Credit to File Photo

Mrs. Woodrum speaks to students individually about classes for a future year.

As the first semester comes to an end, students at FHN need to begin thinking about their classes for next year. Luckily, the process is easier than it seems. Here are some tips, tricks, and requirements for class registration for the 2024-2025 school year.

Registration opens Jan. 15 and closes Jan. 25. Students must register for all 14 courses in time in order to make sure they get the classes they want. But don’t jump the gun! On Jan. 17, all class hours will have some videos to play, created by all of the subject department heads, that showcase some available courses and what they entail. 

“We have had our like video day, our registration day here at North since 2016.” Dr. Lisa Woodrum, the counseling department chair and counselor for the class of 2025 said. “This year, I’m super excited because our admin team, counseling team and teachers were partnering to give each grade level a special take on course selection and college prep. So there are very specific details for each grade level. We’re asking North families and students to experience that day and then counselors will be on their class campus pages as well as sending emails to parents about the registration how-to’s because it’s a once-a-year process that portals open.”

Students should make sure to sit down and plan out their courses, making sure they have the required core classes and are taking ones that align with their interests. Some classes have a cap on students, and all classes need a certain amount of interest in order to be offered here at North.

“Make sure you choose 14 out of 14 and make sure you visit your ICAP, which is that individual comprehensive guide for post-high school and high school. After the 25th, it’ll close,” Woodrum said. “Counselors will triple check with some students that maybe don’t have it submitted. And then those totals, which are super important, get turned over to our administrative team who then decides how many sections of each course should be made. And then if each course has enough student interest with the numbers to make. And then after that, the master schedule is created.”

Some classes have prerequisites or special requirements. These can be found by clicking on the “more information” icon next to the course while registering. It will show a short description of the course, as well as all grade and credit requirements. Students should make sure they check with their teachers and class counselor if they are unsure about their eligibility. For those interested in, or currently enrolled in, programs like CAPS, Lewis and Clark or the Work Program, you must still select 14 out of 14 classes during registration, seeing as all of those programs are application-based and must first be approved. 

“Probably the best advice for students is to type out their questions and have them ready because counselors will not be able to pre-meet before a student’s advising appointment and we have one month to get that done,” Woodrum said. “That would be like the quickest, best way to get all the information that they need as opposed to like an email or something, because our emails, we’re gonna have a, a little like out of office almost on there because we’re gonna be meeting with probably 30 to 40 students a day to get this done during the timeline.” 

High school is the perfect time to experiment with your classes and interests. All of the classes are free, as opposed to paying upwards of $300 for a college course. Students should try to get a good idea of what they want, talk with their parents and teachers, and take all the opportunities they can when it’s free.

“People are asking me for a pre-appointment or what would you like? What do you think about this for me? What do you think about that for me? And I have to answer those questions via email right now,” Woodrum said. “One, people are studying for finals. Two, those advising appointments really need to happen after a student has done some self-reflection and research about what they think they want to take and what direction they want to go.”