News and Updates

A few different pieces of information for you tonight...

- For those of you who took the PSAT earlier this fall, your results are in! You can now pick up your scores and the test booklet from the secretaries in the front of the counseling center. As a "short-cut" method for getting a guesstimate on how the scores compare to actual SAT scores, add a 0 to the end of each score. So, for example, if you scored a 50 on the math section, you could predict that you'd score somewhere in the vicinity of 500 on that section of the actual SAT. This is certainly not a guarantee nor a definite, but it can give you a rule of thumb. The most important thing for you to do with your results is to use it to go back and figure out what you did or did not understand. This includes figuring out areas of weakness and identifying any concepts that you might want/ need to brush up on. You should also use your scores to go back and determine if there are particular styles of questions that you did not understand or that you tended to get wrong. Be sure to read through the results information and if you have any questions, feel free to stop in and see me.

- For the parents... on Thursday, December 16th at 7:30pm there will be a presentation in the WKHS Auditorium on "Parenthood: Strategies for Saving your Sanity" by Dr. Mike Thomson. Dr. Mike spoke with the staff today after school and he was a very entertaining and engaging speaker with a lot of good reminders. I realize that this is a very busy time of year and so the thought of adding one more thing to your to-do list is probably very overwhelming, but I strongly encourage all of the parents to consider attending his presentation. The strategies he discusses are important for helping each student develop skills that will benefit them for the remainder of their lives. I hope you will try to make time in your schedule for this presentation.

- Interim grades were due last Friday and so all of your grades should be updated on e-Sembler. Please be sure to double check how you are currently doing in your classes. Remember, after this week you will have 2 weeks remaining in this quarter when we return after break followed by exams to close out the 1st semester. I hope you are making every effort to keep your grades where they need to be or, if they are not where you wanted them, that you are working with your teachers or the academic assistants to come up with a plan for how you will make changes to improve your academic standing. Remember, if you don't do something different, your results will remain the same.

- Tomorrow you will be on a short homeroom schedule where you will receive the exam schedule. Don't forget, as you receive your exam schedule and we approach winter break, that this is a great time to get a jump start on studying for your exams!

It's hard to believe we are almost half-way through the year!