The goal of school policies are always drawn up with the intention to balance both teacher and student interests, but students and staff have started to diverge on the complicated issue of course registration. Many students are frustrated with not being able to take the courses they want to take, with some reporting “resistance” from teachers and others, discontent with grade level barriers on AP courses. Around the tents, “They don’t think I’m good enough,” is a common phrase come registration season.
While students may place blame on policies that seem to keep too many qualified students out of courses that they want to take, administrators claim a continued emphasis on communication with teachers and counselors could help mitigate common misconceptions among the student body.
A common one is that administrators can deem students as “not ready” for higher level courses, even if they reach the grade requirement. However, this is far from the case, as Dr. Michael Lomuscio, the Dean of Studies, said, “[Faculty at ‘Iolani] don’t rank students and then give them preference based on how good they are… something like that doesn’t happen at all,” and, after students submit courses onto Veracross, courses can only be denied on the basis of scheduling conflicts. “Ultimately, we try to give everybody the closest to the perfect schedule that they requested,” Dr. Lomuscio said.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that, except for entry points listed on the course catalogue, the only way to move from regular to the honors track is through recommendations, which can only be given by the teacher. However, students still argue that it’s the right of the student, not a teacher, to determine if they are “ready” for higher level courses.
An additional wrinkle in the registration process is that some courses are barred by grade. For example, there are only 5 out of 30 total main AP courses offered to 10th graders, and freshmen are barred from taking them completely. “I think college admissions really favors applicants with rigorous courses, so I think if it were easier to take them, a larger number of students could try for highly selective colleges,” 9th grader Kayden Phan ’28 said.
While administrators recognize this, they urge students to look further than the AP “branding” and take advantage of the many extremely unique courses offered at ‘Iolani, which can show just as much, if not more, character than packing in as many APs as possible. Mental health also factors creating grade restrictions, as extremely challenging schedules at an early age can put stress on students’ wellbeing, administrators argue.
No matter the problem, administrators urge communication as the bottom line. Dr. Lomuscio said, “If a student is frustrated about their schedule or frustrated about a policy, administration here is really, really, really passionate about hearing from students… our goal is always to create policies that support kids in their goals… So I think that would be a message that I wish more people would hear.”
