VHS Counseling January Newsletter

• Seniors - Mid-Year Reports for College Applications
• Viper Night // Jan 12
  
• ACC Spring Semester Begins // Jan 17
• ACC Summer & Fall Enrollment
• ACC Enrollment Support for Graduating Seniors
• College Visits at VHS
  
• College & Career Center Workshop Series
• Sophomore & Junior Leadership Opportunity

Course Selection Information for Next Year

• Course Selection Deadline for Current Freshman & Sophomores // January 27
• Junior/Counselor Conferences & Course Selections
• Interested in Joining PALs?
• Subcampus Program Opportunity - Culinary Arts
• Interested in IB?

Some colleges/universities require a Mid-Year Report as part of the college application process. Mid-year reports can be sent once semester grades are finalized and GPA's have been recalculated and reviewed. This will be complete by mid-February.

The method for submitting a mid-year report will differ based on your method of application for each school.

• Common App - if any of your Common Application schools require a mid-year report, no further action is needed on your part for these schools. Your counselor will submit the report on your behalf once mid-year transcripts become available.
• Coalition - if any of your Coalition schools require a mid-year report, your counselor will upload a mid-year transcript to your Coalition Locker once it is available. You (student) will need to then attach it to your applications.
• School Specific Application - if you applied through a school specific portal and need a mid-year report, you will order a transcript via Parchment. Please be sure to select the "Hold for Grades" option. This will ensure the registrar sends the mid-year transcript to include 1st semester grades.

Viper Night will take place 6:00-8:00 PM on Thursday, January 12th and is open to all students and parents.

Viper Night will include a rotation schedule for presentations from:

• Athletics, Band, Dance, Theatre
• ACC Dual Credit, International Baccalaureate (IB), AP Capstone, AVID
• Robotics, Incubator
• Student Panel - The Student Experience

There will also be an elective/club/organization fair open in a come & go format.

Students are encouraged to take advantage of this evening to explore and learn more about ALL that Vandegrift has to offer!

ACC Dual Credit students will begin spring semester coursework on Tuesday, January 17th. This means students who are registered to take in-person courses at the Annex will treat those class periods as off-campus periods the first two weeks of the VHS spring semester. Questions? Reach out to Mrs. Spradling.

While the ACC Spring semester kicks off Tuesday, January 17th, students planning to continue taking dual credit coursework (returning students) should start scheduling individual meetings with Mrs. Spradling to plan for 2023-24 courses (summer/fall/spring semesters).

Students new to ACC should be working through Enrollment Steps 1-4 and registering to take the TSI Assessment if needed. Information was presented to all sophomores during the school day, and was included with the sophomore parent webinar last semester. If you missed it and want to learn more, check out the College & Career Website for program details, but we also invite you to attend an information session available in-person during Viper Night on January 11th.

New students should aim to complete Enrollment Steps 1-4 and the required individual meeting with Mrs. Spradling, by the priority deadline of March 24 for summer registration.

Students are invited to sign up for a Dual Credit Enrollment Workshop for support in completing the Enrollment Steps, offered February 7 and February 8 during PIT (sign up in the PIT Portal).

This semester, the College & Career Center will be partnering with specialists from Austin Community College to provide hands-on support for graduating seniors planning to transition to ACC. We encourage seniors to take advantage of this in-house support, whether you plan to pick up a class over the summer to transfer to four-year college, start off with a year or two at ACC, or complete a certificate program for more technical training.

January 26 - Area of Study Information Session // Register Here

This session will focus on sharing the various programs, degrees, and certificates ACC has to offer and is perfect for a student who isn't sure of their educational plans and wants to explore their options and how ACC coursework could lay a solid foundation for later transfer.

Don't forget that college admissions representatives are still scheduling visits to connect with prospective applicants! This is a great way to find out more about colleges, develop an understanding about the admissions process, and connect with the representatives who will be reviewing your application.

Click here to access the College Visit Calendar and instructions for registration. In fact, this month we have VHS Alumni visiting campus who can provide valuable student insight. Schools represented include: Baylor, St. Edward's, University of Texas, University of Miami, Texas A&M, UC Boulder, and University of Tennesee.

Check out upcoming spring semester College & Career Center Workshop Series! Workshops will return to in-person this year with resources posted afteward. Workshops will take place on Mondays starting a little before PIT (11:00), in order to ensure we're able to thoroughly cover each topic. All grade levels are invited to join - it's never too early to start thinking and planning!

Workshops will start up in February with registration links coming soon:

• GPA, Rank & Transcripts - Oh My! // Feb 6
• Can I Get In? Understanding Academic Fit & Assured Admission // Feb 13
• Conquering the College Application Activities List // Feb 27

Attention all 10th and 11th grade students interested in participating in a Leadership Camp this summer - Rotary District 5870 - Central Texas is looking for you!

The RYLA Leadership camp is scheduled for Sunday, July 9, 2023, through Friday, July 14, 2023, and Rotary District 5870 would like to sponsor students from Vandegrift High School to attend this leadership event. There is no cost to the student to attend.

Please go to your Class of 2024 (current juniors) or Class of 2025 (current sophomores) Google Classroom for more information about this leadership opportunity and access to the application. The application deadline is January 9, 2023 @ 4:00 p.m.

As a reminder, freshmen and sophomore counselor conferences took place during the fall semester. At this time, students made their initial course selections for the 2023-24 school year. Current 9th and 10th grade students have until January 27 to make updates to their initial course selections. The link to submit/edit course selections is found in students' Class of 20XX Google Classroom.

Though there will be opportunities to adjust course requests in the future, it is important that students be thoughtful and intentional in the course decisions they are making right now. Why?

• Choosing accurately during the initial choice window provides the highest likelihood of being placed in the classes you want.
• Staffing decisions for next school year are already underway. Teachers are hired based on the courses students have said they will be taking.
• Scheduling decisions are already in process. Our master schedule team works to build a schedule with the fewest scheduling conflicts based on the course selections that students submit RIGHT NOW!
• Course selections are a year-long commitment. There will not be changes to elective courses past the final change request deadline of July 23, 2023 (NO CHANGES TO ELECTIVE COURSES AT SEMESTER).

Click here for the full Course Selection Timeline for additional dates and descriptions of events.

Counselors will begin meeting with 11th grade students at the end of January to begin the course selection process for the 2023-24 school year. Junior/Counselor Conferences will take place February 7 - March 6 to discuss post-secondary planning and finalize course selections for senior year.

**Be on the lookout for the Viper Vitals for Juniors newsletter with more specifics coming soon!**

Important Junior Dates

January 30 & 31 - Counselor Connection presentations during students' science class periods

January 31, 5:30pm - Junior Parent/Guardian Info Webinar // Register Here

February 7 - March 6 // 11th Grade Individual Student/Counselor Conferences (parents/guardians invited to join via Zoom)

March 6, 4pm // deadline for JUNIORS to lock in initial course selections for the 2023-24 school year

Click here for the full Course Selection Timeline for additional dates and descriptions of events.

Make sure to attend an information session in January to get information on the application process/requirements.

You have the option to attend before or after school on January 24, 25, or 26 in the Lecture Hall.

PALs is limited to 11th/12th grade students. Only current sophomores and juniors are eligible to apply.

Leander ISD students have the opportunity to enroll in various specialized programs at other district high schools if the program is not available on the home campus. These programs have limited availability, and some are subject to prerequisite course requirements. The Culinary Arts program at Cedar Park HS and the Cosmetology program at Leander HS are currently accepting enrollment requests. Transportation is not provided for subcampus programs. Students will need to subcampus to their alternate campus for an entire A or B day.

Click here to submit an enrollment request for the Culinary Arts Program. Students must have previously earned credit for Intro to Culinary Arts to be considered for the program. The deadline to submit the enrollment request is February 17.

Note:

• Space in this class is very limited. Filling out this form does NOT guarantee entrance into the class. The form must be filled out by the student by Feb 17, 2023.
• This class is double-blocked. The periods are 2/3 or 6/7. Please apply only if you have room for this in your schedule.
• This is a rigorous fast-paced industry-based class.

Click here to submit an enrollment request for the Cosmetology Program. The enrollment request and due date for the information packet for Cosmetology is March 20, 2023. Do not delay, as several of the packet items require 1-2 weeks processing time.

Please check out our revamped IB Website for tons of useful information!!