Bulldog Bulletin
Smyrna High School's Counseling Newsletter
1st Quarter, Fall 2018
SHS Counseling Staff
Mrs. Maass: students A-D, maassj@rcschools.net
Mrs. Knox: students E-Lh, knoxh@rcschools.net
Mr. Raffo: students Rj-Z, raffog@rcschools.net
Mrs. Hockenberry: counseling secretary, hockenberryk@rcschools.net
Mrs. Benton: counseling secretary, bentont@rcschools.net
Website: http://shs.rcschools.net
Phone: 615-904-3865
Twitter: @shscounselors88
Stay Informed and follow us:
Twitter: @shscounselors88
Counseling website: shs.rcschools.net Click "Counseling" on the main menu and browse the side tabs for updated information.
A Note from Principal Powell
Graduation practice will be May 15th at MTSU at 8am, with the ceremony on Friday May 18th at MTSU at 7pm. Our yearbooks will be distributed on May 7th along with our spring Purple and Gold Football game.
Senior exams will be May 8th through May 11th and underclassmen exams willl be May 17-May 22. Report card day will be May 25th.
We have had a great school year and are looking forward to seeing our underclassmen back in August.
Have a great summer.
~Mr. Powell
Upcoming Events
College Visits at Smyrna High School
The following colleges and universities will have representation on campus during lunch on the following dates:
10/12/18 University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Martin, and Chattanooga
10/19/18 Middle Tennessee State University
10/23/18 TN Regional Admissions Network (TNRAN)
10/26/18 Motlow Community College
11/02/18 Tennessee State University
11/09/18 Austin Peay
11/16/18 Fisk University
11/30/18 Trevecca Nazarene University
Upcoming Events for Seniors
- ACT Retake
- Tennessee Promise Meeting
AP Testing: May 7-May 18
Underclass Exams: May 14-May 22
Exams will be given on a modified time schedule. If a student wishes to sign out after exams, he/she must have a permission slip on file. Permission slips and the modified time schedule will be given out through homeroom as we get closer to exams.
Summer Reading
Rising Seniors: Mark your calendars
Counselors begin meeting with seniors in August to review graduation requirements and senior year schedules. We also help them apply for the TN Promise scholarship and review college application procedures with students.
In early September, we will host a financial aid evening event for parents and students. We have a guest speaker from TSAC come to talk all things financial aid related.
In October, the FAFSA will open for seniors to complete. Information regarding the FAFSA will be covered in the financial aid night in September.
Many priority deadlines for college applications and institution based scholarships fall on November 1, December 1 and February 1. Please review the requirements for your desired colleges now, so you are ready for those deadlines as they approach.
Your counselors are here to support you through this process; please make sure you are checking the counseling page regularly, following us on Twitter, and making appointments with us as needed.
What to do the summer before your senior year:
Seniors who believe their graduation year will be a breeze are often sadly misinformed. Facing ultra-competitive admissions standards, college-bound students should ensure they have as much as possible in order before they commence their final year of high school. Senioritus seems unavoidable for some students, but getting pre-college tasks squared away this summer will help your child avoid stress in the long run. This list is designed to add some insight into the college selection process and help you and your child to begin the process of tying up academic loose ends.
- Narrow down colleges - Selecting a college is likely one of the biggest decisions your child has had to make in their life thus far. Students should avoid getting their hearts set on a school until they have acceptance letters in hand, but by summer's conclusion, students should have narrowed down their list of realistic prospective colleges. The College Board website offers a helpful assessment tool called "How Do I Stack Up?" that allows students to input statistics such as GPA and class rank to see how their qualifications compare to a particular school's current freshman class.
- Apply for scholarships - fastweb.com will email scholarship information to students based on a list of interests and activities they select. However, students must be cautious. Many scammers are seizing this opportunity to defraud students as well. To avoid these traps, make sure you know how to spot a scholarship scam.
- Consider a change in testing strategy - Perhaps your child didn't do as well as he or she would have liked on the spring SAT or ACT? The alternate test may be a viable option at this point. An increasing number of students, particularly on the east and west coasts, are choosing to take both exams. Many high school students don't have the opportunity to prepare for both tests during junior year, so if your child feels that in the fall he or she might want to try the alternate test, summer is the time to take a practice test and switch gears if needed. You can now download and score any of the exams from the College Board's The Official SAT Study Guide or the ACT's The Real ACT Prep Guide online at studypoint.com. This tool provides valuable insight into a student's performance with feedback on a student's performance by question type, content area, and question difficulty. There will be at least one rainy/gloomy/too-hot-to-go-outside day in every summer vacation. Students should take these opportunities to give themselves a trial. Sitting for the real exam may seem like a good idea but a poor score can severely affect a student's confidence, even if he or she did not study. After taking a practice test your child can assess his or her scores with this SAT to ACT Score Comparison Chart, to ensure he or she is headed in the right direction.
- Become a leader - If your child has been volunteering in the community for years, that's great news. Hopefully he or she has formed a relationship with a particular organization and has learned from the experience. Now is the time for your child to really shine by taking his or her service to the next level. Your son or daughter should seek to add additional responsibilities, such as overseeing younger volunteers or taking on any added administrative tasks. Colleges seek students that take the initiative to grow within an organization in which they are involved. This added responsibility demonstrates to admissions officers that your child is working with a program that he or she truly wants to be contributing to, rather than just stepping in when needed.
- Take a sample class - New media resources in education are always being introduced, and one of the most significant developments for the college scene has been iTunes University. Top colleges and universities from around the country including Stanford, Duke and UC Berkley have uploaded freely accessible videos of lectures and classes onto iTunes. This method is a simple yet highly valuable way to get an unbiased look at how a college class is conducted. Witnessing the degree to which professors interact with their students, the intensity of interest your child has in the discussion and how advanced the material is may all be factors that can change your son or daughter's opinion of a particular college. Another added benefit is that each lecture can be uploaded directly to an iPod or iPhone so your child can watch them on the go. To learn more or try it out click here.
- Participate in a job shadow - If your child has a career interest already, encourage him or her to ask someone with a job in a related field to let them shadow for a day. This can provide a lot of insight into what aspects your child does or doesn't like about the job early on-and it can be a great topic for scholarship essays if he or she has an interesting experience. Your child may know he or she is interested in a career in biology, but spending the day in a lab may offer exposure to careers within biology of which your child wasn't even aware. If your son or daughter isn't sure what they want to do, shadowing can spark a new interest, or conversely, help eliminate careers they discover aren't a good fit. Jobshadow.com is a great resource to provide you and your child with the answers and materials you need to get started. Job shadowing may not help your child with the college admissions process, but it's certainly a way for students to narrow down schools based on career interests.
- Get rolling with recommendation letters - Counselors and teachers require at least two full weeks to write a strong letter of recommendation letter. Complete a brag sheet/recommendation request sheet (found on the SHS counseling website) so that you can provide helpful information to the teacher or counselor writing your letter.
Though senior year is usually less hectic than junior year, it is still important for students to remain focused. Colleges require students to submit grades though the final semester of their senior year, even if they have already been accepted. Choosing some of the items from this list to focus on can aid students in preparing for senior year and the eventual transition to college life.
List adapted from: https://www.studypoint.com/ed/junior-summer/
Stay Informed
Exam Exemption Policy
Graduation Information
https://shs.rcschools.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=562637&type=d&pREC_ID=1079972
INOW
Make sure that you are checking INOW Home Portal and keeping up with your student’s grades. If you have any questions about the grades, you can email your student’s teachers. If you have not received your login information, please visit the counseling webpage and click the ''Appointments and Sign-ups" tab located on the right side of the page. On the Appointments and Sign-Ups page, you will see a link for Inow Access Request.
Weekly Conferences
Parent/teacher conferences are offered every Wednesday at 3:45. Parents can request to meet your child's teachers. Conferences must be scheduled by the Tuesday morning prior to your planned Wednesday meeting.
Conferences are scheduled through Ms. Benton.
615-904-3865 ext. 23705
School Counseling Appointments
We also ask that parents use this same link when requesting an appointment. We have an open door policy when it comes to meeting with parents; however, having a scheduled appointment allows us to be fully prepared for the meeting and also allows us to make sure we are not involved in other meetings or counseling groups when the parent arrives. Please review the appointment links: http://shs.rcschools.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=562976&type=d&pREC_ID=1133047
Scholarships
Want to know about scholarships? Follow these easy steps below:
1. Visit http://shs.rcschools.net
2. Click Counseling on the main menu
3. On the right hand side, click the Scholarship and Financial Aid tab
We have linked our scholarship database directly to this page. Please check back often; the database is updated multiple times a week.
We have also found a scholarship database that is updated monthly. It is an outside source that we are not associated with, but we wanted to make sure we share resources with our students: https://jlvcollegecounseling.com/scholarships/monthly-scholarships/
Opportunities
We post enrichment opportunities for all grade levels under the Announcements and Opportunities tab of our website. This includes job opportunities, community service, college fair information and any other enrichment opportunity that we receive notification of.
https://shs.rcschools.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=562976&type=d&pREC_ID=1134207
College Readiness Testing
If you are planning to take either the ACT or the SAT you must register online at www.actstudent.org (ACT) and www.collegeboard.com (SAT). You will need the following SHS High School Code to register: 432130
Make sure you visit our new ACT resources page under the "Student" tab prior to the upcoming ACT test dates and re-take date.