The school board has approved a plan to add more courses to the curriculum next school year.

New classes will be offered for junior high through high school and will focus on career and college preparedness.

“The school board has been wanting for teachers to make sure students have a plan for the future by the time they graduate,” Counselor Leslie Graham said. “I came across these new classes we could offer, and I thought they would make a great addition to the curriculum, as well as adding to the goal of making sure students have a path they want to follow.”

Junior high students will take Investigating Careers and College and Career Readiness classes for seventh and eighth grades, respectfully.

“The junior high classes will be mandatory, taking the place of seventh grade’s keyboarding and eighth grade’s tech apps,” Mrs. Graham said. “The board feels that with the integration of Chromebooks in the classrooms, our technology classes have become somewhat unnecessary.”

Ninth grade will have a new course that will replace the mandatory health and speech classes.

“The freshmen will begin taking a General Employability Skills course instead of health or speech,” Mrs. Graham said. “The course will teach students the skills they need to successfully reach employment.”

New classes to be taught for juniors and seniors are law enforcement and nursing classes. The classes are expected to be taught by officers from the Archer City Police Department and school nurse Sonja Oliver.

“The new classes offered will be elective credits, but we’re hopeful that students who take these courses will get a feel for whether or not it’s a subject they’re interested in before they pay the money to go to college for it,” Mrs. Graham said. “It could be a great way to decide if a career field is for you and to already know some background information before going to college.”

Students interested in signing up for these classes will be given the option during course selection with Mrs. Graham toward the end of the school year.