Patricia O’Keefe and Rachel Wolk
Course selection time is in full swing, meaning choices galore, meetings with teachers, and frantic students! This time period is crucial to a student’s next step in terms of their Warde career. It also has a great impact on what they may want to do in life after high school.
The system in terms of how assignments are graded overall has not changed for a while. For some, it can be very confusing! It is important to note the changes that will be occurring over the next few years in regards to how this may impact a student’s choices for next year. Recently, Mr. Ebling sent out a note to all parents, informing them of his proposal towards this new change. He explained the confusion over how the courses are named and how it impacts students at Warde.
Due to past uncertainties from colleges, some administration at Warde felt that the change in course naming and the GPA scale would allow for an easier approach towards looking at college transcripts. For instance, a course such as English 11 is a Freshman Honors course, not Grade 11 English. The same course would now have a new name of English 9 Honors. There are different levels in terms of how certain classes and courses are weighted. Many of the lower ranking classes were being weighted higher than those of an AP or Honors class.
Although not all of these new changes apply for the incoming school year, it is helpful to understand so that all students get a glimpse at what is to come. According to Mr. Ebling, “In line with new graduation requirements that have been approved for the Class of 2023 and beyond, we felt it was important to address an issue with how courses are named, which traditionally has been very confusing to parents, students, and colleges receiving our students’ transcripts.The proposed new GPA scale will impact incoming 9th graders starting next year, but the name changes will apply to all courses next year.”
For instance, math is in the category of a core academic. Most sophomores take a Geometry class, either Geometry Honors or just Geometry. This was a change from last year because they took away the numbers that were associated with each course.
Hopefully, this information will become useful in the coming weeks, as students and staff work hard to pick courses for themselves and for their students for the coming year. Make sure you are keeping on top of your course selection process, and most importantly, make an appointment to speak with your guidance counselor about what you have chosen. This may be a crazy time of year, although it is beneficial for all. Take careful consideration into what courses you want to take and how they will help you get to where you want to be. Most of all, have fun and know that what you decide can help you towards reaching your goals and having the best experience at Warde that you could have!