At last week’s (Thursday, Oct. 24) Board of Education meeting, school officials reviewed a handful of new courses that Wilton High School will offer next year, including Robotics I and II, Marching Band, Child Development III and a variety of engineering courses.

The robotics courses, which will cost more than $22,000 to start up, are expected to be popular, according to Fran Kompar, noting they’re part of the district’s push in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) curriculum.

Kompar, who retired last year as Wilton Public Schools‘ director of digital learning and instruction technologies, participated as a consultant in a presentation to the board alongside WHS Principal Robert O’Donnell and Associate Principal Brian Keating.

“We’re really excited about it,” Kompar said of the robotics class, noting that this hands-on exploration will include design, construction, programming and AI implementation of robots, with a focus on engineering-related problem solving.

“This is a really exciting new program that basically adds to, and fills out, the whole STEM proposal,” she said.

Kompar said educators have heard from students at Middlebrook School who have already been expressing interest, some of whom have been working with robotics at the Wilton Library and Trackside Teen Center.

Kompar also talked about the new proposed versions of several engineering courses, which have been divided into one-semester courses to provide students with better access.

“Students were having a really hard time fitting these courses into their schedule,” she said, having previously been year-long classes. “What students were telling us was that they were having to choose between, say, being in band or taking a STEM course.”

Now, both Introduction to Engineering I and Principles of Engineering I will each be offered as a one-semester I and a one-semester II course, while Aerospace Engineering I, formerly a year-long course, will only be taught as a one-semester course.

“That actually allows students to provide more access … It frees up their schedule,” Kompar said, adding, “That all will help in terms of what we’re actually trying to achieve,” she said.

Marching Band — From Extracurricular to Course Offering

A look at the proposed Marching Band course drew questions about how some activities rate course credits, while others don’t.

“Students are in marching band, they were at our games … but they were never doing it for credit,” Keating explained.

The only other comparable course, he said, was jazz ensemble, which meets during after-school hours. He said they would be determining the credit value through a comparison.

BOE Chair Ruth DeLuca questioned whether this was equitable for other students.

“I’m struggling with it a little bit because I know our kids do struggle to get electives and other things in their schedule … and there are kids who play multiple sports,” she said, calling it “a whole new world of thinking” wherein students get credit for things outside the school day.

However, schools’ Superintendent Kevin Smith said this was not precedent-setting.

“The ethos of Wilton High School has been they try to make things work for kids,” he said, including through independent study.

Keating pointed out that the physical education curriculum does not necessarily always match with sports activities. “Physical fitness and competition isn’t the only thing that comprises the P.E. curriculum,” he said.

Likewise, the Marching Band course is proposed to meet required music curriculum standards.

Asked why this wasn’t being done as a course during the school day, O’Donnell said that the administrators were yielding to the judgment of music teachers Malcolm Karlan and Troy Williams, who proposed the course.

“We were seeing a bit of a downward trend (in music) that we were concerned about, so we listened to them,” he said. “I think they know the students, the offerings and the schedules of the students, and felt this was the way to go.”

Keating added that finding open space on the fields during the day was also an issue.

Asked how WHS avoided having to give students credit for extracurricular activities, Keating said, “We would have to see if it matches up to a curriculum.”

“Is what’s happening after school at all aligned? Is it feeding into the curriculum? Is it just adding to the curriculum? So the difference between part of the curriculum or extracurricular really has to do with whether or not it’s something that follows the standards we have in the curriculum,” he said.

Child Development Program

Another new offering, following on the heels of Child Development I and II, is Child Development III, which brings students the chance for extensive engagement with the on-site Helping Hands preschool.

“That would add to a third year of a sequence and there is more of a focus of having students in Child Development III in the Helping Hands preschool,” he said, unlike CD II, which only offers minimal interactive exposure.

“This would be for our high school students who are interested or taking a look at a career of working with youngsters,” he said, “and it would give them a more hands-on approach to running their own classroom (or) running a program.”

This led to a discussion of the popularity of the preschool program, which O’Donnell said has struggled with enrollment.

BOE member Heather Priest suggested that perhaps the district could consider expanding it from a morning-only session to a full-day or adding an afternoon session.

“I wonder if it’s a matter of awareness,” she said, noting that local parents seem to struggle to find preschool openings and are sometimes left on waiting lists.

Smith was excited by the concept and indicated he would pursue the question.

“I’d be interested to float that idea through the community,” he said.

BOE member Pam Ely — a former director at the Wilton Children’s Day School preschool program — praised the Child Development classes.

“This is a well-crafted program,” she said, noting that CD III adds another dimension.

“It just raises the bar,” she said.