by Wendy Li
March brings North’s annual registration season with new registration software, a new course catalog, and rush of student stress. Teacher recommendations were due at the end of last week, as students struggled to find balance in classes and plan for the future.
Core class recommendations were finalized by Friday, March 7 at 8 a.m., and elective course requests began at at 5 p.m. on Skyward, the new academic performance tracking system. Course requests closed on March 17. Verification Day is scheduled for Wednesday, March 30.
March will be riddled with course conversations for both students and teachers.
“I personally don’t like it,” says sophomore Mia Heyer, “just because I remember last year I chose courses that I really wanted at the time, but by the time September rolled around, I was stuck in classes I didn’t really want to be in.”
“I know that there are people who really like it,” says sophomore Alexia Lancia, “but to me it’s really stressful.”
Students will be using the new Skyward tracking system instead of ParentConnect in this year’s registration process. Students were able to log on through a link on North’s homepage and choose elective courses for the coming school year beginning Monday, March 7. These requests do not include core subjects, which will have already been finalized through teacher recommendations.
Students received an email with information regarding Skyward logins two weeks ago.
“I haven’t logged onto Skyward, but I probably should,” says sophomore Maya Krieger.
“I feel like they change the software almost every year,” says sophomore Jacob Jampel.  
Students can access North’s full course list in this year’s new course catalogue. According to guidance department head Beth Swederskas, a few new courses have been altered from previous years. The course catalog now includes the new history course, The Middle East, Asia and Latin America Since 1945. New English courses include Diverse Perspectives in Literature: Beyond the ‘Single Story’, Dystopian, Apocalyptic, Horror, and Sci-fi Literature, and Documentary Films. The math department has also added Introduction to Computer Science to the catalog.  
After course requests are entered into Skyward, students have a last minute opportunity to verify courses with teachers on Verification Day. Students will receive a printed copy of all their requested courses for the next year. All classes will meet to give students an opportunity to verify courses with their teachers.