Student/Parent Access Network

HOW TO INPUT COURSE SELECTIONS FOR NEXT YEAR

Wake County Public School System

February 2, 2009

The Wake County Public School System’s Student/Parent Access Network (SPAN) enables current High School Students to make course selections for next school year online.  Students will select courses at both their base school and at any magnet schools applied for (if applicable).  Due to the reassignment proposed for the 2009-2010 school year, you may also be required to select courses for multiple schools from within the SPAN application.  The list of schools you may be asked to select courses for is composed of your next school assignment both before and after reassignment, as well as any magnet schools that you have applied for.  While you may not be planning to attend a specific school, we are asking that you select courses at ALL schools listed for you, in order to streamline the data collection process.

Magnet assignments for next year have not yet been completed.  Course selections for magnet high schools are based on applications, NOT on acceptance into a magnet program.  Students accepted into a magnet program will be notified by mid-March.

Remember, no school assignments are final until April 24th.  School assignments are subject to change.

Your current school will provide you with a user name and a password for SPAN, as well as initial log-in instructions, if they have not already done so earlier in the school year.

Before you begin selecting courses, review your school’s High School Program Planning Guide for information on course selection.  You should also think about the courses you are interested in taking next year and beyond.

To Select Courses:

·   Log in to SPAN (https://span.wcpss.net)

·   In SPAN, click on the Grades button in the left sidebar.  Review the courses you have taken thus far in your high school career as well as the grades you earned in these courses.

·   Click on the Schedule button and look at the courses you are currently taking.   Write these courses on the Graduation Plan worksheet found in the High School Planning Guide.

·   Click on the Recommendations button in the left sidebar.  Review the courses recommended by your teacher as well as teacher comments.  Decide which of these courses you are planning to take next year and write them on your Graduation Plan.  Note that courses listed under the school “Wake County Schools” will be represented as different courses for each school when you are selecting courses.

·   Review the Course of Study options in your High School Planning Guide.

·   Based on the courses now written on your Graduation Plan, determine the Course of Study that you would like to complete.

·   Write the Course of Study on your Graduation Plan for your reference.

·   If your school has made the Diploma Track module available to you in SPAN, click on Diploma Track in the left sidebar to review all required courses for your Course of Student.  Use this information to complete the rest of your Graduation Plan.

·   When you are ready to enter your course selections into SPAN, click on the Select Courses button in the left sidebar.  If you will be selecting courses at multiple schools, you will be presented with a screen asking you which school you would like to select courses for.  Select the school from the drop-down menu:

·   The number of courses at the top of the screen listing the number of credits you need to select.

·   To select a course, click the radio button to select a course as “Primary” (first choice -  “courses I really want to take”) or “Alternate” (“courses I want if my primary choices are unavailable”).

·   Next, select the course you want to add from the drop down menu.  Courses displayed are the courses that have been recommended for you as well as all open-enrollment courses.  

·   When you have selected your course, click the Add Selected Course button:

·   In the event that you do not meet the prerequisites for a course, or the system cannot add the course because you are trying to select more than the required number of credits, the system will display an error message.  Review the error message for further information.  If two courses are paired together, notice that both courses have been added to your course selections.  A course may also require a “Matched Alternate”, which is a course substituted directly for a primary course if it is unavailable.  If a course is set up in this manner, instructions will be displayed on screen.

·   NOTE: You do not need to do anything to save changes to course selections, they are saved automatically.  You may log out and return to your course selections at any time.

·   To delete a course, check the box next to the course name you wish to delete at the top of the screen.  Click the Delete Checked Courses button.  

·   When you have finished selecting courses, you will need to “confirm” your course selections.  The confirmation process locks in your course selections, and you will not be able to make additional changes to your course selections without counselor approval.  To finalize course selections:

o       Click on the Finalize Selections/Print Verification Form button.

o       A dialog box will appear informing you that once you have finalized course selections, you will not be able to make additional changes.  Click OK to continue, or you may click Cancel to make additional changes to your course selections.

o       The confirmation page will appear on screen.  Print and sign it, have it signed by a parent/guardian, and return it to your school by Friday, March 20th.  If you need to print additional copies, you may do so at any time by clicking on Select Courses in SPAN.

·   If you need to select courses for multiple schools, the School line of each screen is a drop-down menu that will allow you to change the school you are selecting courses for.  You may switch back and forth between schools until course selections have been completed at all schools.