J&C Student Schedules

Students are required to take two J&C courses per year out of their eight period schedule for a total of eight J&C courses by graduation. For the other six courses in their schedule in any given year, students take core content courses as required by the state of Kentucky along with Manual students from all other magnets.

J&C students’ schedules can include any of the courses Manual has to offer, including its AP course offerings, with some additional room for some non-magnet electives. Like other Manual students, J&C students can opt to take electives offered by other magnets when space permits in their schedule. Additionally, Louisville Academy, the University of Louisville dual credit program, is open to J&C students, just as it is offered to students of any magnet.

To show the variety of courses and academic challenge levels available to any J&C student, we present a real J&C student’s four year schedule below as an example of what’s possible. J&C courses are noted with italics. 

9th	10th	11th	12th
Journalism 1	Journalism 2	Videography	Editorial Leadership
Media Arts	On the Record (staff)	On the Record II (staff)	On the Record III (staff)
Adv. English I	Adv. English II	AP English Language & Composition	AP English Literature & Composition
Honors Spanish I	Honors Spanish II	Percussion Ensemble (YPAS magnet elective)	3-D Art (Visual Arts magnet elective)
Honors Algebra I	Honors Geometry	Honors Algebra II	College Algebra
Adv. Integrated Science	Adv. Biology	Adv. Chemistry	Adv. Humanities
PE/Health	AP World History	AP US History	AP US Government & Politics
Study Skills	Study Skills	Study Skills	Student Aide

Joining a J&C staff

J&C students will best experience the magnet by joining a student-run publication staff. While it isn’t required, joining a staff is the most exciting and rewarding part of the program, and its experiences can greatly accelerate a student’s maturation, problem-solving skills and personal growth. It is often the hook that creates a closer, more memorable connection between students and the school. Learning how to work successfully within the staff environment often results in more conscientious, creative, confident and career-focused thinkers and doers. 

Staff classes are student-centered, student-run publication courses where teachers serve as advisers. Like students will experience in their careers, each staff class has an application and interview process. If a student is accepted onto their chosen staff, they will attend its class during the day as part of their normal Manual schedule the following year. Three staffs (The Crimson, the school yearbook; On the Record, a city-wide news magazine; and One Blue Wall, the school literary magazine) are also extracurricular activities with after school attendance requirements one day a week after school, while the fourth, Manual RedEye, the news website for the Manual community, does not require after school attendance.

Students can enroll in a staff class for three consecutive years, beginning sophomore year. It’s also possible to join a staff for the first time your junior or senior year. Staff membership is year-to-year, with the application process renewing each spring.

Sometimes, students request to join more than one staff. The Crimson and On the Record occur during the same block, while Manual RedEye and One Blue Wall are also scheduled at the same time. It’s possible, therefore, to join the Crimson and One Blue Wall, or some other variation, but it’s not possible to join another staff that occurs the same block. We typically dissuade students from joining multiple staffs unless they excel at time management. Please note that we do not allow students to rise to leadership roles on two staffs; students may accept an editor role on one staff and accept an entry level position on another. 

Planning your path

While we do not offer “tracks” that dictate the order in which students take most magnet electives, students interested in developing particular J&C skills will find it beneficial to consider a schedule that builds upon their knowledge from year to year. Five of our courses are called denoted as “skill builders.” These core courses pave the way for students to pursue roles relating to those skills on staffs later. (See this page for more on skill-building courses and other course descriptions.)

For example, a student interested in graphic design may consider pursuing the following schedule:

9th grade

Class 1: Media Arts / Class 2: Journalism 1 

These two classes are required for all J&C freshmen. In particular, Media Arts provides a foundational graphic design curriculum.

10th grade

Class 1: Advanced Graphic Design / Class 2: Staff (role: designer)

Advanced Graphic Design builds upon the graphic design knowledge introduced in Media Arts. For aspiring designers, taking design sophomore year will allow you to quickly advance your design knowledge early in the program, which will offer you the most benefit later on. We also recommend applying for one of the four J&C staffs, which all have a need for graphic designers. Being a staff designer is the perfect way to get more practical experience.

11th grade

Class 1: Staff Class (role: designer or mid-level leadership position) / Class 2: Photojournalism

Leadership roles open up beginning junior year to students with at least one year of experience on staff. Leadership roles vary by staff and could be exclusively design focused (like a design editor) or could incorporate a variety of skills and include the management of other designers. Because Photojournalism and Graphic Design skills are so closely related and many careers value designers who also understand photography, taking Photoj boosts competence as a designer while satisfying the second J&C skill-building course credit.

12th grade

Class 1: Staff Class (role: designer, mid-level or senior-level leadership position) / Class 2: Editorial Leadership / Class 3: Peer Tutor for Media Arts

By senior year, graphic designers may choose to continue as staff designers, or opt for leadership roles on staffs that relate to creating and managing its visuals, such as creative director, design editor, and even editor-in-chief. Students in leadership roles will take Editorial Leadership, a support class for all editors from your publication and all others in the magnet. Additionally, peer tutoring for Media Arts class in place of a Study Skills class or open elective credit is a great opportunity for designers to refresh their skills while mentoring new design students who are just beginning their journey.

Study skills, aiding and peer tutoring

By default, all Manual students have a study skills block each year. Study skills is a non-credit “study hall” that allows students to complete homework for other classes. While it’s possible to replace study skills with an eighth class, it’s not usually recommended for most students. However, students are occasionally permitted to opt out of study skills in order to add more magnet classes if counselors feel they can handle the extra burden.

It’s common, however, for students to opt out of study skills class in order to aide for a teacher or to become a peer tutor. Aiding is a non-credit opportunity available only to seniors to assist a teacher, while peer tutoring allows students to earn course credit in exchange for academically assisting other students. J&C has some limited peer tutoring opportunities for students (usually juniors or seniors) interested in assisting the freshman Media Arts class. To aide for a J&C teacher or become a peer tutor for a J&C class, ask the teacher directly if there’s availability.