In years past, “going to school” has almost always meant one thing to students; sitting in a classroom for eight hours a day, listening to lecture after lecture. However, students at PHS have recently experienced a shift in that standard. Now, more and more students have been choosing to take classes online for multitudes of reasons and have been opting out of taking the classes that their school has provided for them.
According to data received from the PHS Alternate Credit Request Form, there have been 286 confirmed online course registrations so far in the 25-26 school year. This number is split between students who have decided to replace an in-person class with an online class and students who are taking courses online in addition to classes already on their schedule.
The decision made by some students to replace an in-person class with an online course is based on multiple factors including classroom environment issues and extensive course difficulty.
Freshman Havia Leonard said the reason why she dropped Biology to take it online was because of the classroom setting and the workload.
“My teacher didn’t really teach that well to my learning abilities, and I just felt like I was teaching myself the entire time,” Leonard said. “I also didn’t really like the environment I was in. I felt a lot of pressure.”
Sophomore Cynthia Wu said she dropped out of Honors Chemistry to take it online for similar reasons.
“I felt like I wasn’t learning as much as I needed to,” Wu said. “I was already taking other classes that were harder.”
The motives behind online class enrollment extend past just dropping out of a class. Students can use online education to do many other things, like taking classes that PHS doesn’t offer, replacing required semester-long classes that take up space in their schedule, and even skipping levels of classes so they can complete more classes during the duration of their high school experience.
Junior Jonathan Phmah said that he chose to take freshman biology, a required class, online to give himself time to take more science classes at the school.
“I wanted to get ahead,” Phmah said.
Sophomore Shane McNulty said that he took APCSP online because it was an easy opportunity to carve room in his schedule.
“I didn’t have space in my schedule,” McNulty said. “It’s very easy to take stuff online.”
Some students even go as far as to take extra classes online in a semester. Freshman Aava Lokre said she took AP Government online in addition to classes she was already taking because she wanted to satisfy interest and extend her knowledge beyond what was offered at PHS.
“I’m super interested in history,” Lokre said. “I wanted to prepare myself and supplement for stuff that I didn’t really learn that well last year.”
From the standpoint of an educator, taking online classes can have both positive and negative effects for students and schools. PUSD Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Ariel Dolowich said that online classes can pose a great opportunity for students.
“If you’re taking it in addition to a course that Piedmont High doesn’t offer, then you can pursue interest.” Dolowich said. “
If you’re taking a class that gives you college credit from a community college, then that looks really good for college applications, and when you get there, you’re paying less tuition.”
However, Dolowich acknowledged that online classes could have some costs for schools.
“We have an amazing staff,” Dolowich said. “Let’s say you’re a full time student here, but you’re trying to take two classes somewhere else. That’s two less classes that a Piedmont High teacher is getting a student in.”
Dolowich said that the choice to take an online class is ultimately up to students, but he suggests that students consider potential effects of that choice.
“I think that students shouldn’t be limited if they want to pursue passions, and some of those passions may be outside of the school.” Dolowich said. “I support it, but I also support taking a full case load at PHS.”
