This week, Upper School students were launched into the 2021-2022 academic year course registration process. Head of Upper School Scott Small, Upper School Registrar and Science Teacher Brian Rueckert, and Director of College Counseling Matt Essman hosted a parent information session to explain the process and answer any questions.
Why are we talking about 2021-2022 registration in January? At MICDS, it’s a complex and comprehensive process involving each student’s requests balanced by input from their teachers, advisors, college counselors, and deans. Our goal is to create the optimum scaffolding for progress through the curricular offerings along an aspirational yet achievable path while also balancing the college application and acceptance process.
Our Upper School students are given the opportunity and responsibility to learn about the curriculum options and navigate the registration process with their choices and selections due in early February. Then the advisors, deans, and college counselors vet each student’s choices and make further recommendations and adjustments, which are then reviewed with parents at Parent-Advisor Conferences in early March.
New for next year: a few courses in each department have a higher Grade Point Average (GPA) weight than others to reflect the higher expectations of these courses more accurately. Most of these weighted courses require departmental approval to enroll. Transcripts will continue to report the letter grades received in each course, but the numerical GPA will include the weighting.
For more information, the replay of the parent information session is linked below.