Guidance Dept January Newsletter

Welcome to the January edition of the Guidance Department monthly newsletter! We’re excited to share with you some exciting updates and news!

The Virtual Grade 8 Parent Curriculum Program for Parents of the Class of 2030 will be available for parents to view on January 14th at 6pm. NHS Department Heads will be reviewing 9th grade course offerings for 2026-27, with Administration and the Guidance Dept. providing information for the Grade 8-9 transition and course selection process. All materials will be posted on the Guidance website under the 8th Grade Online Course Scheduling tab.

Natick High School Grade 8-9 Transition Timeline (2025-2026) - 2030 YOG

As we approach the midway point of the school year, we’d like to remind ninth graders that the last full day of classes for second term will be Friday, January 16th. Students will follow a half day schedule with 11:00 a.m. dismissal during the week of midyear exams: Tuesday, January 20th - Friday, January 23rd. Second term and first semester will come to a close on Friday, January 23rd, and grades will post in PowerSchool in the first week of February.

SCHEDULING FOR 2026-27: The Guidance Department will be delivering a presentation in the auditorium to ALL ninth graders on Friday, January 30th, during CDS to review the scheduling process and highlight important dates. The PowerSchool portal for students to enter in courses for sophomore year will be open between Friday, January 30th @ 3pm - Friday, February 13th @ 3pm. In early February, Guidance Counselors will meet one-on-one with freshmen to review course selection in Global Awareness classes.

SEMESTER TWO CHANGES: All students should check their schedules in PowerSchool prior to the start of second semester on January 26th, to see their new CDS blocks, study halls, and second semester electives. If there are any questions, your guidance counselor is here to help!

PreACT: NHS is hosting the pre-ACT test on Saturday, March 28th. The test runs approximately from 7:30 AM to 10:45 AM. If you are interested in taking this test, please sign up on the Google Form and bring a check for $35 made out to NHS Testing or cash to the Guidance office attention Ms. White or Ms. Slattery by Friday, February 6th. Payment is required by Feb 6th with registration.

Pre-ACT registration

The PreACT is a practice ACT test, which is a college admission test comparable to the PSAT, for Sophomores. This helps students get comfortable with the standardized testing experience and understand how they are doing in core subjects.

For more information about practice tools and resources, click here.

The total time for the PreACT is approximately 1 hour and 55 minutes, consisting of four sections: English (30 minutes), Math (40 minutes), Reading (30 minutes), and Science (30 minutes). However, the PreACT assessment as a whole includes about 60 minutes of pre-administration activities( instructions and breaks.

PreACT test timing

• English: 30 minutes

• Math: 40 minutes

• Reading: 30 minutes

• Science: 30 minutes

Total Time:

• Test time: 2 hour and 10 minutes

• Pre-administration time: Approximately 60 minutes

This will be a paper and pencil test. Please bring a calculator and #2 pencils & snack for break. calculator policy

Test Date

Saturday, March 26th

Arrive 7:30am (start time of 7:45am & approx 10:45am dismissal)

Room assignments will be posted in the lobby on Friday, March 25th

Please reach out if you have any question to:

Sarah Erving

serving@natickps.org

pre-ACT coordinator

SEMESTER TWO CHANGES: All students should check their schedules in PowerSchool prior to the start of second semester on January 26th, to see their new CDS blocks, study halls, and second semester electives. If there are any questions, your guidance counselor is here to help!

JUNIOR PARENT COLLEGE PLANNING PROGRAM:

In December, Guidance Counselors recorded and released videos for the Junior Guidance Planning Program. Parents can watch the full program or short videos by topic. We encourage all parents and students to view the program. Much of the information covered in these videos will be covered more extensively in the upcoming Junior Guidance Seminar classes.

Junior College Planning Program

GUIDANCE SEMINAR:

Juniors will begin their Junior Guidance Seminars during the CDS block starting the week of January 26th. Guidance Counselors will cover various topics including, but not limited to: SAT/ACT, college search criteria, transcripts and GPA, Naviance and its numerous features, requesting teacher recommendations, campus visits, the college essay, and the Common Application. Counselors provide students with access to a Junior Guidance Seminar Google Classroom that is full of materials and resources. We encourage students to share the classroom with their parents.

Please be aware that seniors will often receive notification from the colleges and universities saying they have not yet received records from the school. There is no reason to worry when this occurs. Understand that when online or mail submissions are received by the colleges, it can take 2-3 weeks for them to upload the information on their end. If this timeframe has passed since your records were sent, and if there is no change in your application status, feel free to call the Admissions office and ask for a status update.

MID-YEAR GRADES will automatically be sent to all the schools your child has applied to. There is no need to call or email this request to the guidance counselor. The mid year grades will be sent in mid February after incomplete grades and grade changes have been resolved. Your child may get notifications from the colleges suggesting they see us, but we are readily prepared to send these grades upon availability. We suggest they follow the same protocol as mentioned above; wait for 2-3 weeks after records have been sent and then call the Admissions office to inquire.

Amongst all the online applications, teacher recommendations, and transcript request forms, remember to keep college deadlines in mind. There are many schools that have January 15th deadlines. Transcript Request forms are due 1 month prior to any deadline and can be found on the Guidance website under College Planning or in the Guidance office.

SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION

The Guidance Department maintains an updated database of independent scholarships. To download a list of independent scholarships please CLICK HERE.

LOCAL SCHOLARSHIPS 2025-2026

• The scholarship application portal will open on February 5, 2026. Students will have until March 9th to complete all scholarship applications.

• Information will be emailed to all Natick High School seniors about the application process in mid January.

• Recipients of Local Scholarships are announced during the virtual Senior Class Night Award Program.

If you have any questions, please see your Guidance Counselor or Mrs. Slattery in the Guidance Department.

For more information on scholarship opportunities please visit the NHS Guidance Department website.