Report Cards and Mid-Year Transcripts

I feel relatively confident that most students know how to access infinite campus to check your grades, but parents may not be looking at progress as consistently.  In part this may be because they are allowing you to take responsibility for your own learning and watching as you develop independence while still in high school and part of it is that your parents are busy and infinite campus can be “out of sight, out of mind."

Parents, with the first semester now over, I strongly encourage you to log in to Infinite Campus and see your son or daughter’s first semester grades.  We do not mail report cards home, so this is the only way to be able to access the report cards.

If parents do not know their username and password, please go to www.worthington.k12.oh.us and click on the login button in the top right corner.  The next screen will ask for the login information and it provides an option to enter your e-mail address if you do not know your username and password.  Please note that your email address must match the one the district has in your student’s profile.  Once you submit your e-mail address, computer services will soon e-mail you with your username and password.

The online report-cards allow parents and students to assess the progress on an ongoing basis.  As we begin the second semester this is a great opportunity for parents to ask themselves questions related to your kids grades.  Are your son/ daughter's grades what you had expected?  Are you pleased?  Does your son or daughter need more structure or support to help them develop new skills for studying or preparing for classes? If your student is struggling to be successful, one of my top suggestions is to talk to your student and to the teachers!  Teachers have a good perspective on where kids stand in their class.  They can help clarify on concepts that students are missing, areas for improvement, and they can provide concrete suggestions for how your son/ daughter can make changes to find success in their classes.

I will be reviewing all of your grades for the semester and completing credit checks for all of my students so that I can be sure you are staying on track.  It is still beneficial for you and your parents to keep track of your progress as well.

Additionally, for current seniors, now that you are half way through the year, many colleges will want to get mid-year reports of your transcript.  For all of the colleges on Common App, I will upload your updated transcript automatically this week.  If you applied through a different means other than the Common App website and your colleges want mid-year reports then you will need to log onto the WKHS Counselor website and fill out the transcript release form to request for your updated transcript being sent to your specific colleges.

Dealing with Deferrals

One of the realities of the college admission process is that not every student will be accepted to every college. The waiting game can often be one of the more frustrating aspects. With family members and friends consistently asking, "Where are you going to college?" the uncertainty present with each "I don't know" response can be overwhelming.

Sometimes even when you hear back from the college, the answer still leaves you wondering where you stand. That is the case with a deferral. A deferral is not a "yes" and it is not a "no." It is what a college will do when they need more time to make a decision on your application.

So, what should you do if you are deferred?
One of the first steps should be to stop in and see me so that we can talk about the college decision and develop a game-plan for your next steps.

If I were trying to simplify the process, then I would suggest that you call the admisisons office and talk directly with the admissions officer who is in charge of our region. Talk to him/ her about where you stand and what they would like for you to do to be a more "ideal" candidate.

Draft a letter with any updates and information that you can share with the admissions staff. In particular, let them know that of any new experiences that you have had or recent accomplishments that they weren't previously aware of when you first applied. Updating them on your new activities and accomplishments is important because it is your effort to help give the college a reason to select you and add your application to the "accepted" pile.

I will be sending them an updated copy of your transcript if you applied through Common App, but if you applied in a different format, then I'd suggest you requesting to have one of your updated transcripts sent.

If you re-took your ACT or SAT exams and haven't forwarded your most recent scores to the college, request for the scores to be sent directly to the college of your choice.

Consider other outreach efforts to communicate your strengths with the admissions office such as an additional teacher recommendation letter.  (But only do this if they will be sharing new information in their letter that wasn't already addressed in other parts of your application.)

Although no one likes to be deferred, remember that this is not the end of the world and there is still plenty of time to communicate your strengths to the admissions committee so that you will be accepted to their school.

Grade level reminders

Seniors: There are lots of deadlines you need to be paying attention to right now.  Have you turned in your senior picture to Mr. Cecutti?  Those are due this week.  Also, if you haven't ordered your cap and gown yet, you need to do that as well.  And last, but not least, don't forget to watch your financial aid deadlines. The priority deadlines are rapidly approaching - and some have even passed.  Be sure to complete and submit your FAFSA as soon as possible! And, although I assume this goes without saying, if you still haven't applied to college, you need to do this now.

Juniors: As you know, you will be taking the ACT (for free) on February 25th.  You should be preparing for the test now - and as a reminder, if you have signed up for Dr. Sampath's free prep crash course, that is during the day tomorrow.  Additionally, we will soon be doing your registration for next year and as a component of that, I will be meeting with you and your parents.  Please be sure to remind your parents to look for an email from me about these meetings.

Sophomores: You have been through a year and a half of high school.  Before long you will be taking your End of Course (EOC) exams for this year.  It is important to realize that you will, most likely, be taking 4 of the EOC exams this year which is double what you had to do last year.  I know that they take a lot of time and can create stress, but remember, what you are doing in class today and every day is preparing you for these tests.  Please be sure to maximize your learning in class each day.  I promise, you will be glad that you focused so that you will be able to earn the points you need on the tests this year without having to worry about repeating these tests again in future years.

Freshmen: By now you understand the way high school works and what to expect on a day to day basis.  It is time to start figuring out how you can make a positive impact on the school and community.  How can you get involved?  What clubs, activities, or sports are you interested in joining?  Take actions today to explore areas that will help you in the future.

Military Options

Are you interested in learning more about the military and the different careers and opportunities that they can provide for the future?  There are a couple of great opportunities coming up for our students to participate in - both which will be hosted at TWHS. 

A Military Information Night will be held this week on Wednesday, January 15th, at 6:30pm at TWHS and all students and parents are invited to meet with the military recruiters.  The recruiters from all of the different branches who work with our schools will be there to present information about their opportunities and then to meet with you 1:1 after the presentation.

Additionally, on the morning of January 25th, students are able to take the ASVAB - a career placement test through the military.  Please understand that taking this test does NOT commit you to joining the military or making the military as your career - it is simply to give you options that could be available to you for the future.  In fact, many students will elect to take the ASVAB to help get additional career insight without planning to go into the military.  If you are interested in taking the ASVAB, please stop to see me and I will get you signed up.  This is, again, a free opportunity.

And Then What?!?

When something goes wrong, what is your typical thought process?  Do you immediately jump to conclusions?  For some people, this happens so quickly and instinctively that it is challenging to even recognize it has happened.

Let me give you an example.  I was talking with one of my students who was convinced she had done poorly on a test.  She came in upset that she had failed her test and when we then started talking about it, she expressed that she was sure this would mean she was going to fail the quarter, and the semester of the class, not be able to graduate, not have a promising future, and be dead.

I recognize that as you read that, you will probably think, "oh she was just exaggerating," but I promise you, that is how many of us think and that jumping to conclusions happens for more often than people realize.

There are so many examples of this that happen in your own life.  Maybe it isn't regarding failing a test for you.  Perhaps it is from a recent break-up.  Instead of just thinking that it is a common experience we all go through in life, people will think, they didn't like me, no one will ever like me, I'm going to be alone forever.  Or maybe it's when you get rejected from college.  Rather than just thinking that this is a disappointment, people will jump from I can't go to that collete to I won't get accepted at any college, I'm going to have a miserable life.

But here is the thing, pausing and reflecting on, "And then what" thoughts can be powerful and empowering or it can completely spiral and the difference comes down to how intentional you are with asking the question.

For the student who was worried about failing a test that I mentioned earlier, she had a good grade in the class already which meant that she was not actually in jeopardy of failing for the quarter or the semester.  But it felt that way to her.  And that fear of not being able to have a promising future and life is clearly a trigger point in her life which is why she jumps to that worst case scenario so quickly.  If, instead of spiraling, she paused and was realistic in her analysis of the impact of one bad test grade, she would have realized that she might need to study harder on a future test, but even still, she was not going to fail the class for the quarter or the semester and so she needed to be kinder to herself.

If you break up with someone, it does NOT mean that you will be alone forever - it means you are humnan.  And (hopefully) you have learned something about what it means to be in a relationship and what you are looking for in a significant other, how you want to be treated and how you need to treat others.  If you get rejected from one college it does NOT mean there isn't another college out there for you nor does it even mean that you won't be successful at that college at some point in the future as a transfer student.

So, what am I hoping you will do?  Slow down.  Really stop to try to think through the thought spirals that you are going on.  Reality check the sequence of events that you are anticipating.  (Is that really the only possible route of options that will happen as a result of the circumstance you find yourself in at this point?)  And, please know that reality checking is sometimes easier to do if you talk it out with someone so if you ever want to reality check your thought cycles with me, I would be more than happy to do that for you!

The other point to keep in mind is that "And then what" can be a helpful thought process if you have a decision to make and need to decide what choice is the best option for you. 

I hope that will be a helpful thought process sequence for you now and in the future.

January Students of the Month

Congratulations to the 18 students who were honored yesterday morning as Students of the Month. Kilbourne students can only be selected to receive this recognition once in their high school career.

A special congratulations to "my" students who were honored including: Azwad Alam, Joe Dargenio, Jamison Davis, Chloe Emberton, and Noah Estevez-Curtis.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend due to a conflicting meeting at central office, but I'm proud of you all!

College Decision Terms

As more and more students begin hearing from colleges I thought it might be helpful to review some of the most common terms you will see in response letters from colleges. Below are some of frequently used terms/ phrases for admissions decisions. If you (or your son/ daughter) receives a letter and you are uncertain what they mean, please feel free to let me know or to contact the college directly.

- Accepted: Congratulations - they are inviting you to join and be a part of their college/ university!

- Declined/ Rejected/ Not Accepted: For whatever reason the college did not feel that you would be a good fit. While it is understandably disappointing, please remember that there are lots of colleges and universities out there, so don’t give up on finding a good match.  You will still be successful at a college and you will find one that is a good fit!

- Decision Deferred: The college is not sure yet… usually they will tell you what additional data/ information they are interested in receiving to help them make their decision. The most common piece of data they will look for are senior year grades at the semester time.

- Wait List: The wait list is not a denial, but it is not an acceptance either. Colleges use wait lists as insurance to make sure that their freshman class will be the appropriate size. If enough students decide to attend, the college will not accept anyone off of their wait-list.  This is limbo-land so if you end up on a wait list, we need to talk about how this will play out for you.

The other piece of information you will notice on all college acceptance letters is that they will say something to the effect of provisional or pending which is basically the college's way of telling you that they expect for you to finish out your high school career in the same manner and fashion that you had presented yourself in your application.  Same level of courses, same caliber of grades, same activities and involvements, same discipline record, etc.