The day that students actually make their schedules is usually some time during January, but counselors here at Kickapoo have already begun talking with lower class-men about scheduling for the upcoming year.

    “We have been working with 9th graders on their ICAP,” Kickapoo counselor Mavie  Busboom said.

    ICAP stands for Individual Career and Academic Plan.

   “The ICAP is a Google sheet where students can lay out their schedule plan for all four years,” Busboom said. 

    Scheduling day has a big impact on which courses won’t be available in the upcoming year and the amount of class periods that a course may have. 

  “We actually base our master schedule off of what students request. This is why we stress that students be thoughtful about their course requests so that we can plan for the classes students actually want. We look at the number of students who have requested courses and try to have enough sections so those students can take those classes. Sometimes we can’t due to the number of teachers,” Busboom said.

   Picking out classes can be hard and even stressful for younger students which is why the school and counselors office try to walk students through the process and use the ICAP to help students form a plan. 

     “When talking with 9th and 10th graders about scheduling, we try to focus on making sure they understand how to earn credits and what credits they need for graduation,” Busboom said. 

    Scheduling is a lot more streamlined and restricted in lower grade levels because of prerequisite courses (courses that have to be completed before moving onto another course), but after that there are many more options available than before.

    “There is a lot more freedom and choice for 11th and 12th graders and we want students to do what they need to in 9th and 10th grade to be able to access those choices,” Busboom said.