RMHS School Counseling Newsletter
October 2026
Important Counseling Department Dates
Freshmen Parent/Caregiver Night - October 7th at 6:30 pm in PAC
Financial Aid Night - October 14th at 6:30 pm in the PAC
PSAT's - October 21st during school for grades 10 &11
On-the-Spot Admissions Salem State - December 2nd
College Admissions Panel - December 10th at 6:30 pm in the PAC
Alumni Day for seniors - January 6th during flex block
Junior Post-High School Planning Night - January 12th, 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 28th
SAT's at RMHS - March 6th
College Fair - March 11th at 6:00pm in RMHS Field House
Job Shadowing Day for Juniors - March 23rd
AP Exams - May 3rd - 14th during school day
Senior Awards Night - May 26th at 7pm
Graduation - June 4th
Underclassmen Awards - June 8th at 7pm
Freshmen Parent/ Caregiver Guidance Night
Event Information
Parents and Caregivers of current freshmen are invited to attend a presentation by the counseling department. We are excited to partner with each of you to help your child navigate their high school years. We will start in the PAC for a quick introduction and then go into breakout groups where you will meet your child's counselor and go over the work we do with our students over the course of four years. Freshmen guidance seminars for students will start mid-October during flex. We hope you can make it!
Financial Aid Night
Event Information
College Affordable will give a presentation on the financial aid process. We strongly encourage parents and caregivers to attend. This is a great opportunity to learn from their expertise and get answers to many of your important questions. They will also share information on the services they provide that are free to all to RMHS families. Although this evening is focused on applying for financial aid, all families 9-12 are welcome to attend. Here is their website where you can register with College Affordable, there is also their email and link to schedule a meeting at the bottom of the page. MEFA also hosts helpful webinars.
FAFSA Application is now open for seniors
The FAFSA 2027-2028 form is now open. The FAFSA is what is required by all colleges if you intend to apply to need-based financial aid. The CSS Profile is required by these schools in addition to the FAFSA.
We recommend starting these forms and coming to the Financial Aid Night with any questions you might have. It's advantageous to apply for financial aid early - it's a separate process than admission so students can apply for aid prior to applying for admission. Check on individual school's websites to see their financial aid deadlines.
PSAT Registration for Juniors and Sophomores!
Any junior or sophomore who has not registered for the PSAT's and would like to take them need to click this link today and sign up. We will not be accepting registrations after Monday, Oct 5th. The registration time has passed but we are giving everyone one last chance. The PSAT's will be given during school on October 21st only for students who register now. Once you click this link to register, please either send in a check for $20 made out to Town of Reading or you will be billed in myschoolbucks.
Spring SAT Registration for Juniors
RMHS will administer the SAT's on Saturday, March 6th this school year. We are a national test site and registration is on a first come first serve basis which means students from other schools can bump out our students. We HIGHLY recommend juniors sign up now if they would like to take the exam in March. Students can register here on college board website. When creating a college board account, please use the students home email and write down the password. This is the college board account they will use over the next two years. Any student who is registered for AP exams already has a college board account and should use the same username and password when logging in to college board. Please see your counselor if you have any questions. Do not delay signing up!
AP Students
Any student who is currently taking an AP course should have done these three things:
1) Sign up for AP classroom using the code the teacher gave you
2) After you are signed up for AP classroom for the particular subject, click the button to register for the exam.
3) Sign up for Mrs. Williams google classroom called AP Exam Logistics. This is where you will find important information about the exams and I will send out notices when necessary. Every AP student needs to sign up for this. The google classroom code is zvimrlc2
Parents, please remind your students to do the above three things!
Freshman Guidance Seminars start in October
Counselors will start our freshman guidance seminars the week of October 23rd. For five weeks, counselors meet with our caseload with a focus on sense of belonging, connection, adjusting to high school, explanation of transcript, GPA, grades, etc. These meetings are during flex block. We look forward to getting started.
Senior Seminars and Appointments
College Rep visits for Seniors
Seniors, college admissions reps are continuing to visit us in the guidance office throughout the month of November. Please log on to your SCOIR account and check out the list of visits. Students must register in advance and get a pass from guidance to attend. These are important visits and we hope seniors don't miss out on this great opportunity.
Senior SCOIR Accounts and 1st Quarter Grades
It is important for any senior applying to college to update their scoir account. Counselors can only send transcripts and recommendations to colleges for students who have listed their colleges under the "Applying" category in SCOIR. Please see your counselor if you have any questions.
Counselors automatically send 1st quarter grades to colleges regardless of the application deadline date. Although some colleges have recently said when they recalculate GPA they do not include 1st quarter grades, they still look at them and they are considered important. Seniors, continue to do your best!
Volunteers needed at Joshua Eaton Halloween Event
Friday October 23rd from 3:30-6pm @ Joshua Eaton's back parking lot (Rain Date is 10/30 same time/place)
Volunteers needed for the Trunk or Treat event to hand out treats, feel free to dress up!
I will sign papers at the event for anyone who is looking for volunteer hours
Please contact Ivonne Shea at ivonneshea@gmail.com or 617-957-9633 if you want to help this year!
Counselor Caseloads
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 journey. 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.
School Counseling Website
Please check out our school counseling website. It has a wealth of information worth checking out. School Counseling Website
RMHS Counseling Department
Website: https://www.reading.k12.ma.us/memorial/departments/guidance/
Location: 62 Oakland Road Reading, Ma 01867
Phone: 781-944-8200