Course selection is a joint collaboration among students, parents, counselors, and teachers. This process is built on a foundation of middle school exploration—where students begin to identify their strengths and interests through our Naviance platform, connect with various career clusters, and prepare to build on that success in 9th grade and beyond, ultimately starting to shape their unique portrait as a Schenectady graduate. By offering a diverse range of course selections—not only in core academic areas but also in career and technical education and advanced coursework—we empower students to tailor their educational journey to their individual goals. We believe that student engagement increases when learners have the opportunity to choose courses that both reflect their personal interests and align with their post-secondary aspirations, whether that be college, career, or another pathway. This comprehensive approach equips them with the skills and knowledge necessary to access a broad spectrum of future opportunities. Please find our Naviance Scope & Sequence here.

Course selection should include teacher recommendations, although these recommendations are not released to the student and/or parent/guardian until the student sits with their school counselor for an individual performance review and/or course selection session. That way, the counselor can advise and support the student in understanding the recommendation, as well as the learning pathways before them. Our goal is to have students and parents/guardians work alongside teachers and counselors to make informed choices about courses.  Each course selection should be made carefully.  Counselors will meet individually with students Mid-January through March, and students will make their course requests with their counselor’s during this time period. Parents may participate in the course selection meeting. Students’ initial requests will be mailed home in April. 

• Teacher recommendations created by - December 2025.

• Counselors conduct Tier 1, whole group lessons in grades 9-12 related to available courses and course selection in alignment with reactivating connections to Naviance and Career Profiles that students have completed in January 2026.

• Counselors meet individually with students Mid-January-March 2026.

• Students Initial Course Requests are mailed home April 2026.

• Parents/Students can request changes via their student's school counselor until May 31, 2026.

All attempts are made to schedule and honor all  course requests made by students, however some courses may not be offered as intended due to low enrollment. Alternative courses will be offered if this occurs.

Program and Schedule Changes: Students may be given permission to drop a course without adding it as long as they continue to carry the minimum number of credits as previously indicated. Please see the timeline below. Any request to DROP a course must be combined with an ADD request. Students will generally not be permitted to enroll in a new course beyond the fifteenth day of the course unless administrative approval is granted. A student must attend the class he/she has requested to drop until the request is honored.