Sunday, December 2, 2012
ROGERS — Dance class, an introduction to the teaching profession and Mandarin II — students at both Rogers high schools will have a few more options for classes come fall.
Ballet isn’t his style, said hip-hop dancer Brad Pena, but learning the origins of dance and the different types of dance would be fun.
Catalog Highlights
Middle School
-Seventh grade accelerated math, canceled last year because of Common Core shifts, will be added back to the catalog. Students who started Common Core curriculum in the sixth grade will be ready for the accelerated class, administrators said.
-A leadership class will be offered at the middle school level at the request of administrators from Greer Lingle Middle School. Student mentor volunteers will be encouraged to sign up for the class to develop their leadership skills.
High School
-A half-credit civics class now offers a Smart Core qualifying credit. It will dovetail with a half-credit economics class.
-Bridge to Algebra II will be offered in the next three or four years as a transition for students moving into the Common Core standards. These standards will change math requirements at the high school level starting fall of 2013.
-One section of Mandarin Chinese II will be offered at each high school. In 2012 the district added Mandarin Chinese as one of its language options and those students need two language credits to reach honors.
-Theatre Dance I will survey the history of dance and teach students different dance styles. A spring recital will be part of the class.
-Introduction to Education will give students a hands-on view of the teaching profession and give them tutoring experience.
-Additional changes include several renamed courses or courses realigned with new state standards. Web design classes were replaced with digital communication classes and a brakes/electric class has become maintenance/light repair. Some classes geared toward Advanced Placement tests now have that designation in the class name.
Source: Staff Report
A junior at Rogers High School, Pena said he doesn't necessarily consider himself artsy. He plays basketball, but said the combination of theater and dance will broaden his horizons. He taught himself to dance by copying Michael Jackson moves, then learned more by watching YouTube videos. Some moves he made up.
“I just like to dance,” Pena said.
The Rogers School District will be the first in Northwest Arkansas to offer dance.
Everyone should have the opportunity to learn about dance, said Liz Davis, debate and forensics coach at Rogers High School. Davis developed Theatre Dance I for both Rogers high schools. The survey course will start the year off with ballet’s beginnings in royal courts before it became a performance art, then travel through modern dance and touch on its cultural roots.
To be recognized as a Rogers Graduate with Promise, students must demonstrate aesthetic literacy, something the new class will help fulfill. The Rogers Graduate with Promise program recognizes students who complete courses which meet seven content areas to help assure students receive a well-rounded education.
Dance classes will round out drama options. Before the course was added, students only had options for drama and drama tech, Davis said.
Performance builds self-confidence, Davis said.
“I think it really gives you the opportunity to be yourself,” she said.
Cheerleader Kate Keith, a Rogers High School sophomore, danced as a child, but said dance class no longer fits in her schedule. Since the class will be offered at school she can take it. She expects the class to give her the historic background not included in classes that only teach dance steps.
Junior Karen Merlos said lyrical and hip-hop dance are hobbies for her, and the class will be a fun addition to her senior year.
Administrators are finalizing additions to the course catalog so it will be ready for students in late January. Several titles have been adjusted and courses no longer supported by state requirements were edited out during November’s School Board meeting.
“Every year we just make sure our catalog is on the cutting edge of what's expected in the state,” said Phil Eickstaedt, executive director of secondary curriculum and instruction.
Math classes, especially high level classes, are still being decided, although the catalog will go to press before Christmas, Eickstaedt said. Common Core changes will launch in the fall of 2013 at the high school level and may cause some changes before fall. New Common Core standards reorganized the order of some math concepts and make classwork more advanced.
Because state money is based on full-time students and the number of teachers is based on the classes those students will take, there’s no cost for the new courses, Eickstaedt said.
“If they're not with one teacher they'll be with another teacher,” Eickstaedt said. “None of this causes us to add any additional staff.”
Both Rogers and Heritage high schools will offer Theatre Dance I, Mandarin Chinese II and a Introduction to Education class next fall, Eickstaedt said. The education class will help students who want to get into the teaching field and is offered in other districts, he said.
“A lot of kids see teachers work, but they don't really know what teachers do,” Eickstaedt said.
Students who plan to become teachers may want to take the existing tutoring class and the new Introduction to Education class, said LaDonna Ball, English teacher at Heritage High School. The tutoring class teaches a little bit of child psychology, but much of that class is the volunteer work. The new education class teaches students basics in how to develop a lesson.
Exploring a career in high school will save students time in college, Ball said. Her daughter, Kaylin Anderson, is a senior at the school and interested in the teaching field. The tutoring course gives her an edge in applying to schools, Ball said.
“She’s got actual experience versus someone who wants to do it,” Ball said.
The high school catalog additions don’t apply to a New Tech-affiliated charter high school scheduled to open in fall 2013. Classes at the New Tech school will be structured differently with combination classes such as English and social studies or math and science taught together as one class with two teachers.
Schedules will be ready for freshmen and sophomores who sign up for the school’s first year, but are contingent, in part, on a Arkansas Department of Education review of career classes. Proposed classes available at New Tech include mobile apps development, digital photography and digital communication classes that focus on web design, said Lance Arbuckle, newly appointed principal for the school and assistant principal at Rogers High School.
“We want kids to have a new experience in learning,” Arbuckle said.