With the new additions of Arabic 1-4, Chemistry 2 Dual Enrollment and AP Seminar English 10 in the upcoming school year, these are the few of the FCPS approved course changes students can expect to see.

AP Seminar, English 10

Previously only an elective course, AP Seminar will be added to the English 10 curriculum alongside English 10, English 10 Honors and English 10 World Civilizations II as a weighted +1.0 with a prerequisite of any English 9 course. Offered in nearly 3,000 schools across the country, AP Seminar has been adopted within several districts in the 10th grade curriculum, and will continue to be offered as an elective outside of English 10.

“The biggest difference between the AP Seminar elective and AP Seminar as an English credit is the inclusion of three core literary texts and literary analysis,” English teacher Nicole Lehman said. “If they really love to read, then maybe English 10 Honors will be a better choice for a more traditional English class.”

According to the AP Seminar English 10 course on College Board, students analyze articles, research studies and learn literary and philosophical texts while exploring cross-curricular conversations of academic and real-world topics and issues. The class is focused on formative assessments, as students learn divergent perspectives through research projects, presentations and essays.

“Ninth grade students will be meeting with their counselors soon to talk about courses for next year,” Lehman said. “What the English 10 department has is a ‘document at a glance,’ which gives you what’s different and the same among all the choices for 10th grade and workload expectations students can use to keep their schedule balanced.”

Chemistry 2 DE

This course provides students the opportunity to earn credit through Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC). Students explore fundamental laws, theories and mathematics through chemical investigations and inquiry based labs. These are concepts of chemistry that typically would be covered in the first semester of a college course. Chemistry 2 DE will be offered for grades 11 and 12, weighted +1.0 and requires a prerequisite of Chemistry 1 and Algebra 2.

“We have tried very consciously at CHS to increase our offerings of dual enrollment courses,” Director of Student Services Amy Parmentier said. “We think alongside AP courses, DE courses are important rigorous courses [for students] to have exposure to, as they particularly matriculate to college.”

According to Parmentier, between what CHS and NVCC offer, students can earn the equivalent to an associate’s degree from taking DE courses. To learn about the criteria and opportunities, visit the FCPS website for more information. 

Arabic (1 – 4)

Alongside many other Chantilly Academy courses, students who previously wanted to take Arabic had to go to the Fairfax Academy at Fairfax High School. In the upcoming school year, it is planned to be offered within CHS Academy. For levels 1, 2 and 3, Arabic is a one-credit course and one-credit + 0.5 for Arabic 4 honors. 

According to FCPS, in 2023, enrollment for Arabic studies rose to 838 students from the previous school year, having nearly doubled over the past decade. If enough students sign up, CHS will be able to offer the course.

“Yeah, I think it’s a good opportunity for people who don’t speak Arabic because they finally learn their mother tongue, their language, their heritage,” freshman Seba Al-Zamil said. “Also getting to know people and relating back to your culture and speaking it is something important we need to preserve.”

Students Services, department chairs and administrators are evaluating additional Fairfax County Public Schools courses, including new offerings or those proposed by teachers, such as Music Media Culture. All courses for next year are finalized on the CHS Academic Advising site.