Los Altos High School will pilot three new electives for the 2025–26 school year: Business Management, Music Production and Fashion Design II.

Two of the three — Business Management and Fashion Design II — are Career Technical Education (CTE) classes, meant to prepare students for specialized careers, stemming from a district-wide push for more CTE classes.

“Over the years, students have had to pursue their interests through taking dual enrollment classes at Foothill or De Anza,” counselor Jeamice Parker said. “Now, they can explore an interest before they even get off to college.”

Students can sign up for these classes when course selection opens in January. Below is an overview of the new offerings.

Music Production

Music production is a class designed for students to learn the basics of making beats, rhythm production, audio recording, vocal production and songwriting. The year-long course will end with a capstone project and a portfolio that students will make, according to Parker. 

The course, taught by band teacher Ted Ferruci, is open to students with any background in music — or none at all.

“It gives students who may not have had an opportunity to learn an instrument at a younger age a chance to be involved,” Ferrucci said. “It’s accessible to everyone.”

Beyond its friendliness for all skill levels, the class provides students with exposure to a different aspect of music. 

“There are a lot of students who are interested in the production side of music,” Parker said. “A lot of students really enjoy music and want to engage with it in a different way.”

For some students, the class’s unique approach to music education is exactly what makes it enticing.

“I’m already in concert and marching band, but I think learning how music production works would be really interesting and fun to learn,” sophomore Kai Yee said.

While the class is still in development, LAHS plans for it to fulfill elective credit, according to Parker.

Business Management 

Business Management will be LAHS’s first business class ever provided. Covering the fundamentals of running a business, the class will focus on four main areas: marketing, operations, human resources and finance.

Student demand was a main factor in adding Business Management, Parker said. According to MVLA CTE Director Amber Woodward, a 2022 district-wide students survey showed that a business pathway was the second highest request for a CTE pathway, just behind Biotechnology and Health.

“I can’t tell you how many students I’ve had who are interested in business,” Parker said. 

Business Management will equip students with skills such as economics, goal-setting, risk management and resource allocation. The curriculum also integrates information technology, providing hands-on experience with analytical tools and research methods. 

“I definitely want to be a business major in college,” junior Noel Nam said. “Having prior knowledge for business in high school will definitely help.” 

Though it’s new to LAHS, Business Management has been taught at Mountain View High School since the 2023–24 school year. As a result, bringing the class to LAHS was relatively simple, and will follow a similar curriculum.

Business Management has no prerequisites and is available to all grade levels.

Fashion Design II

Following this school year’s addition of Fashion Design I, Fashion Design II will continue the same CTE pathway. Also taught by Yoonsun Chai, students will gain a more in-depth understanding of and gain experience with fashion, from designing clothing collections to studying fashion history. The only prerequisite for the class is Fashion Design I, with both classes offering fine art credit.

“The curriculum is still being developed,” Chai said. “I’m bouncing ideas back and forth with [Fashion Design I] students and actively changing things.”

Chai hopes the class will include an end-of-year fashion show, showcasing the collections that students work on all year. Additionally, she plans to share internship opportunities and career workshops for students interested in industry careers.

“We can connect students with local designers and businesses,” Chai said. “Not many people know about the fashion business; there’s so many ways to get into it.”

For freshman Lena Wlodarska, who’s currently taking Fashion Design I, the new class is an opportunity to continue to explore the areas she enjoyed this year.

“Fashion Design I is a really creative class,” Lena said. “[In Fashion Design II], I’m really looking forward to actually designing the collection and then making it ourselves.”