Two new electives and a structural change to a freshmen science course will be before Jim Thorpe Area School District’s board of directors in its upcoming vote on the 2023-24 high school program of studies.

High School Principal Tom Lesisko highlighted the changes and the reasons behind them Wednesday night during a committee meeting.

“It’s always about meeting student needs,” Lesisko said. “These decisions are always student driven. It’s not what we want, it’s what they need.”

Looking to expand its elective offerings, the high school is proposing two new courses: Musical Potpourri and Music and Film in Literature.

Music teacher Dr. Steven Christ said the potpourri course would have a little bit of everything from reading music, performing music, music history, and even a small amount of theory. No musical background would be required to take the course.

“We cover music history, theory and music performance at its essence,” Christ said during the committee meeting. “It gives kids a chance who don’t feel like they fit in anywhere to fit in somewhere.”

The development of Music and Film in Literature, Lesisko said, came out of an effort to meet students’ interests.

According to the course description, students will build skills in reading, thinking, writing, listening, and speaking through in-depth study of literature, film and music and their influence on each other. They will be taught to analyze film with literary sources in the same way that they study a literary text, by viewing and discussing classic movies and literature.

“The alpha generation loves going to the movies,” Lesisko said. “When you have an opportunity to offer a course like this that they are interested in and doesn’t require new teachers, you take it.”

The format of the ninth grade general science course will also be changing should the program of studies pass. Lesisko said he’s proposing splitting the course into two half-credit offerings.

Fundamentals of Physical Science, an introductory course to physics and chemistry, would run through the first semester, while Fundamentals of Life Science, which covers biology, would make up the second half of the year. A separate grade will be issued for each half.

“It will help keep students interested,” Lesisko said. “If they don’t do well the first semester, it gives them a second chance instead of just plowing through a course they know they can’t pass.”

Superintendent Robert Presley said introducing freshmen to biology in the second half of the year provides a good timeline for students leading up to Keystone Exams on that topic at the end of their sophomore year.

“They have a biology course in tenth grade,” Presley said, “so this gives students a year-and-a-half with that material before they are taking that exam.”