June 19, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 9 FLOW Area Trustees plan to bring back University Programs by Frank J. McMahon The Ramapo Indian Hills Board of Education is planning to reinstate the three University Programs that were dropped from the 2011-12 school year curriculum in February 2011, although they will likely be structured differently than the previous programs. Jane Castor, chairperson of the school board’s Education Committee, announced at the last public meeting that, while the committee is still working on the details of the new information technology, communications, and theater arts programs, they would be finalized by November. The programs would begin in the 2014-15 school year, and would be three-year programs the students would take starting in their sophomore year. Castor said there may be some introductory level courses as electives in ninth grade, but the themed classes of electives would not start until the tenth grade. According to Castor, the committee’s investigation into why the enrollment dropped for these three courses, which led to their discontinuance, was a communication gap between the middle schools and the high school district. She said students have a hard time deciding to sign on to such programs when they are anticipating a lot of changes as they go from middle school to high school. She also pointed out that, when students apply for the University Programs, they have to decide the November they are in eighth grade – a year in advance. “So we thought we’d let the students come into ninth grade and adjust to being in the new school,” Castor said, “and then they will have a better sense if they want to take this (new program) on.” Castor said the committee is not yet sure if the new programs will be set courses, or if there will be options for students to choose from a group of courses that will all be supported by a theme, and the faculty, staff, and the curriculum director will be spending time soon building a good concentration of courses for the students to take. Castor also pointed out that these modified programs may lead to the opportunity for these types of programs in other areas, such as music, art, or computer science, but the committee wants to begin with the areas known to be of interest and which already have courses designed. She emphasized, however, that the international studies, business, and science medicine and research University Programs will not be affected by the reinstatement of these three modified programs. In February 2011, the school board decided to discontinue offering the information technology, communications, and theater arts University Programs on an exclusive basis to incoming freshmen effective with the 2011-12 school year due to the reduced enrollment in those programs. At that time, fewer than 18 students had applied for each of those three programs – an enrollment that was below the threshold established by the Education Committee and communicated in an open letter to the community the previous September. The theater arts and communications programs, which were introduced at Ramapo in 2000, had been provided at Ramapo High School. The information technology program, which was introduced in 2002, was provided at the Indian Hills High School.