Tomorrow & Registration

Tomorrow kicks off the process for registering for classes for next school year.  You will be on a very different bell schedule and then, tomorrow night, you and your parents are invited to WKHS for Curriculum Night as a chance to get more information about the various programs and opportunities available to students.

Here is tomorrow's bell schedule:

1st period- 8:40 - 9:20
2nd period- 9:25 - 10:50**
3rd period- 10:55 - 11:35
4th period- 11:40 - 12:20
5th period- 12:25 - 1:05
6th period- 1:10 - 1:50
7th period- 1:55 - 2:35
8th period- 2:40 - 3:20

** As you can see - 2nd period is very long and that is because we will be holding class assemblies for the current freshmen, sophomore and junior students to pass along information about course registration and important information you need to know to successfully select your classes.

I recognize that it feels too early to be making decisions about what you're going to take next year when students are still settling into the new semester, but the time it takes to be able to take your requests and then build a master schedule that will meet your needs is very complex.

One of the most common reactions for students (and parents) as soon as they hear that it is registration time is to panic.  So please, right now, before you even receive your registration information, pause, take a deep breath and relax!  Thinking about the future can feel overwhelming, but I promise that I will help you through it.  This is a very hectic time of year for me dealing with far more than registration, but I want to reassure you that I am aware of the anxiety and we will get through it together.

So, let me give you a quick glimpse of what these next few weeks will include.  Tomorrow will be the meeting where you’ll get the details of what you need to do to register for your classes.  You will submit your course selections online through Infinite Campus starting on Friday.  The deadline to submit your requests is Friday, February 2nd.  I will meet with every student individually to review your requests.  We will still be able to make adjustments to your requests at that time so if you are uncertain about something, go ahead and make your best guess on what you are thinking and then we will talk about it when we meet together.

Here are some of the key dates you’ll need to know about:

-          Wednesday, January 24th: Registration materials distributed 

-          Wednesday, January 24^th: Curriculum Night at 7:20pm – you and your parents can come to talk with the teachers and learn more about the different options available to you; 

-          Between February 1st and February 15th: Individual meetings with juniors and parents as scheduled 

-          Friday, February 2nd: Deadline to submit online course requests

-          Monday, February 5th and Tuesday, February 6th: Individual meetings with all freshmen students during Modern World History classes

-          Wednesday, February 7th and Thursday, February 8th: Individual meetings with all sophomore students during Science classes

-          Friday, February 23rd: My deadline to be able to make any adjustments in the online system

Over the next few days, during classes, your teachers will be reviewing the different classes offered within their departments as well as talking with you individually about the courses they would recommend for you to take next year.  As you talk about the classes and what your teacher recommends they may enter that information into IC for you so that you don't have to worry about signing up for those classes as they will already be on the list for you.  

You will have a course selection sheet to help guide you in the different options available and you can use that sheet to make notes about your thoughts on what interests you and then you can highlight to help select your classes that you will then enter online.  If you would like to hear more in depth information directly from the teachers who teach particular courses, please set up a time to talk to the teacher or come to meet with them during Curriculum Night.  (Let me know if you need help finding a teacher during one of their off periods.)  Don't forget that your teacher in the same department will also be able to share a lot of insight with you about the classes options within their department even if they aren't the one who teaches it.

After you have determined which courses you would like to take, please talk it over with your parents and then login and register on Infinite Campus.  The online window for students will open this Friday (January 26th at 4pm.)  When you submit your course requests on Infinite Campus they will be saved automatically.  You will need to be sure to submit 3 alternates.  I will only use those to replace classes if your first choice selections are absolutely not possible.  

Freshmen and sophomores will be meeting with me individually during your History or Science classes.  Juniors, you will have individual meeting times.  Your parents have received an invitation to set up our time to meet in case they wanted to join us in the meeting and for those who haven't signed up, I will be sending junior students an email tomorrow morning for you to select your own meeting time during an off period that works best for you. Please be aware that some of the appointment slots I have available for juniors will be before the online registration window closes, but you must submit your requests online before our meeting!

Also, just in case you lose any of your forms, we will have extra copies posted, along with the slides from tomorrow’s presentation and the Course Planning Handbook all available for students and parents to access on the Kilbourne Counselor website – www.wkhscounselors.com – and as of tomorrow we will have it on the home page for your convenience.

Once again, I am here to help you, but I do beg for you to try to be patient with me as having more than 300 students makes it hard to get to everyone all at the same time.