Chandler Unified School District is planning to offer what is believed to be the nation’s first high school semiconductor course, starting next school year.
Honors Semiconductors 1 was one of the new classes proposed to be added to the course catalog during an Oct. 23 meeting of the Governing Board.
It was presented as an information item, along with the other changes. The board will vote at its next meeting on Nov. 13 on adding them.
“This is really exciting,” board member Kurt Rohrs said. “Honors robotics and engineering, we’re really moving ahead quickly on this and I want to compliment you for making this available.
“The one that’s most exciting is honors semiconductors class, I don’t know if anyone else has this that I’ve heard of in the state, or maybe in the country.”
The classes being added to the high school catalog include Honors Semiconductors; Honors Robotics and Engineering Technologies (1 and 2); Targeted English Language Development; E-sports; English Literature and Performance; Mentorships Internships Careers; and Creative Musicianship.
The Honors Semiconductor course will be available at Hamilton while the Honors Robotics and Engineering course will be available at four high schools: Basha, Casteel, Hamilton and Perry.
The semiconductor course description says learners will delve into fundamental concepts of both DC and AC electrical circuits, analyzing various circuits, calculating expected values and verifying those calculations through hands-on measurements.
The district is working with the University of Arizona to develop the course. Those two entities followed a similar path in developing CUSD’s cybersecurity course.
The district held a summer camp on the subject that was wildly popular with students and had to close registration a couple hours after it started taking applications.
The robotics and engineering description says the class will delve deeper into the complex systems and technologies that drive modern automation and robotics.
The English course aims to help students who primarily speak another language and are struggling to catch up with their peers. The E-sports class is for people who will be competing in junior varsity and varsity games. English Literature and Performance is for people interested in the theater.
Mentorships Internships Careers will pair students with businesses to give them some real-world experience. Creative musicianship explores sound and how it relates to generating new musical expressions.
District officials also presented some new suggested courses for its junior high catalog.
Those classes are Targeted ELD (same as the high school version but for younger grades); and Discovering Your Path. That course will serve as an introduction to dozens of technical education options students can pursue when they reach high school.
The class aims to help students develop the skills needed to make informed decisions about their future.
Board member Jason Olive said he was impressed by the numerous options students have in the course catalog.
“Don’t try to read the whole thing in one sitting, it’s 186 pages long,” Olive said. “You could go to high school for 20 years and not take the same thing twice. It’s really quite amazing.”
Board President Barb Mozdzen said she appreciated how officials have detailed the pathway so students would know which course they need to take and when to reach their desired goal.
“They can look through this, and they can say this is my plan, the parents can say this is the plan,” she said.
