As freshmen, sophomores, and juniors prepare to choose their courses for the 2019-2020, the fate of some classes hang in limbo. Without classes like Convergence Journalism, Broadcast and Production, or German 1 being taken this year, the courses that come after, including Advanced Broadcast and Production, Newspaper, Yearbook, or German 2, could have a decrease in enrollment.

“The situation is this: If there is no feeder program coming up from the middle schools and there’s not enough interest from eighth graders who had no foreign language, there will not be a level one class. The administration didn’t have enough level one kids for them to run a level one course in German this year at North High School,” said German teacher Suzanne Greenwalt.

Without the base level courses, other courses have a chance of being fazed out or moved to virtual learning.

“It causes more than just one permanent gap, it causes a gap that repeats year after year. There’s no level one this year at North, as I said. That means there will be no level two next year, three the following year, etc and that’s very problematic for the program,” said Greenwalt.

North offers many courses to students each year; however, not every course makes it. If not enough students sign up for the courses, then those courses are not taught. This affects every area of education. While Children’s Theater, Public Speaking, Lifeguard Training, and AP European History were offered for the 2018-2019 school year, they are not a part of any student’s schedule because not enough students signed up for the classes.

Freshman Norah Von Yeast said, “I feel like [some courses] are not a peek of interest anymore. I think people are more interested in science based things or they just don’t about these classes. I’m sure not many students go through and read the registration book.”

Teachers emphasize the importance of registration because the courses picked by students affect the schedule making process and how many teachers are hired full time or part time. North’s enrollment also is a factor when determined which classes will be taught.

“We have less kids than when I started six years ago, so we’re offering a lesser amount of classes, and when kids try to make changes, the schedule is so tight, you really can’t make any changes. We only get so much FTE, Full Time Employee, per student. We’re getting into a crunch,” said sophomore assistant principal Dr. Mike Rizzo.

Overall, the courses students choose is ultimately up to them, but it’s important to remember that with little flexibility, alternates are one of the only way to get what you want, without complicating the schedule making process.

“This year, we added four more alternate spots, so now you’ll have eight alternate spots, so you the opportunity to put more you’d like. You can’t make schedule changes for just any random class. It has to be to a class that’s listed on your course request. If you’re not serious about putting clasess down, then you’re stuck with those classes,” said Rizzo.

So as students begin the first wave of registration, being more open about choices could fill vacancies with classes and give some electives more attention.

“Read the course descriptions, obviously, then ask for more information from upperclassmen, teachers, or counselors if it peaks your interest,” said Von Yeast.