This summer, in a shift from previous years, students could view and make changes to their schedule in the first week of August. The following week, Assistant Principal for Academics James Elish re-released students’ schedules and announced that “the schedules shown on MyGDS should be treated as final.”
The new add/drop process marks a change from previous years, when students could only view their schedules a week prior to the start of the school year. Students would then be able to make changes in the first three weeks of the school year. While the former add/drop period remains, Elish said he strongly encouraged students only to use the period to fulfill a graduation requirement or to switch course levels.
According to Elish, the goal of the new system was to make the start of the school year smoother for both teachers and students. Elish said he hoped opening up the opportunity for schedule changes during the summer would allow students to make a majority of changes before classes formally began.
This year is Elish’s first as assistant principal for academics. He succeeded Khalid Bashir, who left GDS at the end of the 2025-26 school year.
Elish said students sometimes switch out of a course because they’re unsure how difficult the course is or how harsh of a grader their teacher is. “I want kids to work with the teacher, to meet with the teacher, to express those concerns, to really try to work through that difficulty,” Elish said. He added that he hoped the changed add/drop process would prevent students from trying out a class at the start of the school year only to switch out.
“Teachers can have a little more certainty about who’s going to be in their classes, and, more critically, students go into the semester actually having the classes they are going to take for the rest of term,” he said.
Math teacher Grant Franke said that when students in the past have switched into his class from different levels, they were very behind. “I felt pressure as a teacher to help them get caught up, even though they had missed so much content,” he said. Franke said most students switched into his class before classes officially began this year thanks to the summer schedule change period. “I’m so happy that students aren’t missing as much,” Franke said.
History teacher Anthony Belber said the new system benefited students. “I think it’s nice for students to know early on what classes they’re signed up for,” he said. Belber added that he hasn’t had a single student change classes this year, as opposed to previous years, when he would usually have one to two students switching into or out of his class. “Maybe some of the reason for that is because they were able to iron out problems before the school year began,” Belber said.
Aside from lightening the burden on teachers, students said the new system helped them adjust to the school year. “[The new add/drop system] made it more efficient and less stressful because I got to look at my classes and plan out my year,” junior Liam Black said.
“It’s always so hectic when you have to go around frantically changing everything, so being able to do that before school starts is great,” senior Isabella Yip said.
Before the add/drop period formally started at the beginning of the school year, students could email Elish directly to change courses without having to communicate with their teachers. In years past, students typically had to get several signatures—including those from their advisor and teachers—before switching classes.
“I used to know when a student was coming, and there used to be a little bit of a buffer or conversation,” Franke said. He explained that, with the new process, students have appeared on his roster without notice. “I’m glad that they’re not missing content, but I feel like we’re missing a conversation,” Franke said.
Elish said he wanted to collect anonymous feedback from students and faculty about what they think of the changed add/drop process.