ADAMS TWP — Mars School Board members are expected to vote next Tuesday on several curriculum changes proposed next year at the high school.

Mars High School Principal Todd Kolson presented the changes to board members Monday night. He compiled the proposal from requests made by teachers.

An introduction to digital photography elective course is proposed in response to student interest in photography. Kolson said students would be chosen by lottery because more students would likely select the class than could be accommodated.

The course would cost about $4,850 for cameras and other materials, but board member Rebecca Brown suggested the class include a lab fee like other art courses to reduce the cost to the district.

Two new advanced courses proposed by Kolson, advanced financial accounting and advanced introduction to micro computing, are college-level classes offered through an agreement with the school district and Butler County Community College.

The courses would be offered during the school day to juniors and seniors, who would pay a $297 registration fee to the community college. Students would receive both a half-credit from the high school and three college credits from BC3 for the classes.

A proposed creative writing class would be for juniors and seniors who would be required to get a minimum grade of 84 percent in the previous year's English course to take the new writing class.

A full-year Mandarin Chinese II language class would be taught online by the Midwestern Intermediate Unit.

Mandarin Chinese I currently has 11 students, who are interested in the next step in the language, Kolson said.

Modifications to several courses included changing the names of many classes and the addition of two novels to the coursework in English 12.

The modifications for both advanced United States history and advanced European history include the addition of summer assignments for students to prepare for the rigor of the courses.

But Superintendent William Pettigrew questioned how students would ask a question while completing the summertime assignments. Kolson said he would speak with the teachers regarding the matter.

Course deletions include hardware and software technologies, which was not offered this year because of low enrollment numbers. Kolson said the new robotic courses slated for the next school year will cover concepts from the class.

The school board is expected to vote Nov. 10 on the course changes. The board will meet at 7 p.m. in the administration office adjacent to Mars Primary Center.