Students start scheduling petition for CVHS
In light of the new school year, juniors Jonah Reichardt and James Siu have initiated a change.org petition to change CVHS’ course distribution on Aug. 16. The petition was written in response to the problems many students have experienced with their schedules this year.
“Trying to fix my schedule in the first two weeks of school and not getting anything fixed really just made us more willing to put something out to give people the classes they want,” Reichardt said.
At CVHS, though juniors and seniors do not have a maximum number of APs and Honors classes they can take, many students have wanted more. However, some were unsuccessful in getting more advanced classes.
With this petition, Siu and Reichardt hope for new implemented changes to the school, including the number of classes available compared to the number of students who wish to take them, as well as changing how counselors can help students with these changes.
With many classes not having a set waitlist, students are forced to go into their counselors’ offices at different times in the day and hope they get lucky with an open spot. Despite these challenges, students have shown up to their counselors’ offices almost every day in the hopes of a schedule change.
“It’s been very very busy, but the kids, in spite of it all, have shown true grit, determination, and patience, in waiting to see their counselors for whatever their needs are,” House One Secretary Mo Brosnan said.
Published on the online petition platform, “change.org,” the petition has received good feedback from the CV community, with about 800 signatures signed within a week.
The Olympian asked Assistant Principal Kevin Baker for his thoughts on the petition, but received no response.
Siu and Reichardt hope that their petition will create change in CVHS; their ultimate goal is to get students the classes they would like to take. If the petition does not go through, Siu and Reichardt remain hopeful for the impact.
“We wanted to show the district that there are a lot of people who care and a lot of people who are passionate about this,” Siu said. “We wanted to spread awareness to a lot of other people so that hopefully, we can get more people to support our cause.”
This is so good, it took one of my friends a month to change one class because the school made a mistake with her schedule
I very much agree with this, every single year since I have attended CVHS I have had to fix my scheduele with my counselor. Either because the classes are just flat out wrong, or because I didn’t sign up for it.
I think that students should be able to take any level class they want as long as they can handle it. I know a lot of students want to take multiple AP’s and Advanced level classes, but Im sure counselors are trying to make sure everyone has a balanced schedule.
From other student accounts that I have heard on campus, a major part of the issue with student schedules is the limited availability in AP and honors classes. Interest in attending these classes has remained the same, if not increased, in order for students at CVHS to remain competitive with other students in the nation in college applications, but the number of AP and Honors classes available has either stayed the same or decreased compared to previous years. For example, a popular AP class that many students are interested in taking is AP Chemistry, but compared to previous years, where there were 3 sections running, there were only 2 sections this year, and many students were upset about not getting in. I am curious as to why the school has not allowed for more AP and honors classes to be available for students, and if the issue can be resolved.
I think this is very interesting to think about. It is definitely hard to get all the class you want and there must be some way to improve this problem.