The System of Scheduling Conflicts

At John Champe, where there are hundreds of courses offered and approximately 2,000 students, so scheduling conflicts are bound to happen. Building a schedule takes a lot of work to ensure students get what they need for a successful high school experience.

The making of student schedules starts more in advance than one would anticipate. Davinia Johnson, the Director of School Counseling at Champe, starts as early as November to begin the work for the schedules for the upcoming school year. She creates a master schedule, and a detailed plan of how, when, and where the courses will be provided. This schedule ensures proper use of staff and building resources and offers equitable access to courses that are necessary and wanted by students for their schooling.

“It [the schedule] involves teacher input, school counselor guidance, and students selecting their course requests,” Johnson said. “As the Director of School Counseling, I prepare the framework for everyone to do their part in the process.”

However, having a master schedule does not guarantee that every student will get their desired course of choice. Courses can clash with other courses, and some electives may be only offered during one specific time. When considering all the teachers and students in the school, it can be difficult, and sometimes impossible, to accommodate the needs of every student. 

“I have had my share of scheduling conflicts this year,” an anonymous junior said. “I was planning on taking another science class this year, but it was clashing with my economics class, so I had to give it up.”

It can be frustrating not to be able to take the courses you want. However, those who go to the Academies of Loudoun [ACL] face more challenges when selecting classes. Higher-level and collaborative courses like orchestra, band, or yearbook tend to be singleton courses, meaning the course is only offered on one day. Going to the Academies limits the student to only one day at champe, which could significantly affect the availability of the courses they want. 

“Since I go to Monroe Advanced Technical Academy [MATA], I’m limited in the electives I’m able to take since I can only do my core classes at Champe.” Junior Srija Doma said. “I wanted to take French 5, but that was only offered on B days when I go to MATA.”

When students have conflicts regarding their schedules, they can always talk with their counselor to sort these problems out and devise alternative solutions. A lot of communication is involved in helping a student resolve their conflict and their counselor tries their best to work with the teachers and the student to come up with a resolution to the situation. However, they are always looking for ways to improve the process.

“I think it would be beneficial for Champe to have a class offered on both A days and B days,” said Doma, “so there would be more opportunities for those going to ACL and those with electives that can’t be moved.”

There is truly no foolproof way for counselors to anticipate the conflicts that students may have, as they are all vastly different and unique. Many variables go into a schedule, so students can’t always get their desired schedule. In the end, scheduling conflicts are inevitable.

“I want all Champe students to know that we value their voice in the process of building their schedule,” Johnson said. “Also that they have a team working in their best interest.”