Walking down the halls during the first weeks of school it is common to hear other classmates complaining about their schedule or complaining that they can’t get out of a certain class. The counselor’s office is flooded with students holding orange slips and counselor aids walk down the hall with handfuls of orange paper and emails with questions regarding schedules wiz in and out of inboxes. This signifies that the beginning of the school year is in full swing.

The process of class schedules is comprised of a lot more than what most people think. Every year in February the counselors will begin the class registration process by grade. A student is given a course list and is asked to take it home and choose their classes for next year with their parents or guardian. In the next day or so the counselor will take the students aside one by one in the library and enter the student’s chosen classes into a mock course list. Sitting down with a counselor allows for little error to be made and ensure the correct classes are being chosen. After this is done the classes and number of students registered will all go to Mr. Williams. He then makes what is called a ‘master schedule’ based off the numbers he is given (e.g. if 156 freshman want to take pre-AP English he will know to offer around 7 or 8 sessions of that class). Because the faculty of Randall would like to ensure that all students are content with their schedule they open a three week correction period during May. The best time to switch classes or do anything related to scheduling is during those three weeks in May. After the numbers of students wanting to take certain classes is reevaluated the number report then makes its way to Mr. Williams where he then edits the master schedule. This is the last time the master schedule can be re-worked. The district (if necessary) will hire more teachers to cover the amount needed to get every student taking the correct or desired courses. After school lets out, everything is then perfected and come the new school year schedules are handed out. The first day an announcement that says something along the lines of “If you have any class twice, is missing a class, or have a class that you’ve already received credit for the counselors will see you now.” The counselors then work to fix any necessary problems. After the first week or so any major schedule conflict will have been fixed and classes will level out. Finally, after the processes explained above, the counselors get flooded with schedule requests. Because the number of classes offered is already set this makes it difficult for the counselors to switch around schedules but they work with all students regardless. They ask that a student wait until the three weeks progress to request a change because minds can be changed easily. As stated in the 2015-16 course catalog on page 5, if a student is still serious they are asked to go through a SAVE committee. This consists of the student involved, their parent or guardian, and the teacher whose class is in question, and that student’s assigned counselor. After the SAVE committee form is signed and filled out completely the counselor will then schedule a meeting if she sees fit. After the meeting is over and the matters discussed the counselor will then make the change if all parties involved see it would be beneficial to the student. With this being said some things can’t be changed just because a student wants to be in class with his or her friends or if there is simply no room left to move a child into a certain class due to the set master schedule.

So the next time you or a friend want to change your class think about all the work that went into the process and all the opportunities made available to you before you complain. Our faculty does a lot for us.