LYNNFIELD — High School Principal Bob Cleary and the School Committee are hoping to give students more flexibility and independence this fall. Cleary joined the Committee at its Tuesday evening meeting to review the planned changes to the high school’s program of studies for the 2023-2024 school year.
The first change Cleary pointed out was a modification to the graduation requirements. With New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) reaccreditation on the horizon, the high school is implementing portfolio development and thesis defense into its COMPASS program, beginning with the Class of 2026.
To make students’ schedules less dependent on the electives they do or do not get into, the school is also implementing a single senior-year literature course called World Literature Survey. In this course, Cleary said, students will “have some common reads, but then they’ll also have some independent work that they’ll be able to choose what it is they want to do, what it is that they want to study, certain topics all folding back into that self-discovery.”
As for the reasoning behind the switch, Clearly said, “We’ve been using senior electives … it sounds great when we talk about offering these electives, but because of the size of our school and because of the different combinations [of classes] that students have, oftentimes they don’t actually get into the classes they wanted to.”
He continued, “Because of the inability to get kids where they need to be … kids now have to make a choice of if I really wanted that English class, then I’m giving up an art class, a music class, whenever their gym may be.”
Other changes to the program of studies include what Cleary described as “repackaging.” The highest two levels of Latin language classes are being renamed Latin 3 and Latin 4. In order to be more inclusive and accurate, the physical education class “Fitness for Men” will be renamed “Strength and Conditioning,” and “Fitness for Women” will be renamed to “Yoga, Zumba, and Fitness Dance.”
Changes to the arts curriculum include the addition of an honors-level art class to better prepare students for Advanced Placement (AP) Art. Cleary explained that “Visual Design” is being renamed “Community Art” because students believed Visual Design was a graphic design class. Music ensembles are being reshaped into a semester-long class, which would allow students whose schedules free up halfway through the year to participate.
