Thursday, Dec. 06 2012 5:11PM

R-7 SCHOOLS

Coming soon

R-7 school district to offer new courses in 2013-14

By Toriano Porter

tporter@lsjournal.com

The Lee’s Summit R-7 School District will offer five new courses next school year.

In a unanimous vote Nov. 15, the R-7 school board approved Computer Hardware and Operating Systems II, IB Environmental Systems and Societies SL, Philharmonic Orchestra, Introduction to Human Services, and Mandarin Chinese IV as new courses to be implemented in the 2013-14 school year.

The courses were reviewed by the district’s secondary department chairs, approved by the secondary principals’ team and the instructional operations team.

Four of the courses will not require additional staffing, but Chinese IV may require one additional staff member, depending on spring enrollment. Cost for instructional materials and textbooks will be funded from the district’s existing budget.

CHAOS II will bridge the gap between CHAOS I at the high school with the IT Essentials course at Summit Technology Academy. The year-long, online-only course will be taught by current STA faculty and was proposed as part of the IT strand for the innovation campus.

Students will be able to take CHAOS II for weighted credit as well as dual credit through Metropolitan Community College-Longview.

IB Environmental Systems and Societies SL could fulfill a graduation requirement as a science elective course and students taking the course could develop an understanding of the field of environmental science, how it is studied and the impact of environment on society. The course will expand access to the full IB diploma.

Introduction to Human Services will provide students an introductory class in the human services pathway that will aid students considering social work, public service occupations, teaching and training, and will include basic information about lifespan issues from birth to death.

The orchestra program at Lee’s Summit North High School currently has 168 students, with 124 enrolled in the symphony orchestra and 44 enrolled in the concert orchestra. The new, mid-level orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra, will allow for a more equal distribution of students’ ability level and for smaller class sizes which will make for a more effective approach in instruction and assessment. Students will be grouped by ability through an audition process.

Mandarin Chinese IV is a continuation of the district’s series of offerings in Chinese.