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. 

Junior ACT Crash Course Option

WKHS is committed to helping all students to be successful in preparing for the ACT.  As a result, the administration has arranted a partnership opportunity with one of the parents, Dr. Sampath, of PrepAccelerator, to provide a free fast-paced crash course for interested juniors.  Below are details about the course opportunity.  All juniors were sent an email (to your school account) with information about the course, so if you are interested, please be sure to sign up using the link in your email!

For: High school juniors

When: January 15th 

What: ACT Crash course.  Students have utilized this course to improve their ACT performance. Juniors who are gearing up for the ACT in February 25th can benefit from this crash course.

Length: 5 hours (During the school day.  You will be excused from your classes, but are responsible for making up missed work.)

Content: For each of the ACT sections, we will rapidly work out and discuss retired ACT questions in a timed setting.

Bring: A calculator, pens/pencils, and a notebook. There will be no tables in the auditorium, so please also bring a sturdy clipboard. There will be a scheduled lunch break.

Complexity/Pace: This is a fast-paced, rigorous, and intensive group crash course. Dr. Sampath will analyze a variety of ACT questions from simple to complex.

Cost: FREE

Schedule Change

Don't forget, tomorrow is the last day to add classes to your schedule.  I realize that this seems fast, but you have to remember, every day that you are not sitting in class, the rest of the students are moving forward and you are falling behind.  As a result, the policy states that students have three days to change their schedule if it involves adding into a new class.  (Not to mention that you have known this was going to be your schedule since August.)  If you are still hoping to add into a class, please be sure to bring your parent signature on the add/ drop form with you.  (Again, you can download a copy of the form from the WKHS counselor website - www.wkhscounselors.com and it is located in the academic category under academic planning in the schedule changes area.)

Alumni Day Tomorrow

I love my students!  Current students, past students - it doesn't matter to me.  Once you allow me into your life, you remain a part of my heart forever.  Over break I was lucky enough to visit with former students and it is always something that I look forward to each year.  Tomorrow, you get that opportunity!  It is possible that during break you may have had older siblings, neighbors or friends home from college that you were able to connect with as well, but you may not have had the opportunity to ask them lots of questions about college life, but tomorrow will give every student at WKHS that chance.

We will be on a 3A/ 3B bell schedule so that you can hear from a panel of former WKHS students to share insights and information about their experience in life after high school.  Hopefully you will get to learn about how their Kilbourne experiences helped to prepare them for their colleges, how they are working to balance academic and social aspects of college life, if what they looked for in their own college search gave them a good perspective on what college would really be like (or what they would have done differently through that process), and any useful tidbits of hints/ suggestions that they can share with you now to help you successfully navigate your own high school and college journey.

Below is the bell schedule for the presentations:
1st: 7:45 - 8:29
2nd: 8:34 - 9:18
3rd: 9:23 - 10:58 (Remember, this will be split by class and you will spend either the first or second half of the time in your regular class and the other half of the time will be in the appropriate assembly)
4th: 11:03 - 11:47
5th: 11:52 - 12:36
6th: 12:41 - 1:25
7th: 1:30 - 2:15
8th: 2:20 - 3:05

It's a School Night

Lexi is VERY excited about being back at school tomorrow!  VERY EXCITED!!!  I am equally looking forward to seeing all of you and hearing about your breaks, but I am definitely not excited about the early morning start time.  

A few quick reminders for you...

1. Tomorrow begins the 2nd semester.  Please log in and double check infinite campus to see where and when any of your new semester long classes will meet.

2.  If you are taking a CSCC CC+ class, don't forget that you have an extra week free those periods before your classes begin.

3.  If you are trying to make a schedule change, you will need to complete a schedule change request form.  This form does require a parent signature.  And, if you are dropping a year-long class it also requires your teacher's signature.  (You can download the form off the Counselor website or pick it up from the bookshelf in the front of the counseling center.)

4.  If you failed a class in the 1st semester I need to see you ASAP!  We need to discuss the plan for how you will make up that credit.

5.  Last, but more importantly, the new semester is a complete and total fresh start!  No matter how well or how poorly you did in a class during the first semester doesn't matter for this semester as you have a clean slate and you get to start fresh.  But that also means you need to hit the ground running.  You already know how your year-long classes work and so you know what to expect.  If you need to make changes, spend a few minutes thinking about what you realistically can do to get a stronger start to the semester.

Your new year on the calendar and the new semester align so that you can make the most of your education.  You have so many gifts to share with our school and community, but hopefully you will also take just as much away with you as a result of your time at WKHS.  Please make the most of every day and think about what you want that to be like for you as you look ahead at the upcoming semester.

Thank You Notes

I have to confess something to you.  I hate thank you notes.  I have been sitting here looking at my to do list and writing thank you notes continues to be something I am procrastinating on day after day after day.  And that is a problem.  Because the concept behind a thank you note is something that I love.  Letting someone else know that you appreciate them and/or a kindness that they do for you, that idea really and truly is something that I love... so what's the problem?  For me, it often comes down to the feeling that my words are inadequate to express how much someone's kindness has meant to me.  However, I know that if I don't express my gratitude to the person who has been a positive influence in my life or who has done something nice for me or gone out of their way to help me, then how do they know how much I appreciate it? So, I will make sure that I get these thank you notes finished before we return to school on Monday.

And my guess is that many of you face the same problem. So I want to remind you of the importance of thank you notes. They do not have to be long or flowery - simply thank the person who has helped you. This is especially important for your teachers who have written recommendation letters for you. Many people do not realize the time and effort it takes to write a good recommendation letter. If you didn't formally thank your teachers at the time they wrote your recommendation letters, perhaps now - as you wrap up your college application process - is the perfect time. Thank them for their help and support in your education and with your applications. It won't take you a long time, but it will certainly mean a lot to them.

Before I close this post, I want to be very clear - I am NOT talking about writing to me! I do NOT need nor am I in any way hinting, asking for, or needing you to write a thank you note to me. I just figured we could all use a reminder in the importance of writing thank you notes and expressing our gratitude for those around us.  Plus, maybe now I will be motivated enough to get my own thank you notes written.  Have a great final weekend of break!