Two additional classes have been added to the 2017-2018 school year: American Sign Language 2 and Computer Science Advanced.

Talia Orsetti-Ng teaches ASL 2. ASL is a language that uses hand gestures to communicate phrases to others and is commonly used by deaf people.

“ASL 2 is a continuation of ASL 1,” Orsetti-Ng said. “ASL 1 teaches basic greetings and introductions, while ASL 2 digs deeper into the foundation.”

Orsetti-Ng claims that there’s been a recent demand for the language lately and more of a general awareness of deaf people and culture. She also states that ASL has received a burst in popularity ever since the early 2000s and is becoming popular through cultural acknowledgements, such as  the television series Switched at Birth.

“Up until the early 2000s, people didn’t really accept ASL as a real language and didn’t pay much attention to it,” Orsetti-Ng said. “Hopefully students leave here with a better understanding about deaf culture and will be allies to them with their knowledge”

Another new class is CSA, led by Peter Holley, and it strives to allow students to make further advancements in Computer Science. It is the follow up class to Computer Science Principles, which is advised to be taken before CSA to obtain a firmer grasp of the taught concepts.

“It’s a very rigorous class where you learn problem solving skills and apply them,” Holley said.

CSA is mainly Java, which is an object-oriented computer programming language that revolves around the manipulation of an identified item. It requires one to implement computer code in order to assess and solve issues, according to Holley.

“If you want to major in computer science, then you would definitely want to take this class,” Holley said.

From the teachers’ perspectives, their respective classes were added due to a need for a higher level for both their fields.

It’s been a recurring theme so far that new classes coming in stem from an initial course that require a more advanced degree. As courses develop, there will be a continuous flow of new classes in order to accommodate for its growth.