By Mai Nojima
Circulation Editor
Starting in the 2014-15 school year, Mira Costa freshmen will no longer have the option to take Advanced freshman English.
The Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees approved the termination of the course after the English Department decided that it is unnecessary for the ninth-grade level.
“We never wanted it to be a class,” English Department Chair Alan Zeoli said. “We wanted to cancel it last year, but the school board said it was too late in the year.”
For entrance into the class, English Department teachers selected students based on a recommendation letter from their eighth grade English teacher and a timedwriting assignment.
“Since there are a variety of feeder schools that come to Mira Costa, it’s not advantageous to filter out students without any prior knowledge of the students,” English teacher Shawn Chen said.
According to Chen, there is no significant difference between Advanced English and the regular College Preparatory English course.
“There is no difference between the classes besides the assumption that the smartest kids will be in a separate environment,” Chen said.
The Board finalized the cancellation of the class in February after the English Department asked the class to be cancelled last year.
“Heterogeneous mixtures of students create a better learning environment, especially in ninth grade,” Zeoli said.
Leave a Reply