Challenge and Balance: Picking Classes

As you read in Ms. Fagan's post last week, spring is just around the corner. As the weather begins (and hopefully continues) to warm up, the Nipmuc counselors are starting to think about what's to come, and so are students. We've begun course registration for the juniors and sophomores, and we'll finish up with the freshman students before April break. Particularly for the upperclassmen, this is an exciting time to pick out new electives for next year and push themselves to try new classes. The full program of studies is available for students who want to review course descriptions and other information.

In our individual meetings with students, we first take a look at what graduation requirements they've fulfilled, and which ones they still need. We also talk about their college and career plans and match up what classes may help prepare them best for the future. Next, we take a look at the teacher recommendations in ipass. Students' current teachers will put recommendations for what level (CPS, Honors, or AP) they feel would be a good fit for the following year. We talk with the student to determine how they feel about these levels, and then also about what electives they'd like to take.

There are two themes that we stress when we meet with students: challenge, and balance. We want students to take challenging courses and push themselves a little harder based on their current performance and future goals. For example, if a student is some honors classes with strong grades and gets an AP recommendation, I may recommend they go for it and sign up. Progression is key - we want students to continue to challenge themselves a little more each year.

However, there also needs to be balance. Many students are involved with an enormous load of extracurriculars, work, sports, volunteering, family responsibilities, and of course, homework. Students need time to decompress, enjoy downtime with friends and family, and relax. And on top of all this, they are expected to maintain strong grades and keep up with all their courses. It's important to maintain a balance when picking rigorous classes for next year. We stress this to students in our meetings. Maintaining sanity is just as important (if not more than) academic rigor!

If you have any questions about course registration, please feel free to contact us. When students complete their course selection with us, we will also print out a course registration form for them to bring home to parents.