Dear ARHS families,

I hope that the first week back from the break was a good one for your child. It was nice, finally, to see everyone back from their time off!

I am writing to reshare details that were previously emailed by Guidance Department Head Lisa Connery regarding the course selection process. I encourage you to take time now to review the information below with your child to be sure you are making thoughtful decisions now about their courses for next year.

If you have questions about the process, please email your child’s guidance counselor. Please select the link to review the Counselor Assignments to determine your student’s counselor.  

Course Selection for the 2026-2027 school year begins March 2 and ends on March 15.

Counselors have met with the different grade levels during workshops and reviewed the course selection process. Counselors are encouraging students to review the following course selection materials: Program of Studies and 4 year Course of Study Plan (Class of 2027, 2028 & 2029). Other resources, including grade-level-specific course selection sheets are available on the Guidance Department Course Selection page.

Students will be completing the course selection process in PowerSchool. This screencast shows how to complete this process.

Teachers will begin having conversations in classes about courses and recommendations next week. They will be entering recommendations in PowerSchool and most will complete this process by Monday, March 9. If you have questions about a teacher’s recommendation, please reach out to them directly. They are happy to share with you why they are recommending you/your student for a particular course.

Overrides: If you disagree with a teacher’s recommendation and wish to pursue an override, the override process is as follows:

• Teacher completes their recommendation in PowerSchool.

• Student and parent/guardian initiates a conversation with the teacher regarding the recommendation.

• If a student decides to pursue an override, the teacher will provide them with the link to the Override Google form.

• Students must select the recommended course in PowerSchool to complete the course selection process by March 15th.

• Students must complete the override contract on or before Wednesday, March 18th. 
  

• Department chairs will review the override requests and notify students of their approval.

• The Guidance Counselor will adjust the request in PowerSchool after receiving notification of the approval. If no override form is received or an override is not approved, then the recommended course will remain.

• Please note that if an override in a previous year resulted in a level change, the student is not eligible to pursue another override in that content area.

Electives:

Students should include the following when submitting their course requests. It’s important that students provide alternative elective options.

• 3-4 electives added to PowerSchool.

• 2-3 Alternative electives added to PowerSchool.

Exemptions encourage students to try electives without concern for their GPA.

• Students have the option to exempt a non-required course from their GPA.

• Students can exempt 2 semester courses or 1 full year course each year.

• Course exemptions must be requested prior to starting a course. 

• Students can exempt a non-required course by completing the Course Exemption Form.

• Any courses that are exempted will still appear on the transcript along with the grade.

• Colleges may recalculate an exempted course back into a student’s GPA.

We ask that students be mindful of the deadline and ensure that all questions for teachers and counselors are addressed by Friday, March 13, 2026. If you have any questions about the process, please feel free to contact your counselor. They are happy to assist you.

Sincerely,

Sean Bevan