Email
Print
Graduation policy changed to reflect state requirements
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: April 21, 2009
Registering rising ninth-graders will be a little different this year. The Kannapolis City Schools Board of Education approved changes in its promotion and retention policy Monday night to reflect state board of education requirements, which include four credits of high school math.
The Future-Ready Core Course of Study will affect students entering the ninth grade in the 2009-10 school year and beyond. The biggest change is that four credits of math are required, instead of three, and the fourth math credit should be aligned with the student's post high school plans.
The high school math courses include classes such as, Algebra I and II, Geometry, and Integrated Math I and II.
During the discussion of these requirements, several school board members said they were concerned about students who struggle with classes like Algebra I, and students being discouraged.
"It's going to require us to think about how we teach Algebra I," said Pat Woods, director for secondary and career and technology education for the school system. "There are some things we could do. The (class) that worries me the most is geometry."
While there may be some alternatives made for individual students, Woods said the purpose of this new plan is to make sure students are ready for life after high school, whether it be attending college, running a business or joining the military.
Beth Gribble, former Parent Teacher Student Organization president for A. L. Brown High School, said the change would not affect her daughter, a junior, but she could see how other parents would be concerned about another math class.
"The average parent isn't going to be worried about what the state requires," Gribble said. "The average parent is going to be concerned if this is going to bring their kid down."
One piece of information she would give to concerned parents is that the Freshman Academy has been successful, and she believes this will help A. L. Brown adjust to the new requirements successfully. The Freshman Academy has extra staff and upperclassmen guide ninth-grade students so that they adjust well from middle school to high school.
As a part of the Future-Ready Core Course of Study, rising ninth grade students must also have at least four sequential units of credits in a subject area of concentration during their years of high school.
The classes can be those for career and technical education, arts education, JROTC, Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate, a second language, and Learn and Early College, Dual Enrollment or Huskins. Woods told the school board that meeting the concentration requirement would include a child who is in JROTC for four years, for example.
Woods also said these requirements can also be met thanks to the access to the virtual high school or community college. Board of Education Chair Danita Rickard agreed.
"We are in a lot better shape than some (school systems) who don't have these resources available," Rikard said.
• Contact reporter Jessica Groover: 704-789-9152
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
Click a region for news specific to that area.
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
Advertisement
