Counselors Newsletter

REGISTER NOW

Have 90 minutes? Join us to:

• Meet (or reconnect!) with your counseling colleagues and the admissions deans and leaders from each of our eight schools.

• Brush up on what distinguishes our eight very different schools.

• Hear how we’re working to make college more affordable and accessible, and to support students through every part of their college experience.

• Learn how colleges like ours are preparing students to excel in today’s complex global economy.

• Take part in a casual but candid conversation about opportunities and challenges in today’s enrollment landscape.

We hope that you and/or other members of your staff can join us:

Thursday, September 10, 2025
8:00 a.m.
7:30 a.m. Registration & Coffee Begins

The Westin Buckhead Atlanta
3391 Peachtree Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30326

Learn more and register at 8ofthebestcolleges.org, and please help us spread the word about our student programs at your school by hanging up this flyer and linking to it in your email newsletters.

Our College Board partners at the Council of International Schools are hosting a free International University Fair on 9/11/25, from 6:00–8:00 PM at Atlanta International School, Atlanta, United States. I am writing you on CIS’s behalf to request you share this email and flyer with guidance counsellors in schools where students and families may be interested in meeting admissions officers from leading global universities.

Most global higher education institutions recognize the Advanced Placement program and recruit globally-minded students, and you can find information on the attending institution by opening the link below.

Atlanta

Atlanta International School
Thursday 11 September

6:00-8:00p

https://www.cois.org/for-students-and-parents/students/events/international-university-fair-atlanta

Students must register for the event online before attending. Their registration will produce a QR code to print or save on their smartphones.

Our colleagues at CIS are organizing these events and please contact them with any questions at highereducation@cois.org.

Thank you for sharing this with your school communities,

Best,

Kevin Maloney

Senior Director K-12

State and District Partnerships

College Board
M (850) 509-3578

kmaloney@collegeboard.org

Clearing a path for all students to own their future

A Day In Your Life will be held during the Fall semester on Monday, October 13, and Monday, October 27.
You’ve heard about the campus, our faculty and the sisterhood. Now, we invite all high school seniors and their parents to come and experience firsthand the excitement our students live every day.

A Day In Your Life is designed to answer any questions you might have about Spelman College and maybe a few you have not yet considered. During your experience, you will have an opportunity to meet the women of Spelman and witness the rich diversity of backgrounds and interests represented in our student body.

Additionally, you will also be able to speak with our faculty and staff about your plans for college and beyond; and learn how the entire campus community will work together with you to help you realize your dream.

Click Here to Register

Rotary International has one of the biggest student exchange programs in the world. About 10,000 high school students participate in the exchange each year worldwide. The program allows students to immerse themselves in a different culture.

Candidates who successfully complete their eight-month preparation period and become conversant in their new target language depart for their Rotary exchange year in July or August. For the next 10 -11 months, the Georgia outbound students live in their assigned country with three different host families, who are carefully selected by our Rotarian partners overseas. They attend high school, participate in Interact and Rotary meetings as well as service projects.

The in-kind scholarship, valued at over $25,000, covers room and board, tuition, and a monthly stipend for the student. The all-inclusive cost for the program, which is paid by the student and/or his or her family, is a flat fee of $6000.00.

More information and the application are here:

https://ryese.org/

Apply directly for fee waiver benefits through the online request process at satsuite.collegeboard.org/sat/ registration/fee-waivers.

After you confirm you meet the eligibility criteria, you’ll answer a few questions, including providing contact information for an adult who can verify your eligibility. Use your school counselor. Put in the counselor name and email. You can find them here.

They may reach out to the adult contact listed. Be mindful of registration deadlines and apply for a fee waiver as early as possible so you can use those benefits in a timely manner.

Once approved, the fee waiver benefits will be applied to your College Board account and you will be able to register for SAT Weekend using your fee waiver benefits. NOTE: If you plan to take the SAT for the first time in the summer, be sure to get a fee waiver code before the end of the school year or complete the SAT Fee Waiver Request Form.

Register for the SAT here.

All national college admissions test administrations at the DHS Test Center for both ACT & SAT are Digital only_BYOD.

All students must BRING to the test center three things listed below for both tests:

1 - A device that they have made sure can be used for the test. There are no devices to be loaned from the test center.

2 - An Admission ticket. You must have a paper/printed admission ticket for the ACT. A printed or an electronic ticket may be used for the SAT.

3 - A hard plastic ID card, passport, or completed ACT or SAT ID form (completed = everything filled out and it is signed/notarized). School ID must show the current year. State federal ID must be valid on the test date.

Students with specific special accommodations may be scheduled to test on days other than those listed below.

SAT - August 23, 2025 - Digital

SAT - September 13, 2025 - Digital

SAT - October 04, 2025 - Digital

ACT - October 18, 2025 - BYOD

SAT - November 08, 2025 - Digital

SAT - December 06, 2025 - Digital

ACT - December 13, 2025 - BYOD

SAT - Mar 14, 2026 - Digital

SAT - May 02, 2026 - Digital

SAT - Jun 06, 2026 - Digital

ACT - June 13, 2026 - BYOD

September 9, 2025

Furman University (SC)

US Navy

September 11, 2025

Adelphi University (NY) 12:50 - 1:20

Oberlin Conservatory of Music

New York Institute of Technology (NY)

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA)

Concordia University (Montreal, Quebec)

September 12, 2025

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA)

Bard College (NY)

September 15, 2025

Brown University

September 29, 2025

Georgia Institute of Technology

October 2, 2025

University of Chicago (IL)

October 3, 2025

College of Charleston (SC)

October 14, 2025

Georgia Southwestern State University

Franklin & Marshall College

October 16, 2025

University of West Georgia

October 20, 2025

Northeastern University (MA)

October 28, 2025

High Point University (NC)

November 19, 2025

University of Alabama at Birmingham (AL)

Below are the details of the 6 week SAT Prep courses starting Aug & Oct 2025.

Call us at 404-351-4955 if you have further questions.

Location: Decatur High School | 310 N McDonough St Decatur GA 30030

Schedule: Saturdays : 9 - 1 pm on each day (6 sessions | 4 hrs each)
Room: Inside New Library @ Decatur High School

Register Online for SAT Prep Class:

https://successprep.com/SAT-prep-atlanta-ga-decatur-high-school

Textbook you need to buy:

The Official SAT Study Guide, 2nd Edition by The College Board

Don't forget to register for the SAT Test! - http://sat.collegeboard.org/home

*Prep class fee is non-refundable after class starts, we do not offer partial refunds for class sessions a student misses. Any cancellation for refund of a prep class fee must occur 5 days before the start of that prep class, to allow for the seat to be offered to another student.

Don’t leave money on the table!

Calling all Seniors! It's not too late to create an account with GA Futures! Create a GA Futures account today through the Georgia Student Finance Commission. Visit https://www.gafutures.org/, create an account and follow the instructions closely. The Registrar will upload all juniors and seniors twice per year to the Georgia Student Finance Commission. This allows each student to be considered for the HOPE and Zell Miller scholarships which are available to all Georgia students and can be applied to any HOPE-eligible college or university. Once an account is created, students can track their HOPE-eligibility and plan for any extra expenses. When creating your GA Futures account, use a personal email. Your CSD email account will be deactivated upon graduation.

Parents, please give us your student's Social Security Number. The Georgia Student Finance Commission identifies students using their SSN. If we don't have it in our student information system, better known as Infinite Campus, they will be unable to match your student to transcripts we upload and be purged out of their system. Please email Mr. Ackley with a good contact number and he will call you to get your child's SSN and enter it into Infinite Campus. Please do not send it via email or voicemail.

This is non-negotiable and not a rule we make at DHS. We must comply with the state and this is how they prefer to identify thousands of Georgia students.

Please contact GAfutures at (770)724-9000 if you have any questions or need help creating your account.

Please remember to create an account at Parchment.com if you haven't already done so. Parchment is a one-stop-shop to request and send your transcript to many colleges and universities in the USA and abroad. When you create your account, please use a personal email account, not your CSD account. Once you graduate you will still be able to access any transcripts uploaded to Parchment if you have a personal email address on file with them. Your CSD email will be deactivated upon graduation. Please be aware that the turnaround time for fulfillment of transcript requests is three days, so get your request in well before any deadlines issued by the schools you are applying to. If you need help, please contact the Registrar's office at michael.ackley@csdecatur.net.

Click the logo for parchment.

Parents/Students: The vast majority of your application processes will NOT need a Parchment transcript request. If you are applying through the Common Application, The Common Black College Application, or a college/University that uses SENDedu or other similar document collection service; you will not need to request a transcript through Parchment because your counselor will automatically upload them for you. If you have questions about if you need to use Parchment or not, just send your counselor an email and ask.

Please click on the appropriate link below to address your concern/need:

I Need A New ID

Certificate Of Enrollments (complete this form at least 1 week prior going to the DDS. Form expires 30 days after issuance)

ADAP Card Information

Portal Access Requests

Request for Google Password (email)

College Visit Form

Work Permit Process (only needed for students ages < 15)

NEW Guide to PTSA Community Service Hours

Order A Transcript (If you need a transcript mailed, please email micheal.ackley@csdecatur with student name as it appears in the portal, college/university name, college/university address)

Students when you graduate your DHS email account will be deactivated. Please use your personal email address so you will have access beyond high school.

Summer & PreCollege Programs Google Classroom - CLASS CODE: fkrkuep

Scholarships Google Classroom - CLASS CODE: 43xlcav

Email: rjones1@csdecatur.net
Website: https://www.csdecatur.net/dhs
Location: 310 North McDonough Street, Decatur, GA, USA
Phone: 404-370-4170