Those students who are accepted to Oakland Catholic High School during their eighth grade year will receive a sheet with a recommended course load. Students will be placed into either College Preparatory or Honors courses based on their performance on the Scholarship/Entrance Exam or an equivalent standardized test and their grade school transcripts. Recommendations of eighth grade teachers are also taken into consideration. Students are not “tracked” automatically into all College Prep classes or all Honors classes; depending upon a student’s particular strengths and weaknesses, different levels of courses may be recommended for one student. Entering ninth grade students are asked to indicate their preference for a foreign language on their application, and every attempt is made to provide them with their first or second choice. Fine Arts courses are not indicated on this sheet because the student has several options to fulfill the music requirement, and so must make a decision to this regard. Once this decision is made, the sheet should be signed and returned to the main office as soon as possible. The sheet can be returned by mail or in person. A specific date is set each year for uniform fitting. For those parents and students who prefer to handle registration in person with either a guidance counselor or administrator, they may bring the registration sheet in on this date. If there are questions regarding the recommendations, parents and students should plan to attend the official registration date.

Returning students will register for the next year’s classes sometime during the second semester. A course selection sheet is delivered to each student during homeroom. Students should discuss the options that evening at home with their parents. Over the next several days, teachers in each department will sign the recommended course for each student based on the student’s performance in the current course. For example, the French I teacher will determine whether a student should matriculate to French II College Preparatory or French II Honors. No student can matriculate to the next level of a course without the recommendation of her current teacher. Once all courses have been signed by teachers, the student and parent must sign the course selection sheet. At this point, an appointment will be scheduled for the student to meet with her Guidance Counselor. The Guidance Counselor will verify that the student is on track for graduation and that all course selections are in order. SELECTING CERTAIN COURSES DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT THE STUDENT WILL RECEIVE THESE COURSES. Sometimes, particularly in the junior and senior years where there are more electives and more semester courses, a student’s choices cannot be accommodated in a schedule. At times, an elective course may not be offered because of extremely low interest from the student body. Students who intend to take very full schedules and select the maximum number of courses possible for a schedule should be aware that not all choices may be available to them and should thus indicate to their Guidance Counselor if they have a preference for one particular course or another. In this way, if a schedule conflict arises between two choices, the staff is aware of the student’s preference.

Students and parents should be cognizant of the fact that the courses selected will play a role in determining the overall academic schedule of the school, the teachers’ schedules, and the student body’s schedule. Course selection should not be taken lightly since changes to the schedule in the Fall are not recommended. If a course or schedule must be changed, the process stated briefly below and in the handbook must be followed in the prescribed order to drop or change a course:

1. The student’s previous teacher and current teacher of the academic department in question must be in agreement with the change and indicate their approval in writing.
2. The parent(s) must put in writing the reasons for the requested schedule change.
3. The Guidance Department and Administration must both approve of the change.

There are an overall number of credits required of each student in order for a student to graduate from Oakland Catholic High School. In addition, a certain number of credits in each department are required. Finally, a student must carry a minimum number of credits each year, and these credits must be spread over the entire year so that students receive a balanced schedule each semester. Please consult the sample four-year plan for an overview of typical course loads for each year.