Setting Course for the Future at JHS

By Jessica Peng

May 17, 2024

On January 4, 2024, Jericho High School hosted its annual Course Information Night and Community Service Fair. Students and families were provided the opportunity to learn about the courses offered at Jericho High School. The event took place in the Sam Springer Gym from 7-9 pm.

Course Information Night is an annual event that allows students and their families to gain an understanding of the courses offered for future and current high schoolers. Each table placed in the Sam Springer Gym represented a different subject, and contained information about all the courses in that subject. Sheets of paper describing the required courses, electives and number of electives offered for each grade were categorized by color and placed in the center of the gym. Course offerings could also be accessed through the Jericho High School website, where courses are explained in more detail. These resources give students and parents the opportunity to finalize decisions for their courses next year with their guidance counselors.

There are many courses offered for eighth/incoming ninth graders. However, many students are uncertain which courses to choose. Eighth grade counselor Ms. Richman stated that a few popular choices for 9th graders are “Intro to Latin, the business courses, IED (Intro to Engineering), tournament debate and research, [and] public speaking.” However, students are not guaranteed to receive their first choices for courses: “a lot of times it’s given to the twelfth graders, then the eleventh graders, then the tenth graders, then the ninth graders.” Nonetheless, students should also contribute to clubs as well, “because if they go to clubs then they’ll have the opportunity to visit different possibilities and it might open their eyes to things they’re interested in and then they could take courses that go along with those clubs.” It is not recommended for students to decide on a course based on their friends' choices because students are not guaranteed to be in a certain course/section. 

Course Information Night will continue to take place in Jericho to help guide future and current high schoolers with selecting courses for their classes in high school while also familiarizing students with courses that are offered. Students may also discover hidden interests and courses they may be interested in by attending clubs throughout their time in high school.