Forecasting season is over and the next year of the LOHS student body’s lives is now in the hands of a few administrative members playing one of the most confusing numbers games imaginable.

Once schedule requests are submitted, the student body immediately forgets everything in favor of stressing over AP tests and finals. And when August rolls around, students re-receive their messy list of classes as a polished, coherent schedule.

Assistant Principal Dr. Brian Crawford, who oversees the forecasting process and builds the master schedule, offered some insight into how over 1,300 individual course requests are transformed into one organized timetable:

Who gets priority to classes in high-demand?

The scheduling program loads seniors into classes first followed by juniors, and then sophomores and then freshmen.

How do you determine what period certain classes are?

Some classes are scheduled into specific times due to facility or staffing constraints. For example, some staff members work at multiple buildings, or certain classes need to be in a computer lab. We also take into consideration the requests that students have and try to avoid scheduling conflicts for students.

How do you avoid schedule conflicts for individual students?

If we have two courses that are only offered once and we notice that there are a lot of students who want to take both of those courses, we try to place those two classes in different periods. It is impossible to avoid all conflicts, so we try to arrange the courses so that all students get what they need and as many students as possible get what they want.

When can students expect to receive next year’s schedules?

Schedules will become visible in mid August around the time of Laker Check-In Days (also known as registration days).

When are schedules finalized?

In early August, we load the schedules and then counselors come back to work and check the schedules for their students; we share the schedules with the students and they request adjustments, then the school year begins, and students make a few more adjustments adding classes, dropping classes, etc. At the end of the first week of the school year, the schedules are basically finalized, but we make adjustments throughout the year.

How can students reach their counselor if they have further questions?

Students can email their counselor directly with questions or request an appointment. They can also drop by at lunch or sign up for their support seminars.