Registration and Scheduling

Registration and scheduling are structured to promote equitable access to opportunities within the school and encourage balance in terms of the breadth and depth of student choice. Throughout the registration & verification process, students are encouraged to consult with their family, counselor, teachers, and department chairs to determine what courses to take.

Our process allows the majority of students to receive many, if not all, of the courses they request. Note, however, that while we will do our best to satisfy student requests, a course request is not a guarantee of fulfillment due to many factors:

• Student interest: too little, and we may not be able to run a course. Too much, and some students will not get this request and instead get an alternate
• Staffing: We determine sections based on your requests, and staffing based on sections
• Other budget constraints and considerations

To meet the needs of students, appropriately staff the building, and create optimal class size while remaining within budget constraints, students are not allowed to change their requests after the verification period closes in April.

The following is an overview of our process, followed by detailed steps:

1. Registration (February/March)
   • Program of Studies is released
   • Teachers will talk about the course recommendation process in class and provide students the opportunity to discuss their individual course recommendations.
   • Teachers enter course recommendations for students in Aspen.
   • Students will enter elective course choices in Aspen, carefully considering choices to provide appropriate challenge and support within courses and across their schedule
   • Counselors meet with students to check requests for completeness and accuracy
2. Verification (Late March/Early April)
   • Students will receive verification forms in Aspen. This will include teacher recommendations and all other courses a student has requested.
   • Students can make changes to their officially requested courses during the verification period.
     • Students cannot make changes via Aspen during this phase.
     • If a change requires teacher recommendation, students will need to see their teacher who can initiate the change.
     • Other changes can take place through the student’s counselor.
   • All students sign the Verification Acknowledgment Form, attesting that:
     • Their course requests are correct
     • They cannot make or request any changes after signing
     • Requests are not guaranteed unless the course is a graduation requirement
   • Once the verification period closes, no changes are allowed
3. Build (April - June)
   • Department chairs determine the number of sections of each course that will be offered based on the number of students requesting the course
   • Chairs will determine staffing based on these sections
   • The sections in the schedule are built. The schedule is built with the goal of providing the maximum number of students their requested courses and minimizing conflicts as much as possible.
   • Students are loaded into the schedule
4. Refine (July - Early August)
   • During this phase, we complete a quality assurance check to resolve as many issues as possible, including, but not limited to:
     • Students missing a major course
     • Student underenrollment
     • Class size balance
   • We may reach out to underenrolled students during this phase to determine how to get them to the required number of credits prior to sending a class list to all students.
5. Correct Errors (Mid to Late August)
   • Students will receive a class list in Aspen without blocks and teachers.
   • Students will be given a form to report errors.

A request is not a guarantee. Inquiries that are not errors will not be reviewed until the second week of school.

Error

• Missing a course required for graduation
• Missing the first core Math, English, Science, History, or World Language course you requested
• Underenrollment (fewer than 72 credits, or 66 for upperclass students with dean approval)
• Enrolled in the same course twice
• Enrolled in a course you have already taken and received credit for that is not repeatable
• Scheduled for a level for which you were not recommended, either through the registration or Review in June process
  • Requires department chair verification/approval
  • May not be resolvable prior to the start of school

Not an Error

• Receiving an alternate for a course you requested
• Not receiving a course you requested that is not required for graduation (i.e., an elective)
• Changing out of a level for which you were initially recommended
• Adding other classes to fill your schedule if you are not underenrolled

The pages that follow include a diverse array of course offerings from which students can choose. In order to ensure that the school’s master schedule is built in a way to accommodate the preferences of as many students as possible, it is imperative that students take time and care in making their initial course requests.

During the first week of school, we will only process changes that are deemed errors (see table above). Additionally, student-initiated requests to add or drop classes are subject to the following deadlines:

Students may initiate drops up to and including the first deadline above without having a final grade recorded on report card or transcript. Courses that are dropped after this deadline will be graded as a W (Withdrawn). For GPA computation, a W carries no weight. Students are reminded that all final grades are included on the students’ report cards and transcripts.

All course drops and adds must be approved by the appropriate department chairs. Deans and department chairs may also make exceptions to this deadline in extenuating circumstances.