Registering for 2017-2018 School Year

Tomorrow kicks off the process for registering for classes for next school year.  You will be on an extended homeroom schedule.  (Seniors will have a class meeting since you won’t be picking HS classes for next year!)  

Here is tomorrow's bell schedule:

1st period- 7:45 - 8:31
2nd period- 8:36 - 9:22
Homeroom- 9:27 - 9:59
3rd period- 10:05 - 10:51
4th period- 10:56 - 11:42
5th period- 11:47 - 12:33
6th period- 12:38 - 1:24
7th period- 1:29 - 2:15
8th period- 2:19 - 3:05

I recognize that it feels like it is too early to be making these decisions when you have just gotten into the swing of things with this 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 homeroom 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 in the next week.  The deadline to submit your requests is Wednesday, February 1^st.  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 25^th: Registration materials distributed and online registration begins

-          Monday, January 30^th: Curriculum Night at 7:00pm – you and your parents can come to talk with the teachers and learn more about the different options available to you

-          Tuesday, January 31^st: Individual meetings with juniors and parents as scheduled

-          Wednesday, February 1^st: Deadline to submit online course requests

-          Thursday, February 2^nd: Individual meetings with all freshmen students

-          Friday, February 3^rd: Individual meetings with all sophomore students

-          Monday, February 6^th: Individual meetings with juniors and parents as scheduled

-          Thursday, February 9^th: Academic Options Night at 7:00pm – you and your parents MUST attend this information to learn about College Credit Plus if you want to be able to take college classes next year while still in high school

-          Friday, February 17^th: My deadline to be able to make any adjustments in the online system

We are no longer requiring that you obtain a signed teacher recommendation and return that information to us, but getting in put from your teachers about what they would suggest for you to take is still one of the most valuable and important steps you can take.  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.  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.  Let me know if you need help finding a teacher during one of their off periods.

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.  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.  After you have submitted your requests online, you will print out your request summary sheet and have your parents sign it.  You MUST bring this signed form back with you to our individual meeting.

Freshmen and sophomores will be meeting with me individually during your academic prep or learning center periods.  If you do not have an off period then I will be sending a pass to meet with you during your lunch period.  I will be honest, there are some periods when I have WAY too many students to meet with during your off period.  So, as a result, I will have to bump some of your meetings to the week of February 13^th, but I will also be trying to send some passes to get some of you to come during your lunch periods because several of the lunch periods are by far the smallest periods of how many kids I need to see during the day.  Unless you receive a pass from me indicating a different date or time, please anticipate that you will come during your prep period.  As a reminder, freshmen, you will come on Thursday, February 2^nd and sophomores, you will meet with me on Friday, February 3^rd.  Juniors, you will have individual meeting times assigned to you.  I will be distributing passes for when your assigned time is tomorrow during homeroom.  This will be your only reminder so please don’t lose your appointment slip because this will be your only reminder and your pass if you need to leave class.  Please be aware that some of your appointments 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 video from tomorrow’s presentation, the powerpoint, 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 350 students makes it hard to get to everyone all at the same time.