By Kate Robak
Executive News Editor
Dana Sternthal
News Editor
At the Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 22, the Board began to discuss the addition of new courses at Mira Costa for the 2014-15 school year.
The new courses under discussion include AP English Language and Composition; AP Physchology; Robotics; Computer Programming, and Application Design. Also, MBUSD is also proposing new Science, Technology, Engineering and Math courses.
“Our hope is that we can continue to improve our course offerings for students,” MBUSD Superintendent Dr. Michael Matthews said. “I have seen these courses work extremely well in other high schools, and I want to open them up at Costa. The goal is to help our students achieve more and prepare them for a successful future.”
The school board has observed STEM programs at El Segundo High School. There are training and set-up costs to implement the STEM classes at Costa, making implementation unlikely until the 2015-16 school year.
“I encourage people to visit students taking the class at El Segundo High School and talk with them,” Matthews said. “That’s what I did. It’s an applied science course that prepares our students to use their science knowledge. It’s a perfect fit at Costa.”
During the meeting, the English Department showed concern for the addition of a new AP Engligh Language and Composition class.
“We fear that the fast-tracking of this course will lead too little time for a substantive consideration of the course,” English teacher Jonathan Westerberg said at the board meeting.
The board will continue the discussion of additional courses at the board meeting in February.
“These are ideas we’ve been discussing for a while,” Matthews said. “They fit in` great with our goals for STEM.”
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