Mrs.

Guevaras College Corner May 2013

This summer the new Executive Student Council will be planning the fall retreats at Mt. Gilead (high school) and Heartstone (middle school). Both retreats will be August 21-23. Counselors are needed so please let us know if you can help as soon as possible. This would be a fun way to achieve your volunteer hours for the next school year. If you are interested in counseling for high school, contact Nikki Bannister. If you are interested in counseling for middle school, Cindy Roe in the RVCS office will be your contact person. Awards Assemblies: The middle school and high school award assemblies will be Thursday, May 30th during their regularly scheduled chapel times, 8:30 a.m. for middle school and 10:20 a.m. for high school. All parents are encouraged to attend. College Entrance Exams: Students can register online for the SATs at www.collegeboard.org. If students wish to take the October SAT test, registration is due by mid-September. The September ACT test has a mid-August registration deadline. Registration for Selective Service: All males must register with the Selective Services when they turn 18. If your son is 18 and has not registered, he can now register on line at www.sss.gov. Young men cannot get financial aid from the government if they have not registered for selective service. Fs in required classes or loss of credits in high school courses must be repeated in order to graduate. If your high school student received an F for a semester grade in a required subject, that class must be repeated and passed in order to receive the credits needed to graduate. Fs in classes not required do not have to be made up unless a student wishes it to count toward the elective credits to graduate. (260 total minimum credits needed) Please refer to page 21 of the Parent-Student Users Guide which shows the minimum classes required in order to graduate. Please make note of how many years of math, science, English, etc., are needed. Please arrange to make up what you need. The student will not graduate if required classes are lacking. It is the students responsibility to make sure he/she makes up needed classes, not the administration's. These should be made up by January of your senior year. No Later! Good news for high school students taking summer school classes: SRJC is exempting concurrent enrollment students from enrollment fees beginning this summer, and for any semester following if you are registering as a high school student. So, register on May 2nd and take advantage of this opportunity. Summer school classes at the JC: high school students (and graduates) can register for summer classes during priority enrollment beginning 6:00 a.m. Thursday, May 2nd for students who have on file a concurrent enrollment form. Open enrollment is May 6th. Classes begin the week of June 17th. High school students (not graduates) must register and have a concurrent enrollment form filled out and signed by Mrs. Guevara before registering. If your classes require the English and/or math Placement test, please take the test at least a week before registration. Graduates must take the COUN 270 course in order to get priority registration for fall classes. Mrs. Guevara gave them a hard copy of the COUNs 270 schedule. Summer School Update: There is no summer school offered for middle school so you may wish to check out Huntington Learning Center, One to One Learning Center, or Sylvan Learning Centers. Sonoma State may also offer summer programs. Eighth grade Promotion is Wednesday, June 5th at 4:00 p.m. All eighth graders will need to meet in the sanctuary at 12:00 to run through the program. High School graduation is at Santa Rosa Bible Church on Friday, June 7th at 6:00 p.m. Rehearsal will be at 11:00 a.m. Girls need to bring the shoes they will be wearing as we will line them up by height. Students who took the PSAT test have until June to register at collegeboard.com for the free QuickStart program or they will lose this opportunity. My Road and Quickstart and the new program called Big Future are dynamic collegeboard programs devoted to college, majors, and career planning. Also, those who want more preparation can get it for free at www.collegeboard.com. The better your score the better chance youll have for scholarship money. The Princeton Reviewalso has an excellent website www.review.com with lots of information on preparing for college. Enrolling in JC classes can also boost your chances of college admission. This helps colleges see that you can handle college level material. Also, you can supplement a class at RVCS with AP material and take the AP test. You must pass the test at a certain level in order to get credit for taking an AP class. AP information is available online at www.collegeboard/AP. You may wish to order the supplemental material listed on the web site for that subject. Follow the instructions for finding a testing site. Notify them in March that you will be taking a test. Call (888) 225-5427 for test site registration. The cost for taking the AP exam is approximately $85.00 A rep from the JC met with Mrs. Guevara and all of the seniors in April to go through the application process and how to sign up for the COUN 270 course this summer. Graduate must have taken the Math/English Placement tests before they attend their scheduled COUN 270 course. Placement tests must be taken outside of RVCS school time or students will be given an unexcused absence. The Doyle Scholarships for RVCS graduates are back as a transitional Doyle. It is limited to $500 for the first semester of a graduates freshman year. Graduating seniors who plan to attend the JC this fall, make sure to apply for financial aid. The JC also has a scholarship office so check out any available scholarships. This is different than applying for the Doyle. There is a lot of aid out there in the form of scholarships due to private donations. An anonymous donor recently donated $5 million dollars, and the endowment from this donation will provide $176,000 a year in scholarships for students interested in education (teachers, counselors, librarians), and for minority students to get financial aid. There are lots of other scholarships available for many different reasons. Warning: Beware of scholarship Scams. Please do not give out any sensitive information (such as Social Security Number or credit card number) for processing fees for scholarships. Be informed that government grant agencies and scholarship-awarding organizations do not seek out applicants and do not require an up-front fee. Be wary of offers that demand an immediate pressured response, or if a post office box is used as a return address.

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College Corner (continued)

Graduates who are going to the JC to work on a transfer to a fouryear college should sign up for a 90-minute workshop, Transfer 101. Prevent mistakes that could cost you valuable time and money. Classes are in the new Bertolini Student Service Center, third floor. Find out what classes youll need and how to go to assist.org to find an articulation agreement to match where you will be going. Find out the differences between CSUs and UCs and how it could vary between different universities! Learn how to be prepared. Just remember that you will need to transfer as a junior, which means a minimum of 60 transferable units with a specified minimum GPA depending upon where you go. The 6070 units must include your GED and lower division classes completed in your major. Some impacted programs or popular programs may use added criteria such as a higher GPA. A private university transfer could occur anytime. They are usually open (if space is available) to accepting students mid-year or as sophomores. Also due to cutbacks, you will not be able to make an appointment with a counselor at the JC. It will be by drop in only. So, plan to see a counselor when you have plenty of time and plan ahead so you can see him/her mid semester, before the rush begins. Students planning on taking JC classes while in high school should see Mrs. Guevara who has a handout for how to enroll for the High School Concurrent Enrollment program. Senior Year Math! The JC, UC, and CSU counselors say that there is fall out for students who do not take math their senior year. They predict that it sets them back by one math course when they get to college.

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