Since the Schedule Change Request Form was sent out on August 7th, 2023, the counselors have been flooded with students’ appeals for schedule changes. They have been working hard to fix as many students’ schedules as possible.
“As of today, which is Thursday, August 17th, we’ve received over 1700 requests for schedule changes. That’s more schedule changes than we’ve ever received, and so the counselors are working diligently, trying to place students into the classes that they’ve requested,” said AV Counselor Sheryl Pacheco.
Despite the counselors’ efforts, approving every request has remained an ongoing process, and many students have yet to receive a schedule change.
“Yes, [I submitted a request] over the weekend, on Saturday. It still hasn’t been processed yet, so I’m still waiting for that to come,” said Allya Mukherjee (‘25).
Students with incomplete schedules took priority over those simply wishing to change classes.
“I had a hole in my 4th period. I was supposed to have a class [that period] but it didn’t come. So, on the first day of school, I didn’t have anywhere to go […] so I had to go to the MPR which was where everyone had to go if they had [an empty slot] in their schedule. Now [my schedule] is fixed,” said Amelia Tsao (‘26).
With every schedule change, counselors must make sure that there is room in the class the student is requesting, the student is not dropping a class required for graduation and college admissions, and that the change will not disrupt their entire schedule.
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Synergy, the new grading student portal software, has inadvertently generated a backlog for counselors as they work to finalize schedule changes amidst its implementation.
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The counselors are expecting to receive requests until August 21st, which is the last day to submit a schedule change. The counselors approve around 200 schedules a day, so they are expecting to finish the remaining 1000 requests within the next two weeks.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience. It is taking a little while for us to get through it and we know how important it is for students to be in the classes they want to be in, so we’re working as quickly as we can!” said Pacheco.
