The student news site of Greater Latrobe High School

The High Post

The student news site of Greater Latrobe High School

The High Post

The student news site of Greater Latrobe High School

The High Post

Scheduling Opportunities

Scheduling+Opportunities

Students must make many decisions during third quarter when thinking about their future and deciding which classes to schedule for the following school year. Students must keep in mind the credits required to graduate, classes that could help prepare or get a head start for college such as AP classes, the next higher level of a core class, or classes of interest since a wide variety of courses are available. Greater Latrobe Senior High School offers a wide variety of classes to each student granting each individual the opportunity to create their schedules with a guidance counselor, keeping in mind that 24 credits are required for graduation.  

New classes were added to the 2012-2013 school year curriculum. At this point the only classes cut for the 2012-2013 school year are Life Span Learning Preschool and Life Span Learning Practicum.

Women’s Choir, instructed by Mr. Murray is an ensemble for the girls involved in the choral program. In order to participate, students must complete the audition process which includes individual singing, sight singing, scale singing, tonal memory, etc. This class will provide the opportunity for students to understand relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts. (Pending board approval).

AP Calculus BC will be offered every day next school year for students who took Introduction as a pre-requisite to Calculus the previous year. This course is designed for students who have already completed Introduction to Calculus with a B or higher. Juniors who took AP Calculus AB this year will move on to AP Calculus BC every other day.

Another addition to the curriculum is Introduction to Video Production. This semester course will be offered to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. This course will give students the opportunity to explore video production in a theory based and hands-on approach and will cover preproduction, production, and post-production process including storyboarding, script writing, directing, camera techniques, non-linear editing with Sony Vegas software and creating special effects. Students interested in communications, visual arts, public relations, acting, or technical production should consider scheduling this class. (Pending board approval).

Fabric Arts I will now be a combination of Fabric Arts I and II, merging the skills learned in each class. This course will teach students the basics of fashion, clothing design, sewing machine usage, commercial pattern selection, fitting, and construction. Fabric Arts I will be available for sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

Students have several other options to consider scheduling for the new school year. Several online classes are available for those who want to earn more credits or do not have enough room in their schedule during the school day. eCat Online Academy is an online platform for students which began in the 2011-2012 school year for students in grades 7-12. It allows students to take online coursework while giving them the opportunity to participate in school events. Students enrolled are either part-time or full-time students. Part-time students take certain classes at school then the rest of the classes are online. Full-time students take all of their courses online. eCat students are able to attend Eastern Westmoreland Career & Technology Center (EWCTC), earn a Greater Latrobe High School diploma, and participate in the graduation ceremony.

Greater Latrobe has partnership programs with EWCTC, Westmoreland County Community College, and Kennametal giving students a hands-on experience to a career of interest.

 Allied Health is a program offered to seniors planning a future health care career. Interns will gain academic, personal, and technical skills from classroom instruction at WCCC and Excela Health Latrobe Area Hospital as well as clinical rotation to local health clinics for students to shadow professionals in the medical field. “[Allied Health] gives you the opportunity to learn about the medical field and all of the different occupations that are in it so students can decided on what to do and what each career is like,” says Rachel Komisak, senior.

WCCC offers the Computer Engineering Technology / CISCO program, an academically challenging program giving students the opportunity to obtain a variety of computer-related certificates and prove their technology skills. During the first year students will learn about computer hardware and basic computer networking. The next two years students will learn CISCO curriculum along with wireless networking, computer and Internet security, and Visual Basic Net computer programming.

Dual Enrollment is available for juniors and seniors to take transferable postsecondary courses that will count towards college credits. This program is offered through Saint Vincent and WCCC for students with at least a 2.5 GPA. Saint Vincent requires a letter of recommendation from a guidance counselor while WCCC requires students to take the WCCC Placement Test. Students will be responsible for paying for tuition, textbook, and fees for each course taken. Students participating in dual enrollment attend school for half a day.

“I took [Dual Enrollment at Saint Vincent] to get more credits for college so I wouldn’t be so busy my freshman year,” said Dan Sarver, senior.

Senior Hannah David said, “I chose to participate in dual enrollment because it was a good opportunity to get a head start on my college credits, and since I could pass the test to qualify, I figured why not? It’s a chance to take.”

The Young Engineers program is an internship opportunity offered through Kennametal giving juniors and seniors at Greater Latrobe High School the opportunity to experience a career in engineering by participating in discussions with representatives from different engineering departments as well as hands-on projects at Kennametal. This program is a semester long and offered in the fall and spring every Tuesday and Thursday.

Scheduling for juniors begins February 6, sophomores begin scheduling February 21, and freshman begins scheduling March 5. March 30 will be the ultimate last day for students to make schedule changes. For more information and a description of the 2012-2013 courses, students can click on the guidance link on the main school website and find the course catalog online.

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