After the New Course Selections dropped on March 3rd, students are already planning on what classes they are taking for the year 2020-2021.

Heidi Ernst, a junior, is already thinking about what classes she wants to take for her last year of high school. 

“I want to take AP Environmental with Mr. Horsely, Political Science, and College Algebra and Trig. I am planning on taking two electives next year, Ceramics and Architectural Drafting. For english I am thinking about taking one of the new courses offered next year, Memoirs and Autobiographies,” said Ernst.  “I am also planning on dropping Spanish.” 

Every year, 8th-11th grade has an assembly about the new course selections that students can take for the following school year. On Tuesday, March 3rd the 9th, 10th and 11th grade class had their course selection assembly.  Meghan Ober, the High School guidance director went over the requirements to graduate and the new classes being offered next year such as Immunology, Intro to French, and Travel Literature.

“I am really excited about the new classes they are offering next year, like Immunology and AP Art History.” Said Julia Casaletto, a junior at Triton. 

Ober, the High School guidance administrator and who is in charge of planning the new course selections talked about the difficulties of what happens behind the scenes of creating new classes.

“The most difficult thing probably comes down to scheduling.  Building the master schedule is like a giant puzzle, rubix cube, and sudoku all rolled into one.  When you throw in new factors, it can add new challenges to how various courses can fit together,” stated Ober. “That being said, it is a challenge worth taking on because offering new courses that students and staff are excited about is a priority, and will only add in positive ways to our learning environment.  And I actually really like puzzles.”

If you ever wonder how the school comes up with the new classes, here Ober explains the process: 

“In the past, the teacher or program coordinator would simply ask administration.  This year, Principal Kelley added in a new and dynamic process where the teachers who wanted to offer the new courses presented their course to a panel of students, teachers, guidance counselors, and administrators, Said Ober.”  “Getting student voice into the process was a top priority. It was a really fun process, and the non-students in the room came away wishing we could enroll in these courses. It allowed everyone to have a fuller understanding of what each new course entails, and it was really energizing to see staff share subjects they were clearly so passionate about.”

Ober stressed the importance of student involvement in the recommendation process.

 “Our schedule is built based on student requests, so it is really important that students take the course enrollment process seriously, and make sure they give it time and thought.  Have discussions with teachers, parents, etc to make sure you have a good plan for the year ahead. While there’s no way to build a perfect schedule, it’s important that students know we create our schedule with their needs in mind, and do all that we can to satisfy everyone’s requests,” said Ober.