High School Course Selections

The time will soon be here to choose your courses for next school year. Below is the timeline of activities to support families during this process. Though there will be opportunities to adjust course requests in the future, it is important that students be thoughtful and intentional in the course decisions they are making right now. Why?

• Choosing accurately during the initial choice window provides the highest likelihood of being placed in the classes you want.
• Staffing decisions for next school year are already underway. Teachers are hired based on the courses students have said they will be taking.
• Scheduling decisions are already in process. Our master schedule team works to build a schedule with the fewest scheduling conflicts based on the course selections that students submit RIGHT NOW!
• Course selections are a year-long commitment. There will not be changes to elective courses past the final change request deadline of May 1, 2024 (no semester change requests).

February 22 // 8th Grade Parent/Guardian Info Webinar // (REGISTER HERE / Password: Vipers)

• counselors will provide a high school academic planning overview to 8th grade families

• parents/guardians will learn about the course selection process and ask related questions

February 26 - 27 // Four-Year Planning & Course Selection Overview with VHS Counselors (2 days at each school)

• VHS counselors will visit Four Points and Canyon Ridge Middle Schools to provide a high school academic planning overview to 8th grade students

• students will submit tentative course requests

• students and their parent/guardian will be emailed a PDF copy of these tentative requests

• choices are editable - a new PDF copy of updated courses will be emailed after each edit

February 29 - March 4 // 8th Grade Individual Student/Counselor Conferences (February 29 & March 1 - CRMS // March 4 - FPMS)

• VHS counselors will meet individually with 8th grade students to review four-year plans and course selections

March 4, 4pm

• deadline to lock in initial course selections for the 2024-25 school year

• while there will be additional change opportunities, finalizing your requests as early as possible provides the highest likelihood of being placed in the classes you want

End of March

• initial course requests will be visible in Home Access Center

April 3 // Course Verification Kick-Off

• students will have the opportunity to request changes to their original selections; historically, there are already courses that are at capacity and no longer available for student choice; we strongly encourage students to lock in their top choices by the March 4 deadline

April 10 // Viper Night (more details to come!)

• students and families will have the opportunity to further explore course options

• Viper Night will include an elective fair, club & org fair, breakout sessions, and student panels

May 1 // Leander ISD FINAL Change Deadline for ALL COURSES

• no student/parent change requests will be honored after the window closes

• course selections are a year-long commitment - NO CHANGES TO ELECTIVE COURSES AT SEMESTER

On February 22 at 5:30 p.m. we invite all current 8th grade parents & guardians to a high school academic planning overview webinar to help you navigate your transition to Vandegrift High School.

REGISTER HERE FOR THE WEBINAR // Password: Vipers

VHS counselors will visit Four Points and Canyon Ridge Middle Schools to provide a high school academic planning overview to 8th grade students. During these presentations, students will submit tentative course requests. Students will be able to review their submissions with their parents/guardians and make adjustments prior to individual student meetings.

Vandegrift Counselors will meet with 8th grade students individually to review their course selections.

Canyon Ridge - February 29 & March 1

Four Points - March 4

Viper Night will begin at 5:00 p.m. and will showcase the Viper Experience by highlighting the various ways our students can explore their interests and passions through elective coursework, clubs and organizations. Designed with current 8th, 9th and 10th grade students in mind, this event provides students and families with a better understanding of both academic and extracurricular programs so that students can make informed course selection decisions for the upcoming school year.

Viper Night is designed in a fluid (open house) format integrated with scheduled information sessions so students and families can learn about opportunities directly from the teachers, coaches, directors and/or upper-level students involved in those programs. Communication regarding the exact session schedule for Viper Night will be sent out at a later date.

Interested in pursuing IB during junior/senior year? Please keep the information below in mind when making your 9th grade course selections.

● Advanced English 1 and a minimum of 2 additional advanced courses during your 9th grade year

● Advanced English 2 and a minimum of 2 additional advanced courses during your 10th grade year

Successful completion of the above coursework maintains eligibility to pursue the IB Programme.

Note: In order to be adequately prepared for IB math in eleventh and twelfth grades, students should be enrolled in Advanced Algebra 2 or higher as a 10th grade student.

The VHS Counseling Team knows the transition to high school can at first seem overwhelming to students and families and we offer many resources to support. Please see the links below for additional information and helpful resources that answer the most frequently asked questions.

We are happy to answer questions via email, and we thank you in advance for your patience with our responses as we are supporting the social and emotional needs, academic planning, and post-secondary readiness of 400+ students each while also on-boarding our 600+ 8th grade students. Unfortunately, these large caseloads prevent us from having individual parent meetings with incoming 8th grade students.