Quaker Valley School Board approves new courses, curriculum changes

A new music pathway for students who prefer not to perform, as well as focus on business and entrepreneurship, are among the new courses being developed at Quaker Valley School District.

School directors voted 7-0 on Feb. 18 to approve amended program of studies for the middle and high school.

Board members Geoff Barnes and Kati Doebler were absent.

Superintendent Tammy Andreyko said impacted teachers will be writing curriculum, acquiring new materials and equipment if needed and creating a master schedule to have the courses ready for the 2025-26 school year.

“We’re extremely pleased with the dedication that our teachers have shown to offer students a variety of courses, and keep their interests in other areas alive,” Andreyko said.

Board members learned about the proposed changes at their Feb. 10 workshop meeting.

It included presentations from several administrators, including high school Principal Deborah Riccobelli, career education coordinator Amy Kelley, chorus teacher and music department head Austin Wolford, art teacher Nina Strelec and family and consumer science teacher Kaitlin Campbell.

Riccobelli said many of the program changes and additions were driven by a student surveys in April.

Top electives included business-related courses, entrepreneurship, interior design, popular music and music technology.

Minor changes included renaming classes such as economic theory and financial literacy to consumer economics and personal finance, and a technology and engineering class name change from AutoCad to drafting and design.

Students next school year will also be introduced to Future Ready Academies, which will focus on career paths in science and health, innovative arts and communications, human services and business, finance and information technology.

Music additions

New music courses proposed at the high school were music in pop culture and music theory. New music courses proposed at the middle school were modern music production and comprehensive musicianship.

Wolford said these additions will help students learn more about music production, podcasting, sound recording, audio engineering, as well as the music business and increase music literacy.

He said one of the things discovered while analyzing the district’s music offerings was a majority of it focused around singing, instruments and other forms of performance.

“We understand that not every kid is a performing arts kid,” Wolford said on Feb. 10.

Teaching more skills

The family and consumer science department proposed a revised curriculum for cooking essentials and foods, as well as the creation of three new courses — kitchen basics: foundations of cooking; beyond the basics: advanced cooking concepts; and an introduction to design.

Campbell said students will learn various skills that will help them far beyond the classroom, including sewing. The adjustments also align with new state Department of Education standards.

Strelec said there has been a boom in art interests the past few years with some students asking to repeat courses or become teaching assistants.

That led to the proposal of adding an advanced mosaic course as well as an introduction to printmaking and creating an independent artist’s studio.

Strelec said having more offerings would provide student artists opportunities to expand their skills beyond current electives. The artist’s studio would be a project-based course.

A more in-depth reveal of the curriculum changes can be found on the district’s website under school board presentations.

School board support

Board member Gianni Floro voted in favor of the new course proposals.

However, he also expressed concerns about how having so many electives may take away from core classes like reading, writing and arithmetic.

Board president Jonathan Kuzma said having a variety of course offerings has helped the district get recognized regionally and nationally, including the middle school in October being named a National Blue Ribbon School.

Having a “wide breath of options” also helps create a more well-rounded student who is better prepared for their next steps, Kuzma said.

District officials are exploring ways to make more electives available for college credit.

Quaker Valley has dual enrollment classes via partnerships with University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University.