Course Registration Process for 2018-2019 Underway
Course Selection for next school year began officially this week. . .
Although we have just passed the halfway point of the school year, we have begun the process of getting students set up for courses next year. The Curriculum Guide for 2018-19 will be coming your way soon. As always, we are offering many great options for students. Recently I have been meeting with various parent, advisor and student constituencies, delivering information about the process. Parent leads and deans have further information, but I would highlight the following:
- We want students to be excited about our course selections and to look for new ways to challenge themselves every year. The bottom line is we want the appropriate level of rigor for every student, and of course that rigor quotient is different for every student. That said, we don’t want them to overload either. At sign-up time, ambition can get the better part of a student who may think 7 courses in the fall is a great idea. But I want them to think about how they will feel in October when they have 2 papers due, 3 tests, a soccer game and choir practice. In other words, it’s always better to think ahead to the worst-case scenario when considering total load. Advisors have all been trained to look out for kids in this case, and Liza Skipwith, the class deans, and I also review schedule sign-ups. The college counselors also review schedules for rising seniors.
- Please follow the departmental recommendations of the world language and mathematics teachers. Sometimes students and parents want to move too quickly through these subject areas, and the result is a student who is stretched beyond what is reasonable (see point 1 above). We give a lot of thought to the recommendations, based on the student’s track record AND past experience with other students.
- There are exciting new electives in the English and social studies departments for rising juniors and seniors. We ask that all students put their top three choices per trimester. Because of scheduling constraints, students need to be comfortable with getting their second or third choice, although we certainly try our very best to get them into their first choice options. We also ask students to think more about the subject matter of these electives, as opposed to choosing based on who will be teaching the course. While some teachers are very much aligned with particular courses, other electives have traditionally had multiple different teachers involved, so there is no guarantee that taking “Mr. X’s class” will be the same next year as it has been in the past.
- We have again expanded our Computer Science and Design & Engineering (Innovations) offerings, so I would encourage everyone to look carefully through those options, keeping in mind that all students have a graduation requirement of at least two trimesters of courses in these interconnected departments. There is a new year-long course that combines the best of both worlds: called Performance Innovations, it will be team-taught by Steve Scherer and Sean Gallop.
- We have two new athletics electives, which will highlight our new state-of-the-art facility and be offered during the school day. Students may take conditioning in the winter and rock climbing (with Dr. Davis) in the spring. Both will be scheduled during an academic block instead of after school.
Students should take the course sign-up process seriously and do the best they can to reflect their intentions for the next year. That said, we know changes may need to occur. We can certainly make adjustments later in the spring, or even further down the line if necessary. Upcoming advisor conferences (on Friday, March 9) are a great time to review what your student has signed up for and discuss with the advisor the appropriateness of certain selections. We will also review selections again later in April, by which time all math and science recommendations will be in.
Please feel free to contact me, your child's advisor, or the grade-level deans in the meantime, or contact your child’s current teachers for other questions about curriculum or future courses.
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