Hinsdale District 86 curriculum changes on pause as board of education weighs options

During a Hinsdale District 86 board of education meeting, staff members presented five potential changes to the school’s curriculum, including four adjustments to the social studies department and one to the mathematics.

In May, the board heard recommendations from social studies faculty about realignment of the department to offer the same courses between Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South High Schools.

Public pushback to these changes, centered primarily around the installment of AP Modern World History as the primary honors history course path opposed to the current AP European History which would be offered as an elective, prompted the district to reevaluate the adjustments.

Jason Markey, assistant superintendent for academics, oversaw the presentation which included three new social studies courses, Human Geography and Human Geography Honors for freshman, AP Modern World History as an elective for sophomore, juniors and seniors and the removal of Western Civilization as an elective.

Whether AP Modern World History will supplant AP European History in the future may come down to enrollment and test scores over the next couple of years, Markey said.

“We’re really trying to create an experience that offers students a robust historical thinking curriculum but also one that is maintainable and sustainable,” Christopher Cirrincione, assistant principal for instruction at Hinsdale Central, said about the proposed changes.

Presentation documents assert that “freshmen in District 86 do not have a common social studies experience,” and the new human geography courses would seek to align the experience at Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South.

“Our students are prepared to make the jump if they feel comfortable, because our teachers have done so much in writing skills and developing students as a social studies and history writer,” Cirrincione said.

The last proposed curriculum change would see the addition of Geometry in Construction to the high schools’ Math and Career and Technical Education departments.

The course would offer a practical and more engaging means of teaching geometry, Eric Martzolf, assistant principal for curriculum and instruction at Hinsdale South, said during an Oct. 2 board meeting.

“It is exactly as it sounds, a geometry course that will construct something,” Martzolf said.

While Geometry in Construction will not replace the core geometry course it would offer the same lessons to students, Martzolf said. “The concepts are the exact same … they will not miss out on anything.”