Academic Guidebook

List of 8 items.

• 1. How to Register for Courses

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  The course request process should begin with students and parents carefully reviewing the Course Catalog while considering questions such as:

  • Do I have any graduation requirements to fulfill?
  • Have I met the prerequisites for this course?
  • How balanced is my course load for my learning needs and extracurricular activities?

  The Course Catalog includes titles and descriptions of course offerings for the upcoming school year, department overviews, and resources such as LWHS Graduation Requirements, UC Entrance Requirements, and a four-year course planning grid.

  
  Students will be granted most of their requests, but are not guaranteed to get all of their first choices. In order to maximize placement in first choice classes, it is critical that students follow all directions on the course request form, including ranking the required number of choices, and submitting by 3:30pm, Apr 21, 2020.
  
  

  Returning students register for classes once during the year. In late March, students attend grade-level info sessions to learn about changes to the academic program and to receive advice on course selection and how to fill out the course request form, which is made available online on the day of the info session. Students complete the forms, gather parent electronic signatures, and submit them by the indicated deadline, which is usually the second day back from Spring Break.

  
  Incoming 9th grade students register for courses by returning their course request forms as indicated by the Admissions office.
  
  

  Note on Scheduling Philosophy: At LWHS, the mission governs our scheduling process in important ways. In order to provide students with a truly balanced and meaningful Head, Heart, Hands education, we feature a required program that adds increased student choice with each grade level. In their four years at LWHS, students will receive most of their course requests, but most likely not all of them. At the core of the LWHS mission are the principles of equity, access, and inclusion, which impact the scheduling process in important ways. First, we strive for numerical balance between sections of a specific class to maximize student access to teachers. We strive for demographic balance, both to maximize the learning benefits of a diverse student body and to create safety and belonging within sections. When we receive too many requests for a given class we use a priority system, described later in this guidebook, to ensure equitable access to classes; once priorities are exhausted, we use a lottery to assign available seats. We do not accept requests for specific teachers or for specific blocks. While we offer a rigorous academic program, we cannot accommodate students who have learned a topic beyond our course offerings, and instead invite them to explore other areas of study. Students have the opportunity to modify their schedules during the Add/Drop periods at the beginning of each semester.

• 2. Course Request Forms

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  The 2020–21 course request forms and the medical release/activity form are available on March 27, 2020. All course request forms, along with medical release/activity forms, must be successfully submitted online by 11:59 pm, April 21, 2020.
  

  
  Course requests are important and demand research and thought. Between March 27 and April 21, students should review resources such as the Course Catalog and graduation requirements, and should seek the advice of adults such as advisors, teachers, department chairs, college counselors, and parents. The Frosh/Sophomore and Junior/Senior Deans, Assistant Head of School, Dean of Students, and Academic Scheduler/Registrar are also available to meet with students during specific hours to be announced to students and families at the start of the course request period.

  
  To be accepted for consideration, course request forms must be filled out properly and completely, and be accompanied by the completed medical release/activity form. Students submitting the online course request form and/or medical release form late be given lowest priority in their course request. After successfully submitting their forms, students should receive an automatic email confirmation.

• 3. Policies and Priorities During the Scheduling Process

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  All students are guaranteed enrollment into their required grade level courses. Students have an increasing degree of choice in creating their course schedule as they progress through the grades, with ample opportunities to pursue their interests, passions and future goals. Students are not guaranteed to have every request granted, due to factors such as course availability, numerical and demographic balancing (see Scheduling Philosophy), unfulfilled prerequisites, unexpected demand, and the number of "singletons", courses for which only one section exists, and which therefore can create conflicts in a single schedule. The Academic Scheduler works hard to honor student choice, but when a course is oversubscribed, she uses the following priority system to grant requests in a transparent, consistent and equitable manner:

  1. A student needing the course to fulfill a graduation requirement (in descending order: seniors, juniors, sophs, frosh). For example, if a senior and a sophomore request Rethinking Furniture, the spot will go to the sophomore if the senior has already fulfilled the Tech Arts requirement. If neither have fulfilled the requirement, the spot will go to the senior.
  2. A student’s first requested course in a department (i.e., first science class for juniors and seniors); students seeking to double will be given a spot if available after all first requests have been granted.
  3. A student taking the course for the first time
  4. Seniority: Senior, Junior, Sophomore, Frosh
  5. If the above priorities have been applied and the course is still oversubscribed, we use a lottery to distribute places.

  Additional information:

  • For senior seminars in History and English: we strive to grant students their first or second choice, but ask students to rank all seminars, as unexpected demand or schedule conflicts may require us to place students in a lower choice seminar. These are required courses, and all maintain high standards of scholarship and engaging content, and we asked students to be open to new possibilities.
  • Doubling —Students may take a second course in a single department as an elective, if space permits. Students taking one course in the department or who need the course to fulfill an LWHS graduation requirement will be given priority if spaces are limited. Students may not take three courses simultaneously from a single department. Beginning with the class of 2022, seniors may double if they have completed their graduation requirement in Math, Science, or World Languages and choose not to continue in that department.

• 4. Course Load Requirements

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  Each student must be enrolled in a minimum of six courses per semester. Teaching Assistantships and Independent Studies may not count as one of a student's six core classes. One of a student's important decisions is whether to have one or two free blocks. To this end, students should consider the number of honors or homework-heavy courses they are requesting, as well as their outside commitments and extracurricular activities.

  The maximum number of courses a student may carry per semester varies among grade levels and types of courses as outlined below:

  • Frosh take seven required classes: English, Math, Biology, World Language, Body-Mind Education (BME), Contemporary Media and Art (CMA) and Design & Technology (DT). Frosh may take an 8th class, either from Performing Arts or META.
  • Sophomores may take up to seven classes. They take required classes in the five "a–e" departments: World History (a), English (b), Math (c), Chemistry (d), and World Language (e) and one semester of Health - Human Sexuality. To fulfill their six required classes, sophs should consider taking at least one of the two required semesters in Technical Arts during this year, although students may satisfy this requirement at any time prior to graduation. Sophomores may choose to keep two free periods or select one additional yearlong or two semester-long electives from the three Arts departments, as well as electives such as Philanthropy, Journalism, Creative Writing, and the BlendEd program.
  • Juniors may take up to seven classes. They take five courses designated "a–e" from each of these departments: History (a), English (b), Math (c), Science (d), and World Language (e). To fulfill their Science (d) requirement, Juniors choose from a variety of courses listed in the Course Catalog. For their sixth and seventh courses, Juniors choose among the electives offered by the three Arts departments, Philanthropy, Journalism, Creative Writing, the BlendEd program, and any Science course listed as a “g”. Juniors may elect to keep a second free period rather than take a seventh course.
  • Seniors may take up to seven classes. They take a minimum of five courses and up to six courses designated "a–e" from each of these departments: History (a), English (b), Math (c), Science (d), and World Language (e). If a senior has completed their graduation requirement in one of these five departments, they may request classes in four of these, subject to approval by the Assistant Head of School, in consultation with College Counseling.  For their sixth and seventh courses, seniors may take eligible, available course. They may also keep a second free period in lieu of a seventh course.

  Honors Level Course Caps

  Juniors are automatically enrolled in Honors English and Honors History courses. Seniors are also automatically enrolled in Honors English. Students may choose to enroll in additional Honors courses, up to a cap of three per semester. Students enrolled in three Honors level courses (outside of English and History) may choose to take 7 courses, but one of the 7 courses must be in either Visual Arts, Performing Arts, or the Technical Arts. They may also choose from Journalism, Creative Writing, or the Philanthropy Initiative.

• 5. Viewing Student Schedules

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  Student schedules are made available on the school website to students, parents, and teachers in early July. If a student believes there is an error on their schedule, such as not enough or too many classes, a class they’ve already taken, or a class for which they are not eligible, please contact the Academic Scheduler and Registrar Erica Obando. She will investigate and, if necessary, fix the error before the beginning of the school year, likely earlier. If you’d like a change to your schedule, such as adding, dropping or changing a class, do not email, but use the Add/Drop link available in late July to submit your request.

  
  Student Instructions

  Login > My Day > Schedule

  
  Parent Instructions

  Login > Your student’s name (top left) > Schedule

   

• 6. Adding, Dropping, or Changing Courses

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  Students receive their year's course assignments and schedules in July. Students who wish to make any changes to their schedule may place requests via an online form available in late July. The Academic Scheduler and Registrar Erica Obando will be available for consultation beginning in early August. Where possible, students should make all add/drop requests for the school year during August. We will have second semester Add/Drop in early December and January, but choices may be limited, as most rosters are set by the opening of school. Also note that we do not allow students to change sections of yearlong courses at the semester, even if the teacher is the same, except in rare cases that are supported by the deans. The only schedule changes made outside of the Add/Drop period are for schedule errors, placement issues (moving from/to an honors class), or as supported by the deans. Once a student submits an “Add/Drop/Change” form, they must continue attending originally assigned classes until they see a schedule change online. In most cases, students will not be notified individually, as we receive many add/drop requests.

  
  The school will do its best to accommodate course requests made during the Add/Drop period using the same priorities implemented during the scheduling process. We do not accept requests for teacher preference unless approved by a dean. Requests for changes based on schedule elegance have low priority.

• 7. Auditing Classes

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  LWHS defines auditing a class as “attending a class that is not on a student’s course schedule.” LWHS does not permit students to audit classes, as this negatively impacts student/teacher ratios.

• 8. Exceptions and Exemptions

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  Exceptions to LWHS policies around course selection, scheduling, and course priority are rare. They are generally made in extreme circumstances involving student health or family emergencies and are usually by recommendation of the Student Support Services team. Requests for exemptions or exceptions should be made to the Assistant Head of School Randy Barnett.