The four-year planning system for freshmen, provided by Costa guidance counselors, is beneficial for creating an outline of a potential course load. However, students need more time with the counselors and need to be given details on class options to make the process truly effective.
The process for four-year planning involves sending students to the College and Career Center, where they receive a presentation on the Costa graduation requirements as well as the “a-g” requirements necessary to apply to a University of California school. According to guidance counselor Jennifer Woodie, students have an approximate five-minute discussion, in which they create a rough draft of their schedules for the next three years.
According to Woodie, this process is the first step in getting freshmen comfortable with their counselor as well as educating them about high school requirements. The idea of informing students about their upcoming high school classes is an important stepping stone and should be applauded.
According to multiple freshmen, they like the idea of four-year planning but wished that they could have had more than five minutes to discuss their course options and future plans with the counselors. Guidance counselor Corrine Lee-Iwai agrees and believes that if there was more time to spend talking with each individual student, students would have a better understanding of what classes are available and which ones they would be interested in later in their high school career. Additionally, the counselors would have a better grasp of each student’s interests and goals and be able to help them on a significantly more personal level. Students need more time with their counselors to go into specifics of Costa’s offered curriculum that are available for them because five minutes is not enough time to account for the intricacies of students’ next three years at Costa.
During four-year planning, the counselors should work to inform students about the specifics of courses, like their environments and sizes, to ensure freshmen know what they are signing up for. According to guidance counselor David Beck, he does not give students specifics about classes because they are often subjective topics. While this may be true, counselors often receive feedback from students, and the four-year plans could function as an avenue to relay that information to other students.
The American School Counselor Association recommends that each counselor corresponds with approximately 250 students. However, each Costa counselor has almost 500 students, making it difficult for each student to receive meaningful attention. While counselors should plan additional meetings, students also need to take the time to schedule meetings with their counselor to combat the large amount students that counselors must advise.
Although Costa students used PowerSchool to sign up for classes this year, freshmen will still be meeting with their counselors to make sure that there are no significant problems with their schedules. It is a positive decision that counselors are taking the initiative to meet with students so that they receive the vital information.
The four-year planning process at Costa is extremely helpful in providing students with a broad plan of what their high school courses may be as they progress through the curriculum; however, it is necessary that students receive more one-on-one time with their counselors to discuss more in depth areas of scheduling.
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