As students settled back in for the second semester, course selection made its way onto to-do lists for freshmen, sophomores and juniors. This year, course selection was handled differently. Instead of filling out paperwork, students selected classes online.
It’s a significant change from previous years, and with the new system, the guidance office needed to present the information in a new way.
Rather than sending students for class-wide presentations and handing them a form to fill out, the office provided a printed version of the course handbook and instructions on how to complete the digital sign-up.
Many students, like junior Lola Halford, appreciated the instructions and streamlined approach to picking their classes.
“The presentation this year was helpful because they showed us how to actually select the courses,” Halford said. “And it was useful to know what classes we needed to take and what the recommended classes were.”
Freshman Paige Griffith echoed similar sentiments but said she had many class options and would’ve liked more time to decide.
“Filling out the form was really easy. I think it was really self-explainable,” Griffith said. “But I feel like a little extra time would’ve been helpful.”
Because the selection process was student-led, the form could be filled out anywhere and at any time, as long as it was submitted before the Jan. 28 deadline.
“I just sat in bed and used the packet. It had step-by-step instructions, and it was all super easy,” Halford said. “It was way less annoying than having to go down and talk to the counselors and miss classes.”
According to guidance counselor Justine Veath, the goal of introducing the new system was to limit how many times students are called out of class.
Last year, students filled out their class choices on paper and met with guidance counselors over five days to input their choices into the digital form.
Mrs. Veath expected this year’s course selection to be a learning curve but said over 80% of students in each grade level had completed it – a sign that the guidance department’s hard work had paid off.
“We’ve been working hard on this since November,” Mrs. Veath said. “We tried to make it really user-friendly. I made a video to help, and I walked everybody through it at the assemblies.”
Although technology has been implemented into the course selection process for several years, leaving it up to students meant the system had to be developed to ensure all students were assigned the right classes.
“A lot of time went into putting in all the prerequisites because we don’t want kids to be misplaced in classes that aren’t where they should be,” Mrs. Veath said.
According to sophomore Reggie Cummins, the prerequisites and teacher recommendations were the main problems with course selection.
“I had an issue with registering for an AP class because my teacher recommendation wasn’t going through,” Cummins said. “But it eventually worked out.”
The new course selection process may have made things simpler for most students, but the guidance office is taking note of areas for improvement before next year.
Mrs. Veath advised students to pay attention during class assemblies and visit the guidance office for assistance with course planning.
“Everyone should be really focused when we present because we try to lay it all out,” she said. “If they’re having trouble, the biggest thing is to reach out to us.”