New Courses Planned at Mount Si this Fall
Published 2:44 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
Aug. 31 is the first day of school in School
District 410. Mount Si Principal Gordon Prehm discussed
some of the new course offerings at the Aug. 9 school
board meeting.
Perhaps the most dynamic course is the
“Diversified Occupation Program” which will be offered to
seniors only. Participants in the program attend four periods
of school each day and then report to a job for which
they get paid and also receive credit.
One of the four class periods is designed to
prepare the students for outside work and emphasizes job
responsibility. Program director Robert Cole will
coordinate with local employers the various job
possibilities and student placement.
Prehm noted that 40 to 46 percent of Mount Si
graduates go into immediate employment, not counting
those who enter the military or marriage.
“Child Care,” a vocationally oriented course for
girls, will expand on teachings in the former home and
family education courses with a two-week lab in actual
child care practice.
Courses will also be offered in cabinet making
and auto maintenance in addition to the regular shop
and auto mechanics courses.
A “science inquiry” course will be offered to
advanced science students. This is an independent
study program and chemistry is required as a prerequisite
in entering the course.
For freshmen already exhibiting an enthusiastic
interest in science, a special course “Environmental
Science” will be offered.
There will also be 28 English courses to choose
from to meet the three-year requirement for English.
Prehm and Vice-principal John Neal also
outlined recommended attendance procedures and
requirements to the board. Their recommendations resulted from
consultation with an Attendance Committee composed
of teachers, students and parents.
Under the new procedures, a student would be allowed a total of 9 excused or unexcused absences
from a particular class. Unless extenuating circumstances
prevailed, the student would not receive credit for the
class, and in the case of required courses, would have to
repeat the course.
Exceptions would have to appear before a
student-teacher hearing committee. Neal noted that
“extenuating circumstances” would be defined totally as “illness.”
In cases of obvious truancy, Neal outlined the
following procedures: For the first instance, a
student-parent administration conference would be necessary.
For a second violation, the student would be suspended
for three days and his parents notified and a conference
required.
The third violation calls for automatic dismissal
from school until the end of the semester.
