By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — A number of new classes will be coming to Lynnfield High next year, Principal Bob Cleary said during the School Committee’s Jan. 10 meeting.
Cleary said the portfolio defense for the Vision of a Graduate initiative will become a graduation requirement for the LHS Class of 2026. He recalled that the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) has spearheaded the new graduation requirement for high schools across New England. While NEASC was scheduled to make its decennial visit to the high school for LHS’ reaccreditation this spring, he said that has been delayed to this fall. The high school was previously reaccredited in 2011.
“Beginning with the Lynnfield High School Class of 2026, all students will be required to complete the Lynnfield High School Vision of a Graduate portfolio and Senior Defense,” said Cleary. “The Vision of a Graduate is a set of skills that have been determined by Lynnfield Public Schools as vital to being successful after graduating from high school. Students must demonstrate proficiency in the following areas: Lifelong learners, problem solvers, communicators, socially just and globally aware.”
Cleary said freshmen have begun working on the Vision of a Graduate initiative in the Compass program.
“Students will keep track of evidence demonstrating proficiency in these five areas through a Google website and will then present their evidence senior year in the form of a Senior Defense Project,” said Cleary. “All Lynnfield High School students are required to complete this in order to fulfill their graduation requirements.”
Cleary said LHS will be adding a Survey of World Literature College Preparatory (CP) course and a Survey of World Literature Honors course for seniors that will be replacing the current electives that are offered.
“The senior electives we have been offering sound great, but because of the size of our school, seniors very often don’t get into the class they wanted to get into,” said Cleary. “We are still going to give them choices, but we are packaging it differently. Rather than having multiple courses, we going back to our Survey of World Literature class. In that class, students will have choices. It’s basically taking some of the elective courses and giving kids the opportunity to do some independent work and exploration. There will be some common books to read. They will be able to choose what they want to study.”
Cleary said changing the English courses will give seniors more flexibility with their schedules. He also noted that the revised senior English courses include an Honors option. He said the senior electives are currently all CP courses with the exception of two Advanced Placement English classes.
“It gives students the option to take another Honors-level course that they may have taken the three previous years or gives students who haven’t taken an Honors class the opportunity to challenge themselves,” said Cleary. “Although it seems like we are taking some choices away, we are simply repackaging them and giving students other choices. We are hoping that it will give students the flexibility and freedom to pursue other classes and electives during their senior year. Right now, students very often have to make a choice between the English class they wanted and another class because it was only offered for one or two periods.”
In response to a question from School Committee member Phil McQueen, Cleary said the new senior English classes will include “some traditional parts of a survey of world literature course.”
“But we wanted to make sure students have voice and choice in that class,” Cleary added. “Rather than reading a piece and having everyone talk about it, students will be given a topic and there will be multiple books, plays, poems and films that students can explore that looks at that topic.”
While McQueen said he was impressed by the “wide selection of electives offered at the high school,” he noted that scheduling the electives was a challenge for LHS officials.
“It was an awesome idea and it worked well in certain areas,” said Cleary. “Scheduling wise, it limited our students. I have had to tell students every year they didn’t get into the course they wanted and they had to take another class that fit into their schedule. We were lucky that we didn’t hear a lot of arguments from students. This gives them a little more freedom.”
Cleary said the names for the Latin courses taken by juniors and seniors will be changing next year. He said Latin 3 will be the new name for the junior year Latin course while Latin 4 will be the senior year class. He noted that Honors level and CP level students will be in the same class because there is only one Latin teacher at the high school.
“Students will be able to receive Honors credit in the Latin 3 and Latin 4 courses,” said Cleary. “If a student wants Honors credit, they will have to receive department approval. With only one Latin teacher, we can’t offer seven sections of it.”
School Committee Vice Chair Stacy Dahlstedt inquired how many students enroll in Latin courses.
While Cleary said most students take Spanish, he said the high school’s Latin, French and Italian classes each have an average enrollment between 50 and 80 students. He noted that the vast majority of LHS students study a foreign language for all four years.
“There is something for everyone,” said Cleary.
School Committee Chair Rich Sjoberg said he enjoyed studying Latin in high school.
“It’s a great program to have,” said Sjoberg.
Cleary said the high school will also be adding new art and music courses, and will be making some changes to existing classes. He said LHS will be offering a new Pre-Advanced Placement Art Honors/Advanced Art Intensive class next year.
“This course is for the highly motivated student,” said Cleary. “The yearlong time period allows advanced students to refine their skills and work on independent projects and a variety of subjects and styles. A broad variety of mediums will be incorporated into projects. This course is required for all students who wish to take AP Art or complete a portfolio their senior year.”
Cleary said the pre-AP Photography/Graphic Design Honors course will be a new semester-long class for juniors.
“This course is for any 11th grade student who is interested in enrolling in Advanced Placement Photography and/or Graphic Design (2D Studio Art) during their senior year,” said Cleary.
Cleary said the Community Art class was previously called Visual Design. He said the name was changed because students used to think it was a graphic design class as opposed to an art class.
“It’s a little bit more experimental,” said Cleary.
LHS Band Director Harry Wagg said in an email sent to the Villager that the Guitar Ensemble and Percussion Ensemble classes will become semester courses instead of yearlong courses next year.
“Guitar Ensemble and Percussion Ensemble will run for one semester each,” stated Wagg. “Although students will no longer be able to take Guitar Ensemble for a full year, having both classes will increase the variety of offerings geared toward beginning musicians or those curious about the music program.”
Wagg also noted that the Music Department will be offering a semester-long Beginning Piano class for the first time. He said Choral Director Doug Hodgkins will be teaching the piano class.
“The piano course also increases the variety of our programming,” stated Wagg. “The piano class will run twice a year for one semester each. Students are welcome to enroll in any of these three courses more than once.”
School Committee member Jamie Hayman was pleased that Wagg is trying to get more students involved in the LHS music program.
Cleary said two new physical education classes will be coming to LHS next year. He said the Strength and Conditioning class and the Yoga, Zumba and Fitness Dance classes will be replacing the Fitness for Men class and the Fitness for Women course. He noted both new classes will be for juniors and seniors, and can be taken instead of the current Fitness and Recreation class.
“We are trying to make them more inclusive,” said Cleary.
Dahlstedt asked if the high school and the district will be expanding the health and physical education program next year. An audit undertaken by Lighthouse Wellness and Health Education Consulting last year recommended that both classes be expanded.
“It’s in the planning stages,” said Cleary.
The School Committee will be voting on the LHS Program of Studies on Tuesday, Jan. 24.