MADISON, Wis. -- Students at Madison West High School are planning a protest on Friday to get the district's attention about proposed changes to the curriculum.

Some West High School students are planning a sit-in at the school Friday, while others are planning to walk out.

The protest is over proposed changes to the way all four of Madison's high schools are structured.

The students said they don't want to see high schools standardized, while Madison Metropolitan School District Superintendent Dan Nerad said a $5.2 million federal education reform grant is an opportunity for positive change that he cannot afford to squander.

A new proposal calls for creating two tracks for students -- preparatory and accelerated -- with the latter offering more advanced placement options.

Nerad said he hopes to close the achievement gap while raising standards.

"We need to move more kids to that advanced coursework," Nerad said. "Because of the requirement, it's imperative that more people become college- and career-ready."

The accelerated track means more advanced placement classes in ninth and 10th grade. Students said they feel the changes will mean teaching to the test.

"Students won't learn to develop a passion for the actual subject but rather memorize what they need to know to pass the test," said Jasmine Wali, a senior at West High School.

Some students said the change won't close the achievement gap but rather will make it worse and split up the student body.

"I think it will really dry out everyone as students and we will have advanced students and regular students and segregate the student body," said Aiki Coxhead, a senior at West High School.

Students said that West High School is a stand-out school, and they're concerned about what could be lost in the changes.

"West has been an incredibly nurturing place," said Will van Boldrik, a senior at West High School. "I feel like in no other environment could I have grown to be the person I am right now. I don't have a solid picture in my mind of what West will look like in these next two years."

"Yes, (West) is different, and that's why it's amazing, and I don't want it to change," Coxhead said. We are going to be the adults of the future and we have the right, I feel, as students to have an education that is relevant and important to us."

Students said they are also concerned about losing courses special to their school.

"(We need to determine what) we need to hold in common across the entire system, because we hear from a lot of parents and a lot of students that something is available at one school, but it's not available at another school," Nerad said.

Nerad said he wants a dialogue on the direction high schools are headed. District officials said they know not all the proposed changes will be popular, but they feel they must take action to be effective.

The two-track proposal goes to the school board in November.