As August 27 finally rolled around and summer ground to a halt, juniors and seniors idly checked their student accounts for what would either be their third or fourth year going into C.K.M, while freshmen and sophomores nervously logged in to see what would become of their fate.
Everyone expected to see what they were supposed to: a clean and crisp page on Infinite Campus of their six or seven classes, labeled in all caps with the teachers names running along the bottom, as the final days of summer went abuzz with who had which teacher, which class, which students and which period. But instead, there were blank spaces, doubled classes, missing requirements, and a school of almost three thousand bewildered students.
On the first day of school, kids filed into the counselors office throughout the day, claiming to not be enrolled in a class that particular period. Teachers took roll and called out almost fifty names off their roster. There are standstill lines leading into the science quad, leaving students asking, “What happened this year?”
There are a number of things that are off-putting to students about the scheduling situation. One is that there are significantly more students on campus that last year or the year before, which is clear to anyone who has dared endure passing period going through the connecting stairway beside the bike cage.
Another is the amount of students that are missing classes, the majority missing their science, art, or math class. Either the schedules were made with having left them out, or there is a hole, or empty period, where the class should be and the student has nothing enrolled for that period.
Of course, as Ms. Cunningham, one of McClatchy’s counselors, said, the counselors did their best to prioritize the most important classes a student needs and requested before considering what else could be included in the basic six class structure. But not everything could be done nicely and neatly, especially with the couple hundred extra students that seem to have suddenly materialized on campus, surprising both students and admin.
From a student’s standpoint, the student distribution per class per period looks oddly out of balance. With some classes, up to fifty students are crammed in outer edge seats and up against the walls. Other classes are nearly half their usual size, with space taken up by empty desks.
Ms. Jordan, C.K.M.’s registrar, listed a number of factors she considered to be the main forces that drove the schedule process to overturn. One of these is obviously the increase of bodies on campus, especially of incoming ninth graders. She said that compared to the sophomore, junior, and senior class sizes, the freshman class took the prize with having nearly 720 students enrolled for the 2018 school year.
“That’s crazy,” she said. “Especially when you look at the other numbers where it’s a little over six for tenth, then a little over five, trickling down…that’s nearly one hundred more for the start of ninth grade.”
How does McClatchy happen to accept one hundred students over their limit? Enrollment happens at the enrollment center, not at the school.
“The enrollments are typically done at the enrollment center, so it’s not like McClatchy is just taking kids in,” says Ms.Jordan. “The enrollment center should balance it out…but if you literally live in this area, we legally have to enroll you. If you are in McClatchy’s attendance area, we just have to.”
That explains the extra one hundred students. But shouldn’t that mean each class be filled?
Another of these reasons was personal inquiries for particular classes. Certain classes, said Cunningham, were highly requested, which made it difficult to incorporate into schedules. Classes like AP Bio, Computer Science, and 2D Art were hard to work around because of conflictions with basic classes like English and History, which are often clumped together.
In building the schedules, the counsellors have a process. For the students in exclusive programs such as LPPA, or HISP, their options are somewhat limited for which classes can be taken. These programs have certain classes that are only offered during specific periods (for example, HISP english and history classes are only offered during 3rd and 4th period). From there, the counsellors determine when science, math, language classes, and electives, can fit into a student’s schedule.
According to Cunningham, 300 students requested ceramics this year, but there is only room for 175 students over the span of five periods. A large portion of these students are only available to take the class during certain periods, due to their programs. This leads to overbooked classes.
The elimination process is not random, but it is slow. Counsellors call in students who have already met their art requirements so that they can choose another class, without having a class forced upon them. Counselors also call in students who have a hole in their schedule, so that they have the option to choose which class they would like to take.
The primary goal for counsellors is for students to meet their graduation requirements early on, before taking any extra electives. When selecting schedules for the following year, counselors highly encourage students to “stick to what they pick” as Cunningham put it. Many students try to fix their schedules early on in the year, because they decided that the class they initially chose is too difficult, too easy, or they’ve lost interest. This puts more on the counsellors plate as they have more pressing demands, such as maxed out classes, and holes in students’ schedules.
Cunningham wishes that more teachers could be hired, as an easy solution to these oversized classes, but Principal Lambert has a strict budget as to how many teachers can be hired.
Now comes the question, “Is this expected to become a trend at McClatchy?” Of course, there will always be conflicts with required classes and elective classes and students with changed minds regarding what classes they want to take. According to Jordan, the school has always balanced out classes and fixed schedules by September 15th, the district deadline.
The number of incoming freshmen this year was astonishing to the counsellors, and it is undetermined if it will happen again. Most of these freshmen however did not end up actually attending McClatchy, and so if the numbers are the same, then most likely will be the number of attending students. It will simply be a matter of trying to determine who transferred schools, and who is staying at their home school.
As of September 7th, the 717 freshmen enrolled at McClatchy dramatically dropped to 650. The holes in schedules are being filled, extra classes are being removed, and graduation requirements are being met. The counsellors are working hard to ensure that the students at McClatchy have the educational experience that they deserve.