PWR or Post-secondary Workforce Readiness is a phrase that you will hear often at TCA. The team in Connections recognizes that readiness happens on many different fronts, it means; learning, working, studying, participating, communicating, investigating, and much more to build skills and succeed in classes.

We firmly believe that continued education and/or training provides more opportunities in life. Don’t misunderstand, this belief does not mean every student must attend a 4-year college. What we know is that employers, the military, colleges and universities, and technical schools want workers and students that are well prepared. They want workers and students that are ready! Ready means something more during and after high school.

We are ready to start this journey with the freshmen, together, to discover their talents and see where they lead. Sophomores and juniors will continue their exploration and inquiry, and start to shape their future, and seniors will implement their postsecondary choices.

The goal for all students is to progress beyond a high school diploma to plan for life after graduation. We call it TCA2Life!

August 24 - Back-to-School Night, ALL grade levels 5:30-8:00 (Auditorium/Classrooms)

• 5:30-6:05 Info Meeting - ALL
• 6:20-8:00 Meet the Teachers - Grades 9-12

Sept. 6 (date change) - Junior, Financial Aid, and Senior Connections Family Night 5:30-7:30

• 5:30-6:10 Juniors
• 6:15-6:40 Financial Aid (open to ALL grade levels)
• 6:45-7:30 Seniors

This evening's program will be an overview of what is to be expected for post-secondary planning. Juniors and seniors will build upon the work done in previous years regarding career interests and now focus on how to work toward those goals. We will highlight the year's "activities" to help plan the year.

We will also host a guest speaker to cover financial aid for college. This presentation would be appropriate for junior families to help understand and prepare for the future and for senior families to make sure you understand the process and timeline for application. If you like to plan ahead, Freshmen and Sophomore families are also welcome.

Sept. 7 - Freshmen and Sophomore Connections Family Night 5:30-6:30

Join our Connections team as we introduce (and continue) a PWR Path for every student. We meet with freshmen and sophomores throughout the year to explore and discuss opportunities for career exploration. Our focus is not on choosing a career by sophomore year, but instead on exploring possibilities and working through setting goals based on natural aptitudes, interests, values, and personality. We will walk you through our resources and lessons.

AP & PSAT/NMSQT payments must be completed in Infinite Campus by Sept. 9, 2022. Any payment questions are to be directed to the Finance office. Fee waivers for testing are available (see below); the deadline to return the waiver is also Sept. 9, 2022.

Fees

• AP exam: $97 per AP course - AP exam is required for ALL AP courses
• Optional PSAT/NMSQT exam: $18 per exam

Fee Waivers

If you qualify for Free/Reduced Lunch, you qualify for testing fee waivers and college application fee waivers, even if you have not filed at the district for free/reduced lunch. If you are unsure, please look at the guidelines and let us know if you qualify. We would love to walk you through the ways (in Connections) we can help. The deadline to register for the October-only PSAT/NMSQT exam is September 9, 2022. If you qualify for a PSAT/NMSQT exam fee waiver, please submit this form to Connections or tcacollege@asd20.org by Sept. 9. If you need a full or partial waiver for AP exams, please submit this form.

This checklist has been created for your convenience. This checklist is also on our Connections Webpage.

Back-to-School Checklist