Here we go again!  Welcome to the new year!  I'm priviledged to have the opportunity to be the counselor for the Class of 2012.  Buckle your seatbelts, kiddies, the ride to graduation will be faster than you expect!  I just hope it's not too bumpy for some of you.

 

We are fortunate to have some new counselors coming on board this year!  Please welcome Mrs. Candace Thompson-Bott who will be our new 9th grade counselor and Ms. Jennifer Kanhai who will be will be our new 11th grade counselor.  Mrs. Thompson-Bott joins us from her most recent post at Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Elementary and Intermediate School.  Ms. Kanhai joins us fresh from the successful completion of her Master's degree in Counseling from Chaminade University.  Both have spent considerable amounts of their own time this summer getting up to speed with their classes.  I know they will be a great additions to the Counseling Department.  On behalf of the rest of the Counseling Department (Mrs. Masuhara, Mrs. Yamauchi and myself) and the Hilo High School Commuity let's offer them a warm Viking welcome! 

 

This time of year is always dominated by scheduling issues.  The counselors and registrar, Mr. Lynol Oda, spent a good deal of time this summer checking to make sure that everything a student needed toward graduation was on their schedule from the get-go. 

 

Just so everyone is clear, there are a limited number of reasons for which Hilo High will allow schedule changes.  These are spelled out in the registration guide.  Generally, if there was a real mistake in which a student has two of the same courses on their schedule, a class which they have already taken or missing a core class altogether (and there aren't many of these), we try to make those changes first. 

 

Beyond those reasons, if students have courses on their schedule which they requested at registration, no change will be made.  The reason is that the master schedule of courses is based on the courses requested on the registration form.  Changes made after the master schedule is built lead to imbalances in class sizes, e.g. some classes become overfilled and some shrink so far that we probably shouldn't have made the course in the first place.  So that's the reason for Hilo High's policy.

 

Students who expect to come in the fall, look around, and request schedule changes, often for dubious reasons, will be disappointed.  If the course was on their registration and the school provided it, short of a reason mentioned in the registration guide, no schedule change will be allowed. 

 

Since so much time was spent checking schedules, I'm not anticipating the need for too many changes.  However, If you do have a schedule which is missing a period, two of the same courses or any of those issues mentioned in the registration guide, students, please see your counselor as soon as can.

 

Here's to a happy and sane opening of the new school year!

 

Aloha!!!