Overview of the Schedule
Amherst Regional High School operates on a 4 x 4 Block semester schedule. Students are scheduled for four periods each semester and the courses will meet every day for 75 minutes. Most two-credit courses will take one quarter to complete, and four-credit courses will take the full semester to complete, with a few exceptions. These exceptions are indicated within individual course descriptions.
Since 12th grade and 11th grade students receive priority for elective courses, the number of options for 10th and 9th grade students may be limited.
Course Registration
Caregivers should help their student choose courses carefully during the registration period. Students will receive their course schedule for the full year in August. At the start of the school year, students and families will be asked to carefully review their course schedule for both semesters and students should meet with their counselor if there is a need for any change. All schedule changes are made in person only (not via email). Counselors will be available for 1-1 student meetings to discuss course change requests on the day students pick up their schedules and the first three days of school, all day. No appointments are necessary since these days are reserved for this purpose. Students asking to make changes to academics courses, including level changes within a course, must provide a note or email from a parent/guardian granting permission for the change.
Adding and Dropping Classes: All course changes for both semesters must be made by the end of the first four days of school. Students must carefully review their schedules for the whole year and ensure all requests are made during this timeframe. That said, understanding that there may be circumstances that necessitate changes later in the year, requests will be considered within the first 3 days of each new quarter. Students need to be in the appropriate classes by the start of the 5th day of school at the beginning of the year, and for all other quarters, before the first period of the 4th day. Students cannot add a new class after these timeframes due to missed content.
Priority will be given to:
Students missing major academics
Students with a placement error (for example, Spanish 1 versus Spanish 2)
Students with unbalanced schedules (for example, 4 academics in one term, 1 in another)
Students who have failed courses and/or completed summer school
Requests that will be considered but cannot be guaranteed:
Students who did not get their first-choice electives (including English and Social Studies electives)
Schedule changes will not be made for the following reasons:
Students seeking a specific teacher, period, or term for a particular class
Students seeking revision to an already balanced and complete schedule
After the Add/Drop period, only teacher-initiated, course-level changes will be honored.
Senior Course Changes:
Seniors must make sure that their schedules for both semesters are accurate when they are received in late August. Errors or other special requests for changes must be made before the end of the Add/Drop period at the beginning of the school year for both semesters. Once transcripts have been submitted to colleges, no schedule changes will be approved.