Schedule Changes

Every year the week between schedule pick up days to the first days of the school year are filled with students asking about making changes to their schedules. I am happy to try to help facilitate schedule change requests, but I need to make sure you know a few things...

1. We are not authorized to make any teacher changes.  Sorry.  I can't move you from one teacher to another teacher's class.  I know that we all have favorite teachers from previous years or teachers that our siblings had that we hoped to have too.  I get it, but the administration works really hard to balance all schedules with timing and course sections and they don't want us to undermine that work by making things unbalanced. 

2. I cannot overload classes.  If a class is full, there is no way for me to add you into the class. Think about it, you know how packed many of the classes are and how many desks are in the room.  Each teacher and each period can only have so many students.

3. You need to have your graduation requirement classes. Obviously a big end goal of your classes is to graduate and so those take priority over every other request.

4. If the classes you have requested are during 1st or 8th period then I cannot give you 1st or 8th period off.  I'm sorry.  I know that a lot of juniors and seniors hope for late arrival or early release, but the only way the master schedule works when the administrators build it is for classes to be spread across all 8 periods.  They focus on eliminating as many conflicts as possible and so that sometimes means a class that is only offered once per day ends up being in 1st or 8th period.

5. I know that a lot of times the hopes and expectations aren't in alignment with what the reality is when you first see your schedule.  Pause and give yourself a little bit of time to process through it.  It can be hard when you think that you're the only one in a particular lunch (I promise you're not) or that you don't have any classes with your friends. Every year I end up encouraging kids to just go to class and give it a try and see who else is in their classes and they realize that a friend they had classes with a year or two ago is also in that class and they are given the chance to rekindle the friendship again. Just don't panic when you see your schedule.

6. If you want to change levels from AP/ IB/ Honors classes that had summer work to other classes without summer work, remember that you are still responsible for completing those summer assignments and the grade will go with you into the new class. (So if you're doing all of that work for the class, are you sure you really don't want to just stick with the class you had requested a few months ago?)

7. If you want to request a schedule change, stop and see me after you pick up your schedule - I will be in one of the classrooms upstairs during the schedule pick up times and am happy to meet with you. Come see me!

Schedule Pick Up

Is anyone else feeling a little overwhelmed by the fact that school starts next week? Somehow I suspect it isn't just me! I'd imagine it will start to feel real that summer is coming to a close when you come to pick up your schedules this week.

Due to the ongoing construction at WKHS, schedule pick up will look a little bit different than past years in that it will all take place on the 2nd floor and it will be held during the evening so that we aren't in the way of the construction workers.

The process is paperless again this year which means that your emergency medical information, health forms, and athletic forms need to be updated online BEFORE coming through the schedule pick up lines.  Those forms will all be on the Worthington Schools website (not counselor website).

Students and families are invited to come pick up your schedules, get your school pictures taken, and navigate all of the other stations (such as textbook pick up, vision & hearing screening, etc) on Wednesday, August 6th and Thursday, August 7th from 5-7:30pm.

When possible, they would ideally like for 9th and 11th graders to come on the 6th and 10th and 12th graders to come on the 7th, but if your schedule prohibts you from attending on your preferred date, please know that you can come on either evening.

Sorry, I can't email out copies ahead of time. And I know that every year there are questions about what you should do if you are not available to attend on your designated schedule pick up time. If you will not be able to attend either of the designated days/ times, then you will not be able to pick up your your books or get your student ID made until the 1st day of school, but schedules will be available online starting Monday, August 11th or you're welcome to come to school on either Monday the 11th or Tuesday, August 12th from 1:00 - 3:00pm.  (No morning pick up's on those dates though because we are all in mandatory meetings both mornings.)

Each year schedule pick up days are two of the craziest days for me, but I am looking forward to seeing you!

Common App

Here we go! It is August, Common App is live and for seniors who are planning to apply to 4-year colleges, this is a big deal. 

Common App is the website that over 1,000 colleges have joined together to allow students to use this joint platform to be able to apply to all of their colleges with equal consideration as those who might apply to their schools through other application avenues.

Common App is a great resource that nearly all seniors who are applying to 4-year colleges will end up using for one or more of their college applications. The counselors at WKHS are dedicated to helping support you with the Common App and we want to make sure that you don't end up making some of the most frequent mistakes while filling out your application. As a result, we are holding 3 separate Common App 101 Workshops where senior students are invited to come to Kilbourne with your laptop or Chromebook and we will walk through Common App together. You will literally work on your own Common Application while we are going through the time together.

This is one of our most highly attended events which is why we have 3 separate sessions scheduled so that you can find the one that will work best in your schedule. Because we are going to be in Room 201 and space is limited, it is important that you register for the session that you want to attend so that we can make sure everyone is able to have space to attend.

The 3 workshops are scheduled for:

• Monday, August 11th at 1:30pm
• Wednesday, August 13th at 10:30am (this won't be a good option for students who are serving as Link Leaders)
• Thursday, September 4th at 7:45am

Here is the link to sign up.

Summer Assignment Reminder

Two posts, two days in a row, in the summer?!? Oh my... it shows that we are already getting closer to needing to be thinking more and more about school. Perhaps you are feeling like me and wanting to push it off a little longer which is totally valid, but if you are signed up for Honors, AP or IB classes next year you probably need to be doing some work now on your summer assignments.

Remember, the classes which have summer assignments means that all of that work you are doing (or not doing) will impact your grade in the fall. You definitely don't want to start out in a hole from day 1! Sometimes, in the past, students would procrastinate on completing their summer assignments and then decide at the last minute that they would drop out of the advanced course in favor of the non-advanced version (so, for example, dropping AP US History in favor of regular US History). If you are planning on switching levels, it is really important that you make that change prior to Tuesday, July 15th. If you wait until after July 15th to decide that you want to change levels, you will still be responsible for completing the summer work because even if you change levels your summer assignment is a part of your academic record and so your grades on the summer assignments will go with you to the new class.

Hopefully you are feeling good about your summer assignments and how you are progressing on your summer work.  If you haven't started, please get moving on it! If you have lost your summer assignments, please feel free to check out the WKHS Counselor website - www.wkhscouselors.com - as we have posted the assignments your teachers have submitted there as well.

And, for the record, if you do want to drop from an advanced course to a regular class, please just email me at babbott@wscloud.org before the end of the day on Tuesday the 15th and I will make the change for you the next time I am able to drop by school.

Test Scores Released

As of today, all students who took AP or IB tests over the spring can now access your test results on the AP/ IB websites. I know that you had studied hard and prepared well for the assessments so I hope that you are happy with the results that you find!

Just a reminder, if you were a student who took AP English Language last year and are planning to take CC+ Comp or CC+ Literature this year, double check that your scores and the classes you had signed up for make sense. (So, for example, if you assumed you would get a 3 on the AP Lang test and so you didn't sign up for Comp 1, but you only scored a 2, you need to let us know so that we can adjust your course requests to put you into Comp 1. Or, on the other hand, if you decided to put down Comp 1 in your course requests just to be safe and you scored a 3 or higher on the AP Lang test, you need to let us know so that we can adjust your schedule as you don't need to repeat Comp 1 again.) You also need to be sure that you send those test results to CSCC so that they have the documentation needed for you to skip Comp 1.

Diploma Presenter

I cannot believe that it is the end of June. I hope that you are all having a great summer! I have been thinking a lot about the fact that my seniors (Class of 2025) are all preparing for all the great adventures ahead of them. 

I love many of the traditions that we have at WKHS and none more than the fact that Kilbourne students get to select who they would like to present them with their diploma during the graduation ceremony. I believe that this personal approach and having the person hand you your diploma be someone you know vs a stranger from central office or a school representative that you don't know well makes the ceremony much more meaningful and memorable.

This year I had 14 seniors allow me to have the honor of presenting them with their diploma. 14!!! That is CRAZY to me that I was able to share in that moment with so many different students. And here is what I can tell you, for each of these individuals, I felt pride and remembered different moments and had different feelings of excitement for them related to what they have overcome and the incredible opportunities coming up for them in the future.

Pictured above are the students who I had the honor of giving their diploma at graduation. From left to right - (Front Row): Riley Douglas, Roslymar Carrero Ramirez, Ava Casper Welty, Jimmy Alvarado Dominguez, Johnny Chan, Mason Cottle, (Back Row): Mohamed Aden, Logan Baker, Juan Bermudez, Nathan Bradley, Dmytro Chubenko, Maksym Chubenko, Brady Baringhaus, and (not pictured) Mahmoud Ahmad.

To Mohamed, Mo, Jimmy, Logan, Brady, Juan, Nathan, Rosly, Ava, Johnny, Dmytro, Maksym, Mason, and Riley - First, I am so proud of you and excited for you! Thank you for allowing me to have the honor of being a part of your graduation day. Graduation is a quick moment in time but it represents all that you have worked for over the last 18 years. You have overcome struggles (big and small), you have achieved goals (short and longer term), you have learned and grown and taught others (like me) lessons along the way. I hope that you will always know that you have made a difference in my life and that I am thankful to have been able to be a part of your high school journey. Good luck with all that is ahead of you in the future! Love, Miss Abbott

Summer School

A few quick, last minute reminders about summer school...

1. If you failed a class and are taking a class through Worthington Summer School, that started today! Hopefully you remembered and made it for your designated time slot (8-10 or 10-12) at Worthington Academy building. If you failed a class and didn't get signed up yet, please be sure to check your school email for the link to register and you will be able to be added to the waiting list. Rememer, Worthington summer school is free and is an important opportunity to stay on track for graduation.

2. If you were planning to enroll in an online get-ahead summer class through TRECA, don't forget that tomorrow, June 3rd at 11:59pm, is the deadline to sign up. There is a $95 fee for each 1/2 credit class. Your actual summer school work with TRECA won't start until next Monday, June 9th. By listing Worthington Kilbourne HS when you register, TRECA will automatically send your transcript to me at the end of the summer school term.

And then I want to also remind all of you that if something has changed in your plans related to summer school, I need for you to let me know as soon as possible. Email will be the perfect way to communicate your changed plans. Because I know that many students who were planning to take a get-ahead online class didn't sign up for it, you might be short of a graduation requirement in your course requests for next year or if you are no longer going to be attending the Worthington summer school session, your core class sequence likely needs to change and I need to try to do all of that before school starts again in August.

I hope that you all have a great summer and that if summer school is a part of your plans, that you will learn a lot and be able to make good, quick progress through the courses.