CHS unveils new electives, Italian program

Pending the approval of a funding increase in the next school operating budget and the completion of a new schedule, students at Canton High School could have some new choices for course electives in the upcoming school year.

The new courses are among a number of changes in the school’s 2023-24 program of studies, which CHS Principal Jeff Sperling outlined for School Committee members at their meeting on Thursday, January 19.

One notable addition is a new four-year Italian program that is made possible by an anonymous donation. The program would offer one level per year and would be open to students in all grades, although anyone signing up would be expected to remain in the program through graduation. Incoming ninth graders, for instance, would take Italian 1-4, while incoming 10th graders would take the first three levels and incoming 11th graders would take two levels, which would fulfill their CHS foreign language requirement. Incoming seniors would also have the chance to take Italian I as an elective.

Other new courses in the 2023-24 CHS program of studies, which School Committee members supported in principle, include AP Precalculus, AP Government, Children’s Literature and Literacy, Stories of the Teenage Experience, Writing and Reading for Life: Building Skills for Success, and Ideals and Futuristic Societies: Utopian and Dystopian Literature and Pop Culture.

All of the new courses would be predicated on the approval of additional spending in the FY24 school budget, which is currently under review by the School Committee before it moves on to the Finance Committee and ultimately to the voters at annual town meeting in May. The budget as proposed includes funding for additional English and Wellness teachers at CHS, and those positions would be needed to accommodate some of the new courses as well as the scheduling updates planned by Sperling that would potentially provide for more flexibility with course selection while reducing the number of study periods each student has.

During the discussion about course selection, School Committee member Maureen Moran stressed that administrators should also be mindful of any current CHS classes that exceed the recommended class size guidelines (24 students per class).

In other news from Thursday’s meeting, both Superintendent Derek Folan and School Committee Chair Kristian Merenda said they continue to feel optimistic and hopeful about the state of teacher contract negotiations after a productive mediation session on January 14.

As both parties relayed to the press last week, there was a sense of real progress …

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Posted by Mike Berger on Jan 27 2023. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.