In the upcoming 2015-2016 school year, upperclassmen will have to sign up for two semester English electives as a package instead of choosing any combination they want.
Previously, the system allowed students to pair any fall semester English with any spring semester class. Now, students will be able to choose from the same electives, but two classes will be manually paired so that the same period, teacher, and class is kept between semesters, despite the actual course changing.
According to English teacher Steve Hettleman, the department has been thinking of changing the system for awhile.
“We have been talking about it for a couple of years and we finally decided as a department to try it out for this year’s registration for next year’s students,” Hettleman said.
Assistant Principal LaSandra White confirmed that the switch was proposed by the English department and then approved by the administration and the counseling department.
The electives were paired by looking at what classes students have taken together in the past. All the same classes as previous years will be offered, according to Hettleman.
“We looked at what classes were most popular and tried to pair them together,” Hettleman said. “We did a little bit of research on what classes students were paired up in right now and gave it our best shot.”
According to counselor Tamara Wall, the new system will not make scheduling any easier for the counselors, but it will help the English classes to complete their curriculum goals by not having a transition midway through the year.
According to Hettleman, the new system will help to increase the efficiency of the classes.
“I think the best thing that will come from it is hopefully an increase in learning,” Hettleman said. “There is an inefficiency in the way that things are handled right now. If I have all of my kids for fall semester and I take them through a lesson, I can’t say, ‘Remember that lesson that we had in the fall?’ because I have all these new kids who didn’t learn that lesson. There is this momentum that you are able to produce by having the kids for a longer stretch of time.”
Hettleman added that although he believes the new system will bring positive change, it may also have some complications.
“One of the drawbacks is that we can’t offer all of the possible combinations that we offered in the past,” Hettleman said. “It’s possible that some kids won’t be able to take a class that they thought they were going to want to take.”
Wall also believes that students will miss certain aspects of the current system.
“I think the students like to have different choices and I think they liked switching teachers and having a variety in junior and senior year and we do have a lot of [English] electives,” she said.
Wall added that switching out of classes in the beginning of the year will be harder with the new system.
While the new system sacrifices some flexibility in scheduling, students will still be able to double up on English courses if they feel passionate about the subject.
This is not the first time the English curriculum has changed, according to Hettleman. Underclassmen used to switch English classes and teachers at the semester, but this was changed in the early 2000s because the department thought it would create better relationships between the students and their teacher.
