Walpole High School offers a variety of classes ranging from math and English to art and music.  Every year students get to pick the classes they want to take the next year with only a few requirements.  These include taking three years of math, science, social studies, and non-core electives; four years of English; and one year of a language.  The current requirements allow students to select a variety of academic and elective courses to find an area they really love.  The only problem is that some colleges and jobs like to see that students take more academic classes than Walpole High requires.  So the question is—are the requirements harsh enough?

With the current requirements, students can easily drop a subject if they find they do not enjoy it.  For example, only one year of foreign language is needed to graduate, so students have the option of dropping their language class after freshman year.  However, knowing another language can greatly increase one’s chance of getting a job or getting into college.  If you know how to speak another language in combination with being good at another core class you have an advantage over other people appling for a job or for a school.  Math and English are the two main classes for high school students but unlike English, math only has to be taken for three years.  Math should be taken all four years that students are in high school because it is a class that everyone should have a wide range of knowledge on.  Like math, social studies and science provide essential knowledge.  The requirements for these classes should be increased as well, but should not both be required for all four years of high school.  Students should be able to choose one to take for four years and one to take for three years.  So, if a student does not like science but loves history, they can take four years of history and three years of science.  These are important classes that should not be forgotten behind math and English.  The basics of science and social studies can help people later in life even if they do not have a job that relates to these subjects.  Every one should have a basic knowlegde of history so they can prevent the same problems from happening in the future and science can help people understand the basic concepts of life and the elements. 

Different requirements would force students to try different things because they would have to take more classes before they could graduate.  Students can focus more on what they like to do in college, but in highschool they need to build a basic knowledge.  Elective courses may be limited but academic classes are more important in highschool.  They should have a lot of options so that in college or when they are finding a job they can focus in on things they really like.  Also, taking a variety of classes will give students at Walpole High School a wider range of knowledge.  It may help them on important tests like the MCAS and the SATs.

Walpole High School should be encouraging students to take more classes because they will have a better chance of being successful later in life.  It will also increase their chances of going to college or getting a good job.  As a junior or senior, students have more options in their class choices and they may even find a class that they really like that still fits the requirements. Currently, many students already take more classes than the required amount so it would not even affect some people.  Students would have a better chance of being successful if the graduation requirements at Walpole high School were harsher.