In the past few weeks, the guidance administration has begun implementing some changes to the way scheduling is done for freshmen, sophomores and juniors at the end of the first semester. For years, students were given a course selection sheet which was to be turned in to the guidance office. However, beginning last year, students were expected to turn in the course selection sheet as well as input their desired courses online through the school’s Student Information System, Skyward. For the 2015-2016 school year the administration is altering scheduling yet again.

“This year, we’re doing the same thing, where students input their own schedule,” Julie Fierce, the guidance director at SHS said. “What’s different is we’ve started a whole month earlier.”

Fierce says the early scheduling is a result of new testing requirements enacted by the state starting in February of 2016.

“Every student has to pass the graduation exam, and everybody always knew that as the ECA or the End of Course Assessment,” Fierce said. “The state is now going back and calling it ISTEP, so it is a new type of test but it is still the graduation exam.”

Fierce says only freshmen and sophomores will be taking the new test, and testing will remain the same for juniors and seniors. The early start is an effort being made by the guidance counselors to have everything completed before the testing takes place.

In addition to starting a month earlier, the guidance counselors have switched the order by which students are called to the office based on grade level.

“We started calling freshmen down first, whereas we would normally call juniors down first,” Fierce said.

Since the freshman are still undergoing the process of scheduling, the sophomores and juniors will begin the process when classes resume in January after Christmas holiday.