As another school years comes to a close, the dreaded course selection papers once again circulate around campus. Except this year, the course selection sheet has gone through some changes in an administrative attempt to meet the requests and needs of students.

Mr. Jeff Tepper, the head guidance counselor, pointed out the newest courses in both the QHHS campus and the Virtual Academy.

The list of additional classes goes as follows: Environmental Science AP, World History AP, Math Studies IB SL, Choral Ensemble, Junior ROTC, and seventh period Theatre Production. Along with those courses, administration also hopes to include Senior Math Acceleration and Prep for students headed to AVC, and Cyber Security for those interested in future jobs in technology.

With the addition of these new classes, the Guidance Office hoped to “meet the complaints of students who felt they weren’t seeing their careers and interests in their [class selection lists].” Mr. Tepper expressed, “I want the course selection to be as well-rounded as our students.”

Despite efforts to lead the course selection in the right direction, there are still notable discrepancies in the some classes and a lack of classes students want to see.

At the beginning of the 2017-18 school year, the AVUHSD app held a poll asking students what new foreign language they would like to have at the school. American Sign Language (ASL) won in a landslide victory, and yet, we won’t be seeing it in classes in the near future.

When asked why this was, Mr. Tepper explained that “The thing about introducing new classes is that they have to be accepted by the district and administration, and even then we require teachers with the credentials who are willing to teach these new classes. We are looking into it for next year, but as of right now, it has been pulled out.”

He then brought attention to Quartz Hill’s Virtual Academy. The Virtual Academy offers courses not currently available at QHHS, including such classes as Business, Body Systems and Disorders, Earth Science, Civics, Multimedia, and Studio Art AP. Online courses are a great option for students who want to pair classes for support or go above and beyond with extra classes. As of the current school year, there are more students enrolled in the Virtual Academy than there are students enrolled in any other school in the district.

Quartz Hill in particular is considered a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) school, so many of the elective classes at this school were created to provide for students going into those fields. Naturally, some students want more career-based classes outside of STEM fields because so much is left out when a school simply focuses on STEM.

“The reason why there is an abundance of STEM classes is due to their high demand by students. There is not enough attention to other classes, and if there is, no one voicing their problems. We have no way to figure out what students are asking for,” Mr. Tepper explained. “Once again, it is a long process, so if you don’t see what you want immediately, it doesn’t mean it isn’t in the process already.”

So as students going into another long year, don’t hesitate to talk to your counselors. Tell them what you want to see in Quartz Hill, and get the numbers. Nothing can be done about a possible class with only three guaranteed members, so the student body has to make it happen together or not at all.