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Schools

School District Eyes New Courses, Math Textbooks

The courses include Hindi, Latin, advanced Japanese

The administration of the is asking the Board of Education to add several language courses for the 2012-2013 year and spend $150,000 for math textbooks.

The board is expected to decide on the requests next month.

Curriculum director Maribel Camps outlined proposed instruction changes at last week's school board meeting. The suggested courses are Hindi, Latin and advanced Japanese. In addition, a course called Energy and Your Environment is being requested.

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"This course covers environmental science which is part of the Pennsylvania state standards for science curriculum," Camps later explained to Patch. "This course will include environment and ecology topics using a laboratory-based inquiry approach. This approach will allow us to address the science standards and science as a process along with the ecology and environment standards that are part of the science PSSA assessment. It will be for all incoming ninth-graders with the exception of those that are enrolled in honors biology."

Camps explained to the board that teachers would like the district to spend $150,000 on new Everyday Math textbooks for all students in grades three through five. She also outlined to the board $46,400 in purchases for the district library system, including $9,000 for electronic book readers and digital literature.

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Camps explained to Patch the process that preceeds such requests.

"We have a curriculum modification process in place where curriculum leaders and administrators come together four times per year to discuss possible changes to the curriculum and the impact that these changes will have on the content being taught across the district," she said. "After this process, administrators meet and discuss the programmatic and financial implications that such implementation will have on the district. This process allows us ample time to review programs, pilot them in the district and collect data on their effectiveness before recommending a purchase."

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