New courses being offered next year

HABLAS+ESPANOL%3A+Spanish+teacher+and+Foreign+Language+Department+Chair+Abel+Olivas+teaches+an+AP+Spanish+class.+Next+year%2C+the+Upper+School+will+be+offering+an+Honors+Spanish+4+class+to+bridge+the+gap+between+Spanish+4+and+the+AP+course%2C+as+well+as+a+new+English+elective+and+several+classes+on+the+Global+Online+Academy.

Vineet Kosaraju

HABLAS ESPANOL: Spanish teacher and Foreign Language Department Chair Abel Olivas teaches an AP Spanish class. Next year, the Upper School will be offering an Honors Spanish 4 class to bridge the gap between Spanish 4 and the AP course, as well as a new English elective and several classes on the Global Online Academy.

New courses offered next year include a new semester elective, English 4: Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation, a year long Honors Spanish 4 class that is more fast-paced than the current option, Spanish 4 and several additional new courses available on the Global Online Academy (GOA).

In terms of logistical changes, the semester Ecology science elective has been renamed Marine Biology, Modern International Affairs has been made an Honors class, and the two semester courses AP Microeconomics and AP Macroeconomics have been combined into a yearlong AP Economics course.

Each year, the specific advanced topics offered in each subject swap. Next year, Signals and Systems, and Differential Equations II are the two available math advanced topics, Expert Systems, and Computer Architecture are the two avaliable computer science advanced topics, and for students taking Latin, the only advanced topic is Honors Advanced Classical Studies.

According to Dean of Studies Evan Barth, changes to the courses offered at Harker usually come from individual teachers with ideas for a new class.

To graduate, students are required to obtain a minimum of 22 academic units. Some classes are also required to be taken a specific number of years: English classes must be taken all four years of high schools; math classes must be taken three, with a recommended four years; science and history classes must both be taken a minimum of three years, and students must pass level three in a foreign language.

An additional semester of computer science and a year long course about visual or performing arts are requirements for graduating.

This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on January 28, 2015.