NEW YORK (AP)  -- A New York City high school is now offering a skateboarding class for credit, one of a wide range of quirky physical education electives available to students.

The skateboarding elective is offered as a gym class to 9th and 10th graders at East Side Community High School. It began in February as an after school program but has since morphed into a for-credit pursuit.

The district also offers yoga classes at some schools as well as the Brazilian martial art capoeira at Lehman High School in the Bronx.

One Department of Education official says there has been a shift from the usual fare of basketball or volleyball to "an overall culture of fitness.''

High school students are required to complete at least seven semesters of physical education.