Palmerton Area High School will add a long-discussed robotics course and split two popular history classes into full-semester offerings as part of curriculum changes scheduled for a board vote in two weeks.

The robotics course, high school Principal Paula Husar said, will require a shared staff member with a block schedule and additional lab support.

“This is going to be a project-based course that introduces students to the engineering design process and involves the development of coding skills and problem-solving skills,” Husar said.

Extensive planning, she said, went into developing the course, including multiple meetings with the business and technology department, and coordination with the junior high principal on staff-sharing and scheduling.

“You just can’t teach a robotics course, pack it up and walk out the door,” Husar said. “A lot of that stuff has to stay up and remain.”

The high school’s social studies department will separate History of American Pop Culture and American History and Sports from 45-day split courses into full-semester offerings based on student and teacher feedback.

Students currently spend 45 days studying pop culture with one teacher before switching to another teacher for 45 days of sports history. Both students and teachers said they prefer longer courses to cover more material.

“The department and our kids do not like the way we currently do it,” Husar said. “They feel like there’s a lot of material out there that they can cover in 90 days.”

The change, she said, should attract more students.

A board member praised the new history courses.

“I’m really excited to see the new history courses that are offered to the students,” director MaryJo King said. “We know when kids are interested in something, they seem to do better because they want to do better.”

Husar stressed that curriculum development is a collaborative process involving teachers, department chairs, guidance counselors and administrators.

“This program of studies document is not something where you wake up on Feb. 2 and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to bring this in front of the board,’” Husar said. “It takes a lot of time, involves a lot of people to do it right.”

All incoming freshmen are now required to take math each year, a change Husar said was strongly supported by the math department.

Academic Algebra 1 was changed to a semester course for college-bound students, while an essentials algebra course runs the full year.

“This year, it’s working out very well for us,” she said.

The district added Everyday Mathematics last year and currently has 20 students enrolled. A guitar elective has also proven popular, with 11 students enrolled in the first semester and nine in the second.

“It is working out well for Mr. Blanchard, and students love it,” Husar said.

The high school now offers seven Advanced Placement courses, including AP Computer Science, which was approved last year. Husar said 11 students are enrolled in the computer science course.

“That is incredible for our size school,” Husar said.

King said the district competes with larger schools despite space and staffing constraints.

“We are right there with what we can offer our students, and I am very proud that we have such the offerings for our students that we do,” King said. “We’re competing with those big schools with class offerings. The teachers we have who are taking on all these new courses — kudos to them and to you and to our administration for getting them there.”