Milpitas High to Add AP Economics, French to Course Curriculum This Fall

Milpitas High School will be adding Advanced Placement (AP) Economics to its curriculum this upcoming Fall, the Milpitas Unified School District Board of Education unanimously voted at its Tuesday evening meeting.

“It’s ideal for a student that’s going into business or finance,” said board member William Foulk before the course was approved.

The teacher for the course will be trained over the summer to meet the official College Board requirements. The seniors-only course will be open-enrollment, but limited to 35 students in the first year. The following year, another section of the course will hopefully be offered, said Milpitas High Vice Principal Brian McGarry.

In future years, Milpitas High is looking to expand its offering of AP classes, said McGarry to the Board. This fall, it will also be bringing back French, which was previously put on hold due to not enough interest.

“Students who take AP classes do much better in college, and stay much longer,” he said.

The Economics course, which is a year long as opposed to the typical semester, will delve deep into both micro- and macroeconomics, he said. It will touch on a wide variety of current affairs, such as the European debt crisis.

Student representative Vicky Tu asked the board if the course could also be made available to juniors, but board member Cody Matsouka said only seniors would be allowed “as a matter of capacity.”

Currently Milpitas High offers Advanced Placement Calculus AB and BC, Studio Art, Spanish, World History, U.S. History, Chemistry, Biology and English, said McGarry. 

At the meeting, which stretched from about 7 to 8:30 p.m., the board also unanimously voted to raise developer fees. Without discussion, they agreed to raise them from $2.97 to $3.20 per square foot for residential property, and from $.41 to $.51 for commercial.