CCR Update

The CCR Update is a weekly newsletter from the St. Charles North Office of College and Career Readiness. Our weekly update contains information to help navigate students through high school and into post-secondary options. A variety of links will be provided to assist students and families in making choices along this journey. For additional information students should reach out to their individual counselor.

St. Charles North High School is pleased to announce that 99 students from the graduating Class of 2025 have been designated as Illinois State Scholars. The Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC), the state’s college access and financial aid agency, presents this important recognition of academic achievement to exceptional Illinois high school students annually. This year, nearly 16,500 honorees join the other outstanding students who have been honored since the designation was first introduced in 1958. The Illinois State Scholar designation is awarded to high school seniors based on ACT or SAT test scores and the sixth-semester class size and unweighted Grade Point Average (GPA). Please click here for more details about the State Scholar program.

The SCN PTO will provide two $1,000 scholarships to SCN graduating seniors who have demonstrated excellence in service to their school and community and whose parents have been active in the PTO at some point during their K-12th grade years. A family membership in the PTO for the current year is required for all applicants.

Applicants must be graduating seniors from SCN who will continue their education at a university, junior college or vocational school. Students are required to write a 300 word essay. GPA and financial need are not determining factors in the selection process. Applications are available in the College & Career Office and online here.

The application deadline is Thursday, March 13, 2025. Contact Julie Govreau (scnhs.pto@gmail.com) with any questions.

Students can now request mid-year transcripts in Naviance. ***Please make sure your college(s) requires a mid-year before sending!***

To do so:

1. Login to Naviance and click on the "Colleges" tab at the top

2. Click on "Colleges I'm Applying To"

3. Choose +Request Transcript (in blue writing on the right hand side)

4. Select the checkbox for mid-year and submit

P. A. 101-180 requires all Illinois public high school students to complete either the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid (Alternative Application) as a prerequisite to receiving a high school diploma. Additionally, high schools are expected to provide students and their families with any support or guidance necessary to comply with the requirement. For students who choose not to file an application, a waiver may be completed by their parent. The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) makes available through their website a FAFSA Nonparticipation Form (English and Spanish) for this purpose. Check out our FAFSA Update for more information.

The Fox Valley Career Center 2025-26 Application form is available on their website at foxvalleycc.org to submit a course request for next year. The priority course request period starts on 11/1/24 and ends on 1/31/25. You can still sign up for a FVCC class after 1/31/25, but this could affect getting into your first-choice program. You'll also need to submit a request for a FVCC class through your counselor.

All dual credit students, (ENG 101/102, CMS 101, Math 102, HOS 101, ACC 100, full and part time programs) for the 2025-26 school year, must create a dual enroll account and complete the application steps on this website. Complete all fields with a red asterisk. Complete steps 1-6 and the FERPA waiver. (Skip directions on page 3.) The application deadline is February 7, 2025.

If you do not qualify for the class or program based on your PSAT scores, you will need to take the ECC placement exams. Information about taking the placement exams can be found in the Dual Credit Application Guide. The placement testing deadline is February 21, 2024. Please reach out to your counselor with questions!

Home Access Center (HAC) opened on Tuesday, November 12th at 7:00 a.m. for students to begin choosing courses for the 2025-2026 school year at this time. All course requests should be entered in HAC prior to your counselor appointment. HAC will close on 1/31/2025 at the conclusion of course selection. If you need directions on how to do so, please click here!

Students will meet with their Counselors following the scheduling windows (below); for additional scheduling resources and specific counselor meeting times, please visit the "Course Selection" page of our website!

• Juniors (Class of 2026): December 2-December 6, 2024
• Sophomores (Class of 2027): January 13-17, 2025
• Freshmen (Class of 2028): January 21-January 24, 2025
• 8th Graders (Class of 2029): WMS January 28 & TMS January 30, 2025

The traditional, comprehensive high school model isn’t the best fit for everyone. That’s why District 303 offers students another option: Compass Academy, a high school of choice with a flexible schedule that provides students with a small learning environment where they receive a personalized educational experience that challenges them and capitalizes on their interests and passions. With an intentional focus on cultivating positive relationships and building connections to the community and potential careers, the Compass Academy approach combines academic rigor, social-emotional learning, and experiential opportunities while fostering a culture of trust, curiosity, and pathway exploration.

Students at Compass engage in projects in a competency-based model, removing the traditional constraints of "seat time" and empowering student-driven learning inside and outside the classroom. This approach allows students to earn credit toward graduation requirements in ways other than traditional coursework, incorporates real-world knowledge and challenges, and prepares students for any post-secondary path they choose with options to earn both early college credit and industry credentials.

If you were unable to attend our Early College Credit Night presentation this past Wednesday (11/20), you can access the presentation HERE. Additional information can be found the our "Dual Credit" page of our website.

Please reach out to your counselors with specific questions!

The 2025–2026 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form is now available for all students and contributors. Please visit the FAFSA website HERE to begin the application!

Did you miss Financial Aid Night on September 18th? If so, please find our presentation HERE! Please reach out to your counselor with questions!

• FAFSA - Scheduled to open December 1, 2024 for all

• Senior Exit Meeting (during school day) - Tuesday, February 4, 2025 in the North Auditorium

• Pre-ACT and ACT for 9, 10, 11th graders (during school day) - Wednesday, April 9, 2025

• Fox Valley College Fair at Geneva H.S. on April 17, 2025 from 6-8 p.m.
• Senior Honors Night on May 7, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. in the North Auditorium
• Cap & Gown Distribution on Monday May 12, 2025 and Tuesday, May 13, 2025 (during school day) in the North Main Foyer
• MANDATORY Group Graduation Meetings on Tuesday, May 13, 2025 at 2:30 p.m. - location TBD
• MANDATORY Graduation Practice on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 at 7:30 a.m. in the Main Gym
• Graduation! Thursday, May 22, 2025 at 4 p.m. at the NIU Convocation Center in DeKalb, IL

More details will be shared as we get closer to each event date.

Throughout the year, many college, career, and military representatives will come to St. Charles North to provide you with more information about your post-secondary options.

All college visits will be in the LRC (Think Tanks A & B), unless otherwise noted. Students must obtain a pass from the Office of College and Career Readiness at least one day prior to attending, if attending during a class period. This pass should be signed by the teacher of the class for that period you are missing. While we encourage students to attend these meetings, please note that what is happening in the classroom is more important. Teachers may deny the request to miss class if they feel it is in the student’s best interest to be in attendance. Students are encouraged to visit with College reps during their lunch period when/if possible.

If you have a conflict with a college visit, please email Kathy.McCoy@d303.org for the college rep's contact information.

For the full listing go to the College Visit page on the CCR Website.

Elgin Community College is offering a series of College & Career events for the fall and spring semesters. Session topics include The Start of College Decisions, Financial Aid 101, Early College Credit options, Professional Etiquette, Discovering Careers, Career Clusters & Opportunities, Successful Interviewing and more. All events are free and open to the public. Events will be held virtually over Zoom on Tuesday evenings from 6 to 7 P.M. unless otherwise noted. For more information and meeting links, please visit https://elgin.edu/community/college-transitions/ccr/

Upcoming Events:

Introduction to Financial Aid

Date: Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Time: 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Location: Virtual

Registration Required - CLICK HERE

Financial Literacy 101

Date: Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Time: 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Location: Virtual

Registration Required - CLICK HERE

Senior Students & Parents! Naviance currently has numerous scholarships available for Senior students to access and apply for.

To do so, students should log on to their Naviance account, select "Colleges" from the top banner and click on "Scholarship Search". Please reach out to your counselor if you have any questions!

Classes at the Fox Valley Career Center begin on Wednesday, August14th!

Students in Session 1-3 must take the bus to and from FVCC. Students in Session 4 will need to provide their own transportation.

Bus information for those students attending classes at the Fox Valley Career Center was emailed to students enrolled in these classes earlier this week. This information can be accessed here as well.

For continuously updated information, please visit the FVCC page on our CCR Website HERE.

Have you ever thought about a career as an electric lineman, firefighter, police officer, lab technician, or in tree maintenance, or IT/Networking? These are all individuals, and many more, who are employed by the City of St. Charles.

The City of St. Charles is offering a career pathway job shadow program to St. Charles high school students interested in exploring a career in municipal government. You may schedule up to three different job shadow experiences per school year, during which you can explore work sites, ask questions, see demonstrations, and learn about education and certifications. Students will be responsible for transportation to and from the City. The date, time, and length of the job shadow will be scheduled outside of school hours directly with the City’s job shadow program coordinator.

This is a great opportunity for Senior students on October 23rd, since this is a non-attendance day for Seniors due to the Pre-ACT Test being given to 9, 10, & 11th graders. Please return your completed registration form to Ms. Gomez in the College & Career Office.

College & Career Readiness Team

255 Red Gate Road, St. Charles, IL, 60175

331-228-6290