Michael Sweet ‘17
Saint Ignatius High School welcomed a full slate of new courses for the 2013-14 school year, affecting wide swathes of the school’s curriculum across both the humanities and sciences. For the first time, Saint Ignatius students were introduced to AP Economics, Computer Science, Honors English IV, Entrepreneurial Studies and Cleveland History.
A shift in department policy resulted in the AP English Language and Composition being made available to juniors, while Anatomy and Physiology gained honors designation. Physical education and Computer were made sophomore-year courses, and all freshmen will take biology beginning next year. The reforms to the school’s curriculum were significant, and may set a precedent for additional restructuring.
Mr. Dan Hess ’88, who is currently teaching World History, Entrepreneurship studies, and AP Economy, believes that the changes made so far have had a positive effect on the school.
“We added AP Econ and Entrepreneurship Studies this year,” Hess said. He believes that the classes are attractive both for business-oriented students and especially for members of the Saint Ignatius Entrepreneur Academy, the school’s hands-on celebration of all things capitalistic.
“The changes have allowed us to pursue the goals of our strategic plan which called for expanded ‘enhanced learning,” Hess said. “I call it ‘hybrid learning,’ in which a guy has curricular and extracurricular experiences, off campus and on.”
The new classes, particularly AP Economics, have been highly sought after. As a result, conflicts can occur when there are too few desks for too many students.
“Adding classes at a school is a zero-sum game. New classes can take students away from other sections and subjects,” Mr. Hess explains. “But a school cannot rest on its laurels. Especially one that has to convince parents to spend tens of thousands of dollars.”
Hess views the new classes as an effective way of increasing the appeal of a Saint Ignatius education while also serving the Jesuit mission.
“We need to tweak our classes and curriculum to better serve our constituents. If we don’t, our school will lose ground against our competitors,” he said. “The hope is that a school like Ignatius can sustain all the classes with smaller class sizes. Funding new classes with fewer students can present fiscal challenges.”
Mr. Dennis Arko, the English chief of the Streicher Humanities program and the Honors English III teacher, said that a flexible curriculum is necessary in order to ensure that students are engaged and informed.
“Most teachers know this: We have to teach students to show what they are doing in their work, not just to do the work and hope that the answer is correct,” Arko said. “It is the administration’s duty to allow this. It must enable the change in curriculum to make the student show his work.”
Streicher Humanities world history teacher Mr. Dave Cicetti said that the history department aims to stay in sync with other schools around the country.
“As a department we will ensure that our students are fully prepared for the state mandated test associated with the Common Core social studies curriculum. Mr. Pecot and Mr. Corrigan participated in a program last year to test out the new standards,” Cicetti said.
The Common Core has been a source of significant political controversy nationwide, drawing grassroots opposition from both liberals and conservatives. For now, the new standards seem likely to stay, and the school will try to adapt.
“The common core standards for social studies call for student-led investigations and high-level questioning more so than previous standardized tests which typically only tested for students’ factual knowledge,” Cicetti said.
