REGISTRATION: A new policy of registering for classes online will be implemented during the 2018-2019 school year.
By Kelsey Chamberlain, Staff Writer
After years of Riverside Unified School District hosting in-school registration, which requires students to meet with their counselors several months in advance of the upcoming school year to pick new classes, next year students will register online. The method of registration is becoming a popular choice for many school districts because it makes the process much simpler. The new registration process is already taking effect.
The process of registering online is fairly simple. First, similarly to registering in past years, the counselors provide students with a paper registration form. This form lists potential class options and students highlight or circle the classes they wish to take and have a parent or legal guardian sign it. After students fill out their form, they log into their Aeries account portal to select their classes. Students can do this until January 19, and after that, counselors will meet with students in February to review their choices, help students who were having difficulties choosing classes, and make suggestions accordingly.
There are many benefits to this new method. Poly Counselor Sophia De La Rocha previously worked for a school district that had already been offering online registration. “If done properly, this can save counselors time in inputting schedules online. If course requests are in the computer sooner, the master schedule team can begin working on it sooner, determine what classes will be offered, and let teachers know what they will be teaching so that they could prepare with time,” she said. “It is also good to know as soon as possible because if there is a need to hire another teacher then the process can be started sooner and have a good applicant pool. This new method also gives students a preview of what it is going to be like selecting classes once they get to college,” she added. The benefits of online registration are for administration and students to work out future schedules sooner and allow more room for schedule changes. “Anytime something is done for the first time there are bound to be hiccups. We are determined to improve the process year by year,” De La Rocha said. The process will save counselors time and allow the focus of counseling sessions to be less on what classes to take next and more on students’ specific academic goals and achievements.