It’s that time of year again: scheduling. For those seniors blissfully wandering their way to college, this largely won’t apply to you. For anyone else, listen closely—your sanity may just depend on it. There are a number of changes coming to the Program of Studies, ranging from nominal changes of convenience to the addition of entirely new classes. This will be your guide to all of them.

Perhaps the most notable revisions come from the Social Studies Department. Next year, the department will add two entirely new classes: “AP Government and Comparative Politics” and “Honors Intro to Philosophy”.

The AP Government class will be divided into the two subsections of Federal Policy and Foreign Policy, covering the inner workings of our government and case studies of foreign governments, respectively. Ms. Keats, the head of the Social Studies Department, described the course as “a political science course about principles, elections, power, and the people, rather than the nitty-gritty of government.”

She also revealed the six countries upon which the Foreign Policy subsection will be centered: Russia, Nigeria, Mexico, Iran, China, and the United Kingdom. It is also important to note that, in terms of AP credits, this course will include two individual tests with separate scores—similar to how AP Economics is currently structured.

Honors Intro to Philosophy will be another class taught with a college-level textbook, although this one comes without the all-desirable AP weighting. Still, that shouldn’t be the deciding factor when deciding whether or not to take this class. It will focus on big-picture metaphysical and existential questions. According to Mrs.  Keats, it will not necessarily be a “test-heavy” class. Instead, it will be a discussion-based class, with occasional writing, taught by Mr. Pirring.

For junior Audra Sapp, Honors Philosophy was an easy choice.  “I’m interested in philosophy, and it tends to come up in English and social studies classes,” she said.  “It’s great to now have a specific course devoted entirely to the subject.”

The existing classes of American Government and American History and their corresponding Honors offerings also will be consolidated into a single course called Modern American History and Politics and Honors Modern American History and Politics. In the past, juniors were required to sign up for each class separately, causing scheduling difficulties and abnormalities. The Counseling Department anticipates that this change will help to simplify the process.

Additionally, Fundamentals of Democracy 1 and 2 have been renamed Fundamentals of Modern American History and Fundamentals of American Government and Law, respectively.

Further changes to the Program of Studies include titular adjustments in other departments. For those of you taking a language, realize that courses labeled 1a, 1b, 2, 3, Honors Senior will be renamed by the corresponding roman numeral (1a will become I, 1b will become II, etc.). Largely, the motivation behind this was to eliminate confusion, World Language Department Chair Ms. Good explained. It also will aid newcomers to the district who previously might not have had a corresponding class at their old school.

Academic Concepts of Physics will be changed to Academic Physics, and Academic Human Biology will be changed to Academic Anatomy and Physiology. The Math Department has removed “Introduction to” from Introduction to Probability and Statistics.  In the FCS department, the Beyond High School course is now the Real World course in the Program of Studies, and Child Development will offer college in high school credit.  In the Physical Education Department, Physical Education has been revised to Health and Physical Education.  The Tech Ed Department will begin offering Honors Introduction to Engineering Design next year.

Here at The Uproar, Journalism 11 and 12 will become Honors Journalism 11 and 12.  Additionally, the 1st-period NATV course that produces the morning announcements is now called Broadcasting, and the semester NATV courses later in the day have been renamed Film and TV Productions, 1, 2, and 3.

“I’m really excited for next year,” junior Ethan Eichelberger said. “All the new courses really allow me to focus specifically on my interests instead of subjects that I hate.”

For any more details regarding class changes, ask your counselor or a teacher. Good luck, everyone!