RMHS School Counseling Newsletter

Welcome to the 25-26 school year! The counseling team is excited to be back in the building greeting new freshman and catching up with returning students. The counselors are here to offer students the support, guidance, and assistance students need with academic planning, personal development, post-high school planning, or any other aspect of their high school journey. Parents and caregivers, we are excited to partner with all of you to ensure your child maximizes their full potential and has a successful academic year. For those new to RMHS, I send out a monthly school counseling newsletter with important guidance and counseling related activities and events. We hope you find the information helpful.

SAT's at RMHS - September 13th

Senior Parent/Caregiver Night - September 17th at 6:30 pm in PAC

Freshmen Parent/Caregiver Night - October 7th at 6:30 pm in PAC

Financial Aid Night - October 8th at 6:30 pm in the PAC

Activity Fair - October 16th during flex

PSAT's - October 22nd during school for grades 10 &11

College Admissions Panel - December 4th at 6:30 pm in the PAC

Alumni Day for seniors - January 6th during flex block

Junior Post-High School Planning Night - January 13th, at 6:30 pm

Future Freshmen Night for 8th grade parents and students - January 20th at 6:30pm, in PAC

Career Day for Juniors - January 29th

College Fair - March 12th at 6:30pm in RMHS Field House

SAT's at RMHS - March 14th

AP Exams - May 4th - 15th during school day

Senior Awards Night - May 20th at 7pm

Future Freshmen Night II - June 1st at 6pm

Underclassmen Awards - June 3rd at 7pm

Our philosophy in the counseling department is to foster academic, social and emotional growth. We encourage students to understand their relationships with others, to make wise choices regarding issues they must confront, begin exploring the world of work and realistic options, and to grow as productive, contributing members of their families, school, and community.

We place a focus on the whole child to include enhanced support and curriculum for every student in the school. We are excited to continue with our guidance seminars during flex block this year. The topics for the year include:

Freshmen: Transition to high school and building sense of belonging. Seminars are in late October/November

Sophomores: Career Exploration, Career Interest Assessment, and Finding Your Purpose curriculum. Seminars in March/April

Junior: Post High School Exploration. Seminars in January/February

Senior: Developing and Pursuing Post High School Plan. Seminars in September/October

For those new to the high school, the school counselors use a 9-12 alphabetical caseload model that allows us to follow our students throughout their high school career. Below is the list of counselor caseloads. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us via email or phone. Students may use remind text to reach us as well. In addition to the school counselors, we are lucky to have a school adjustment counselor, Kendra Stinson, working with our team. She is a wonderful addition to our school counseling program.

To help our students and families understand the supports we have in place for the post-high school planning process, we created a pamphlet to share the information. We hope this is helpful especially for families just starting the process. Each year we gradually build on the skills with the end goal of each student having a solid plan when they graduate.

We are excited to support our seniors in the college admissions process. In addition to the Senior Parent/Caregiver Night on Sept 18th, we also have our senior seminars starting the week of September 10th. Counselors will be sharing specific dates with seniors the first week of school. During the seminars, seniors will have an opportunity to work on various aspects of their applications with the assistance of their counselor. Students will learn how to request transcripts and recommendations, complete necessary forms, work on their resume, essays, etc. Each student will participate in five consecutive weeks of seminars. In addition, counselors will start meeting with their seniors individually the week of September 10th. To make sure the application process goes as smoothly as possible with little confusion, we are asking students to hold off requesting transcripts until they participate in a senior seminar or attend their individual meeting.

Each year, college admissions representatives come to RMHS Counseling office to meet with seniors about the application process. This is a wonderful opportunity for seniors to meet the representative that most likely will be reading their applications. We typically have more than eighty colleges visit us every year. Students can gain information about the college/university, helpful hints about the application process, and ask any questions they may have about their school or the application process. A list of colleges visiting RMHS is on the senior student SCOIR accounts. Students must sign up at least a day before the visit on SCOIR and get a pass from Ms. Haley, Guidance Admin Assistant. Students should be careful not to miss a test, quiz, or important class presentation to attend these sessions. Although these meetings are not interviews, we encourage students to carefully consider the attire they wear to school that day as they are making first impressions and representing Reading Memorial High School.

As a department, we feel strongly each student is an individual with unique strengths and abilities. Our goal is for 100% of our seniors to have a plan after they graduate high school. While some of our students feel the pressure to attend college after high school, we believe there are many great alternatives and not every student needs to attend college to be successful in life. There are many wonderful gap year, trade, or post graduate programs as well as military options and career options to consider. Seniors will have the opportunity to explore these options during seminars as well as during the individual counselor meetings.

PSAT's - This year, we are offering the PSAT's to all sophomores and juniors during the school day on October 22nd. Although many juniors took the test as sophomores, we strongly encourage every junior who is interested in applying to college to take the PSAT's again. The scores from junior year are a better predictor of how they will do when they take the SAT's in the spring. It is also the only year a student can qualify for National Merit Scholarship Program. The deadline for students to register is September 27th. Below is the link to the letter that will be emailed to the Class of 2027 and 2028 students, parents, and caregivers. We strongly encourage all sophomores and juniors interested in registering for the exam to click here to fill out step 1 of the registration process. Although the deadline to register is Sept 27th, we strongly encourage you to register as soon as possible to help us get organized. Here is the PSAT registration letter that will be sent to juniors and sophomore families.

SAT's: We are offering the SAT's at RMHS on September 13th and March 2026. The deadline to register for the September exam was August 29th. Although our exam site is full, seniors can choose to take the exam at another location at another high school in October. To see list of dates and to register for the SAT's, go to www.collegeboard.com. Majority of Juniors will take the SAT's in March of 2026 at RMHS.

Students taking SAT's at RMHS should come with their school computer fully charged. Using their school computer is the best option for RMHS students taking the test at RMHS.

Students taking the SAT's at another school should consider using their home laptop or requesting a device through college board. Two years ago, some students using school issued laptops at other schools had trouble accessing the internet. Since RMHS technology staff are not at other school sites to problem solve, we want to reduce the stress and avoid any cancellations. For students taking SAT's at other schools, we strongly encourage using a personal device or request college board send a device to the testing center. Here is information on borrowing a college board SAT device.

ACT's: Although we do not offer the ACT's at RMHS, we encourage students to consider this test as an additional option. To see a list of dates and registration information, go to www.act.org

AP Exams: The AP exams are a culmination of a year-long curriculum designed to help students prepare for the exam that could potentially give them college credit depending on their scores. It is our expectation that all students currently enrolled in an AP course will take the AP exam. AP teachers will be sharing specific information with students and parents about the registration process. Deadline to register is in early November and the cost of the exam is $104.

Accommodations: Any student on a 504 plan or IEP should connect with their counselor to see if they qualify for accommodations on the above tests. We need to apply before college board and ACT's approve the accommodations.

Last year, the counseling team spent time working on updating our counseling website to make it more user friendly for students and parents. It has a wealth of information worth checking out. School Counseling Website

The 17th annual 2025 Reading Fall Street Faire will be held on Sunday, September 7th and we need student volunteers. This is a great way for students to get volunteer hours. The Reading Fall Street Faire would not be possible without the help of our students and community members. Please email amycwalsh628@gmail.com should you have any questions.

Click here to sign up

RPS students are eligible to receive financial assistance for various school related activities (prom, athletic fees, etc), College Board standardized tests, and college applications. We would like to continue supporting families in need but we need your help. We are encouraging any family who thinks they would qualify for free and reduced lunch to review the documents and fill out both the application and the share form. Click here for the financial assistance forms. If you have any questions, please reach out to food services director or your school counselor.

Website: https://www.reading.k12.ma.us/memorial/departments/guidance/
Location: 62 Oakland Road Reading, Ma 01867
Phone: 781-944-8200