By Kim Siebert MacPhail
Calling the proposed changes “minor tweaks, for the most part,” Bedford High School’s new Principal Henry Turner presented revisions to the high school program of studies for the upcoming school year to the School Committee last Tuesday night.
Thanking Assistant Principal Kristen Vogel and the Program Administration faculty for their “diligent and thoughtful work” with teachers on the program changes, Turner reassured the Committee that throughout the process the values and the mission of Bedford High School had been maintained.
“We felt like there were some needs around updating [the curriculum] in accordance with the new Common Core [of Learning] standards as well as the 21st Century Learning that we’ve been working on,” Turner said. “We’ve also really pushed ourselves to meet the needs of our diverse learners and the interests of our students within the framework of our current program.
“Aside from one course—the Theater Production course—we didn’t add anything unless we were making a change [from one thing to another],” Turner continued. “The big change [here] is the shift [from just a Music department] to the creation of the Music and Theater Arts department. . . .With that, we are looking at a need of students. We felt that there was a need within our curriculum to provide [a]complement to our [extracurricular] drama program that enriches kids around the skill[s] of acting as well as producing plays.”
Turner said that the Music and English Program Administrators—Nicole O’Toole and Marylou Sallee, respectively—had collaborated to develop the classes in Theater Production and in Drama. The additional courses will serve to satisfy the Music class graduation requirement and also will alleviate the overcrowding now being experienced in Music classes.
On the technology front, an iPad support course will be added, taking the place of the Keyboarding course. School Committee members unanimously expressed concern about the loss of Keyboarding, saying it should be taught somewhere in the K-12 system because it is a necessary life skill. Turner and John Glenn Middle School Principal Kevin Tracey—also present at the meeting—noted the Committee’s reaction and said they would consider how to embed keyboarding instruction and practice within technology education in the two schools.
In the area of Physical Education, Turner said that the Athletic Training course will be dropped in favor of a “healthy behaviors” program. Course content will include Pilates, yoga exercises, how to reduce stress, and how to make positive decisions. The change responds to needs identified in the Youth Risk Survey conducted through Bedford Youth and Family Services last spring.
Aerospace and Environmental Science classes will both be dropped due to lack of enrollment over the last few years. Self and Society will also be eliminated because of the need for the teacher, a guidance counselor, to address increasing demand for one-on-one student counseling. School Committee members Abbie Seibert and Anne Bickford expressed regret at the loss of this course; Bickford called it “life-changing” for some students.
An English as a Second Language (ESL) course has been added to create class period time during which language skills can be taught. A Word Study course will also be added for those who want to improve reading skills and fluency. These classes replace Reading electives.
In Mathematics, Turner said that the course description for Continuing Algebra 2, Level 4 will now contain the word “Pre-calculus,” with the advanced material covered toward the conclusion of the school year. The change reflects a broadening of course scope and content.
It was also noted, in the Foreign Language department, that the prerequisite for moving up from level 4 to level 5 will now be a grade average of 90, up from an 85. Turner said that this was not due to overcrowding in the highest level classes but, instead, was done to set expectations for a high level of work and fluency.
At the conclusion of Turner’s presentation, School Committee member Brad Hafer asked Turner for his views on Bedford High School’s curriculum offerings in terms of depth and breadth.
“I find it very diverse and having a lot of substance,” Turner responded. “It was a surprise to me, considering how small a school we are, in comparison to being half the size of the two [other high-performing] schools I’ve worked at. I’ve never worked in a school with a Robotics course, so that’s exciting. In large part, we are meeting the needs for our kids, although it was a push for me this year to create this theater production course. . . .I think [Bedford High is] highly competitive.”
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