On Friday, January 29, 2016, at 5 pm course selections for the 2016-2017 school year will open to all students attending Arrowhead High School for the year of 2016-2017. Course selections can be made through each student’s Skyward account.

According to the 2016-2017 course guide, Arrowhead offers 146 different courses among various areas of study.

Students are asked to select courses for the upcoming year before Friday, February 5, 2016, at midnight. Any students who neglects to select courses for the upcoming school year, will have their courses randomly selected by a counselor at Arrowhead.

Thomas Stuber is a counselor at Arrowhead’s South Campus.

Stuber says the most common mistakes made by students when selecting courses are the following: “Not thinking about their postsecondary plans, not planning ahead, not signing up for both semesters of a year long class, not checking graduation requirements, not checking prerequisites for the course, taking on too much, not thinking about the big picture of how much time will be needed for homework/studying/sleep/extra-curricular activities, listening to pressure or bad advice from friends, [and lastly] pressure to take certain classes with friends instead of what would be best for that individual.”

Students at Arrowhead must complete a given amount of credits for certain areas of study in order to graduate in a four year time period. These graduation requirements can be found on each students Skyward account under the “Academic History” tab. Some current graduation requirements include two fine arts credits, three physical education credits, and six math credits.

Tessa DeQuardo, a sophomore at Arrowhead High School, says, “The most frustrating part about course selection is not really knowing how much you are going to like or dislike a class until you actually go to the class itself.”

DeQuardo says, “I just choose courses based on graduation requirements, and what I know I can handle. It’s super unlikely that you will end up in a class with a specific person, even if you choose the same courses.”

Stuber says students can avoid selecting courses they won’t enjoy by doing the following: “Read the descriptions in the course guide so you know what the class involves, talk with teachers, counselors and parents for recommendations and advice, think about individual strengths and weaknesses and pick classes accordingly, think about future goals and research what courses will help you meet those goals, and don’t take classes only because you want to be with a friend, pick the classes that are best for you.”

Summer school courses will be available for selection to seniors only from January 30- February 1, to juniors and seniors only from February 2- February 3, and to sophomores juniors and seniors from February 4-5