New Courses at Harborfields

It’s March for students, but in the Guidance Department it is known as the month for scheduling. We are past the halfway mark and everybody is preparing for their 10th, 11th, or 12th and final year here. As usual, the course guide for the classes that can be taken next year have been released and some students are surprised to see the additional courses they can now participate in.

Not only are there new courses offered at Harborfields, there is also less grade restrictions on some classes. For example, Criminal Justice, a class that focuses on the laws of our society and an intense and comprehensible analysis of crime is now available to 10th graders, it was formerly just for upperclassmen. Another example are the new classes of Contemporary Issues and International Relations. After speaking with Mr. Milazzo, a Social Studies teacher who taught Criminal Justice for the first time this year, the reason for the lower grade requirements, “It’s for more students to try the course.” For some people this is good because the Freshman class right now (Class of 2020), has a chance to take different, and even more challenging courses. The future upperclassmen of next year could be beat out of taking a course because a student 2 years younger was registered first. According to Mrs.Vavoules a Paraprofessional at Harborfields “ I just think that the upperclassmen should have first dibs at classes, because they have more frees.” This is true because after sophomore year there are more free periods one can have depending on the classes they take. If you’re not shooting for an Advanced Regents, most of the time you will have more free periods.

If either you want to fill up your schedule or take a couple courses to figure out what you want to pursue in life, you can take certain electives. Like mentioned above, a student, two years younger than you can take your slot, According to Jake Dyer a Junior at Harborfields High School, “It should be based off of seniority.”. Like mentioned above there are many different views one could take on this. Speaking with Ms.Corr, who plays a big role in the addition of new courses at Harborfields and the advertising for them, there are different factors that contribute to when a new program is introduced. She feels, like Mr. Milazzo, that courses should be open for all students to take regardless of their grade level “We want the most students to have experiences, so that they are aware of what they want to pursue in life outside of Harborfields High School” she said in an interview.

In conclusion, the new courses at Harborfields offer new experiences and choices. Maybe if we had more teachers we wouldn’t have to worry about overcrowding.