1. Freshman-Sophomore NIGHT
RAHWAY HIGH SCHOOL
Freshman-Sophomore NIGHT

2. 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

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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. Calculating the GPA Unweighted vs. weighted
Minimum GPA for 4 year colleges/universities: 2.0
Grading scale
Grade
College Prep
Honors AP A:
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.

8. 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

9. 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 with no grade below 87
Honor Roll
All grades must average between with no grade below 80
Honor Societies
National Honor Society- students who possess an unweighted GPA: 3.1+/weighted 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

10. 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 grade students
NJSEEDS (open to low-income/1st generation students)
Questbridge Scholars Program (open to low-income/1st generation students)

11. Support & Resources Guidance page on rahway.net
Monthly Guidance Newsletter- Guidance Gazette
Teacher/counselor contact via 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

12. 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

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

14. 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

15. Psat rESULTS

16. 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

17. Questions?