As next year’s course selection rapidly approaches, students have only a few contemplative weeks left before the decisive day. In the meantime, incoming juniors and seniors may be surprised to find that a different selection of English electives await them.

While the previous schedule permitted juniors to pick from a wide range of classes, their choices for next year are now limited to: AP Language and Composition, Multicultural Literature and Critical Approaches to Current Issues. As of next year, Creative and College Writing and Noir Literature of Los Angeles/Literature of the 1980s, classes that were formerly offered to juniors, will only be available to seniors.

“English electives were designed to increase student choice, but the current schedule made it so that only one or two teachers were able to teach each elective course. This limited the number of sections available, and over time, has prevented students from enrolling in their first or second course preferences,” English teacher Jessica Variz said. “By offering three courses in 11th grade, we will be able to expand the number of sections and teachers available for those courses, ensuring that more students have access to their top choice.”

Variz also stressed the importance of seniors experiencing greater enthusiasm in their classes — a “genuine interest” born out of choosing from a broader variety of options — which she feels is central to the “college experience.” Seniors can take any of the previously mentioned classes in addition to Expository Reading and Writing, Self and Society, Film Criticism, RULA, Film Criticism and Theory, as well as AP Literature.

Despite the fact that this is a dramatic change, Variz hopes that students will enjoy the opportunities their classes have to offer.

“These changes are the result of months of conversations between English teachers, administrators, and counselors,” Variz said. “We thought of every possible combination of options, and while we had to keep the practical demands of the schedule in mind, our ultimate decisions were centered on the needs and desires of students.”