Principal's Newsletter
September 28, 2021
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back-to-school night
guidance newsletter
Testing day - October 13th - EARLY RELEASE
Watertown High School will be having a testing day on October 13, 2021, to administer the iReady exams and PSATs. The iReady exams will be given to all 9th-grade students and the PSATs will be taken by all 10th and 11th-grade students. Grade 12 students will not be required to report to the building on October 13th and will instead engage in one of the recommended activities below. Students in the 9th, 10th, and 11th grades will be dismissed early after the completion of their exams. We estimate that 9th-grade students will be dismissed around 12:30, depending on actual exam start times and pace. Students in the 10th and 11th grades will be dismissed following the PSATs, around 1:00 pm. All students will be given a lunch to eat in the building or take home with them.
iReady Exams: The iReady exams are given in both Math and English twice a year at the high school level. These exams allow us to gauge student progress throughout the year. Students take the iReady exams throughout their careers in WPS.
PSAT: The PSATs are a practice version of the SAT test, one of two tests (the ACT being the other) that many colleges and universities in the United States accept as a college entrance exam during the admissions process.
Some of the benefits of students taking the PSATs are:
-Higher SAT Scores! According to CollegeBoard, students who take the PSATs get higher scores on the SAT, on average, than those who do not.
-FREE SAT Prep! CollegeBoard has partnered with Khan Academy to provide free online test prep for students. PSAT test takers have the added benefit of linking their CollegeBoard account with Khan Academy so they can take advantage of personalized test prep based on their PSAT scores - free test questions, practice exams, a schedule for studying, and more. According to CollegeBoard, students who spend 20 hours engaging in Khan Academy Test Prep gain 115 points from PSAT to SAT.
-Experience! Taking the PSAT provides students with a similar experience to that which they will get on SAT test day. They will get a feel for the timing of the test, the format, and the expectations.
-Access to Scholarships! CollegeBoard has partnered with a number of national scholarship organizations that will reach out to PSAT test takers with resources and information about scholarships.
Once test scores are released in December, information about accessing scores and using the many associated resources will be available to students and families through Advisory, Guidance classes, workshops, and at Guidance Night in January.
We are excited to offer this experience to our 10th and 11th graders and look forward to working with them as they continue to plan for their futures!
Seniors
While 9th, 10th, and 11th-grade students are participating in iReady and PSAT testing on October 13th, 12th-grade students will be engaged in post-secondary planning activities, independently. Students are encouraged to access these resources and their school counselor when planning their activities for the day. Students have met with our counseling staff to review these activities in order to maximize the use of their time. We will be sending a required survey of all students to determine their activity of choice. The options include, but are not limited to:
Questions to Ask on a College Visit
Interacting with Colleges Virtually
Test Prep for the SATs through Khan Academy
Naviance Tools (Career and College Exploration Tools)
Additional resources are posted on each school counselor's Guidance Google Classroom.
spirit week and homecoming
athletics update - from mr. murphy
It's another great week for the athletic department! Great to see so many student-athletes
getting involved. It is not too late to sign up for a team.
Unified basketball will be starting in a few weeks. This is a great program in which the student-athletes of Watertown look forward to participating.
We will have winter sports registration ready sometime in October. Also, please stay tuned for the dates and times of our senior night events.
Please enjoy some pictures from our soccer programs below.
