When sophomore David Gutierrez thinks of the most common reasons as to why he and other classmates decide to try and change their schedule going into second semester, the answer is quite simple.

“They have friends (in other classes) or because they just do not like the teacher,” Gutierrez said.

Sophomore Abigail Inveld said she agrees with those reasons, but thought switching classes for friends can often be a valid reason to change.

“I do think that for many people, having friends or people they know is a really important part in their learning because otherwise they get nervous if they have to deal with too much change at one point,” Inveld said.

Counselor Barb Nelson said students wanting to switch teachers proves more problematic due to the difficulty of navigating students’ chemistry with certain teachers.   

“The teacher issue is big because that is hard, and we recognize that some kids work better with some teachers, but at the same time it is not fair that if someone doesn’t like a teacher they can’t switch out,” Nelson said.

She also noted that there is a hierarchy in scheduling classes by grade, which has an effect on all students.

“When a (schedule) build gets done what it is looking for is seniors first then juniors, sophomores and freshmen,” Nelson said.

Nelson feels it is a delicate process, and she will have to make sure everything works out going into second semester.

“After next week when the changes happen, we’ll go back Thursday and Friday and double check tight classes,” Nelson said.