Delaware Area Career Center

I have talked about the opportunities available at the Delaware Area Career Center in past posts, but wanted to remind students that if you are interested in learning more about DACC (such as the new senior only, one-year, Pharmacy Tech program) to please visit their website - www.delawareareacc.org - and also take a field trip up to visit the programs in person.

It is important to remember though that the Delaware Area Career Center requires students to apply and the priority deadline is coming up this Friday, February 5th.  So, if you are interested in applying to DACC, please get your application completed and submitted online ASAP.

For current juniors who are already enrolled as students at DACC, as long as you are in good standing with your program then you are automatically eligible to continue in your program next year.  So, when you register you will select the 1/2 day or Full day option that you prefer and register only for the classes at WKHS that you plan on taking.

If you are a sophomore or junior who has applied to the career center then when you are completing the online course registration, you will fill out the request as if you are taking a full day at WKHS.  Later, when you find out that you have been accepted to the program of your choice, then I will go back in and adjust your classes to reflect your half day or full day DACC preference.

Summer School

As you are probably aware, Worthington has a summer school program every year.  Online registration for Worthington's summer school is not open yet, but I will blog more details about it once it is available.

Some students and parents have had questions related to taking summer classes through a different school district or through Online schools.  The basic answer is yes, you are allowed to take classes through any accredited school.  Please be sure that they are accredited before you sign up for their classes.  After you have completed your course, they will give you a transcript and you will need to provide that to us at WKHS so that we can transfer your credit.  

As these courses are not coordinated or run by Worthington, I don't have a lot of details about various options, but a Google search for "online summer school" has been successful for students in the past.  (Some students also search for their intended course name to help make sure their search return gives them schools that offer that class.)  You can select any accredited program that works best for you - so look at their costs, learning experiences, expectations, and determine what seems to be the best fit for what you are seeking.

My top tip is to make sure you are signing up for their summer school classes because I do know that in the past students found there was a significant difference in the cost if they were taking a class online during summer school vs. taking a class online during the school year.

Academic Options Night - CC+ & Credit Flex

In addition to the wide range of courses that we have available here at WKHS, there are other academic options available to our students.

The College Credit Plus (CC+) program is an opportunity for high school students to take college courses while still enrolled in high school. Students have the option of completing courses on a college campus, online, or at WKHS.  

College classes at WKHS include both classes that are taught by WKHS teachers who are eligible to serve as adjunct faculty at colleges and classes where CSCC instructors are coming to Kilbourne to teach our students.

Classes being taught at WKHS include: Pre-Calculus, Calculus 1, Calculus 2, Intro to Business, Intro to Programming Logic, English Composition 1, English Composition 2, Intro to Psychology, Intro to Sociology, Intro to American Government, Ethics, African American History, Classical Mythology, Physical Geology, and Art History 1.

There are a lot of details involved in participating in the CC+ program and students must complete and submit the paperwork before April 1st to indicate their intent to participate in the CC+ program in the following school year.  One new aspect about CC+ is the fact that students are now eligible to take classes during the summer in addition to during the school year.

In order to explain all of the details of the program and to provide you with the forms necessary, ALL students and parents interested in participating in this program must plan to attend the Academic Options night on Monday, February 8th at 7:00pm in the TWHS auditorium.  This will be a joint meeting for all of the students and parents in Worthington.  (So please be sure you go to the TWHS auditorium!)  Every college in a 30 mile radius was invited to participate in the meeting.  So far we have received confirmations that Columbus State Community College, the Ohio State University, Central Ohio Technical College, and Otterbein will attend to share the opportunities available through CC+ with their college.  Please see me if you are unable to attend this meeting as it is mandatory that you attend one and there are other options being provided at local colleges which you can attend if you can't make it to the Worthington meeting.

Credit Flexibility is another program we will highlight during the Academic Options night.  Credit flexibility allows students to earn credit based on a demonstration of subject area competency, instead of, or in combination with, completing hours of classroom instruction. Students are able to customize aspects of their learning around their interests and needs. It encourages student self-direction and motivates learners to develop new skills and fulfill their potential. Examples of credit flexibility opportunities include, but are not limited to, independent study, online learning, and demonstration of course proficiency.

If you have any interest in learning more about College Credit Plus and Credit Flexibility, please plan to join us on Monday February 8th!

IB Courses

One of the top factors colleges consider when evaluating applicants is the strength of the academic schedule students take on during high school.  (And, of course, that they do well in those classes.)  One of the options that students can consider for selecting a rigorous academic schedule that also has the benefit of providing students with a global perspective and integrated learning to make connections across courses, is the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.

There are 3 different pathways that students can take to earn an IB diploma at WKHS - business, standard and STEM.  All 3 of the options include IB core courses in English, Math, Biology, and Foreign Language.  What differentiates the pathways are the remaining courses that students can select in the IB program.  For the business pathway, students will take Business Management and Economics.  For the Standard pathway, students will study History and either Psychology or Economics.  And for the STEM pathway, students will take History/ Economics and Design Technology.  In addition to these courses, IB diploma program students will complete exams, an extended essay, and a community service project along with a Theory of Knowledge course.  

If students are not sure that they want to take on the full diploma program, you can still participate in IB courses!  You can take just a handful of classes (or even just 1) if that is what appeals to you.  For example, students interested in Psychology or History might elect to take just the IB Psychology course or just the IB History course.  However, many students may want to do the courses, but not the entire set of extra requirements for the diploma.  WKHS has another level of the IB program called, "cum Grege Leporum" which means, "with the Wolfpack" and is for students who want to take on the rigor and small learning community that IB provides without completing either the extended essay or the community service project.  

As an IB World School, our students have the opportunity to participate in a rigorous group of classes to push themselves to learn and grow.  Students that are in the IB program are among the first to talk about how much they have enjoyed the program.  If you have questions about IB I definitely encourage you to talk with students in IB or to Mr. Cooke who is the IB program coordinator.  And, of course, you can always talk to me too.

Junior Students & Parents

Juniors, are you excited? Finally, a post that is completely about you! :-) Each year as we begin the process for registering for next year's classes, I offer up the opportunity to meet for a 30 minute time block with every junior student and his/ her parents, if the parents are interested in joining us. I have set aside several days for these individual junior meetings - Thursday, February 4th (7:30am-9:00pm), Tuesday, February 9th (8:00am - 3:00pm), and Monday, February 22nd (7:30am - 7:00pm). They will be hectic days with back-to-back meetings, but I love the chance to meet with you and your parents to talk about the classes you have selected for your senior year and what your plans are for life after high school. I sent an e-mail out to your parents a week and a half ago, so talk it over with them and pick out a date and time that will work well with your schedule and e-mail me so that we can set up a meeting time.  If I haven't heard back from your family about setting up a meeting by Friday, I will assign you a time for us to meet.  Don't forget, please make sure you complete your online registration before our meeting!

Online Registration & Blended Classes

The online registration window is now open.  This means that you can log onto Infinite Campus and select the courses that you plan on taking next school year.  All students must submit their requests online.  The deadline to complete your online registration is Wednesday, February 10th.  

Juniors, remember that you need to complete your online registration prior to our individual meetings – which for many of you will begin February 4th!

One point that tends to confuse some students when registering is that the program refers to the total number of units that you are taking.  Units are equal to quarters.  So, if you are taking a semester long class, it is worth 2 units.  If you are taking a year long class, it is worth 4 units.  You will want to make sure that when you are finished selecting your classes, you have at least 20 (for to be seniors) or 24 (for everyone else) units selected.

Please be sure that you are using the course code to select your classes and double check to make sure that you have selected the classes that you actually intend to take next year.  One particular area to pay attention to is that we have some Blended courses being offered next year.  We have had Digital Art in a blended format previously, but next year students will also have the option of selecting blended courses for AP English Language and Contemporary Voices.  In the blended format, students will meet with the teacher for more traditional instruction, full class discussions, and other learning activities a few days a week and then the other days out of the week students will have the flexibility to take more personal responsibility for their learning by completing online assignments, engaging in digital conversations, and meeting individually or in small groups to push their learning forward.  This is an exciting opportunity for many students, but it will not be right for all kids so please know that the traditional format for these classes will also still be available if that is what you prefer.  Please note that the blended course sections have a different ending to the course code so if you do want to enroll in one of the blended courses next year, be sure to select the proper code/ course.

After you have selected your first choice classes, you will need to submit three alternative classes.  Please be sure that you select courses that you would be willing to take in case your first choice requests will not work.

The entire registration process will save automatically.

You need to make sure you get your teacher recommendations on the recommendation form (they will initial) and to have your parents sign the form.  You will turn these forms in when you meet with me on your designated days.  If you have already lost your form, please stop by the counseling center and ask one of the secretaries to give you a new copy.

If you have lost your directions for how to register for your classes:

Please visit the Worthington Schools website at www.worthington.k12.oh.us and then login to Infinite Campus using your ID and Password.  Click on “Course Registration 15-16 Worthington Kilbourne” from the selection bar on the left side.  You then click on “Course Search” and you can search by the course number.  Once you have identified the class that you want, you can click on the course to read a description of the class at the bottom.  Then, after reviewing the information to make sure this is the class you are interested in taking, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “request this course.”  The course will now appear under “requested courses on the left side of the screen.  Repeat this process for all additional courses you want to select.  If you make a mistake and decide to delete a course from your requests, select the course name under “requested courses” or “alternate courses” and a “drop this request” box will appear which you can then click and it will delete the course from your request list.  After you have completed selecting all of the courses you would like to take as well as your alternate courses, please review the requested courses list and click on “print request summary” to print a copy of your requests.  Have your parent sign that form as well and you will turn this sheet in along with your recommendation form.

Please let me know if you are having any problems.

Registration Step #1...

Based upon the overwhelming number of e-mails and voicemail messages from parents, not to mention all of you who are stopping down trying to see me, I know there is a lot of concern about registering for classes. The very first step I would like each of you to take is to PAUSE, take a deep breath and relax!  I know that it can seem stressful, but I promise we will get through this together!  This is a very hectic time of year for me dealing with far more than registration, but I want to reassure you that I am aware of the anxiety and I will be able to help you make it through the registration process.

Let me try to put your mind at ease on a few issues. Yes, you do need to register online in the next 2 weeks by Wednesday, February 10th. I will also be double checking all of your classes and meeting with every student individually. We will be able to make any changes that are determined to be necessary at the time of our meeting or throughout the month.

Some people are hoping to set up appointments in addition to the individual meetings. I promise that I am more than happy to meet with you and we will work to find a time that is convenient, but it doesn't need to be before you register online because I can still go into the system and make changes to class requests later. Please go ahead and register with your best guess on classes that you would like to take and then when we are able to meet if changes are needed I can make them at that time.

I hope that eases your mind a little bit to know that it is not completely locked in stone after you submit your requests online! I am here to help you, but I do beg for you to try to be patient with me as having more than 350 students makes it hard to get to everyone all at the same time.

Parent/ Teacher Conferences

Parent/ Teacher conferences are coming up soon.  Conferences will be held on Thursday, February 4^th from 5:00 - 9:00pm and on Monday, February 8^th from 3:30pm – 7:30pm.  Each conference will be scheduled in 20 minute time blocks.  Conferences allow parents the chance to learn about your student’s classroom performance from the teachers, it allows the opportunity for you to ask questions and they provide an opportunity to build a dialogue with the teachers regarding thoughts and concerns you might have.

Parents, if you are interested in arranging to meet with one of your son or daughter’s teachers during conferences, the online system is now up and running for you to register for a meeting time.  Conferences will be scheduled as people sign up for them, so if you want to make sure you have times that work well for you, I strongly encourage you to register right away.

Please follow the steps below to register for a parent/ teacher conference:

-  Go to http://ptcfast.com/schools/Worthington_Kilbourne_High_School.  This will take you to the conference scheduler.

-  Click on the teacher you would like to meet with for a conference.

-  Sign up by entering your child's last name, first name, your name and your e-mail address and then click Submit.

-  The next screen will direct you to check your e-mail inbox for a message with the subject "Select Date/ Team for Teacher Conference Now."

-  Open the e-mail and click on the link to select a conference time.  If you do not receive an e-mail, please check your junk/ spam folder.  Please note, you MUST follow the link in the e-mail in order to complete the sign-up process.

-  The link will take you to a Time Picker.  Available time slots will appear on this page.  If there are no available appointments that suit your schedule, please e-mail the teacher directly to set up an alternate meeting time.

-  After submitting your time slot, you will be prompted to finish, schedule another appointment for the same student or register another student.  Once you have completed your reservations, you will receive an e-mail confirming the date and time of your conferences and a link by which you can make changes to your date or time if you need to do so.

If you have any problems using the online conference registration system, please contact Julie Hammond at WKHS.  She can be reached by e-mail at jhammond@wscloud.org or by phone at 450-6498.

Also, another reminder that tomorrow evening, Monday, January 25th is Curriculum Night at WKHS.  Students and parents are invited to come and meet with the teachers to learn about all of the different course offerings available for next year to help guide your course request process.

Additionally, since speaking of Monday, February 8th conferences in this post I also want to make sure that you have that evening at 7pm saved on your calendar for the Academic Options Night which will be held at Thomas Worthington High School this year.  This is the mandatory meeting all students and parents must attend if you want to earn college credit next year and additional information about credit flexibility will also be shared.

New Classes

Each year the staff of WKHS are working not only to make sure that all students have the best possible experiences in your current classes, but also to anticipate the future needs and interests of students and to adjust or develop new classes that will interest our students.  As an outcome of this there are several new courses which may interest students.

American Multicultural Studies - this is a Social Studies elective course available to students in grades 10, 11 and 12.  A wide range of topics related to African American History, Native American History, and Hispanic History will be combined together to provide an engaging look at current events and how the past has helped shaped where we are today.

IB Psychology - this is another Social Studies elective course and is available to students in grades 11 and 12.  IB Psychology will allow students the opportunity to study basic psychology principles more in depth and explore how we think and behave in the ways that we do.

College Credit Plus - College Courses being taught at WKHS are also expanding with the addition of Ethics, African American History, Physical Geology, Classical Mythology and Art History.  Please remember, if you are interested in taking any college courses next year you MUST attend the meeting at TWHS on Monday, February 8th at 7pm.

How Many Classes Should I Take?

"How many classes should I take?" It is one of the most common questions students are asking and, in all honesty, the answer depends.

A general rule of thumb for students planning to attend college is that all freshman, sophomore, and junior students should plan to take at least 6 classes each semester. All seniors that are on track for meeting their graduation requirements can decrease the total number of courses each semester due to the demands of other requirements such as college and scholarship applications, but should still plan to take at least 5 classes each semester.

If students are behind on earning their credits, then it may be necessary to plan on taking more classes for a semester or the year.

In order to progress forward with your class, all freshman students must earn at least 5.0 credits to be classified as a sophomore. All sophomore students must earn at least 10.0 credits to be classified as a junior. And, to be classified as a senior, students must earn at least 15.0 credits. 

"But do I have to?" When we talk about the recommended courses, a lot of students will come back asking if they have to take 5 or 6 classes. The answer is no, technically you do not, but you will need your parents to sign off that they approve of you taking less than the recommended number of courses and please also remember that to be considered a full time student you must carry at least 5 classes per semester all year.

Graduation Requirements

As students have been trying to determine which classes they are taking in the future, many have questions about which classes are required to graduate.

The good news is that while there are different testing requirements for different grades, the Course Requirements are the same for ALL STUDENTS in grades 9 - 12.  

These course requirements include:
- 4 credits of English
- 4 credits of Math (including equivalent of Algebra 2 - for us that is CCSS Math 3)
- 3 credits of Science
- 3 credits of Social Studies (including US History and Government)
- 1/2 a credit of Health
- 1/2 a credit of Physical Education (if you utilize the PE Waiver for athletic/ band participation, you must replace this requirement with 1/2 a credit of any elective)
- 5 credits of Elective (electives can also include additional credits in the core subjects above - so, for example, if you take 4 credits of Science, the 4th credit would be an elective credit.)
- 1/2 a credit of Financial Literacy (can be met with Personal Financial Management, Economics & Financial Literacy, Financial Algebra, or the IB Social Studies classes)
- 2 semesters worth of Fine Arts successfully completed between grades 7 - 12

You can check your transcript in Infinite Campus if you have any questions about what classes you have already completed.

Registration Begins!

As you heard today during homeroom, it is already time for all students currently in grades 9, 10, or 11 to select the classes you would like to take next year.

Over the next few days your teachers should continue reviewing the different classes offered within their departments as well as talking with you individually about the courses they would recommend for you to take next year. Please be sure to carry your registration materials with you so that you can get your teacher signatures on the course selection sheet/ recommendation form and you can make any notes about other classes of interest. If you'd like to hear more in depth information directly from the teachers who teach particular courses, please set up a time to talk to the teacher. Let me know if you need help finding a teacher during one of their off-periods.  I also encourage you and your parents to come to Curriculum Night next Monday, January 25th to learn more.

After you have determined which courses you would like to take, please talk it over with your parents and then log in and register. (The online registration system will open Tuesday, January 26th after you have received all of your teacher recommendations.) You will register when you log into infinite campus with your username and password.  If you have any problems using the online registration system, please stop in and let me know so that I can try to fix it.  After you have completed your online registration, make sure you print your requested courses and have your parents sign it.

Don't forget to save your signed course recommendation forms! You *MUST* turn those in along with the requested courses page during your meeting with me.  Freshmen will meet with me during academic prep, learning center or lunch periods on February 11th, Sophomores will meet with me during academic prep, learning center or lunch periods on February 17th, and Juniors will meet with me during your individually scheduled appointments. 

Juniors, I sent an e-mail to your parents inviting them to attend our meeting.  If your parents aren't interested or able to attend, I will assign you a meeting time and you will receive an appointment slip. Please don't lose your appointment slips since they are your only reminder and your pass if you need to leave class. 

Don't forget that your classes need to be submitted online before our meeting! (Don't worry, we can still make changes if necessary.)

Also, just in case you lose any of your forms - we have extra copies posted along with the video from today's presentation, the powerpoints, and the Course Planning Handbook all available for students and parents to access on the Kilbourne Counselor website - www.wkhscounselors.com - and it is right there on the home page for your convenience.

Students of the Month

Last Friday morning was the ceremony to honor our January Students of the Month. Students are only eligible to receive this recognition once during their high school years. Students are nominated by the staff in recognition for outstanding dedication to school and community.

A special congratulations to "my" 7 students who were among those recognized as Students of the Month (L to R): Ro'a Ahmed, David Broderick, Danielle Ding, Veronica Dahn, Gracie Burford, Loryn Dave, and Camryn Eagle.  I am proud of all of you!

Also, a quick heads up that tomorrow is a different bell schedule as we will have a 24 minute homeroom.
1st period: 7:45 - 8:32
2nd period: 8:37 - 9:24
Homeroom: 9:29 - 9:53
3rd period: 9:58 - 10:45
4th period: 10:50 - 11:37
5th period: 11:42 - 12:29
6th period: 12:34 - 1:21
7th period: 1:26 - 2:13
8th period: 2:18 - 3:05

Enjoy the Long Weekend

Sorry that I haven't been able to get back into the swing of things with posting regularly - trying to fight being sick has worn me down and so I haven't been good at posting each evening.  Please know that I appreciate your patience.  Hopefully a few more days over the long weekend to rest and recover will allow me to get healthy and then I'll be back to posting like normal again.

I hope that you enjoy the long weekend.  If you don't have any plans, please be aware that many local colleges have special Martin Luther King Jr. Day events happening to allow students and parents the chance to explore their colleges.  So if you are looking for things to do, check college websites and see if you can participate in any of the campus visit opportunities and please be sure to take on campus for me.

DACC Open House

The Delaware Area Career Center (DACC) offers a wide range of programs to help students get a jump start on their college and career plans.  If you have never been to the career center you and your parents are encouraged to go to the Open House one week from today - Thursday, January 21, 2016 from 5 to 7pm.  During the open house you will have the opportunity to visit the hands-on labs and meet with the instructors and some of the current students.  The DACC is a great option for earning elective credits and there are a wide range of impressive programs available for students!

For more information about the Delaware Area Career Center visit their website at www.DelawareAreaCC.org.

FSAID Numbers

When students and parents are completing the FAFSA, you will each need to have an FSAID number.  This number will allow you to electronically sign your FAFSA and in the future it would let you sign promissory notes as well as complete future FAFSA's.

The student and parent will each create their own separate numbers.  You cannot use the same e-mail addresses for the creation of the numbers so if you don't have an e-mail address and have been using your parents e-mail in the past then this is the ideal time to create your own e-mail account.

You will make your own challenge questions to help you access your number if you forget it in the future so it is important to write down those challenge questions and answers to make sure you will remember it down the road.  I recommend that students and parents make a folder related to FAFSA where you store all of this information so that you will always have it when you might need it.

If you forget to create an FSAID number prior to completing your FAFSA, it will still have a link for you to be able to go back and create one, but ideally you should create it ahead of time.

Here is a link to create your FSAID numbers:  https://fsaid.ed.gov/npas/index.htm

(And, if you have older siblings or your parents are familiar with the old PIN numbers, the FSAID numbers have replaced it.)

PSAT Scores

If you took the PSAT in October, your scores are now available.  You should have received an e-mail from CollegeBoard notifying you that your scores are accessible online.  For the first time the PSAT scores are all online instead of receiving paper score reports.  Even if you didn't receive an e-mail from CollegeBoard you can still access your scores.

Go to the CollegeBoard website and select PSAT.  (Or follow this link to access it directly.)
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt-psat-10?navid=gh-pn

Once you are on the website in the middle of the page it will have an area for getting your scores.  If you already have an account, you can sign in using your username and password.  For many of you, you may not have an account yet so you will need to create one.  Next to the "Sign In" button there is a "Sign Up" spot - select that and then create your account.

After doing that you will be able to access your scores.

Now that you have your scores, you may be wondering what they mean.  This link can help give you information to better understand your scores.
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt-psat-10/scores/understanding-scores
There is also a video available on the PSAT page: https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt-psat-10?navid=gh-pn

One of the best parts about the PSAT is that CollegeBoard has partnered with Khan Academy to use your scores to make a personalized practice plan.  This is a fantastic option and I strongly encourage you to use it.  If you have questions about this FREE option you can visit the Khan Academy website at: https://www.khanacademy.org/sat

I had a few parents mention that it took them multiple attempts of accessing the website to be able to see the scores - for example some said that it said no scores were available, but after refreshing a few times the scores eventually showed up.  CollegeBoard was having some technical issues due to the high demand of people trying to view their scores.  I believe this is now worked out, but if you are having problems seeing your scores, please be patient and try again.

I hope your scores were what you were expecting (or perhaps even better).  If you have any questions don't hesitate to stop by and see me.

Anxious About Future

Now that we have had a few days back at school I have realized how many of the seniors are struggling with mixed emotions about the future. Sure, many of you are excited to graduate and be done with high school, but that also means the future, starting college, getting jobs, and being "adults" is just around the corner. I know that this is a time of high anxiety and remember, I am here to help support you. Please, do NOT sabotage yourself and your grades in your classes as a *solution* to not feeling ready to leave high school. Stop in and see me - let me know how you are feeling about high school coming to an end in just a few short months. I look forward to chatting with you soon!

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

As you know, this is a blog for my students and parents… and if your “bucket list” includes attending the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade then read on, but if not, you can stop now because this particular post is all about my family’s trip to NYC.  I am writing this post because when my family decided that we were going to go to NYC for the parade we started desperately searching for tips and information from people who had gone to the parade in the past.  We knew that this would be a once in a lifetime trip and we wanted to make the most out of it and hoped to be able to learn from other people’s experiences.  So, in an effort to pay it forward, below is information about our trip, what we did and why.  If this is on your bucket list – Go!  It is totally worth it!

Some background information – we were traveling with 5 adults and 3 kids.  The kids were 3, 9 and 12 years old so we had to keep them in mind with our activities and planning.  We arrived in NYC the Monday before Thanksgiving and left on Saturday.  Our initial plan was Tuesday to Sunday, but the flights were much cheaper for Monday to Saturday and we actually all felt it ended up being the ideal situation because it allowed us the chance to do some things on Monday evening and Tuesday before it started to get even more crowded.  And getting home earlier was good too because we were all exhausted after packing everything possible into the trip.  We were also really worried about the weather and I don’t know how we ended up being so lucky but we had unbelievably awesome weather.  It was cool some days, but layering up a bit made it perfect.  I hope you will be as fortunate.

Hotel: We stayed at the Hampton Inn Times Square North and it was great.  Located close to Times Square (but also far enough away that it wasn’t noisy), we picked this particular hotel because unlike most hotels in NYC, they have queen size beds (and not double beds).  Additionally, they provide complimentary continental breakfasts which we thought was ideal for minimizing costs spent on eating out.  The hotel did a lot of little extras that we loved – for example, they had complimentary waters, cookies, apples, coffee, hot chocolate, and tea.  The best was that on Thanksgiving day as we returned from the parade the staff greeted us with slices of pumpkin pie!  Such a sweet touch!

Parade:  In case this is all you want to know about – I’ll skip straight to the parade.  We had read a lot about how crowded it gets and how as the parade starts the people in the back tend to push forward meaning that everyone needs to stand.  We were not opposed to standing for the parade, but wanted to make sure that the kids could see and so we knew that meant we needed to be at the front.  We also read that there was no way anyone could ever maneuver a stroller with the Thanksgiving Day crowds, but we worried that the 3 year old would need to be sitting in the stroller to keep track of him.  Our decision was to take the stroller and then we just planned to carry it back to the hotel after the parade.  (For the record, it actually didn’t end up being a problem pushing it back to the hotel – we just took our time with the crowds.)  My sister and I walked about half of the parade route scouting out what we wanted to have as our “ideal” location.  We came up with 5 or 6 different options that all seemed great.  We knew that we needed to be on the side of the street that our hotel was near because after a certain time the police barricade the roads and don’t allow people to cross.  Our plan was to have the girls go early and save the spots and the boys come later so we needed to make sure that our whole group could meet up even if barricades were in place.  We also wanted to pick a spot that was close to a restaurant or port-a-potty so that if we got desperate and needed to use a restroom we could have it as an option.  (For the record – we limited our liquid intake so that we wouldn’t have to use a restroom and that is definitely our highest recommendation!  My sister needed to use the restroom part way through the parade, but obviously wasn’t going to leave.  So definitely limit your liquids!)  We decided that we wanted to find a spot that ideally had some type of barrier behind us so that we wouldn’t get squished at the front.  We had read that there are a few bus stations with benches and enclosures and thought those might be great options (especially if the weather had been bad – snowing or raining), but they were on the opposite side of the street so they weren’t an option for us.  We found that there were quite a few options – subway entrances/ exits, fencing, and scaffolding that you could sit in front of and not need to worry about people pushing forward.  We ended up at our first choice place which was along Central Park South and had scaffolding behind us and a tree to the left side giving us “protection” from 2 of the 3 sides.  We ended up sitting through the entire parade which meant that the people standing directly behind us had no problems seeing either – a win/ win.  I can’t say that it was a necessity to have the scaffolding behind us because I didn’t notice if people beyond the scaffolding were pushed forward or not, but I would recommend it if you have it as an option.  The key question you are probably wondering is – how early do you have to arrive… and we didn’t have any idea.  My sister and I decided that we would head out at 4am and get set up.  My mom and niece joined us a few hours later and the boys followed around 7am.  We were all together at the parade location around 7:15 or 7:30.  Yes, we really did head out at 4am.  We were not the only ones out and about that early, but there were definitely not a lot of people out that early either.  I wish I had paid more attention to what time people started taking the other locations that we thought had been good options, but sadly I didn’t.  I suspect that had we left at 4:30 or maybe even 4:45am we could have found a spot in one of our choices, but maybe not our top choice spot.  There are things that we didn’t know would be issues – for example, at Columbus Circle the parade evidently has a performance area and so they have reserved sections from a bus-stop sign back towards the circle… and that wasn’t marked as early as we were out there and we saw them making some people move.  They also had the Central Park side of the street completely barricaded off.  Near the start of the parade family members of the New York City Police Department were escorted into that area.  It was great that they were able to have a perk since their family members were working to help keep the rest of us safe, but it was definitely pretty empty on that side of the road since not that many of their family members attended.  As someone coming to town, just know that along Central Park South, you won’t be able to stand on the Central Park side of the road.  That is all of the logistics I can think of related to the parade.  And, if you are seriously contemplating attending the parade I suspect you will find this out on your own, but the parade far exceeded our expectations.  There was a lot that you don’t see when you watch the parade on TV – elaborate “clowns” that are between the floats and bands.  And, unlike what you see on TV, you don’t get to see all of the Broadway performers.  (It made sense, but we hadn’t really thought about it much that they wouldn’t be on floats along the way.)

Broadway Shows:  One of our family’s non-negotiable things that we knew we wanted to do was attend the Rockette’s Christmas Spectacular Show.  When we left for NYC that was the only show we had planned, but once we were there and walking around seeing all of the theaters we decided we wanted to try to go to another show.  We ended up also going to see Finding Neverland (which starred Matthew Morrison from Glee).  It was the only kid-friendly show playing on Thanksgiving evening which was the only time we could squeeze in another show and I have to say – it far exceeded our expectations!  We loved both of the shows!!!

Holiday Specific:  There are a lot of holiday specific activities to do while in NYC and we tried to do several of them.  On Wednesday evening before the parade, you can go to the Museum of Natural History and walk around to see the balloons being blown up.  Only part of our group went because my sister and the oldest and youngest kids needed a break, but it was fun to get a sneak-peak of the balloons up close.  The police and organizers have it down to a science – you walk up the street in mass and gradually get into narrowing barriers and the line moves along and you get to walk past all of the balloons.  We arrived a bit later in the evening so the balloons were all completely blown up so we could see all of them.  There were definitely a lot of people there, but it didn’t seem bad as you were walking past the actual balloons.  For what it is worth, I heard from one of the people sitting next to us at the parade that she had also gone to see the balloons being blown up the previous night, but that on Instagram she had seen lots of people posting pictures of being able to watch the Broadway groups practice their routines in front of Macy’s at Herald Square.  I don’t have details on that, but that would have been a fun thing to see so perhaps explore to see if that is an option that anyone can attend.  The windows of the major department stores are all decked out for the holidays and that was fun to see.  The windows at Sak’s were more impressive at night (in my opinion) and our favorite was Bloomingdale’s and their “senses” theme for this year – such fun.  Santaland – The Macy’s Santa who flies in at the end of the parade is the “real” Santa and so going to Santaland was on our definite list of things to do.  The challenge was trying to figure out when we were going to squeeze this in since Santa doesn’t arrive until Thursday and so that only left Friday or Saturday as visit options.  With Friday being Black Friday we didn’t think that would be the best choice so we opted for Saturday.  We had read that arriving first thing in the morning when they open is the best bet for not having long lines so we got there at 8am and it worked great.  I will also say that we had signed up for the free express-pass (we had read about this and struggled to figure out how to get the express pass – I ended up finding info about it and a link on their blog) and when we got there we asked about the line – it was less than 5 minutes difference between the full Santaland experience and using the express pass so we elected to see all of Santaland  (if you use the express pass you don’t get to see all of Santaland).We have quite a group of train lovers in our family and so the New York Botanical Gardens Holiday Train Show out in the Bronx seemed like a great option.  It is a bit of a train ride to get there and it sounds like it was nice (I didn’t go – just the boys went), but I also heard that it was very crowded – they went on Friday – and so it was hard to see the trains much of the time.  It sounded like it might have been a better experience if it wasn’t as crowded. On the last day prior to leaving we went to the Children’s Central Park Marionette Holiday Show and the 3 year old loved it… I just thought it was OK, but by then I was exhausted and we had already seen 2 Broadway productions so Marionette’s simply couldn’t compare in my mind. 

Eating:  We love eating and so we searched high and low and listed out every restaurant that people were mentioning trying to identify which ones we would go to while in town.  And I think at one point our list was over 15 pages long single spaced!  (Seriously!)  You aren’t going to go wrong when finding a place to eat… the challenge is that you have to choose and eliminate others which also sound amazing.  We suggest seeing which tables accept reservations through Open Table and making reservations for at least Wednesday night, Thursday (Thanksgiving) and Friday very early!  (When we started trying to make our Friday reservations we had a hard time finding one that worked with our schedules.)

The favorite restaurant of everyone was definitely Ellen’s Stardust Diner because of the food and the atmosphere.  They don’t take reservations so we went there on Monday night when we first got to town.  We were worried that it would still be a really long wait (we were a party of 8) and the line was down the street a bit, but they got us in really fast so it didn’t end up being a problem at all.  The waiters and waitresses all sing and perform while moving throughout the restaurant doing their jobs of serving and taking orders – it was impressive and they talked about the fact that many of them end up on Broadway. 

Other restaurants that we went to included:

•           Max Brenner’s (hello chocolate!)
•           Carmine’s (family style Italian)
•           Parm
•           Pizza by slice take-out
•           Street vendor hot-dog cart
•           Serendipity (the girls went there while they boys were on their train trip and the desserts were awesome, but know that they have a policy that everyone has to order something so while we had planned to share two desserts between the 4 of us we had to order 4 things so we ended up doing nachos and 3 desserts.)
•           Virgil’s (BBQ – in the whole scheme of things this was probably the least favorite, but more because the others were so impressive.) 

For Thanksgiving Day most restaurants have a special Thanksgiving Day meal that will be featured on their website/ Open Table.  As we searched, what we found was that a lot of the menu options weren’t going to be great for our group of turkey traditionalists, picky eaters and kids who wouldn’t eat much anyway.  (Some restaurants don’t have kids menu options or reduced prices for kids, gourmet/ unique foods and overall very expensive options.)  As we searched we ended up deciding that we would go to Buca di Beppo for Thanksgiving even though it was a chain restaurant.  They had a traditional turkey meal – Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Green Beans, and Pumpkin Pie at a reasonable price so it worked for our family.  The Thanksgiving meal at Buca di Beppo exceeded our expectations – we did also get some Italian along with it – and we also took advantage of the fact that you can buy gift cards for Buca di Beppo at Sam’s Club (spend $80 to get $100 in gift cards) so that made it even more cost effective.

And while this isn’t a restaurant – one of our top suggestions is to go to Levain’s Bakery!  We all LOVED their cookies.  The line at the bakery was down the road, but totally worth it.  (I’d go back to NYC in a heartbeat just for some Levain’s cookies!!!) 

Don’t Miss:  We packed as much into our trip as we possibly could so if you are trying to decide what else to do, here are a few suggestions that I’d say you won’t want to miss.  One of our other non-negotiable items was visiting the 9/11 memorial and museum.  We decided to do this on Tuesday morning so that there wouldn’t be as many people there.  We took the tour so that the older kids would have a better understanding of what had happened on the day.  We were there for quite a few hours and the kids got antsy faster than the adults did.  It was emotional and moving.  I was definitely thankful that we took the time to do that.  Explore Times Square – we went to Toys R Us and Disney store multiple times, plus the Hershey’s and M & M’s stores.  We hear that the Toys R Us store will be closing and that is definitely disappointing because for the kids that was a fun part of the trip and there were so many different areas plus the ferris wheel.  Visit Rockefeller Center area and go to the Top of the Rock – we had read that Top of the Rock views were some of the best.  When going to Top of the Rock be sure to order your tickets in advance because the first time we got there we hadn’t done that since we weren’t sure what time we’d arrive and they were booked for several hours so we went back a different day.  We tried to time it so that we were there as the sun was setting so that we could see it in daylight and in the dark which was a definite plus.  There was a full moon that was huge while we were there and that was cool to see.  The Rockefeller Center tree isn’t lit yet at Thanksgiving, but it was there and neat to see.  The Lego store is right there at Rockefeller Center too.  And the last suggestion I have that you definitely shouldn’t miss is taking a carriage ride in central park.  We had this on our list of things we wanted to do, but almost didn’t do it and it ended up being a favorite for the whole family.  (Should I mention Levain’s bakery to you all again as a don't miss… really, go there… Yum!)

What else did we do:  I don’t know how to leave these out of the “don’t miss category” because our trip wouldn’t have been the same without doing them, but here are other things we did and loved… We went to Dylan’s Candy Bar and that was a fun place to explore – think Willy Wonka and Chocolate Factory type everything candy store.  St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Grand Central Station, Tiffany’s, Bakeries, and riding the Staten Island Ferry were all stops we made along the way.  If you have any history buffs in your group, my nephew and brother-in-law went to the USS Intrepid and spent quite a chunk of time there and LOVED it.  This was a late addition to the itinerary and it ended up being one of their favorite parts of the trip.   

Transportation:  We were worried about getting around in New York City with three kids.  We knew that there would be a lot of walking, but again, with the kids we didn’t know how feasible that would actually be.  We took the stroller when we knew we would be walking a lot and sometimes that was the perfect solution and sometimes it was an added headache because the 3 year old didn’t always want to ride in his stroller.  Unfortunately that meant that his dad ended up carrying him on his shoulders for a lot of our walking around the city.  Walking is a great way to see the city and take in the holiday atmosphere.  One lesson we learned - take the subway!  We weren’t sure how that would work with the kids, but it really is the best way to move around NYC.  For getting between the hotel and airport both ways we used Dial 7 cars.  We were worried about not having a car-seat for the 3 year old, but evidently it isn’t required and we just hoped for the best.  The way it worked out we were going to the airport at two separate times so when 6 of the 8 of us were going to the airport at the same time we got 2 cars and split up 3/3.  The other 2 people traveled in an additional car at their appointed time meaning that we used 3 cars for the 8 of us each way.  Dial 7 cars ran an online special which made it even more cost effective.  We thought we might take taxis or use uber, but didn’t end up needing to do that at all.  We also took a bus tour…

Caution:  Grayline Bus Tour… oh goodness… this was the only negative from our whole trip and it is a comical story now.  We had decided that we wanted to be able to take a hop-on/ hop-off bus tour to see some of the tourist parts of NYC that we wanted to be able to at least drive past.  For example this included the United Nations Building (for the record, the flags only fly when they are there working so when we drove past after 5pm you just saw the building and a bunch of empty flag poles so that was a bit disappointing from what I had pictured), New York University, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, Wall Street, the Bull, Flatiron Building, and all of the different parts of NYC (Chinatown, Little Italy, SoHo, Tribeca, etc.)  We did get to do all of these things through the bus tour so in that regard it was worth it, but be forewarned that the extra holiday traffic on top of the already crazy NYC traffic meant that it went VERY slow – and we went early in the trip (Tuesday/ Wednesday morning) – we saw buses just SITTING not moving at all later in the week.  The biggest problem we experienced with Grayline came from the fact that we ordered our tickets online and then went to where they told us to go to get the actual tickets to be able to get on the bus and that was where our nightmare began.  We talked to customer service more times than I can count and they kept sending us on a wild goose chase.  It was terrible!  Poor customer service and very frustrating to not be able to find the people at the location they were instructing us to meet.  There were a bunch of other bus tours all in the same areas and had we not ordered our tickets online we could have done one of the other tours instead.  We also saw lots of Grayline Bus Tour salespeople in other days and at other locations – just not where they were telling us to go on that day so we lost several hours trying to find them.  The tour guides on the bus tours also weren’t that impressive so if you are going to do one of the tours for the chance to see lots of the sites that you can’t seen when travelling by subway and can’t walk to, go for it, but if that isn’t important to you this would be the one thing I’d cut off the to-do list… and at the very least – don’t order tickets online – find a person and buy tickets directly from them – it will ultimately save you time.

If Only:  We had really hoped that 4 of us could go to see Jimmy Fallon.  We follow The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Twitter and so we knew when the tickets for the month of November would become available.  We tried desperately to get tickets for a taping.  The way it works is that you get put on a wait-list and then later will hear if you actually get tickets.  We were thrilled to be on two wait-lists.  (There happened to be 2 tapings on Tuesday and that was the day we felt it worked best in our schedule.)  Unfortunately, we were not selected to get tickets for either show.  It was a definite disappointment, but we still had a great time with the things we were able to do on our list. 

It’s been almost 6 weeks since our trip to New York City and the memories are still fresh in my mind.  This was the best trip I have ever taken and I loved all of the memories my family made together – it really was the trip of a lifetime!  I hope that you and your family enjoy the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and all that New York City has to offer as the greatest kick-off to the holidays.