Zephyrus: What are some common mistakes students make when choosing their classes for next year?

Dylan Hackbarth: Knowing your graduation requirements. Sometimes students don’t remember they need to take those two PEs, or now students who are in 10th grade and lower need personal finance. This is also the first year of us having so many English electives for 11th and 12th graders, and I’m nervous about students tracking whether or not they need to take fiction or nonfiction [English courses]. In those two years, students need to take at least one fiction and one nonfiction.

Z.: How does course registration affect post-secondary opportunities?

D.H.: Edina High School has a ton of options for core classes and electives, so students should use their years in high school to test out potential areas they might want to navigate to in future studies.

Z.: How important are AP or enriched classes for college and future careers?

D.H.: We live in a community where there are lots of opportunities to take upper level courses. EHS boasts [26] AP courses, and one thing to know when a student is selecting their courses—one factor admissions officers will consider—is the level of rigor on the student’s schedule. So just be mindful that the rigor of your secondary schedule is a factor colleges are thinking about.

Z.: Where can students learn more about course registration?

D.H.: First of all, on our website, there’s a course catalog. The course catalog has information on every course that’s offered. In addition to that, there’s a grade-level Schoology. Every grade will have a folder that’s labeled “2026–2027 High School Course Registration” [that contains] all of the resources they would need.

This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on Feb. 19, 2026