By Emily Dubinsky
Staff Writer
The Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees approved 14 new courses for Mira Costa to offer next school year at its Feb. 13 Board meeting.
Of the 14 classes, eight are electives and six are core academic classes.
“We want students to have classes that they want to take,” MBUSD Superintendent Dr. Michael Matthews said. “If we can find high interest courses that can make a difference between liking and loving school, then that is what we want to do.”
Photos: MBUSD approves 14 new courses
Numerous teachers presented their own new course additions throughout the meeting. The new courses give students more options to take courses in subjects they are interested in, MBUSD Board President Jennifer Cochran said.
For example, in the new Cybersecurity class, students will learn about the tools and concepts of cybersecurity and create solutions in order to share computing resources while protecting privacy.
Link: About the individual courses
“Our teachers are thoughtful about students’ interests and where gaps can be filled in our current offerings,” Cochran said. “Each of these teachers are passionate about what they teach.”
Link: The process of approving courses
Before approving the classes, MBUSD must find teachers to teach all of the courses. It is going to be a challenge to find teachers to teach the computer science courses, such as Cybersecurity and Aerospace Engineering, as they require a lot of training and commitment, Matthews said.
“We know there are teachers who are interested in teaching courses, and if there are enough students who will take the courses, we will be able to offer them all,” Cochran said.
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