Scheduling. The unseen process that dictates the day-to-day activities of students and assists them with their long-term future plans. Whether one’s schedule is composed of rigorous core classes and strenuous APs or highly specialized career-based courses and laid-back electives, every student must periodically interact with the complex mechanisms of scheduling in order to obtain the 22 credits required for graduation. While the scheduling process seems to be relatively well-understood, there are still a great number of students who are not aware of what goes into the making of their schedule. In an anonymous survey of 22 Brighton High School students, when asked to rank their knowledge of the scheduling process on a scale from one to five, 13 out of 22 students responded with a three or lower. In light of this lack of awareness, an in-depth look at the process by which a student’s wishes are converted into a class schedule is worth undertaking.
The scheduling process begins when students make their course selections. Traditionally, schedule sheets were filled out in the second semester (usually February), but in recent years, the process has been pushed back to occur earlier in the school year in December. The BHS Times previously reported on the controversy arising from this change.
According to Ms. Jennifer Caverly, the counselor for the class of 2027, the decisions about which classes to offer are made by administrators at the BECC building based on student course selections in MISTAR.
“So we have a team of administrators here that also works with the team of administrators at the central office and to make decisions on what classes we can offer when, and then we go through many rounds of a master schedule,” Caverly said. “Ultimately, there’s always conflicts, and then, therefore us counselors have to go back in and either move things around in [kids’] schedules or we sometimes have to go to their alternate classes that they want to take.”
With such a large student body and only a limited number of available slots for classes, conflicts are essentially guaranteed. Therefore, the counselors do not attempt the impossible feat of creating a schedule with no conflicts, and instead focus on minimizing the overall number of conflicts, with any remaining issues resolved through discussion with their students.
“I would say, when we do find conflicts, we do try to brainstorm different ideas and move things around in the master schedule with the goal of getting the least number of conflicts,” Caverly said.
When it comes to actually choosing their classes, students use a variety of different methods to pick the ones they feel will best serve their education and life.
“I decided by taking advice from friends and family as well as signing up for classes that would help my future job, since I am going into the medical field. I would also take classes I take interest in, like AP Seminar,” one survey respondent said.
Although students may often feel as if their parents, teachers and counselors dictate their schedule, in reality, the process is almost entirely student-driven. Classes are automatically scheduled in MISTAR based on student requests; the only time that counselors have to manually intervene is to resolve conflicts or implement schedule changes. As stated by choir teacher Mr. Phillip Johnson, who is also a parent to sophomore Ethan Johnson, students are the primary force directing their schedule; teachers and parents only intervene when necessary.
“We usually let our students try to handle it unless there’s something that isn’t working for us. And in the past, when there have been issues with the schedule and we’ve reached out to the counselors, we’ve been able to make those corrections very quickly,” Johnson said.
In the end, the process is all about making sure the students get what they need to be successful in their academic career and in their future aspirations following their graduation.
“Ultimately, we want to be making sure that kids are taking classes that will help prepare them for their next steps and also get them a well-rounded education here per the state of Michigan,” Caverly said.
Some students feel dissatisfied with the process and wish for change. A number of students in the survey stated that they felt they did not get enough time to meet with their counselors. This is understandable given the very large student body compared to the relatively small counseling team (one counselor advises approximately 500 students), but it still frequently causes frustration.
“They just don’t give us enough time to go to the counselor, and for me, the counselor was too helpful. I would like a very detailed summary of what my future looks like and what classes would help me with my goals,” one student said.
Other students disliked the earlier time frame for scheduling and wish to return to a later start time for choosing classes.
“I think that they should make the planning for the following school year’s schedule closer to the end of the school year,” another student said.
However, this view conflicts with that of most teachers and counselors, as a later time to start scheduling forces them to rush through the process, increasing the risk of errors.
“In the last couple of years, I would say that starting scheduling earlier has definitely helped in a lot of ways because it gives the people that work on the schedule behind the scenes more time to do that,” Caverly said.
Regardless of how well the system works, good communication and politeness between parties is essential to the process, as that enhances the experience for everyone. Johnson agrees that BHS excels at this sort of communication and mutual understanding.
“[W]ithin the context of a school of 2,000 students, the fact that I have colleagues that I can sit down and talk to about what I would like to see change and have them be as responsive and collegial as they are is really, really nice,” Johnson said.
Note: Survey respondents were kept anonymous to encourage students to share their genuine opinions.
