By Kim McDarison
The School District of Fort Atkinson Board of Education Thursday approved consideration of seven new courses and six course revisions which could potentially be offered to Fort Atkinson High School students beginning with the 2023-24 school year.
During Thursday’s regular school board meeting, school board members unanimously approved two motions, the first of which approved the return of the seven new courses to the board’s agenda for final approval during its regularly scheduled meeting in December.
A second motion gave similar approval to schedule the return of six course revisions for final board approval also in December.
Aided by slides, School District of Fort Atkinson Director of Instruction Amy Oakley presented the new courses and revisions for council’s consideration.
Introducing Oakley to the board, district Superintendent Rob Abbott noted that the course proposals and revisions were part of an update to the district’s strategic plan.
Advancing a slide enumerating the new courses, Oakley said: “We are very excited to bring seven new course proposals and six course changes.”
She next pointed to several of the district’s strategic planning goals, noting that the course proposals “all connect most intensely to the goals regarding our inclusive culture of growth, looking to be responsive to our learner and community needs and our course offerings, as well as our desire to continue to be the preferred educational option in the region through our course offerings to attract learners to Fort Atkinson High School.”
Among goals reinforced by the slide were: “The district will be the preferred educational option in the region as evidenced by annual growth in the pupil count and open enrollment,” and “All schools, as well as the district, will achieve a state of Wisconsin accountability rating of ‘significantly exceeds expectations’ no later than the 2025-26 report card with evidence of annual growth.”
According to the slide, all of the proposals and changes were grounded in the following premises:
- All course proposals are proposed within the existing FTE (full-time employee staffing). No new FTE will be added as a result of any new course offerings or its subsequent enrollment.
- Expanding dual-credit and advanced-placement offerings was a high priority to maximize the district’s post-high school benefits for its students.
- New courses will be offered pending sufficient enrollment as well as in context to the overall budget considerations in finalizing the annual Fort Atkinson High School (FAHS) schedule.
The proposed courses, a slide noted, “will further distinguish FAHS from area school options.”
Among course proposed were:
• Musical Theater and Small Ensemble, a one-credit course designed for students looking to explore solo or small group musical theater vocal performance.
• Introduction to Guitar, a half-credit course, designed for students who want to learn an instrument outside of the traditional band and orchestra mold.
• Heritage Speaker Spanish, a one-credit course designed for students who have proficiency in or a cultural connection to Spanish, with focus placed on mastering the written language while nurturing multilingual language development.
• Assessment Strategies and Study Skills, a half-credit course designed to support students in developing key skills and understanding to preform strongly on classroom and standardized assessments, including the ACT.
• Advanced Machining, a half-credit course with a dual-credit option, offering students an opportunity to learn how to operate various metal working tools, including CAD/CAM and precision machining, among others.
• Advanced Welding, a half-credit course with a dual-credit option, offering students the opportunity to learn advanced welding techniques used in a manufacturing setting.
• Social Media Marketing, a half-credit course with a dual-credit option, designed to explore the rise of social media and incorporation of such tools into an overall marketing strategy.
Oakley said that the proposed dual-credit courses would allow students taking the high school course also to earn credit through Madison College.
She noted that the proposed dual-credit courses presented were chosen because they “appealed to a wide variety of career pathways.”
Staff members teaching dual-credit courses must meet certain requirements set by Madison College, take a training course along with Madison College professors, and provide the same syllabus and use the same teaching materials as their Madison College counterparts, Oakley said.
She described the courses as “very similar to AP (advanced placement).”
Next, Oakley talked about revised courses proposed for the 2023-24 school year.
Among them she listed Video and Digital Media Production, a half-credit course with a dual-credit option, which has been offered at the high school under the title: Multimedia Web Design II. The change proposed upgrades the course to a dual-credit option through Madison College.
Additionally, proposed revised courses include Survey of Drama, a half-credit course which has been offered under the title: Dramatic Literature, and, with revisions will combine aspects of performance and literary analysis; Math Reasoning, a half-credit course with a dual-credit option, which, Oakley said, is being offered this school year and has undergone a title change from that of Technical Math. The proposed upgrade will better align the course with math required at the technical college level.
Intermediate Algebra is among courses she said the district was “very excited to offer,” and has “a rigorous component for a teacher to be able to teach. We have a teacher that stepped forward to take 18 credits post-masters degree in math to teach this course, through a scholarship that Madison College connected her with.”
The new course would offer dual-credit through Madison College and could transfer as a liberal arts credit would a student transfer to a college within the UW System, she said.
Also among proposed revisions is a change in Pre-Calculus, which will be upgraded to reflect advanced placement status offered through the College Board. AP Pre-Calculus is a one-credit offering, Oakley said.
A final proposal would see the discontinuation of a course called Accelerated Global Connections, which, Oakley said, has not seen in past years sufficient enrollment to continue the course. The replacement one-credit course, titled: AP Human Geography, would expand access to the course for ninth-grade students.
Describing the value of dual-credit opportunities, Abbott said: “We are really excited to continue that relationship with the Madison College board here locally and beyond. As we think about potential for our new middle school structure and looking at a sixth through Grade 14 campus, those opportunities are great investments for us.”
During board discussion, board member Robynn Selle asked if the dual-credit classes could transfer to other schools beside Madison College.
Oakley said such transfers of credits would be dependent upon arrangements Madison College had with other institutions. They would be treated like any other Madison College course, she said.
Answering questions about promoting dual-credit and AP classes at the high school, Oakley said there were two ways that goal is achieved: “One is through the individual course areas. Often those teachers in a specific department will help kids to say ‘you’re in this course. Next course is …, and guess what? it’s dual-credit,’ or ‘guess what? It’s AP.’ So there’s that course-specific promotion, and then the second part is the information that comes to families through the school counselors and through the communications, and then also at course selection night, there’s components where families engage with departments to talk about courses, and which courses they’re taking, to make sure they are in the right place and the right sequence. We offer a lot of courses, so it’s exciting that families have this many options to consider as they think about their child’s four-year pathway at Fort Atkinson High School.”
Two slides above, as presented Thursday before the School District of Fort Atkinson Board of Eduction, show seven Fort Atkinson High School courses that have been proposed as new offerings. Would the board grant the classes final approval in December, they will become available to students during the 2023-24 school year.
Two slides above, as presented Thursday before the School District of Fort Atkinson Board of Eduction, show six Fort Atkinson High School courses that have been proposed to undergo revisions.
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I think those course changes are wonderful! Now what I would like to see is changes in student behaviors in the classroom and school facilities. These students who continue to be disrespectful are not dealt with and continue this behavior. We need all to step up the plate and get these kids on the right path!!!