ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Starting next academic year, the Allentown School District will prioritize algebra learning at its high schools while also offering more science, Spanish, art and technology courses.
The Allentown School Board approved the 2025-26 program of studies at its Thursday meeting, adding 23 new courses for secondary students.
“As I look at these courses, they are in line with what colleges are doing so it's actually preparing our students for college,” said school board member LaTarsha Brown.
To implement the new courses, ASD will hire up to 25 new teachers at a maximum cost of $3.25 million, according to board documents.
Math changes, new science standards
Melissa Smith, executive director of learning and teaching, said some of the major programming changes are in math at the high-school level.
“Our data is showing that we are struggling in algebra, so we are revamping what we will be doing for algebra,” Smith said.
"Our data is showing that we are struggling in Algebra, so we are revamping what we will be doing for Algebra."Melissa Smith, Executive Director of Learning and Teaching
Currently, students who may need extra math practice start with a developmental algebra course before moving on to take Algebra I. Next year, students will not have that option.
Instead, they will either have Algebra I with enrichment or Algebra I with a math lab.
For those taking the enrichment option, students will have a double period of algebra every day to practice foundational skills. Students taking the math lab option will have an additional algebra period every other day focused on applying math principles to real-world scenarios.
Superintendent Carol Birks said the changes are important because Algebra I is the “gatekeeper to college access and success for students.”
Additionally, the district added two high-school science classes: introduction to health science, and anatomy and physiology.
ASD made other science changes, too, including the removal of physical science as its ninth grade offering.
Instead, freshmen will study biology and the living Earth before moving on to chemistry and earth systems in their sophomore year, and physics and the universe in their junior year. This sequence aligns with new state science standards.
Student interest in Spanish
ASD will also be adding more world language options, particularly Spanish classes based on student interest levels.
More than 3,000 students in eighth through 11th grades provided input about what new classes they’d like to take, and 40% of those students said they were interested in Spanish.
As a result, ASD will consider adding a Spanish I offering for eighth grade students, so they are able to progress enough in the subject by high school to take advanced placement Spanish in their senior year.
The district will pilot a full-year Spanish course at South Mountain Middle School next year before deciding whether to offer Spanish I to all eighth graders across its four middle schools.
Additional Spanish course offerings at the high-school level include Spanish literature, Spanish for business and Spanish for health care. ASD will also add Arabic II, French II and American Sign Language I offerings while removing advanced level German classes due to a lack of interest.
There will also be a new Latin American Literature course.
New arts and tech courses
ASD will offer six new related arts courses for high school students, including Guitar & Strings I, Music Production, Music Appreciation, Culinary Concepts, Applied Arts and Advanced Placement Three-Dimensional Arts.
For business and technology courses, there will be three new options: Introduction to Engineering, Mobile App Design and Development, and Python for Data Science and AI.
School directors also approved a new AI policy in the same board meeting.
For college and career readiness, the district will offer a course to prepare middle school students for college and a capstone experience for upperclassmen in high school.
More courses in 2026-27
Though they won’t be implemented until 2026-27, school directors also approved the development of both a religious studies and social justice course.
School Director Nick Nicholoff raised concerns about the religious studies course.
He said it's important to make sure multiple religions are discussed so the district doesn’t open itself up to any legal issues by focusing on one faith.
Smith said the course will explore multiple religions and will be developed over the next year.
Brown praised the religious studies offering, referencing her own experience taking a religious studies course in college. She said the class helped her learn how to communicate with people who think differently than she does.
School Director Zaleeae Sierra celebrated the new course offerings as a way to motivate students following a disinterest in learning after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I feel like this presentation was just that next step of giving hope again to our learning community,” she said.
