Manhattan High School, with a large student population, offers a variety of classes that many other high schools could only dream of. Even as a freshman, there are plentiful options for accelerated courses and electives that cater to every interest no matter how niche they may be. 

This is amplified by our location in a college town. Students have the opportunity to take Kansas State University and Manhattan Area Technical College classes for dual credit. 

However, one department misses the mark: English.

Let’s take a look at the one and only English pathway. As a freshman, you can take standard or “accelerated” English 9. This trend is replicated for sophomore-level English 10. Once you reach your junior year, you have the opportunity to take AP Language instead of English 11. Finally, as a senior, you have a groundbreaking three entire options: English 12, AP Literature, and KSU Composition.

At first sight, this doesn’t look like a big deal. There’s clearly class options at every grade level. However, we must take into account that English is our native language. Waiting through freshman and sophomore year for the opportunity to take an AP class is much too late. In the Math Department, a freshman can take AP Calc if they test into it. How come this simply isn’t a possibility for English classes?

The “accelerated” classes offered freshman and sophomore year are a complete joke. Whenever I have a conversation with a regular English 9 student, they tell me that we’re working on the exact same thing. Even our worksheets are the same, except for the fact that there’s one extra question labeled “accelerated”. 

MHS simply doesn’t offer enough English classes. Manhattan offers nine Spanish classes and nine non-elective English classes. While Spanish is a widely spoken language in the US, we only have one official language: English. World languages are a great way to expand our awareness of other cultures and can benefit our native language skills as well. However, I’m not going to be using Spanish in my day-to-day American life.

Once again, let’s take a look at the math department. There are plentiful options for advanced classes, starkly contrasting with English. This difference could be explained if more students were ahead of grade level in math than English. However, the exact opposite is true. Due to test score confidentiality, I can’t get exact statistics. However, I’ve had conversations with multiple teachers to confirm this.

There used to be another option at Manhattan High: Honors English. However, this program was dismantled after complaints that it wasn’t different, harder work, it was just more work. This program needs to be brought back, new and improved. It could replace accelerated classes or be stand-alone, depending on what best fits student needs at teacher availability.

English sticks out like a sore thumb when compared to other departments due to class selection. This is a simple fix and can be achieved if we allow students to test out of classes, make accelerated classes live up to their name and bring back Honors English. With these changes, English could easily become my and many others’ favorite class.