Class registration enters the technology age

Julia Hardy and Monica Nair
Reporters

Starting on Feb. 25 and running through Mar. 9, class registration was made available online for the first time for student access. Through the use of Powerschool Portal, students could choose classes, view the program of studies book and request a reconsideration of their placement.

According to Scheduling coordinator Paul Gallo, the administration decided to switch to online scheduling for its added simplicity. “It saves time and money because we don’t need to mail out all the papers to the parents,” Mr. Gallo said. “Also, PowerSchool is designed to support online registration and mistakes are easily caught on it.”

Freshman Ellie Garrett also found the process much easier for it presented scheduling information for next year at a quicker rate. “It’s a lot less complicated than last year,” she said. “I can see my teacher recommendations right away instead of waiting for the placement test results.”

Sophomore Connor Buck agreed, adding that it was a more efficient way for students to get personally involved in setting up courses for next year. “I liked the simplicity of it,” he said. “It allowed me to schedule my classes without the need to discuss my options with my teachers or guidance counselor.”

“I liked that I had my own time to schedule my classes,” sophomore Caroline Muller said. “I feel like this new process will definitely be beneficial and efficient for students.”

Despite these benefits, Caroline favored registering during gym classes more than registering online. “Last year’s process gave me the opportunity to see my options on a physical piece of paper, listing all of the options for electives with a description of what the class was about,” she said. “I was also able to talk to my guidance counselor during the whole process without needing to set up a meeting.”

Junior Meghan Callahan expressed her positive attitude towards online registration. “Having all of our class information on one website makes it easier for students to edit their classes,” she said. “It also provides students with a sense of independence to decide what classes they want to do next year without a teacher’s help.”

Mr. Gallo believes that though the system might seem confusing at first, students will begin to get more comfortable with it as improvements are made. “Things are always challenging the first time,” he said. “We know that we’re going to change some screen views and add instructions that make using PowerSchool registration extremely clear in the future.”

“Two weeks was plenty of time for registration,” Mr. Gallo said. “Now we just need to teach students to complete tasks like this in a timely manner.”