Woodbridge High students should note that the scheduling request process for next school year has changed. Until January 25th, students will select courses they would wish to take via the Parent Portal on Genesis.

Due to the challenges and restrictions surrounding COVID-19, changes to the process had to be made.

Mr. Perry, Vice Principal of Woodbridge High School, explained that, in the past, students were called out of class to meet with counselors and select queries for the next school year.

The original plan was to have guidance counselors meet via Google Meet with their students to choose their courses, a similar process to what the school usually does. According to Mr. Perry, after the team in charge of the scheduling was informed of how scheduling requests could be made via the Parent Portal by other schools within Woodbridge Township School District, they shifted gears.

Mr. Perry’s position in the scheduling process is Master Scheduler. This job entails building “a schedule with the fewest possible conflicts.” This ensures that the final schedule has little to no issues, whether it be avoiding over-scheduling a course, or making sure there is enough staff to teach the number of sections needed of a given course, among other duties.

Now, Mr. Perry’s plan is for students, parents/guardians to request courses they would like for the student to take next school year in the Parent Portal located in Genesis.

To show how this process works, Dr. Lottmann, the Principal of Woodbridge High School, created and shared a video with all families. The video walks requesters through each step of the process.

The course requester is highly sophisticated, as it knows what courses individual students can and cannot take based on what courses they have taken or are taking and their current grade level.

A benefit of this new system, according to Mr. Perry, is that students will be able to “take their time” when deciding what they want to take next school year. 

Also, parents and guardians have longed for more of a role in helping students choose their future courses. “This allows for that,” Mr. Perry said.

Mr. Kane, Guidance Department Supervisor, said that after this process, students and guidance counselors will meet to confirm and fix any problems that may occur.

Additionally, before that next step, students can reach out to their own guidance counselors for help and any questions and set up meetings with them. 

With questions anytime throughout the process, guidance counselors are still available, as well as Mr. Kane and Mr. Perry. For contact information, see www.woodbridge.k12.nj.us/o/whs/staff.

All requests are due to be final on June 25th, 2021.