Students registering for their 2021-2022 classes most likely noticed a change to the registration system; students are now required to receive signatures from their teachers in order to register for most honors or AP classes. Now, students must find a time with their first semester teacher to have them signature their registration papers. Academic Counselor Kathy Toner has been working to perfect the new signature system, which was put in place to help students better understand what classes they were able to take.

“We were struggling with recommendations for students because a lot of students were putting classes in their cart and selecting classes that they were not ready for or not recommended for,” Toner said. “We were trying to come up with a way for students to be able to talk to teachers and have conversations with teachers instead of just putting things in their carts. [This allowed us] to see if teachers felt [their students] were ready for the harder courses, which is why we require signatures.”

Toner explained the process in place for when a student does not receive their required signature.

“If someone does not get a signature for a class, then we will put them in the regular class until they go back and get a signature from the teacher and the teacher lets us know they feel like it’s a class they can handle,” Toner said.

Toner said this new system is a work in progress. 

“I know some of the kids and teachers say it’s confusing, and that’s just [how it is] with anything new until we get the kinks out of it,” Toner said. “It’s kind of like the first time we did the scheduler. Until everything works out and we know what works and [what] doesn’t, we won’t be able to tell what we need to fix. Because it is new for some kids it is confusing, but we’re hoping in the long run it’s going to get a little bit easier to transition to registrations.”

Sophomore Sean Alger was an extended campus student for the first semester of the 2020-2021 school year. Alger said that the new system of getting signatures is a good way for students to be put in classes that are not too rigorous for them.

“I understand that teachers need to confirm that I’m prepared to tackle a class that has a higher level of difficulty,” Alger said. “It’s good they’re doing this so they don’t waste the student’s time putting them in a class they can’t handle.”

Alger said that being an extended campus student first semester posed challenges with getting his needed signatures.

“I’ve only had one big challenge with getting signatures this year specifically,” Alger said. “I was an online learner last semester, and going back to school means that some of my teachers are different than last semester. Finding mods with a teacher that I no longer have is difficult because I don’t participate in their class, where I could [easily] get the signatures.”

Although Alger understood the need for the new system, he said it is harder on both students and teachers.

“I don’t like having to hunt down signatures from teachers who are already busy most of the time, because it makes preparing for next year a bit more difficult for both of us,” Alger said.