Wednesday, January 31, 2018

New Classes

Each year the staff of WKHS are working not only to make sure that all students have the best possible experiences in your current classes, but also to anticipate the future needs and interests of students and to adjust or develop new classes that will interest our students.  As an outcome of this there are several new courses being offered in the coming year which may interest students.


Forensics - this is a Science semester-long elective course available to students in grades 11 and 12.  This class focuses on the collection, identification and analysis of crime scene evidence.  Emphasis will be placed on the methods that link suspect, victim and crime scene.  Labs will include fingerprinting, handwriting analysis, ballistics, blood typing, hair and fiber examination, and DNA analysis.  Case studies and current events will be explored.

Biomedical Science - this is Science semester-long elective course and is available to students in grades 11 and 12.  This course investigates concepts of biology and medicine as they explore health conditions including heart disease, diabetes, sickle-cell disease, hypercholesterolemia, and infectious diseases.  Students will be introduced to human physiology, basic biology, medicine and research processes.


Environmental Studies - is another semester-long Science elective course for 11th and 12th graders.  This course surveys key topic areas including the application of scientific process to environmental analysis, ecology, energy flow, ecological structures, earth systems, and atmosphere, land and water science.  Students will also learn about decisions impacting the environment and the use of resources.

Astronomy - this is also a Science semester-long elective course for juniors and seniors.  This class introduces students to the composition and structure of the universe.  Content includes historical astronomy, astronomical instruments, the celestial sphere, the solar system, the earth as a system in space, the earth. moon system, the sun as a star, and stars.

IB Math Studies - this is a new IB Math class that is a 1-year IB math course and is easier than the other IB math class - this class is going to be more similar to Pre-Calculus.

CC+ MET 1281: Engineering Design & Development - this is equivalent to the ED & D course already running at WKHS and the college class will still be taught over the year by WKHS teachers, but if you elect to sign up for this course you will automatically earn 2 credits from Sinclair Community College that you can use to hopefully transfer to your intended college.  Please note that because it is just a 2 credit hour class, you will not be able to count this class for athletic eligibility because it is equal to .66 credits for the year or .33 credits for each semester.

There are also some classes you won't find as options for next year...

AP French is no longer being offered - students are encouraged to take IB French instead.

Natural Systems Science (NSS) is no longer being offered - all of the other new science semester electives have taken it's place.

CC+ Honors PreCalculus is no longer being offered.  Students still have the option of Math 150 CC+ PreCaclulus, but not the honors precalc course.  But, remember, Students who take Math 150 (regular PreCalc) for 5 credit hours will then go to Calculus 1 for 5 credits the next year.  Students who take Honors PreCalc will then be on track to go to Math BC which is Calculus 1 and 2 which is also worth 10 credit hours of college classes so they both equate out to the same amount of college credits earned.

Law 2 is not running next year because they are trying to rotate this course into the offerings every couple of years and it ran this year, but don't worry, it will be back again in the future.

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