College Essay Guy

Anyone who knows me knows how much I genuinely enjoy learning, reading, and expanding my knowledge about what can better help students in all aspects of their lives. College applications is a huge part of that. And college admissions is an ever changing field.

I love College Essay Guy.

He provides amazing resources, great videos, and incredible tips to help students in putting their best foot forward in college applications.

Last night he hosted a webinar on "How to stand out on your college essays this fall" and while I couldn't watch it live because of Open House, I was able to watch it later and I thought you might be interested in seeing it too. 

It feels like it has been a long week, but tomorrow is finally Friday, it is the WKHS vs TWHS football game, and we get a long weekend!

Meet the Teacher Night

Tomorrow night, (Wednesday) WKHS will host our annual Meet the Teacher night for parents/ guardians. This event is sponsored by our PTO.

This is a night when your parents can come through school, follow your schedule, and meet all of your teachers. Meet the Teacher part of the evening will be over by 9pm. Each class will be 10 minutes in length and yes, your parents will have the same 5 minute passing time that you have during the day. (Hopefully they won't get lost and be late or else they could end up with lots of tardies!) :-)

Here is the schedule for the evening:

Welcome & Introduction in Main Gym by Principal, Aric Thomas: 6:45pm

1st period - 7:00 - 7:10

2nd period - 7:15 - 7:25

3rd period - 7:30 - 7:40

4th period - 7:45 - 7:55

5th period - 8:00 - 8:10

6th period - 8:15 - 8:25

7th period - 8:30 - 8:40

8th period - 8:45 - 8:55

Please make sure you give your parents a screenshot copy of your schedule or at least write down the room numbers for all of your classes so they know where they are heading for the evening!  Of course, parents, if your son/ daughter forget to give you a copy of their schedule, you can also print it off off on Infinite Campus.  We will not have schedules available to hand out so this is a really important step for families to make the most of Meet the Teacher Night!

Please make sure your parents know about this evening because I know many of them will want to attend and they usually like putting a face with a name so that if you are talking about a test in Mr. ____'s class or an assignment for Mrs. ____'s class they will be able to keep it straight.

Class Rank

When completing college applications you will find that most colleges will ask “What is your class rank?” and if they can’t get you to give them an exact rank they might also ask you for a percentile ranking. (Some schools may not ask you and may ask on the counselor form that I am required to complete for you.) The official answer is “We Do Not Rank.”

That is what I write on all of the forms that I complete for you and what you should indicate on your application – UNLESS you are one of the students with a grade point average of a 4.0 or higher for your high school career. If you have greater than a 4.0, then you are automatically ranked #1 in the class. (So yes, that would mean that there are multiple Seniors, Juniors, and Sophomores ranked first in their respective class.)

As you already know, WKHS is an academically competitive high school and we would not want a class ranking to hurt you in any way. For example, a GPA at WKHS might rank in the top 20%, but at a less competitive school the same GPA might rank in the top 5 or 10%. So, unless you have a 4.0 or better, do yourself a favor and write “Do Not Rank” when completing your applications.

Confidentiality

Having safe adults that you can talk to and trust is an important aspect of navigating life as a high schooler. In addition to your parents and teachers, I hope to work to be able to earn your trust so that I can also be one of those safe people in your life.

It is important to know that there are limits to confidentiality. Some of those limits are long-standing, consistent aspects. If you are at risk to yourself or someone else, I must report it. If someone is harming you (abuse or neglect), I must report it.

What is new in limits to confidentiality are some of the new Ohio laws that I must follow. If you share information with me related to gender - such as wanting to use a different name or pronouns, then I must share that information with your parents.

Another new requirement within the Ohio law is that I must notify your parents if you have had a "substantial change" academically, physically, or emotionally. 

Knowing that your trust is important, I want to make sure you understand that these new laws and requirements are in place. All of it is with the goal of helping to make sure you have as many positive, supportive adults in your life as possible. So if you have any questions about confidentiality, please don't hesitate to ask!

Senior College Presentation

Seniors, the questions about your college applications are coming into me fast and furious... and I love it! I love that so many of you are on top of things with your applications and are trying to figure out what to do. But, with there being so many of you, it is really important that you all start with the same foundational knowledge. As a result, I cannot stress how important the Senior College Information Presentation is to get everyone on the same page with next steps in your application process.

This presentation will take place this Thursday, August 21st, at 7pm. We will be hosting it via zoom so that we can also record the presentation for anyone who cannot attend live. (I hope you and your parents will try to attend live though because I genuinely think there is a lot of value of participating in the session together.)

There are so many questions about applying to college like: "How do I request to have my transcript sent to my colleges? How do I make a positive impression with admissions reps? What is the difference between a recommendation form and a recommendation letter and how do I make sure the right one is included with my application? What is the difference between Early Action and Early Decision and which should I use when applying? Am I applying to enough or too many colleges?" During this presentation we will aim to address all of these questions and so many more!

This presentation is an important evening for all seniors applying to college and their families. Seniors are encouraged to attend with a parent/ guardian.

We emailed out the zoom link to all senior student and parent emails this afternoon and will send another email reminder out on Thursday. I hope you will plan to join us for this session!

Picture Day

I know that there were many students who were unable to have their photo taken during the schedule pick up nights. If the lines were too long or you were unable to attend on schedule pick up nights, it is still important that you get your picture taken. Not only are the pictures used for the yearbook and in Infinite Campus, but they are also used on your ID's which will allow you to access the WKHS sporting events for free.

Picture Make-ups for those of you who weren't able to have your picture taken yet for this school year will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, August 19th during all lunch periods. They will be taking these pictures in the Golf Simulator Room which is the old nurse's/ health office in the Art/ Tech hallway. There will be signs posted to help direct you to the right location. 

If you haven't yet had your picture taken, please be sure to make time during your lunch period to go and get this step marked off of your to-do list.

Last Day to Change Schedules

Do you feel ready for a 5 day week of school?  I am excited to start feeling like life settles down into more of a routine with all of you being established in your classes for the year.  Along those lines, I want to make sure that you all understand that tomorrow (Monday) is the last day to add a class for the first semester.  So, after tomorrow, you won't be able to drop and add something else into your day until we reach semester break at the end of December.  As a result, it is really important that you make sure you see me or email me tomorrow if you are wanting to drop/ add something in your schedule.