New Courses at NRHS for the Upcoming School Year

Do you attend North Reading High School or have a son or daughter who attends? The high school is offering four new courses for the upcoming school year that Principal Jon Bernard believes have the "rigor and relevance" to help students in the future. 

Advanced Placement Economics, Advanced Placement Computer Science, Introduction to Engineering Design and Honors Bioethics and Fauna are the new courses students can take at NRHS this year.  

The new courses are designed for students looking to challenge themselves, he said. When Bernard prepares to pitch new courses to the School Committee each year, he is looking for courses that will have a purpose in a student's future. He is hoping to provide relevant courses that students may continue to take in college, and that they may ultimately choose as a career, he said.

NRHS adds courses without adding teaching staff because the teachers are excited about the courses and willing to take on the additional responsibility. They want to help students face the challenges they will meet after they graduate, Bernard said. 

"We’re looking to best prepare students for the challenges they meet beyond here,” he told Patch.

The participation rate for AP courses has almost quadrupled in the last 10 years, he said. The school administered 87 AP exams in 2004 and they project that they will administer 404 in the spring of 2014.

"We’re offering these courses and that’s great, but kids are taking them, that’s even better," Bernard said.

It's a very good indicator that students are willing to challenge themselves, he said.

Take a look at the new courses and their course descriptions and requirements below:

Advanced Placement Economics                                                    

Advanced Placement Economics is designed to reflect the academic expectation and rigor of a college-level course as delineated by the College Board.  It is a course for the high school student who wishes to develop a greater understanding of the principles of both microeconomics and macroeconomics throughout the course of the year in preparation for the Advanced Placement examination.  During the first semester, students will gain an understanding of the principles that apply to individual consumers and firms within the larger economic system.  The primary emphasis of study will be on product markets, factor markets, and the government's role in promoting greater competition, efficiency and equity in the economy.  The second semester of the course will deal with the principles of macroeconomics.  Students will learn how a nation's economic performance is measured.  Primary emphasis will be in the areas of national income, employment and overall price determination.  Issues of international trade and future economic growth will also be studied.             

The course imposes a heavy reading and writing load throughout the year, and the demands on students are equivalent to a full-year introductory college-level course.    Summer assignments are required to be completed.  It is the responsibility of the student to obtain this summer work prior to leaving school in June.  Students will be required to take either the Advanced Placement Microeconomics or Macroeconomics examination and will have the option to take both examinations. Prerequisite: World Economics, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II (Honors strongly recommended in all three mathematics courses).  This course is a senior elective and does not replace the senior year social studies course requirement (American Civics and Government). 

Advanced Placement Computer Science A                                              

Advanced Placement Computer Science A is the equivalent of a college-level course aligned with the curriculum established by the College Board.   In addition to extending students’ understanding of the basic topics studied in the prerequisite Computer Programming course such as objects, syntax and style, algorithms, loops, strings, classes, and arrays, the Advanced Placement Computer Science A course will cover additional topics including both hardware and software study, and searching and sorting algorithms.  Students are expected to be familiar with and be able to use standard Java.  Study of these topics will be supported by Advanced Placement level practice problems from previously administered Advanced Placement Computer Science A examinations.  Summer assignments are to be completed for this course.  It is the responsibility of the student to obtain the summer assignments prior to leaving school in June.  Students will be required to take the Advanced Placement Computer Science A Examination.

Prerequisite: Computer Programming:  Academic

Bioethics and Fauna: Honors                                                        

Students will continue their study of biology by delving deeper into the study of animals and applying knowledge in the realm of bioethics. The first semester of the course will serve as an introduction to zoology and the second semester will introduce students to the subject of bioethics. The zoological study will provide students a perspective on the animal kingdom by investigating the various groups of animals in the zoological world using a systematic approach. Students will obtain a general knowledge of the anatomical and physiological components of vertebrates and invertebrates. Course themes will include the application of zoology in everyday life, stressing environmental concerns, bioethics, health concerns, and careers in the field. The second semester of bioethics will offer students the skills necessary to deliberate and consider the medical, scientific, societal, and political factors that result in troubling dilemmas for individuals and societies faced in the scientific and biomedical field.  Students will use ethical inquiry to develop thoughtful positions on complex bioethical issues including, but not limited to, Bioethics Concepts and Skills; Balancing Individual and Community Claims: Establishing State Vaccination Policies; Organ Transplantation; Genetic Testing; Human Experimentation; and Human Responsibilities toward Animals. The course is designed for students who are planning to pursue further study in biology or who are interested in pursuing their knowledge of structure, habits, and taxonomy of the animal kingdom and exploring ethical questions related to the life sciences.  Sophomore/Junior/Senior Elective

Prerequisites:  Biology (Honors strongly recommended)

Introduction to Engineering Design:  Academic

Introduction to Engineering Design includes the skills that were taught previously in the Technical Drawing course.  Introduction to Engineering Design extends the content of Technical Drawing to develop further students’ problem solving skills with a focus on the development of three-dimensional solid models. Students will work from drawing simple geometric shapes to applying a solid modeling computer software package.  Students will learn a problem-solving design process and how it is used in industry to manufacture a product. The Computer-Aided Design system (CAD) will also be used to analyze and evaluate the product design.   This course is a prerequisite for those students seeking to enroll in the Principles of Engineering course.