A student’s selection of courses for the school year affects more than just what classrooms they sit in each fall. Course selections, and how they are made, also affect the choices and opportunities available to students in future high school years and after graduation in college and careers. Each winter and spring, the Queensbury High School Counseling Center partners with high school families at five checkpoints to ensure the course selection process is thoughtful, strategic and helpful to students in pursuing their dreams.
Current school year
January
Checkpoint 1: Assemblies and parent information nights
In December and January, QHS administrators and counselors deliver grade-level assemblies about Queensbury pathways to graduation, course offerings and the course selection process. Parent information nights about graduation pathways and high school programs are also held.
Checkpoint 2: Classroom presentations
- The HS Counseling Center speaks with students in grades 9-11 about the course selection process during presentations in English classes.
- Counselors provide each student with the following:
- The curriculum handbook for the following school year.
- A sheet of teacher recommendations for course selections in core course areas, foreign languages and Pathways programs. Recommendations are based on the first 15 weeks of school and may be revisited based on students’ academic progress during the remainder of the current school year.
- A course selection form. Students must complete the form, have a parent/guardian sign it and then return the form to school. Students submit the course selections on their forms during input sessions held the second week of the month.
February – June
Checkpoint 3: Individual student conferences
- HS counselors meet with individual students and parents/guardians to discuss course selection requests, academic progress and other topics.
- Grade 11 conferences generally take place in February and March.
- Grade 10 conferences generally take place in April and May.
- Grade 9 conferences generally take place January through May.
April
Checkpoint 4: Course selection review in SchoolTool parent portal
- Parents/guardians are able to review their child’s most up-to-date selection of courses for the following school year in the SchoolTool Parent Portal.
- Third-quarter progress reports are issued in May. Based on the results, students may request, or counselors and teachers may advise, a change in course selections based on academic progress to date.
May – June
Checkpoint 5: Progress check before finalizing selections
- Third-quarter report card grade and course selections are available in the SchoolTool Parent Portal. (Teacher may indicate a course recommendation change.)
- Change requests may be submitted until Monday, May 6, 2019. After that deadline, any core course selections for the following school year are finalized. Examples of core courses include those for science, math, social studies, English, foreign language and Project Lead the Way.
Next school year
July
List of courses scheduled for the upcoming school year will be mailed home.
August
QHS will mail final class schedules to student households in late August, typically in the last week of the month.
September
- Students may request to add a new course selection(s) anytime in September.
- Students may not request to drop a course until the last school day of the month.
- The add/drop change request form requires signatures from the student, a parent/guardian and the class teacher.
- Before submitting a drop/change request to the HS Counseling Center, a student must:
- Attend the first four weeks of a class,
- Consult with the teacher of the class and
- Speak with a school counselor. Meetings with a counselor can occur anytime during the month, but they must occur before a change request is processed.
- This timeline reduces overall scheduling uncertainty, class size imbalance and disruption for students at the start of a new school year. It also allows teachers more time for instruction and observation in order to better support students’ decision making process.