At the start of the second semester, students request classes for the next year. The process of organizing those requests into schedules goes through the administration and previously-taught classes may be canceled.
Sixteen classes at VHHS were canceled this school year due to under-enrollment.
Dr. Andrew Young, Assistant Principal organizes student class requests on a Google spreadsheet. That information then goes into PowerSchool to make the final schedule. When there are not enough student requests the class gets canceled.
“There isn’t necessarily a magic number [of students who request a class]… we have sort of a threshold of around twelve to fifteen to really be monitoring,” Young said.
The counselors get a list of classes that do not have enough student requests, and that is when they start meeting with students.
According to counselor Daniel Pien, some students are disappointed when they hear a class is not running.
“They were like ‘Shoot I was really looking forward to style studio,’” Pien said.
Counselors have the task of managing students’ expectations with the reality of the course’s ability to run.
“We try to offer some kind of backup that’s similar to it… I understand if there is frustration from the kids because they were really expecting to take it,” Pien said.
An example of a course canceled this year is social justice literature. The course had been running for six years.
English Teacher Amy Christian taught social justice literature last year and said that it was a bummer that it was canceled this year.
Tara Young led the creation of the social justice literature course. The course is focused on understanding identities regarding race, gender, and sexuality and addresses topics not normally discussed in other classes. It has helped many seniors prepare for life after high school.
“[The class helps them] feel way more informed and way more competent,” Christian said.
The course let students learn more and discuss the world around them which gave students skills for college courses, conversations with family members, and work-place environments.
“[Social justice literature] is the class where you get to have that more,” Christian said. “In class, you are with people equally as curious, who want to learn more, ask questions, and get answers.”
Course selection for the ‘25-’26 school year will start in January. This is an opportunity to get classes, like Social Justice Literature, running after a year of cancellation.
“By putting [a specific class] on the sheet. That’s the best way to try to increase the chances,” Pien said.