Freshman-Sophomore NIGHT RAHWAY HIGH SCHOOL Freshman-Sophomore NIGHT

aGENDA OVERVIEW OF GUIDANCE CASELOADS GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS ATTENDANCE POLICY CALCULATING THE GPA AWARDS AND HONORS STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS AND FAMILIES EXTRA-CURRICULAR ELIGIBILITY NAVIANCE TESTING SUGGESTIONS FOR SUCCESS QUESTIONS

COUNSELOR CASELOADS ACE- Mr. O’Callahan Transition- Mr. O’Riordan

What can you expect from Guidance? Counselors are committed to helping students successfully navigate their years at RHS Main counselor functions: social/emotional support academic support including: course selections/scheduling, college application assistance, financial aid and scholarship assistance connection to growth opportunities career exploration group counseling

Graduation Requirements Subject Area Number of required years Number of recommended years for college prep English 4 History 3 Science Math Physical Education/heath -- Visual/Performing Art 1 Practical Art World Language 3-4 Financial literacy ½ year Testing Students must earn passing PARCC scores 1 year of a foreign language ½ year of financial literacy Meeting the state graduation requirement by achieving a minimum score on the PARCC Graduation Requirements

Attendance Policy Length of course Max # of allowed absences Full year class 18 Half year class 9 1 marking period 5 5 unexcused lates=1 absence arriving 5 or more minutes late to class will result in a cut An appeal must be filed in May/June

Calculating the GPA Unweighted vs. weighted Minimum GPA for 4 year colleges/universities: 2.0 Grading scale Grade College Prep Honors AP A: 90-100 4.0 5.0 6.0 B: 80-89 3.0 C: 70-79 2.0 D: 63-69 1.0 F: 62 & below Students should challenge themselves appropriately. Colleges admissions reps like to see rigor but they also do not want to see Cs and Ds.

Determining the GPA for Jane Doe Class Grade Quality Points Freshman Seminar A: 95 4 Honors English I* B: 83 Environmental Science B: 86 3 Physical Education B: 85 Geometry* A: 92 American History I* B: 80 Spanish I* C: 79 2 Add the quality points and divide by the number of courses for the unweighted GPA (23/7=3.28) for weighted consider only core courses (16/5=3.2) *core classes

Awards and Honors Competitions & contests independent of Rahway High School (visit the opportunities page on Rahway.net for more information) High Honor Roll All grades must average between 94-100 with no grade below 87 Honor Roll All grades must average between 87-89 with no grade below 80 Honor Societies National Honor Society- students who possess an unweighted GPA: 3.1+/weighted 3.38+ after four semesters will be invited to apply Science National Honor Society Math National Honor Society National Art Honor Society World Language Honor Societies (Spanish, Italian, French) Tri-M Music Honor Society International Thespian Honor Society Discuss awards referring to outside competitions

AUXILIARY PROGRAMMING FOR STUDENTS Rutgers REaCH I & II AP Program (AP Saturday- to be held in March 2018) FDU Middle College Program VO-TECH: half day programs available for 10-12 grade students NJSEEDS (open to low-income/1st generation students) Questbridge Scholars Program (open to low-income/1st generation students)

Support & Resources Guidance page on rahway.net Monthly Guidance Newsletter- Guidance Gazette Teacher/counselor contact via e-mail or phone & parent conferences Parent/teacher conferences on 2/8/18 Tutoring: Math club tutoring on Thursdays Kean Intern tutoring after school in the library Student may also be matched to tutors through the National Honor Society (interested students should see their Counselor for more information) Touch on volunteerism and summer programs

Extra-Curricular participation Athletic/extra-curricular participation: 1st semester- must have passed 30 credits or more in the preceding year (students earning less than 30 credits and/or students who failed two or more courses in the preceding school year will be ineligible for athletic participation). 2nd semester (February-June)- must have passed 15 or more credits for the previous semester. AIP Tutoring: required for student-athletes who are eligible for athletic participation but failing two or more courses at the time of progress report or report card distribution (tutoring is held after school at the Alternative School) NCAA Requirements: 2.3 in 16 core courses for DI sports Eligible courses may be found online (resources available in Guidance Gazette) The majority of core courses available at RHS will count toward the NCAA GPA 10 courses will be locked in by the start of senior year Students wishing to participate in collegiate athletics should express their intentions to both their coach and guidance counselor

Naviance https://connection.naviance.com Purpose Features Career exploration College Planning Personality Inventories SuperMatch College Search Resume Writing Scholarship search

Testing ACT vs. SAT Suggested testing timeline: winter & spring of the junior year (August between junior/senior year if necessary) Testing Dates: Test prep: Khan Academy Library resources Kaplan The Princeton Review Wyzant.com- private tutors

Psat rESULTS

Suggestions for success Do your homework Challenge yourself with rigorous but manageable coursework Start studying for standardized tests Choose at least one activity or sport in which to become active Consider doing volunteer work Talk to your counselor about summer programs Find a job Establish a working relationship with one of your teachers Get extra help when needed Check PowerSchool daily Dream and plan for your future

Questions?