Before Stoughton High School students left for winter break, they selected their 2024-2025 school year courses. This year, rather than selecting courses through Infinite Campus, SHS freshmen, sophomores, and juniors picked their classes for the next school year by filling out a Google form with all of their choices.
According to Amanda Dow, an SHS counselor, the changes came with the hope of allowing students to think more thoroughly about their four-year plans.
“[The process changed] to help students spend time thinking about their class selections thoroughly,” Dow said. “It also helps collect data before the academic planner opens.”
Even though students picked their courses for the upcoming school year, they will still have to enter their choices into their academic planner in Infinite Campus, which will begin at the beginning of February.
Dow says this allows students to change their selections before the new school year starts.
“Students will enter their course selections for a second time in the Academic Planner,” Dow said. “This will allow [students] to make adjustments if needed instead of in August or September.”
According to SHS Counselor Kristin Natzke, the change is predicted to make course selection easier for students and counselors.
Natzke said, “We hope that this process allows for students to truly think over their [selected classes], as it has become more challenging to make scheduling changes.”
Natzke also stated that the counselors hope this change will help students put more thought behind their selections, preventing schedule changes in the future.
Another notable change to the course selection process is that it took place about two months earlier than usual. Instead of selecting courses at the beginning of the second semester, as in the past, students chose their courses towards the end of the first semester.
“We understand that it can be hard to select courses before taking your current classes,” Dow said. “However, there are other opportunities to adjust student schedules.”
Course selection was pushed up to prepare for the next school year.
“Planning occurred earlier to prepare for next year’s scheduling and staffing,” Natzke said                                                                                                                                                                                             The SASD School Board wanted the soft selection process to happen to get a general idea of what enrollment would look like for the next school year. If there is low enrollment meaning 15 kids or less in certain elective classes, the classes get cut. This leads to staff being let go . Final enrollment numbers will be released after students enter their courses in the academic planner in Infinite Campus in February.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              It also took place to get a plan in case the new referendum does not pass in April.
One primary concern for most students is the possibility of their favorite classes being cut. Low enrollment has recently been a problem in music and arts classes.
“It is too early to know what classes are being cut,” Dow said. Students still need to take steps to finish the course selection process.
Classes such as Orchestra and advanced art classes are a main concern. Currently, the SHS Orchestra shares a teacher with River Bluff Middle School and is only offered during one class period. AP Spanish, AP German, and other music classes are also at risk of being cut, these classes have dealt with low enrollment for years. AP Spanish and AP German are sometimes only offered during one class period, which for many students does not work with their schedule, leading to them dropping the class– further decreasing enrollment. This is a common problem for many students who do not end up with their ideal classes.
“There is no way to guarantee that students will get their first choices for classes,” Natzke said. “Our hope is that students will always get the courses that they have chosen, but unfortunately, conflicts exist within [student] schedules.”