no credit and how it will affect students.