In an effort to be more efficient in how we disseminate information from the Counseling Office, we will be sending out weekly emails with any important and timely information. BOTH STUDENTS AND PARENTS are receiving these newsletters. Parents: please encourage your child to read these messages, and take any appropriate action themselves. It is developmentally appropriate to get high schoolers in the "driver's seat" when it comes to tending to their academic, career, and emotional needs.

The topics are all listed below, with a link to the pertinent information so that you can quickly scroll through to see if any of the topics pertain to you. There are 3 sections:

• Mental/Physical health support and resources
• Academic/Career information and resources
• Just for Seniors

• THIS WEEK'S TOPIC: "Fundamentally Against Their Safety" - what social media employees say they are afraid of for their own kids

• WSD Mental Health Resources Hub: Find a variety of mental health resources available to families in the WSD in our Mental Health Hub

Check your email for a "TIME SENSITIVE" Message for full information and directions

PRIORITY #1 (Deadline extended through the weekend!!)

Students must enter their 24-25 COURSE REQUESTS IN TYLER SIS by Sunday 2/4: Students should use these SIS Course Request Directions to enter 7.0 credits of courses in their SIS Portals.

PRIORITY #2

Students must complete their 4-year Course Plan (ICAP) in the XELLO COURSE PLANNER: This step must be done in the next couple of months, but doesn't have an immediate deadline. Since the deadline for this requirement is not as pressing, we want students to focus on the 24-25 course requests in Tyler SIS first. Once that is complete, they can move on to finishing their Xello Course Planner.

RESOURCES:

• MANY of your questions can be answered by speaking to your teachers and reviewing the information in the online course guide (specifically the Course Descriptions, Pathways Information, and WSD Special Programs).
• Click HERE to view the Pathways Week Kick-Off Slideshow Presentation that students were shown on Monday January 8th.
• DO NOT -- I repeat -- DO NOT get stressed out about this. We are rolling out a new program. There are bound to be questions and bumps in the road. But, we are in it together. And, we truly believe that the WSD Pathways program will help students get a jump start on setting and achieving career goals by taking relevant, preparatory, and challenging courses.

Join us for a Pathways Community Engagement Event

• 8th Grade night- 6-8 p.m. Feb. 7, 2023 @ both North Point and Liberty High Schools

• 8th Grade night- 6-8 p.m. Feb. 13, 2023 @ both Timberland and Holt High Schools

Find more information about each pathway and the program on the WSD Pathways website.

This spring (date TBD), we are hoping to charter a bus to take a small group of Juniors to two college campuses (one public, one private). This will be a full day event, and may require either getting to Liberty early and/or getting back to Liberty late, or it might possibly be scheduled on a Teacher PD Day. Spots will be limited. Priority will be given to students who are First Generation, Free/Reduced Lunch, and/or have no way of doing official college campus tours on their own. Click HERE to fill out an interest form. Students will be notified if they were accepted in late February.

More than 100 colleges and organizations! See flyer below for details and registration link.

The fastest and easiest way for students to ask counselors questions is to come in during Soar Time. If you need to speak with something that may be more time consuming, you can email your counselor to ask for a meeting. Counselors will not be able to set individual appointments for course selection. So, please come up with your list of questions, and have your child visit with the counselors during Soar Time (lunch hour) this month.

Registration opens on Feb. 21

ACT (at THS, Holt, or FZW)

Next Test: April 13; Deadline to register March 24

SAT (at LHS)

Next test: March 9; Deadline to register Feb. 23

• Fee waivers available for students on Free/Reduced Lunch
• Colleges have no preference between the two tests
• Some colleges don't require test scores
• Make sure to list LHS as your high school when signing up

Unlock Your Academic Potential with Our Study Skills Workshop!

Don't miss out on this opportunity to enhance your study skills and set yourself up for academic excellence in high school and/or college! Sign up now for our upcoming workshop.

📆. Date: Thursday, Feb. 29
⏰ Time: 11:37am
🏢 Where: Student Center
✍️ Register at http://bit.ly/StudySkillsLHS

• Wondering what you can do this summer to make sure you are on a strong path for college?
• Open to grades 9-11
• Learn about how volunteering, working, research, academic enrichment programs, pre-college classes, and college campus visits can help you plan and prepare for college.

Thursday, February 8; 7:00-7:30 pm CST

Click HERE to register for the zoom webinar:

• Interested in attending a selective university? Concerned you don't know the expectations for applying and for acceptance to a selective university?
• Worried about how to pay for college once you are accepted?
• Open to 9-11th grade students who are considering applying to a selective university

Thursday, April 11; 7:00 -7:30 pm CST

Click HERE to register for the Zoom webinar:

We've had a great series of informational evening presentations during first semester. All previous Parent Event slide shows can be found on the WSD Career and College Counseling Hub.

Presentation Topics that were covered:

• Planning for College (9-11)
• College-Bound Senior Seminar (12)
• Collegiate Athletics: Recruitment and Eligibility (9-12)
• Exploring WSD Special Programs and Options (9-11)
• Financial Aid 101 (9-12)

See graphic below for upcoming presentations during 2nd semester.

Need financial aid to help pay for college? The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the most important, reliable way to get it! The FAFSA is a free government form you fill out to be considered for scholarships (including the A+ Program Scholarship), grants, student loans, and job opportunities (a.k.a work study!) to help you afford college.

In order to fill out the FAFSA, you will need:

• FSA ID: Seniors and "contributors" will need to create an FSA ID
• 2022 Federal tax returns: When completing the online FAFSA, you will need to give permission for the secure transfer of tax return information from the IRS to your FAFSA, or your FAFSA will either be rejected or delayed.
• Social security number or Alien registration number for eligible noncitizens
• 2022 W-2s from your place(s) of employment
• Records of untaxed income
• Supplemental income amount (such as SNAP, TANF, Social security)
• Cash, savings, and checking account balances
• Value of assets and investments other than the home in which you live

RESOURCES:

• Click HERE to watch a very helpful video that walks you through the FAFSA step-by-step.
  

JAN 30TH DELAY ANNOUNCEMENT:

Seniors and Parents/Guardians:

I wanted to make sure you are aware of the latest news from the Department of Education regarding the 24-25 FAFSA.

Background: As you are probably aware, the FAFSA was revamped this year to make it simpler to complete and submit, but also to update the formula that calculates who qualifies for need-based aid in order to hopefully provide financial assistance to more students. While both of those are good changes, the FAFSA launched nearly 3 months late in order for the systems to be updated for the new online form. While the FAFSA has been open throughout the month of January, there have been bumps in the road. The website has experienced periods of being offline. And, most notably, students and contributors who realize they might need to amend their FAFSA due to an entry mistake are often not able to log back in to make corrections.

Latest Update (1/30): Yesterday afternoon, the Department of Education issued an update with some very unfortunate news. Essentially, they are making a correction to the calculator they created and colleges will not have access to the FAFSA information until March at the earliest. This means that students will not begin receiving financial award offers until April (hopefully).

What does this mean for seniors and their families? For most families, the decision of where a senior will attend college after graduation is largely based on which financial aid offer is the best fit for the family's financial situation. Financial Aid Offers are usually shared in the student's college portal (and are sometimes mailed, too). My colleagues in college admissions offices want seniors and families to know that this latest development is completely out of their hands, too. There is nothing they can do to speed up the timeline on when students and families will start receiving financial aid offers.

Some colleges with a May 1st decision/deposit deadline have already started announcing that they will push back that deadline. The best suggestion that I have is to check your college portal often, and also follow the colleges on social media so that you can be aware of any announcements they are making in regards to deadlines.

Should seniors/families still submit a 24-25 FAFSA? Yes, we still encourage families to complete and submit their FAFSAs as soon as possible. Please don't rush through the screens. Be very careful that you are entering accurate information before submitting, as you may not be able to login to make corrections until March. While the delays are frustrating, the FAFSA still drives almost every type of financial aid. Without it, seniors and their families might be losing out on aid (federal, state, and institutional grants; work study; federal student loans; and some scholarships, like the A+ Program). Here is a step-by-step video of how to complete the FAFSA.

Any other suggestions? This is a good time to make sure you have applied to "safety" schools where you are fairly sure you will be able to afford the cost of attendance. College websites should have a Net Price Calculator to help you calculate a rough estimate of your cost of attendance.

Additionally, completing the A+ Program is a good fall-back plan in case the financial aid offers are not going to work for your family. My next A+ Training is February 12th during either Red or Blue Soar Time. Even if you haven't started A+ hours yet, with careful planning, we should be able to come up with a way for seniors to finish their hours.

I will keep you up to date on any new announcements that I become aware of.

Here is the announcement from the US Department of Education yesterday.

Most of the local scholarships opened on February 1st and close on March 17. There are over 50 scholarships available to both traditional college-bound students as well as those heading to technical/vocational schools. You can find all of the scholarship information by reading the LOCAL SCHOLARSHIPS NEWSLETTER

Mid-Year Reports (aka updated transcripts with 1st semester final grades) are NOT automatically sent to colleges. If you need a mid-year report, please come see Mrs. Gerringer in person, and get added to the list she has on her desk. Once updated transcripts are available (probably Friday, January 12th), we will send them out.

There are two ways to apply to colleges: on the college website or through the Common App. How you send your transcripts is based on how you applied:

• College website - After you have submitted your application(s), go to "College Planning" in your Xello account. Create an Application, select a college, answer the questions, click Create. On the next screen scorll down, and click on "Request." This will send LHS a notice that you need your transcript sent.
• Common App - Please link your Xello to your Common App right away, even if you won't be submitting your application right away. Colleges won't see your application until it is submitted, but linking the accounts early helps Mrs. Gerringer track and plan for upcoming deadlines and which applications require letters of recommendation. Under "College Planning," Create an Application, select one of your Common App colleges, answer the questions, then click Create. You will be prompted to link your Common App account. Once you link it, all of your applicaitons will appear in Xello. Scroll down to make sure that your applications are assigned to Mrs. Gerringer. If not, you can assign her as the counselor with the drop down menu.

Click HERE for full information on Academic Honors and Cum Laude Honors. Seniors will get an honors graduation application to fill out in March.

In case you missed the Josten's meeting, packets with the order forms for caps and gowns, graduation announcements, and senior apparel are available in both the front office and the Student Center. You can still order online.

Seniors, you should be the driving force behind your career exploration, college research, and applications. Your parents should remain actively involved in your decision-making and are a good resource when you have questions or need guidance. But, it should be YOUR fingers on the keyboards when it comes time to apply for college, scholarships, jobs, tests (ACT, SAT, ASVAB), internships, job shadowing, A+ tutoring, etc. The only way to become responsible is to take responsibility. You can do it, and we are here to help!

I would recommend saving this email; it contains so much information, and you may need to refer to it later. Remember that we are here to answer questions and help you work through the process of planning for life after high school. Let us know how we can serve you.

Last names

A-E: Mrs. Alicia Sheffield (aliciasheffield@wsdr4.org)

F-K: Mr. Chad Cunningham (chadcunningham@wsdr4.org)

L-R: Mrs. Mary Ellen Riley (maryellenriley@wsdr4.org)

S-Z: Mrs. Paige Blackford (paigeblackford@wsdr4.org)

College/Career/A+ Program: Mrs. Shelley Gerringer (michellegerringer@wsdr4.org)

Educational Support Counselor: Mrs. Collin Miller (collinmiller@wsdr4.org)

Email: chelseamccain@wsdr4.org
Website: https://sites.google.com/wsdr4.org/lhsacademics/home
Phone: (636) 561-0075
Twitter: @lhscounselors3