Five new middle school courses proposed

What happened

At the Aug. 1, 2026 retreat the board discussed and then placed on its consent agenda a proposal for five new middle school courses: Gifted Seminar, Reading Boost, Math Boost, a career and technical education course called Make it Your Business, and ESL: English Proficiency Development. Two of the five are catch-up classes in reading and math.

Why it matters to families

Middle school course lists decide what a student's day is made of, and adding dedicated reading and math support classes usually means the division is trying to close gaps before high school. Families should ask how students are placed into the Boost classes and what a student gives up in the schedule to take one.

The evidence

The board's official BoardDocs meeting index lists, for the Aug. 1, 2026 annual summer retreat, item 5.4 '(Discussion) Proposal for New Middle School Courses: Gifted Seminar, Reading Boost, Math Boost, CTE: Make it Your Business, & ESL: English Proficiency Development' and consent item 8.3 with the same course list. The index does not include placement rules or the courses' descriptions.

The source