During the course selection season, which ran last month, new courses appeared across multiple disciplines, from physics to physical education. In addition to these courses, certain new and returning courses received designations that placed them within the newly launched Writer’s Academy—a Humanities-centered course sequence. 

The Writer’s Academy is a four-year sequence of courses that allows students to declare a major in one of three Humanities tracks: creative writing, journalism, or theater writing. This program did not necessarily add any new classes, but rather formatted a set of courses into sequences that will give students an opportunity to hone their passion for humanities while also taking part in aligned extracurriculars including The Classic, the Drama Club, and the Starling Press.

AP Physics C: Mechanics and Electricity and Magnetism is a new, higher level physics class that has been added to the course selections. AP Physics C explores the most advanced physics concepts offered at the school. It seeks to teach students about Newtonian mechanics, circular motion and rotation, oscillations, and more.

Junior Brandon Tendilla is looking to take the course next year. He said, “as a student in Mr. Ragunath’s AP Physics 1 class, I really enjoyed challenging myself with the concepts that we learn. I look forward to taking AP Physics C where I can learn much deeper physics concepts while earning college credit.”

The Philosophy and Culture class—a new English elective being offered—teaches students to analyze factors about the world around them including answering questions relating to religion and freedom. The class connects these questions to modern culture by looking at social media and movies.

Freshman Hamza Hussain expressed his eagerness about the class and said, “The whole geometry of religion and belief is a very interesting topic.”

A new AP Literature course option—titled First Generation: Stories of Identity, Culture, and Belonging—will explore literary representations of first-generation American perspectives and the experiences of immigrants in America.

Sophomore Ayoub Ayoub said, “I found this course really interesting because its theme [is] based on immigration – which recognizes the majority of students at our school. Immigrant stories are the basis of our identity and it’s important to understand that.”

Outside of humanities, another class that has been added to the course guide is Physical Education teacher Diane Ramirez’s Invasion Sports class, available to upperclassmen. 

“We are going to do the classic sports – flag football, basketball, and soccer, as well as ultimate frisbee. The main concept of the class is invading your opponent’s space in order to score. Students will organize positions themselves, and grades will be based on teamwork and communication,” Ms. Ramirez said.

Junior James Yang said that he had put the class as his first choice because he “liked the idea since it’s something new—not like the generic sports like soccer and basketball.”