New Algebra II section added

The Math Department recently added an additional section of Algebra II. The section was added to accommodate the number of students already enrolled in regular Algebra II classes and the number of students dropping from Algebra II Honors.

The new section is taught fifth period by math teacher Michael Richardson beginning on Tuesday, September 29. According to Math Department Chair Matthew Chaffee, many students enrolled in regular Algebra II solely because the class meets the minimum UC/CSU requirement.

Students who wanted to drop the Algebra II Honors class had to stay in the class for a few weeks after the two-week drop period because there was no room in other classes. Regular Algebra II classes were previously filled with 32 to 34 students, which, according to Chaffee, was a concern because most other courses had ample room in college preparatory classes for students who want to drop.

“The Algebra II classes were all pretty large,” Assistant Principal Seth Leslie said. “When we realized we were going to have more kids in that already large Algebra II pool, the already large classes would have ended up being even larger with 34 to 36 kids.”

According to Leslie, the administration felt that the creation of a new class period would best accommodate this.

“We felt it was important to ensure that the issue was resolved appropriately,” Leslie said. “It was a situation where opening a new section was in the best interest of students.”

According to Algebra II Honors teacher Carol Evans, the number of students who drop Algebra II Honors is usually high. However, Evans said that this year, the dropping “happened all at once.”

Evans said that the students who choose to drop the class usually do not have a problem finding room in the regular Algebra II classes.

“We had to open a new section to have somewhere for the honors kids who dropped to go, but we were also able to pull one to three kids out of the other sections to make those classes a little bit smaller,” Chaffee said.

Some students found the waiting period to be a challenge and felt that their time could have been better spent had there been space for them in the regular Algebra II class.

“Waiting in the Honors class was very frustrating because I didn’t understand what was going on, and it was just a waste of time since I was going to be out of it soon anyway,” sophomore Luiza Arutjunian said. “I didn’t care to try on the tests, partly because I was just completely lost.”

According to Leslie, adding the new Algebra II section was the best way to help resolve issues like Luiza’s because other options would have required larger schedule changes.

“We don’t want to have anyone drop a class that they had signed up for just because they wanted to drop Algebra II Honors,” Leslie said.

Some students said that they will choose their classes more judiciously in order to prevent similar issues in the future.

“Next time I have a choice of AP/Honors classes I will really think about whether or not I really want to commit to the class,” Luiza said.

According to Chaffee, the new class has been able to meet student demand.

The Math Department will continue to analyze its classes as well as the number of students enrolled in each.

“We will look at the current [number of students in] Algebra II and see if we need to have another section at the beginning of next year,” Chaffee said.