Copyright Shaw Local Enewspapers
Geneva High School students will see one new course and modifications to six existing courses in the 2026-27 school year, after the school board approves. Speaking at the Oct. 27 District 304 school board meeting Geneva High School Associate Principal Doug Drexler said the new course and modifications were already reviewed by administrators, department chairs and others. “You are the final stop on this train,” Drexler said. “Not looking for approval tonight, but hopefully looking for approval at the November board meeting.” Psychology 2 in the Social Studies Department will be the new course. Its prerequisite will be a B or better in Psychology 1 – which will be the new name for the current psychology course. Materials and training is estimated to cost an additional $1,200, according to the board packet. Psychology, Psychology 2, along with AP calculus, AP statistics and standard calculus are expected to be dual college credit, Drexler said. An additional cost of nearly $38,000 is anticipated for materials and training, according to the board packet. AP Calculus BC, horticulture and Restaurant Entrepreneurship 2 are also designated for dual college credit. Some classes will be the same, but open up to an earlier grade level, Drexler said. “Yearbook is opening up to freshmen. It’s currently open only to sophomores,” Drexler said. “And the following year (students would) take our yearbook leadership course, which is currently open to only juniors and seniors (and) move that down to be available to sophomores. We feel that could be a good elective for incoming freshmen who often lack a lot of elective choices.” The Social Studies Department’s campaigns and elections course, currently only open to juniors and seniors, will be available to sophomores. “We believe there are students interested in engaging in that course as a sophomore, so we’d like to open it up to them,” Drexler said. A dual credit class in the Wellness Department, social issues and sports, currently open to juniors and seniors will be open to sophomores, he said. The staff also revised the computer science course as an alternative for students who already have skills and would be bored in an introductory class, he said. If students are proficient in the Python Coding System, they can skip the introductory course and go right to Computer Science 2. “We think that is going to be an attractive option for students,” Drexler said. The Computer Science Principles 1 will go from a one-year course to into a one semester course, with Computer Science Principles 2 following in a second semester. The National Collegiate Athletic Association approved the critical approaches to film class in the English Department and geometry concepts and applications course in the Math Department, he said. “The NCAA now recognizes those as contributing to the four-year required courses in the core departments for student athletes or students that want to pursue college athletics after graduation from Geneva High School,” Drexler said. The default physical education course for juniors and seniors, known as lifetime fitness, will be combined. “With declining enrollment, it creates problems with those sections if only seniors are in certain sections and only juniors are in other sections,” Drexler said. “So we are going to return to how this course operated 20-25 years ago and simply combine the juniors and seniors into the same sections.” The course will be a two-year curriculum on alternating years so all students will eventually get the same core experiences, just in different years, he said. The school board is expected to approve the changes at the Nov. 10 meeting.
