North Penn School Board Director Christian Fusco.
(The following is part of a series of monthly submissions from the North Penn School District Board of School Directors.)
Dear North Penn Community,
One of the reasons why North Penn is among the perennial top schools ranked in the nation by US News and World Report is the multitude of course offerings the district is able to provide to students. This year, our students are taking Anatomy II, Leadership in Today’s Society, Guitar Lab and Environmental Science for the first time. In addition, 94 students are currently enrolled in the district’s new Community Hosted Internship Program, or CHIP as it is popularly known. This exciting new program offers high school students the opportunity to explore careers and even intern with local businesses, companies, and industries.
With those programs off the ground, the district has turned its attention to planning for the 2023-2024 school year. Newly proposed course offerings will provide a strong foundation for both college and career readiness as they are designed to peak the interests of our students and meet the needs of a 21st Century workforce.
Four years ago, North Penn was only able to offer five dual enrollment options for college bound students. Today, we offer 15 courses with more on the horizon. There are over 2,200 student enrollments this year alone, potentially allowing students to earn up to three semesters worth of college credit before they graduate from North Penn. Dual enrollment courses allow students to get a jump on earning college credits, saving them thousands of dollars in tuition expenses. The proposed new course offerings will continue to build on that success with two new classes: Math Applications and International Relations.
Math Applications is offered in partnership with Montgomery County Community College. It is designed for Liberal Arts, Social Science, Humanities, Secondary Education and Communication majors. Math Applications is a course commonly required in the first year at Montgomery County Community College.
The second dual enrollment course is instructed through a new partnership with the University of Pittsburgh. This exciting new class is offered at the 6.0 level and will focus on international relations in the areas of war, political economy, nuclear proliferation, and terrorism. In an increasingly globalized world, it is important to cultivate tomorrow’s international leaders, and where better to find those folks than right here in our own community!
For those students who will graduate with an eye to vocational training programs and the working world, there are new course offerings in Hospitality Management, Financial Applications with Technology and Performance Management.
Hospitality Management is a semester-long business elective with a focus on hotel, restaurant, resort, country club, catering, and conference center management.
Performance Management, a Social Studies elective for 11th and 12th grade, takes a critical look at the factors that influence one’s abilities to succeed in academics, creative pursuits, work performance and leadership roles by providing practical methods of addressing adversity, anxiety, and stress.
Financial Applications with Technology, a full year course at the 5.0 level, is a class every student could benefit from taking. Topics covered include dealing with percentages, fractions, payroll, taxes and insurance, simple and compound interest, consumer credit, mortgages, annuities, stocks, bonds, depreciation, and financial statements.
Finally, Guitar Lab II and American Sign Language are new courses designed to address the array of interests of our student body. Guitar Lab II, which was created out of a huge demand for Guitar Lab I, expands North Penn’s vaunted musical programming options to high school students, many of whom missed out on learning an instrument in their elementary and middle school years.
Close to my heart is our newest elective in the World Language department, American Sign Language. This class will instruct students in introductory sign language skills and vocabulary as they sharpen their receptive and expressive communication abilities in the third most commonly used language in America.
We are fortunate to live in a community with a school district that has the resources and institutional ability to offer our kids world class, cutting edge, 21st century educational programming that will foster tomorrow’s leaders. Kudos to our Curriculum Department for their hard work!
Sincerely,
Christian Fusco
NPSD Board of School Directors
Term Expiration: 2025
