Students at Naperville Central High School and Naperville North High School can no longer switch courses after their final counselor confirmation meeting.

District 203 announced the new policy in a Talk203 email sent to families on Oct. 30, as first reported by the Central Times, Naperville Central's student newspaper. The only exception: a student who does not complete a required prerequisite course.

The change targets lopsided classrooms. Steve Jeretina, Naperville Central's assistant principal of curriculum and instruction, told the Central Times that post-confirmation changes moved students into sections the school had not planned for, creating imbalances where one class might have 30 students and another might have 14. Counselor Kimberly Kopec told the paper that Naperville Central typically receives roughly 1,300 to 1,600 course change requests each year among its more than 2,400 students.

"If we've got more than 1000 requests to change courses in the summertime, there's something that we're not doing and there's something that's not sticking," Jeretina told the Central Times.

Jeretina said administrators worked on the overhaul from February through May. The Central Times reported the expanded Course Awareness Week represents the first major change to the process in at least five years.

Key dates and deadlines

Naperville Central extended its Course Awareness Week to run Nov. 9 through Nov. 20, with events including an Elective Course Fair, counselor Q&A sessions and senior student leaders visiting underclassmen Advisory classes. Naperville Central's website lists full event details for the two-week window.

The confirmation timeline stays the same. Current sophomores finalize their schedules first in early December. Current freshmen, juniors and incoming freshmen follow with January deadlines.

Whether students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) or 504 plans have a separate process for schedule adjustments is not addressed in available reporting.

Jeretina told the Central Times the district will probably reach out to students for feedback after course selection ends in January.

School week ahead

  • Nov. 10 (Tuesday): Naperville Central Elective Course Fair, auxiliary gym, lunch periods. Senior student leaders visit Advisory classes. District 203.
  • Nov. 17 (Tuesday): Counselors visit Advisory classes at Naperville Central; students begin entering course selections into Schoolinks. Counselors available during lunch. District 203.
  • Nov. 19 (Thursday): SOAR Q&A with counselors and department chairs, Naperville Central auditorium. District 203.

No District 204 education events appear in available reporting for this week.