Shrewsbury High School leaders presented a set of proposed changes to the high school program of studies for 2025–26 at the School Committee meeting on Jan. 8, outlining new electives, pathway refinements and scheduling timelines for student course selection.

Mr. Buzzillo, leading the presentation, said the leadership team reviewed class-size reports, course-request data and student feedback to craft recommendations. "We meet with each individual director," he said, describing a process that includes counselor meetings, parent sign-off in PowerSchool and an intensive scheduling window in late February.

Key proposed course changes include:
- Family and consumer sciences: replace Foods of the World with a rotating Mediterranean Cuisine course; add an Advanced Early Childhood Education course; require a prerequisite or teacher recommendation for the Leadership in Cooking peer-mentorship class.
- Health and physical education: retitle Foundations of Physical Education to Leadership in Physical Education and add Officiating (a hybrid course for 11th–12th graders that prepares students to become sports officials). A new Sport Management and Athletic Leadership elective is also proposed.
- Technology and business: add Introduction to Computer Applications (file management, word processing, spreadsheets) as a 3-of-7-day course; retitle Web Design to Introduction to Web Design.
- Visual arts: retitle Digital Studio Art to iPad Studio Art (using Procreate), change Digital Art and Design to Introduction to Photoshop and Graphic Design; add honors levels in Ceramics 2 and 3.
- Science and engineering: revise the engineering sequence to place Computer Integrated Manufacturing before Principles of Engineering to better prepare students’ math skills.

The presentation also proposed expanding internships and career-pathway opportunities. Leaders recommended that students who participate in internships be required to take only one semester of PE in senior year (instead of two) to open a scheduling block for internships while still meeting state PE requirements.

School leaders noted space and staffing constraints when discussing additions such as a new computer-applications class. They said the building houses fewer computer labs now than when the school opened and that introducing new lab-based courses would require shifting existing uses.

Committee members praised the range of proposed electives and asked about implementation details, enrollment thresholds and whether certain changes would be prioritized for pathway students. Superintendent Dr. Scott Sawyer said the district will review graduation-competency language in light of recent DESE advisories following a state ballot change to MCAS competency rules, and that any policy changes would be brought to the policy subcommittee.