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Board approves curriculum overhaul expanding dual credit, career pathways and internship options
Summary
The board approved a broad 2025–26 curriculum guide that removes barriers to rigorous courses, doubles dual-credit offerings from 7 to 14 with College of Lake County partnerships, reorganizes career pathways (five industrial-technology tracks), introduces new courses (physical science, improv, music production) and reimagines internship credit models.
The board unanimously approved extensive revisions to the district’s 2025–26 curriculum guide, a package staff said focuses on expanding access to rigorous curricula, strengthening career pathways, and increasing dual-credit opportunities through partnerships with the College of Lake County (CLC).
Christopher Geocaris, presenting the changes, said the guide removes select prerequisites, expands "earned honors" options across additional classes, and adds new electives including physical science, improv, and a music-production course. Dual-credit offerings will increase from seven to 14 classes next year; staff said the expansion includes industrial-technology courses (three dual-credit offerings), two mathematics dual-credit courses (including an honors Calculus 3 topic and a semester-long CTE math option), business career-planning dual credit, and the district’s first fine-arts dual-credit course in theater technology.
In industrial technology, staff reorganized offerings into five pathways—architecture, fabrication, multimedia, engineering (with robotics/manufacturing options) and Project Lead The Way—creating clearer sequences and capstones. The district also plans to repurpose underused Almond-campus lab space to host additional industrial-technology courses.
The presentation emphasized internship models: staff proposed both internal internships (students working inside district programs) and external internships, with a minimum recommended external engagement of about five hours per week so students can meet state career-endorsement requirements (60 hours). Administrators acknowledged the staffing and logistical challenges of placing students with external employers and said the district will pilot small-scale internships and pursue community partners, including Gurnee-area businesses and the Boys & Girls Club.
Board members praised the work and asked for evaluation metrics to track who benefits from new options; one member requested future data on participation and outcomes. The approved guide aligns with state changes that will require career-pathway endorsements and two years of a world language for future graduating classes.
Next steps: administration will continue aligning teachers with CLC credentialing requirements, finalize scheduling and staffing, and begin outreach to possible internship partners; the board will monitor implementation and requested follow-up data on program uptake.
