The new year brings many controversial new changes, mostly affecting the incoming freshman class.

According to counselor Danielle Holloway, the College and Career Exploration course will be changed from a one semester class to a two semester class. Only one semester is required by the state to graduate, however, Lincoln is taking the extra semester to supplement the freshmen with mental health training and show them the resources Lincoln has to improve mental health.

The full semester-long class is called Inquiry and Leadership and according to the course guide, “Students in this course will develop an understanding of their own unique strengths and abilities… and explore a variety of careers and postsecondary options.”

Current 8th grader at West Sylvan, Emma Rolfs, says, “I think that having two semesters will be really beneficial to a lot of kids to learn more about mental health, despite losing an elective because of it.”

Additionally, a credit each in Chemistry, Physics and Biology will be required to graduate for future students, instead of any three science classes. Other non-required science classes however, such as Oceanography, may not last with the new schedule changes, says Holloway. “It has the potential to eliminate a couple of those, but there are kids who double in sciences so there is always need for them.”

“We are doing that simply because when you’re going to college it helps to have all three areas [Chemistry, Physics, and Biology], whereas before it was just any three sciences,” said Holloway.

Also, freshman, sophomores, and juniors will now be required to have a full eight period schedule. This change comes after complaints from parents to the Oregon Department of Education, stating that their children were not in school for the full day. Requirements for seniors, however, will not change, and they will still be required to have a minimum of six classes.

“We know that students do a lot of things that are not school related and don’t fit into a period,” Holloway said, “we have lots of kids that take classes at PCC and PSU and they haven’t figured out how to account for that into the attendance issue.”

Another big change affecting all students starting next year, is that there will be no early release or late start days. The entire district will also start before Labor Day, and students will have a full week off for Thanksgiving with conferences during it to accommodate parents and to make an easier schedule during Thanksgiving.

“I never really cared about Thanksgiving break, but it will be nice having more time to spend with visiting family,” says Emma Rolfs on the change.