Starting next school year, East Aurora High School students will have four new course offerings to choose from.
The classes set to be introduced next year are Culinary Arts Fundamentals, Forensics II, College Preparation Math and Technical Math as Dual Credit.
The new courses were OK’d by the East Aurora School District 131 school board last week, meaning they’re set to be introduced for the 2026-27 school year.
Implementing them will not require hiring any additional staff, according to a memo from East Aurora High School Principal Jennifer Mitchell.
The new culinary arts course is an elective designed for students in the district’s Life Skills program that offers those students “a safe and supportive environment to learn culinary arts,” Mitchell explained at the Aug. 18 meeting of the school board’s Curriculum Committee.
The new forensics class is intended as a complement to the Forensics I course the district already offers, according to East Aurora High School Assistant Principal for Teaching and Learning Jackie Stone. It will provide 0.5 lab science credits required for graduation, according to a presentation from school leadership about the new courses. The state requires a total of two years of laboratory science.
The new college preparation math class, available to junior and senior students, is intended to prepare them for Advanced Placement precalculus or statistics courses, or for general education college math courses, Mitchell said.
The state stipulates that high school students take three years of math courses.
Lastly, Stone explained, the district already offers a technical math course, but the new course approved for next year will provide dual credit, something she said other schools in the area already offer for this class. It will offer students 1.0 community college credits through the district’s partnership with Waubonsee Community College, per the presentation.
Now, with board approval, these courses are set to be implemented next year.
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/08/new-courses-east-aurora-high-school/
