Mr. Busidlow, assistant principal at Shrewsbury High School, and department leaders presented proposed revisions to the 2025–26 Program of Studies at the Jan. 8 School Committee meeting, outlining new electives, pathway and scheduling adjustments and a timeline for student course selection.

Why it matters: The Program of Studies defines course offerings students may choose and helps shape master-schedule construction, staffing needs and future facilities planning; some proposals seek to expand career- and pathway-oriented opportunities and to allow internships that free a senior from a second semester of PE to open an instructional block.

Key proposals presented
- Internships and pathways: an internship offering tied to career pathways is proposed; students who participate in internships would be required to take one semester of PE in senior year instead of two, freeing a block for internship participation (priority given to pathway students). Cooperative work-study and a standardized job-shadowing process were also proposed.
- Family and consumer sciences: replace Foods of the World with alternating Mediterranean cuisine; add Advanced Early Childhood Education; require prerequisites for Leadership in Cooking so mentors have kitchen-safety experience.
- Health and physical education: rename Foundations of Physical Education to Leadership in Physical Education to reflect peer-mentoring work; add an elective "Officiating" (to train officials because of shortages) and "Sport Management and Athletic Leadership" (career-exploration course).
- Technology and business: propose "Introduction to Computer Applications" (3 of 7-day cycle) and relabel Web Design to "Introduction to Web Design." Discussion noted computer-lab space is limited but planners think sections can be fit by moving some classes.
- Science & engineering: remove an unused "Exploration of Science Concepts" course and revise engineering-sequence order to give students a stronger math foundation prior to Principles of Engineering.
- Visual and world languages: updates to titles (e.g., iPad Studio Art using Procreate) and addition of an honors level in linguistics; proposed honors levels for ceramics 2 and 3.

Process and timeline
Mr. Busidlow walked committee members through the course-selection timeline: teacher recommendations placed in PowerSchool, student registration Feb. 17–28, counselor one-on-one meetings before schedule finalization, placement appeals by March 28 and master-schedule construction during April vacation. The presenters said parents and students will be notified of AP night, Oak Middle School curriculum events and counselor outreach.

What comes next
Committee members asked clarifying questions about space, staffing and how internships will be prioritized; administrators said pathway students would have priority and that the items will be incorporated into the final draft to be voted at a later meeting.

— Based on Jan. 8 remarks by Mr. Busidlow, Dr. Pratt and departmental presenters.