Senior Electives Pined For Early On, Could That Ever Be Attainable?

By Jasper Shelmerdine '26

Although Cate students cannot choose trimester electives until their senior year, many campus members argue that introducing choice earlier would be both beneficial and feasible. In response, the Dean of Academics outlined the logistical reasons behind the current course timeline. 

While the class of 2027 had to submit their elective requests, with over 150 classes to choose from, by March 22nd for their final year, underclassmen are still required to take the standard English, History, and Science courses for 9th through 12th grade.

Carmen Lack ‘26 shared that some of her favorite classes of all time at Cate have been Sociology and Anthropology, electives she believes would have been valuable to take before senior year. “These electives tie in real-world, current topics that are really beneficial to learn about,” she explained. In comparison to required history courses like Humanities in 9th grade, World History in 10th grade, and US History in 11th grade, Carmen felt these discussion-based electives felt more immediately relevant to students’ lives and experiences. 

Carmen also describes the structure of senior electives as one of their strongest qualities. Because they only last one trimester, she says they remain engaging without becoming repetitive: “It feels less formal. Less lectured and more interactive.” 

Carmen’s critique of the current system stemmed from her own difficulties balancing personal interests and the number of course choices, noting that she wished she could have taken the film elective, but she simply didn’t have room in her schedule. 

Griffin Gruber ‘28 shared similar concerns from a younger student’s perspective. Acknowledging his love for marine sciences, he said he would have enjoyed access to specialized biology courses earlier on. He also mentioned that students could benefit from certain courses, like American Wilderness, earlier than their senior year. 

For Griffin, the biggest benefit of choosing electives earlier on would be the opportunity to explore different career options. “If I can choose my own classes,” he explained, “it could be really beneficial for me in the future.”

Rather than completely restructuring the curriculum, Griffin suggested a compromise: sophomores should have the opportunity to choose one trimester-long class, and juniors should be able to choose a year-long course outside graduation requirements. 

Dean of Academics Annalee Salcedo thoroughly explained the strategy behind the curriculum choices, sharing that classes like U.S. History and English 11 are designed to overlap, allowing students to get more out of each course when taken simultaneously. There are many other reasons as well. For example, she shared “we jigsaw all the class offerings so that we can optimize kids’ choice as well as teacher load, and class size.”

Ms. Salcedo also noted that exceptions are often made for underclassmen to take electives if they didn’t start at Cate as freshmen and need to make up by taking courses typically offered for a different grade level. 

In regard to trimester electives, Ms. Salcedo shared, “Trimester electives came out of a recognition that our seniors are ready for deep dives into topical areas of study, knowing that they have spent their 9th, 10th, and 11th grade years doing the kind of core foundations.” This aligns with many other aspects of the senior lifestyle, as beyond academics, they are granted greater freedoms as they become leaders at Cate. 

When asked about how she thinks students’ agency to choose courses impacts a learning experience, Ms. Salcedo responded, “I think any time a student has an inherent interest in a topic, they're going to be more avid learners of it.” But she also explained that there is plenty of opportunity to pick classes in college, so the majority of high school should be spent taking foundational courses to figure out avenues of interest.  

Ms. Salcedo emphasized the specific course examples, saying, “We want to make sure our students are ready to access those really unique courses by making sure they have the foundations of reading, writing analysis, communication, and a basic understanding of the main sciences.”

Ultimately, students have expressed an interest in having agency over what is in their schedule sooner, but because of the meticulous decision-making process, which much of the community is unaware of, the trimester elective timeline will remain the same for the foreseeable future.