Report Cards and Go CATS!

I wanted to make sure that you were aware that report cards for the 3rd grading period are available e-Sembler for students and parents to access and print. Remember, you have 9 weeks left plus exams. Most classes function on a 40/40/20 principle which means that 40% of your grade is now finished, but you still have 60% remaining. Every point matters - so do your best to finish the school year strong.

Switching topics completely... As you are probably aware, today are the NCAA Final Four basketball games. Some students know that I attended the University of Kentucky for my undergraduate degree. UK's in-state rival is the University of Louisville which is who UK will take on in today's game. Needless to say, I am definitely going to be watching the game and cheering for a UK victory. Go Cats!

Spring Break

We are officially on Spring Break! I hope that you have a wonderful and relaxing break.

Good luck to the Wind Ensemble students who will be performing at Carnegie Hall! That will be an incredible treat and is quite an honor.

Good luck also to all of the athletic teams who will be competing over the break.

My plan is to continue updating my blog a few times over break, but I hope you have a great break and I will look forward to seeing you on the 9th! Please be safe during spring break!

"Say Cheese!"

With spring break nearly here, I wanted to remind everyone that if you are going to be out on college campuses - for formal tours, to visit friends or simply on vacation - please Take A Picture! The picture can be of you anywhere on campus... a pretty area, a building where you might spend a lot of time in the future, or (as most of the pictures on my "Oh the Places You'll Go" wall show) in front of a college sign. Enjoy your visit, make a few notes about what you think of each school, and when we are back in school I will look forward to seeing your picture and hearing about your visits!

Admissions Decisions

This is a big week for college admissions decisions. Most of the schools that have yet to announce their decisions will be releasing them over the next few days. The stress and agony of waiting for the final release of college decisions can feel brutal. Many of my students are breathing a sigh of relief and others are more nervous than ever as each decision is released. Try to take a deep breath and relax – remember, you have worked hard to put yourself in the best situation possible with your applications. If you are stressing out awaiting the news, feel free to stop in and see me so we can talk about it.

I also wanted to give you a heads up that I will be out of the building tomorrow morning for a meeting at central office, but will be back in the afternoon.

Take a Moment

Tomorrow morning you have a late start (1st period starts at 9:10) which is a nice way to ease into the final 5 days before spring break. I hope that you will consider to use some of that time to take a moment and reflect personally and academically on where you are, where you want to be and what you need to do to achieve your goals. Tomorrow begins the 4th quarter. (Hard to believe how quickly the year is flying past!) We have already been fortunate enough to enjoy beautiful weather and some students have found it hard to focus on school when they simply want to go outside and enjoy the sunshine. I understand that, but if this is an issue for you it is important to remember that as we run full speed into spring the beautiful weather will only continue. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I don't want you to enjoy each day, but I do hope that you are keeping in mind how your actions today will influence you tomorrow and in the future.

Enjoy sleeping in tomorrow!

Upcoming Deadlines

This coming week there are a few key deadlines that I wanted to make sure all students and parents are aware of:

- Wednesday, March 28th is the deadline for students to register to take an Advanced Placement (AP) exam. The cost to take the AP test this year is $95. Please note that all registration materials (forms and payment) must be received at the Worthington Education Center by March 28th.

- Friday, March 30th is the deadline for students to submit their paperwork to indicate their intent to apply for and participate in the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program. You will turn these forms in to me.

If you have any questions about these upcoming deadlines, please stop by and see me.

Did you get accepted?

The approach to April 1st tends to bring increased anxiety for seniors who are still awaiting their college admissions decisions. Getting the decision can be hard enough, but often the more difficult aspect is being asked, “Did you get accepted?” by well-meaning friends. Trust me on this one, if they were accepted, the students would be telling everyone – you won’t need to ask. If they don’t offer up the news sharing if they were accepted or not, then be sensitive to the fact that more than likely they did not get accepted and don’t ask about it as it puts them on the spot to share disappointing news.

I also want to remind the seniors that we try to keep track of all of the college admissions decisions as that helps us understand current trends in admissions. I would really appreciate it if you'd stop by and update me as you receive your college admission decisions.