By Kyle Arechiga & Julian Bayan

In an ongoing process of expanding our curriculum, Granada Hills Charter (GHC) offered exciting new courses this year, all geared at giving students a better learning experience, especially in the STEM field. The new courses for this year are IB Astronomy, Broadcasting, Cybersecurity, Introduction to Data Science, Financial Life Cycle, and Principles of Biomedical Sciences.
One of the most popular classes being taught is Intro to Data Science. The only prerequisite needed is to pass Algebra 2 with a C or above.
Data Science was a passion for math teacher Jason Horosny before becoming a teacher at GHC. He is particularly excited to teach the new course this year.
“I have a background in data science, and I used to be a data analyst,” Horonsy said.
The course teaches students how to read and work with data efficiently, as well as teaching them problem-solving skills. The class is mainly group-based learning and counts for elective credits.
Students of the class enjoyed the flow of Introduction to Data Science more than they expected and found themselves to be more engaged with the topics they were learning about.
“Intro to Data Science is a very valuable class, especially for working in business in the future because we learn things like coding,” junior Lucas Merritt said.
Another new STEM elective is Cybersecurity.
“Cybersecurity introduces the tools and concepts of cybersecurity and encourages students to create solutions that allow people to share computing resources while protecting privacy,” computer science teacher Jane Dinh said.
This class is being offered because of how prevalent technology is in today’s world. Cybersecurity teaches its students to develop skills as people in a cyber-dependant community. Students also get to use virtual labs to discover key concepts that build expertise in privacy protection.
“I enjoy teaching cybersecurity very much. I have been coaching our CyberPatriots team since 2017,” Dinh said.
In a school that prides itself on being on the cutting edge of education, GHC continues to excel by bringing in new and exciting courses like Cybersecurity and Introduction to Data Science. Each of the many new courses this year offers students skills they can use beyond high school.