For Arlington Public Schools (APS), February marks the start of course selection for the upcoming year. This is a notoriously stressful process, as college counselors, parents and peers alike not only encourage a wide range of classes, but also categorize courses into either substantial or insufficient. Due to the competitive environment, students are anxious that they’re destined for doom if they dare take two Advanced Placement (AP) classes instead of three.
Nonetheless, the right choice always lies in a student’s individual interests, and it’s our counselors’ job to guide them there. However, this doesn’t mean that certain courses trigger more popular interest than others, therefore filling spots in those classes faster. Consequently, it’s also up to our counselors to evenly distribute courses, and ensure every student is left content with their schedule.
Many students enter high school with a relatively laid out course plan for them; this way their first year in an unfamiliar building has a stable aspect. As these students are wrapping up their first semester and have grown comfortable in this new environment, they’re introduced to an endless variety of paths. Naturally, it’s understandable for anxious, unsure teens to gravitate towards the most popular pathway. This ‘falling in line’ idea pushes upcoming sophomores, juniors and seniors alike to take whatever classes their steady, hard working peers have chosen. In a sense, this encourages students to take the APs or more rigorous courses that many others are doing, solely due to the fact that it gives them a sense of security. If everyone else is doing it, they can too.
For this reason, counselors are aware that certain courses require a higher volume of staffing, classroom space and resources than others. In fact, the resources come first when building schedules, and student selection is the latter. This way, every student has the tools available to succeed throughout whichever pathway chosen.
“They build the schedule based on staffing. We may have to ask for new staffing from the Central Office, and then we can fill in those slots, but sometimes new staffing doesn’t happen. We do our best to make sure that the students who need classes for graduation are the first priority because we want to make sure that you meet your graduation requirements,” College and Career Services counselor Danielle Dessaso said.
In this intricate process, student’s scheduling decisions are also essential, and implementing or eliminating certain courses from our schools curriculum relies on their choices.
“If not enough students sign up for a class, it doesn’t run. Based on how many kids sign up, you’ll see how many classes you need to run. If you have 200 kids sign up for Physics C, then you know that you’ll need at least four sections of Physics C,” Dessaso said.
With the help of online resources like SchoolLinks, a scheduling system counselors utilize to determine course demand, and numerous staff, the scheduling process can flourish. Although it’s difficult to ensure all 2,000+ students are given what they chose, it’s made possible by efficiently dividing the workload.
Scheduling starts with Principal Kevin Clark and Director of Counseling Johanna Boyers, and then the team of counselors inspect their specific students’ schedules to address errors and recommendations.
At our school, a team of dedicated staff, who are not only eager to assist every student, but also constantly ready to tend to differing desires, make successful scheduling possible. There’s infinite possibilities for course scheduling, and students at our school have the incredible opportunity to explore them all.
