As the first semester ends, FHSD course registration has opened for all students and their families in the district for the 2025–2026 school year.
On Jan. 13, the FHSD course registration portal was made available to the public. From there, currently enrolled students and incoming high school students can choose their core classes and electives for the upcoming school year. Students are required to register for classes that fulfill credit requirements but may select electives if they have room in their schedules. The course registration portal will close on Jan. 24. Students are encouraged to look through the entire course book to see what all of the offerings are.
“[If] you ever plan on owning a home, you can take an elective like a woodworking class at North,” Senior counselor Lisa Woodrum said. “That’s a fabulous elective to take.”
With the new course registration process come a few changes, such as the removal of mass-loaded physical education and health courses for incoming freshmen, as well as the removal of AP Music Theory and Speech II courses.
“Mass-loading occurs when the district office pre-assigns core classes,” Woodrum said. “These are typically health and physical education classes. For incoming freshmen, this prevented families from removing these courses. But now, [those courses] will not be mass-loaded by the district office for all freshmen course requests.”
This change means incoming freshmen are no longer required to take health or physical education during their first year of high school if they have taken a class the summer before. However, students are heavily encouraged to complete these courses early to fulfill graduation requirements. Health and physical education will remain part of FHSD’s required credits, and any student who forgets or chooses not to enroll in these courses during their freshman year will need to complete them in another year. Students cannot graduate without those credits.
In addition to the removal of mass-loaded health and physical education courses, AP Music Theory and Speech II have been designated as sunset courses and will not be offered for the next school year.
“Sunsetting happens when courses don’t maintain typical enrollment, which is around 20 students per year over several years,” Woodrum said. “The district then determines that the student body isn’t interested in those courses, so they’re removed from the curriculum.”
The removal of these courses clearly presents a new challenge for students interested in related fields or topics. Not only will they no longer have the in-person opportunity to enroll in these classes, but it will also make it more difficult to explore their personal interests. Classes like AP Music Theory and Speech may be considered niche by most students in our district, but some believe they serve an important purpose, similar to any other class or elective.
AP Music Theory, a class offered at most high schools across the United States, provides students the opportunity to earn college-level credit in music theory by taking and passing the AP exam in May. It covers foundational music skills such as sight-reading, music terminology and part-writing. Having an in-person teacher to guide students through the material is simply invaluable, but with the course’s removal, students passionate about pursuing music will face the challenges, and make their path toward a music career even more difficult.
“I feel extremely upset about the removal of the AP Music Theory course,” junior Adrielle Aruya said. “This course is a crucial building block for students considering a career in music or wanting to deepen their understanding of what they’re doing in band or choir.”
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to provide clarity on the requirements students must reach to not take a physical education class freshman year.