RIHS to Offer New Courses for 2024-2025 School Year

At the Nov. 28 board meeting, the Board of Education approved three new courses to be taught at Rock Island High School for the 2024-205 school year.

The three new courses are Spanish for Heritage Speakers I and II, Global Awareness and ELA Course, and AP Chemistry.

Spanish for Heritage Speakers I and Spanish Speakers for Heritage II

The year-long course offers an opportunity for our heritage Spanish speakers to immerse themselves in their literature, culture, and language. It helps create a more welcoming school environment for our Latino and Spanish students. Students will be placed by counselors according to the student’s home language and personal preference Specific placement criteria will be developed Course meets Illinois and World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages. (Communication, Culture, Connections, Comparisons, and Community) In 2028, Illinois will require two years of a world language for graduation. Many Hispanic students currently enroll in

Spanish 1 or 2 Aligns with RIHS’s greatest area of need: Fluency in Reading. The course will focus on reading and writing in the heritage language.

Course Objectives:

Demonstrate advanced literacy, written, and oral skills in Spanish in professional and academic settings.
Recognize the value of the Spanish language as it is used in the United States.
Demonstrate a wider understanding of Hispanic and Spanish culture in the USA.
Create a community with other students who share a cultural connection with the language and similar linguistic backgrounds.
Students will be able to earn the National Seal of Biliteracy after the completion of year two and have scored 480 or above on their SAT English subtest.

Global Awareness and ELA
The course will enhance opportunities and access for students in English, provide an additional option for AVID students, and align with the district's Strategic Plan. The course will be offered to 12th-grade students. The course will enable students to find success on “day one” in college courses. Students must maintain a C or better each quarter in this year-long class to earn a *State portability code that will replace remedial classes that otherwise would be required for 100-level coursework at Black Hawk College.

Course Objectives:

Consider reading and writing tasks and adapt their approaches and strategies.
Analyze, evaluate, and synthesize while reading and writing.
Construct and monitor an adaptive plan of action to structure their learning process using reading, writing, or critical thinking skills.
Reflect upon collected and original thoughts to strengthen their reading, writing, and critical thinking processes.
Transfer reading, writing, and critical thinking process purposefully to authentic contexts beyond the English language arts classroom.
Employ non-cognitive essential skills including personal ethic, work ethic, teamwork, and communication.

AP Chemistry

AP Chemistry will ensure student preparation for college chemistry and provide potential College Credit. This also allows Rock Island High School to be competitive with other area high schools and aligns with the district's Strategic Plan. The course meets the Next Generation Science Standards. The course is weighted and will be offered to 11th and 12th-grade students. Upon completion of the course, students will have met 117 learning objectives AP Chemistry Curriculum Framework, the 6 Big Ideas that focus on the AP Chemistry Curriculum, and the 7 Science Practices that provide the remainder of the learning objectives. The prerequisites for this course are General Chemistry or Honors Chemistry, Algebra II, strongly Recommended - Physics, and AP Physics I. All courses should be passed with at least a C average or permission of the instructor.