By Kayla Rackley
Have you ever been interested in a class, but you aren’t able to get in? The scheduling process at Marshwood High School is a big factor in this, and many students don’t realize that. Mrs. Jeanne Houde, the school’s guidance administrative assistant, takes care of all the scheduling for Marshwood, which takes about four months to do, starting in February and ending in May.
Students have complained about certain electives they have been placed in over others, and Mrs. Houde said this is because “if (the student) has requested “Intro to Foods” and “Film Studies” per se, and they both meet at the same time, “Film Studies” will most likely be placed first because it is fulfilling a graduation requirement: English.” Also, the computer bases its selection on whether the student can fit the elective into their schedule or not.
A lot of students believe that seniors are not getting into classes over underclassmen, but this is not the case. It may seem so, but if students try to change their schedule after the master schedule has been made, seniors will not be placed in classes if they are full, even if there are underclassmen in the class.
Seniors are given priority to classes, and senior Jorden Mitchell thinks this is good because “we’ve been here the longest. We should be able to be in the classes we want.” Another issue with scheduling electives is that teachers have to be placed with the core requirements before elective classes can be scheduled. This can affect how many classes of a certain elective are available, limiting the amount of students able to take the class.
Of course, some classes are very popular, and there are just so many periods in a day. So next time you try to get into a class and are not able to, think about the factors that affect class selection and scheduling.
Have you ever been interested in a class, but you aren’t able to get in? The scheduling process at Marshwood High School is a big factor in this, and many students don’t realize that. Mrs. Jeanne Houde, the school’s guidance administrative assistant, takes care of all the scheduling for Marshwood, which takes about four months to do, starting in February and ending in May.
Students have complained about certain electives they have been placed in over others, and Mrs. Houde said this is because “if (the student) has requested “Intro to Foods” and “Film Studies” per se, and they both meet at the same time, “Film Studies” will most likely be placed first because it is fulfilling a graduation requirement: English.” Also, the computer bases its selection on whether the student can fit the elective into their schedule or not.
A lot of students believe that seniors are not getting into classes over underclassmen, but this is not the case. It may seem so, but if students try to change their schedule after the master schedule has been made, seniors will not be placed in classes if they are full, even if there are underclassmen in the class.
Seniors are given priority to classes, and senior Jorden Mitchell thinks this is good because “we’ve been here the longest. We should be able to be in the classes we want.” Another issue with scheduling electives is that teachers have to be placed with the core requirements before elective classes can be scheduled. This can affect how many classes of a certain elective are available, limiting the amount of students able to take the class.
Of course, some classes are very popular, and there are just so many periods in a day. So next time you try to get into a class and are not able to, think about the factors that affect class selection and scheduling.
