EMMAUS, Pa. — Two new classes next year will boost Emmaus High School's math program and add a new language option.
The district this year was added to Pennsylvania's targeted state improvement, or TSI list, for students with individualized education programs, or IEP.
As part of its required improvement plan, the district will update its algebra preparations offerings.
Also coming this year is a new American Sign Language course for juniors and seniors, offered asynchronously through Lehigh Carbon Community College.
The district also added an option for undergraduate credits in honors English in 11th and 12th grade through Lehigh Carbon Community College.
New math course to help students
The new 9th-grade course Foundations of Math will slow down the math instruction for those who need it, focusing on more basic concepts such as deciphering word problems and the concepts behind topics such as geometry and statistics.
Students will be placed in the course based on individual assessment data and teacher recommendations. It will give them more time to understand basic concepts and improve their reading skills before more difficult coursework.
According to a presentation by district officials, the course will let students in need “model and solve real-world” mathematical problems that will serve as a foundation for later Foundations of Algebra and Algebra 1 courses, and the associated Keystone test examination.
Patt of the class will be spent providing direct instruction to students in areas of need — letting students with or without IEPs to get the individualized interventions they require.
The board also approved an update to the Fundamentals of Algebra course, which is a similar course focused on prerequisite algebra skills in which students also are placed based on benchmarks and teacher recommendations.
The two classes would share an additional lab period.
“I think making something available to our neediest students to make up ground, I think is important,” board President Josh Levinson said.
Levinson said teachers for the course have been identified and the class may only be a temporary need for the district.
American Sign Language coming
An American Sign Language course also was given approval by the board, but not taught directly by the school.
The course will be asynchronously taught online using video demonstrations, after which students will be able to “engage in meaningful conversations with members of the Deaf community” according to course listings.
It will emphasize the importance of facial expressions and mastering an array of signs.
It will be available for only juniors and seniors through Lehigh Carbon Community College in the fall semester, with instructors available for feedback and questions throughout the course.
“As students, learning ASL would allow me to respectfully help signing Deaf people … enhance a college application, and even open a future job opportunity."East Penn High School student Gazel Suleiman
Before the adoption of the course, students Gazel Suleiman and Hayli Hochstrasser told the board during its public comment session that other Lehigh Country high schools continue to add the opportunity to learn sign language.
They emphasized the benefits of adding a sign language course to the district, enabling them to connect with Deaf community members.
“As students, learning ASL would allow me to respectfully help signing Deaf people … enhance a college application, and even open a future job opportunity,” Suleiman said.
Board member Alisa Bowman, while having concerns about the asynchronous format, reflected on the need for the course, citing the difficulty she ran into speaking with someone who was deaf.
“Without that live component, I worry a little bit about students having questions and not being able to show somebody 'is this correct,' you know, with their hands,” Bowman said.
“That said, I'm really happy that we're offering this. It's a need in the community.”
