Course Selection

Choosing courses for next school year

Choosing Courses for Next School Year 2025-26

The purpose of academic advising, K-12, is to guide and support students in their educational journey. It aims to empower students to become self-directed learners and make informed decisions about their education and future. During this time, our students will obtain important information about Herndon’s programs, services, and resources. School counselors assist students in organizing their program of study, researching answers, and creating academic plans. They provide critical information about course placement, prerequisites, sequencing, and course selection information. 

Your child will bring home their course selection materials. You must review this information with your student as course offerings are dependent upon enrollment and school staffing decisions are based on the course selections students make. By meeting with their school counselors, students will be able to determine what is needed to make the best of their academic journey, create a strategy to graduate on time, and navigate the system to learn what is needed to transform their dreams into reality.

🚧Denotes that an item that is pending additional information

Course Selection Timeline

During this time, your child will bring home their course selection materials. It is imperative that you review this information with your student as course offerings are dependent upon enrollment and school staffing decisions are based on the course selections students make. Please know, to ensure appropriate placement, all course selections will be discussed with and reviewed by the school counselor.

Events

  • January 07, 08: Days of Academic Focus, School Wide (Flyer in English & Spanish)
  • January 09: Electives Fair, 4th Period, School Wide (Flyer in English & Spanish)
  • January 09: Curriculum Night, 6:30 pm, Main Street (Flyer in English & Spanish)
  • January 15: Curriculum Night (Snow Date), 6:30 pm, Main Street

Rising Freshman Events

  • January 08: Academic Advising Presentation, Herndon MS
  • January 09: Academic Advising Presentation, Rachel Carson MS
  • January 08: Academic Advising Presentation, Langston Hughes MS
  • February 28: All rising freshman course selections in SIS
  • 🚧February TBD: Academic Advising Presentation, St. Joseph's School
  • 🚧Rising Freshmen Academic Advising and Course Selection Presentation 

Rising Seniors Events

  • January 13, 15: Rising Senior and ML Level 1 & 2 Junior Academic Advising Presentations, 4th Period, Various Locations
  • January 21-28: Rising Senior and ML Level 1 & 2 Junior Individual Academic Advising & Course Selection through English 11
  • 🚧Rising Senior Academic Advising and Course Selection Presentation

Rising Juniors Events

  • February 04, 06: Rising Junior and ML Level 1 & 2 Sophomore Academic Advising Presentations, 4th Period, Various Locations
  • February 10-18: Rising Junior and ML Level 1 & 2 Sophomore Individual Academic Advising & Course Selection through English 10
  • 🚧Rising Junior Academic Advising and Course Selection Presentation

Rising Sophomores Events

  • January 22: Rising Junior TA Lesson – The Career & Course Selection Connection, Teacher Advisory
  • February 21, 25: Rising Sophomore and ML Level 1 & 2 Freshman Academic Advising Presentation, 4th Period, Various Locations
  • February 28-March 07: Rising Sophomore Course Selection through Social Studies and ELD Level 1
  • 🚧 Rising Sophomore Academic Advising and Course Selection Presentation

Review

  • March 10-14: Make-up course selection
  • March 14: All course selections entered in SIS.
  • Before March 14: Requests for course changes are honored.
  • March 15-June 04:  No course selection changes permitted.

Course Catalogs and Selection Sheets

Course Catalog

Course Selection Sheets

These documents do not meet FCPS accessibility guidelines. Please see your school counselor if you need additional support reading or accessing this information.

Meet Your Herndon High School Counselors

Elizabeth Kinan - Students with the last name A-BR

Kie Anderson - Students with the last name Bu-Dj, and AVID

Shannon Kamenick - Students with the last name Do-Hen

Randi Fortier - Students with the last name Her-L

Meghan Azzara - Students with the last name M-Pe

Kelly Ginieczki - Students with the last name Ph-Se, Lead Counselor

Matthew Dell'Orso - Students with the last name Sh-Z

Athena Sotirchos - Students with an ML Level 1 & 2, A-K

Samantha Kramer - Students with an ML Level 1 & 2, L-Z 

View our full staff on the Student Services page.

FCPS Graduation Requirements

Honors, Advanced Placement, and Dual Enrollment

  • 🚧 Advanced Placement (AP) and Dual Enrollment Expectations 
  • Honors, Grades 9-12 - Fairfax County offers open enrollment in Honors social studies, English, science, and mathematics classes for students who seek additional academic rigor.
  • Advanced Placement® (AP) - The Advanced Placement® (AP) Program provides academic college preparatory coursework in the major subject fields. AP classes emulate introductory college courses, preparing students for selective universities and colleges.
  • Dual Enrollment courses are taught at the high school by an FCPS teacher and offer college credit through agreements with a college or university.
  • Student Website for Dual Enrollment (Google Webpage - Students must be logged into their @fcpsschools.net account to access the website)

Academies and Specialized Programs

Advanced technical and specialized elective courses are available at the High School Academies for students interested in pursuing coursework in a variety of options related to career pathways. Academy details and contacts.

Economics and Personal Finance - High School

One credit in economics and personal finance must be completed prior to graduation. This course is required for the Standard and Advanced Studies Diplomas. Information on how to complete this requirement is available here.

FCPS Online Campus

FCPS Online Campus allows students to take an additional course online to supplement what they take in school. Online Campus offers a variety of standard, honors, and AP level courses, and also provides access to additional courses not offered at Herndon. The online campus also has courses students can take over the summer, which can help students advance or catch up on academic credits earned towards graduation requirements. Students must let their counselor know if they’re interested in taking a course through Online Campus, and work with their counselor to complete the required registration paperwork. For more information on Online Campus course offerings, how online classes work in general, and the registration process please click the link below. 

FCPS Online Campus Site

How to Register for Courses in SIS

Register for Your Class in 10 Easy Steps!

  1. Log into SIS StudentVUE on your laptop by going to https://sisstudent.fcps.edu/. This process will not work on your phone. 
  2. Click on the "Course Request" tab in the menu to the left. 
  3. Click the blue "Click here to change course requests" button.
    This is a visual guide to steps 2 and 3 with the specific buttons identifed.
     
  4. Using your Course Selection sheet, type in the course ID for the first class you would like to take into the "Course ID" box. 
  5. Click the "+ Add Request" button. 
  6. Repeat this process for the other six courses you have selected. 
  7. Add two alternate courses in preference order by clicking the "* Add Alternate" button. 
  8. Review your list of seven classes and two alternate electives. 
  9. If necessary, remove any incorrect courses by clicking the "X Remove" button. 
  10. Once all seven classes and two alternative electives are listed under "Selected Course Requests," click "Click here to return to course request summary." 

This is a visual guide to steps 4 through 10with the specific buttons identifed.

Questions?

If you have any questions or need any assistance related to academic advising during this time you are welcome to contact your school counselor or the appropriate department chair/teacher/content area administrator. Please also bookmark this site to refer to it for necessary information.