Riverside High School Counseling
October 2020
About Our Department...
The Riverside School Counseling department is a team of 15 dedicated individuals working collaboratively to meet the needs of 1,856 students, including teachers and parents. We have an open-door policy, but at times we are needed at meetings or have scheduled appointments with other students and parents. To serve you more efficiently, we ask that you please email us to schedule an appointment.
We support Riverside High School by:
working with staff to address obstacles that interfere with students’ learning and success.
focusing on skill development through a variety of ways, such as small group or individual counseling sessions, classroom guidance, and consultation and coordination with parents, administrators, and teachers.
helping when students experience challenges. We focus on conflict resolution, transitions, study skills, test-taking skills, crisis intervention, bullying prevention, suicide prevention, and special needs of students.
preparing students with post-grad planning. College visits, career days, internships, scholarships, and job matching are just a few resources available to help our students succeed in life after high school.
RVHS School Counseling Office Hours
Hours: 8:00 am to 4:15 pm
Website: http://www.loudoun.k12.va.us/domain/17735
Follow us on twitter & instagram @RVHCounseling
Luke Mason, Director of School Counseling
Helen Randolph, Registrar
Kathy Jackson, School Counseling Assistant
Cristina Horvath, Career Center Assistant
Alexis Powell, School Counselor (A-Burc)
Stephanie Lemus-Ortiz, School Counselor (Burd - E)
Cassandra Asekhauno, School Counselor (F-Jer)
Kimberley Harris, School Counselor (Jes-Marn)
Susan Pangman, School Counselor (Maro-Pl)
Tyler Wagner, School Counselor (Po-Sm)
Tracy Wood, School Counselor (Sn-Z)
Noelia Garcia-Gettmann, School Psychologist
Frances Jester, Social Worker
Kim Hager, Student Assistance Specialist
Susan Sabloff, Parent Liaison
Support During COVID-19 Virtual School
For emergency mental health resources for your child(ren) or yourself, please go to the following link https://www.lcps.org/Page/220727
For Mental Health and Wellness Resources for LCPS Students and Families, please see the following page.
Congratulations to our Talented Scholars!
Every year the National Merit Scholarship Corporation looks at the PSAT/NMSQT data from around the country to recognize talented seniors.
This year, we recognize Riverside's 13 National Merit Scholarship Commended Students and 4 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists. Our Semifinalists will be applying to become National Merit Finalists, and will be notified in February 2021 if they qualify. We wish them all the best!
Commended Students
- Fatima Afzal
- Melanie Chen
- Michael Harrigan
- Ishika Kataria
- Jasmine Kim
- Taryn Moore
- Claire Rossi
- Alexander Saam
- Tyler Sackadorf
- Sunil Saxena
- Ishaan Shah
- Kaitlyn Song
- Sachin Srikar
National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists
- Lachezar Balabanksi
- Jaehee Kim
- Courtney Maynard
- Dylan Soh
Academic Support
UPCOMING EVENTS
LCPS Job for a Day
Academies of Loudoun Winter Admissions
Seal of Biliteracy
This year, the Office of World Languages and Cultures will change the process of how students will be tested to earn the Seal of Biliteracy by graduation. To limit the number of participants and secure the safety of students and staff, the following process will be followed.
- For the 2020-2021 school year, only Seniors will be assessed this November.
- LCPS will administer the ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages® (AAPPL) at no cost to students. This online assessment is offered in Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Thai. The testing dates will be coordinated with the World Language Department Chairs.
- The CTT (Credit Through Testing) will only be offered in the languages not covered by AAPPL (Bengali, Farsi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tagalog, Tamil, Urdu and Vietnamese).
- Students will self-register for the CTT beginning on September 14th through the online link on the World Languages and Cultures district page.
- This year, the Governor declared Election Day, Tuesday November 3rd, a holiday. For those seniors needing to take the assessment in-person, the CTT exams will be scheduled over three days. It will be offered on Monday, November 2 at PVH; Wednesday, November 4 at JCH; and Thursday, November 5th at THS. All three events are scheduled after-school to avoid conflicts with distance learning.
- This information will be updated for the community on the World Languages and Cultures webpage and shared through multiple channels.
Virginia Summer Residential Governor's School 2021
The deadline to submit Governor's School auditions for Visual/Performing Arts will be November 2nd. Instead of in-person auditions, students will join a Schoology course and upload audition videos or portfolios. (updated 10/14)
For all Governor's School applications, the deadline for submission of the paper application to Riverside will be Friday December 11th. (updated 10/14)
More details about application details for LCPS can be found here.
SENIORS - Class of 2021
Survey
You should have received an email from your counselor about filling in your senior survey. We use this information to craft your recommendation letters! Please complete this as soon as you can. It is possible that this email went to your spam folder. Please look for it!
Post High School Planning
Counselors held post high school planning information sessions for seniors and their parents in September. The PowerPoint presentation and a recording of one of the sessions are available on the Counseling website here.
Transcript Releases
We are using Permission Click now for transcript releases for college applications! Here is the link! Please complete the request form at least 15 business days before the application deadline!
College Representative Visits
It's easy to sign up for virtual visits with college representatives in Naviance. To sign up and obtain the links, log into Naviance, go to the Colleges tab, then choose College Events on the left side of the page. On the page that appears, you can register for the events in which you have an interest. In some cases, we are sharing these virtual visits with nearby high schools. Please remember to join the meeting early, dress appropriately, be aware of your surroundings, mute your microphone when not talking, stay seated and stay present. Often the admissions representative is the one who may read your application!College Fairs Offered by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC)
- Monday, October 12th, 2020
- Sunday, October 18th, 2020
- Sunday, November 8th, 2020
On each fair date, more than 600 colleges and universities will offer Zoom sessions and meetings. Students everywhere can log in, drop in, and ask questions. These fairs offer a great opportunity for students to explore their college options! Click here to register!
University of California events
systemwide events for students and families. The *UC for You* events are
intended to help students and families, who will be applying this fall, get
to know the nine undergraduate campuses. The *UC for Everyone: UC wants
You!* events are for students and their families who are considering UC in
future years.
All events are free, and many feature admission staff, current students
and parents, UC faculty and UC alumni.
For information on each of the six events and to
register, see: https://ucforyou.universityofcalifornia.edu/. Please email
any questions to ucforyou@ucop.edu.
Penn College of Technology
A virtual information session on October 15 at 6:00pm will provide an overview of Penn College. Students will learn how a hands on education can lead to a real world career.
Students can use the link to register for the session: East Coast Information Session
College Visits in a Virtual World
LCPS Connect U
https://sites.google.com/lcps.org/lcps-connect-u/home
JMU
https://www.jmu.edu/choices/virtual/index.shtml
Virginia Tech
https://vt.edu/admissions/frequently-asked-questions/covid-19.html
https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2020/04/admissions-testing-2025.html
Auburn
Student Panel Sign Up:
https://apply.auburn.edu/portal/campustours
Information Session Sign-Up:
https://apply.auburn.edu/portal/campustours
Virtual Campus Tour:
http://auburn.edu/admissions/visit/index.php#
Penn State
https://admissions.psu.edu/experience/
UVA
Free Application for Federal Student Aid Now Available
The 2021-22 FREE Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is now available! Any student and parent, regardless of income, who wants to take out federal student loans and/or be considered for grants and other aid, must complete the FAFSA. The application determines the aid for which a student is eligible. It is best to apply early, regardless of whether you know which school you would like to attend.
NVCC recently held a Financial Aid 101 presentation and has provided this link to view the recording. The passcode is 3cM@NS5z. NVCC also hosted a virtual workshop on Saturday, October 3rd. This detailed presentation gave a step by step overview of how to complete the FAFSA, and you can click here to view a recording of the presentation (no code needed). The slides from both presentations are available on the School Counseling website.
NVCC has many upcoming financial aid presentations that can be helpful in navigating the sometimes difficult process. The October sessions are listed below. Visit the Riverside School Counseling Financial Aid website for the November dates.
Click on the date for each session for more information and to register:
Oct. 19, 2020, 6:00 pm - Financial Aid Essentials for Parents
Oct. 20, 2020, 10:00 am - Financial Aid Essentials for New & Returning Students
Oct. 20, 2020, 6:00 pm - Fundamentos de Ayuda Financiera: Para Estudiantes Nuevos, Estudiantes que Regresan y Padres
Oct. 21, 2020, 10:00 am - Filing the FAFSA Step-by-Step
Oct. 21, 2020, 12:00 pm - Financial Literacy 101
Oct. 22, 2020, 10:00 am - Completing Verification Step-by-Step
Oct. 22, 2020, 12:00 pm - Satisfactory Academic Progress
Oct. 23, 2020, 12:00 pm - Open Financial Aid Question & Answer Session for Students & Parents
Naviance Resources for Students and Parents
The “Introduction to Naviance Student – How Parents Can Assist Their Students with College and Career Readiness” is coming soon! Click on the flyer below to register!
Additionally, LCPS has a central Naviance classroom page with activities for students in grades 6-12.
Class of 2022 College Planning Resources
Juniors, your counselors have set up Advisory 11 in Schoology for the Class of 2022 and will post useful information and lessons there for you.
Two helpful sites to utilize include the college essay guy and collegexpress.com. Additionally, some enterprising students at Rock Ridge HS prepared this wonderful website for college search information in pandemic times.
Shout out to Mary Barnes at Rock Ridge HS! She met with Christopher Newport's Kelly Scallion to talk about tips for writing those application essays. You can view her discussion/guidance here. She also meet with Laika Tamny of JMU and you can view that discussion here.
What is the Academic Common Market?
Basically, the ACM allows a student to major in a specialized field of study at an out-of-state college, while paying in-state tuition. This is only applicable if you are interested in a degree program that is not offered in Virginia. There are a lot of rumors surrounding this program, get the facts at this website that explain exactly what the Academic Common Market really is: https://www.sreb.org/academic-common-market
Helpful Links
National College Attainment (formerly Access) Network: Roundup of COVID-19 Resources: https://www.ncan.org/news/news.asp?id=493855 Includes: Links to SAT and ACT testing updates, resources for virtual advising, and more.
National Association for College Admission Counseling: College Admission Status Update: https://www.nacacnet.org/college-admission-status-coronavirus Includes: Up-to-date enrollment and deposit changes for IHE’s across the country.
Federal Student Aid: Coronavirus and Forbearance Info for Students, Borrowers, and Parents: https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/coronavirus Includes: FAQ’s on the impact of the coronavirus on financial aid for current students and federal student loans for borrowers in repayment.
Student Aid Pandemic: https://www.studentaidpandemic.org/ Includes: Up-to-the-minute student guidance on student loans and financial aid during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
The Hope Center: COVID-19 Response Resources: https://hope4college.com/ Includes: A Guide for Students: https://hope4college.com/surviving-covid-19-a-realcollege-guide-for-students/
Standardized Testing Update
Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) will offer current seniors the opportunity to take the College Board’s SAT test with Essay on Tuesday, October 27, which is a school day. The SAT will be offered at each high school, and students may register via this link now. Registration will close on Friday, October 16th at 11:00 pm. (This link may be used only for the test October 27 given at each individual high school.)
After completing registration, students will be directed to the LCPS payment portal. The cost is $68.00 for the SAT with Essay. Each school’s test administration will be capped at 250 students. Bus transportation will be provided for students who indicate the need within the registration system.
If you qualify for free or reduced lunch, please note that the SAT with Essay test is $15.00 for students utilizing their free/reduced lunch eligibility.
Registration for the PSAT for current juniors closed on September 25th. Click on the links for more information about the the College Board’s PSAT/NMSQT and how to be considered for the National Merit Scholarship Competition without taking the PSAT/NMSQT.
As a reminder, LCPS will also offer the SAT and ACT on the following weekend dates at the high school locations listed below. Students must register for the Saturday dates and offerings through College Board or ACT (not the link above which is only used for the special administration on Oct 27).
SAT
- October 3 - Freedom, Independence and Woodgrove High Schools
- November 7 - Dominion, John Champe, Potomac Falls and Tuscarora High Schools
- December 5 - Independence, Loudoun County and Potomac Falls High Schools
- March 13 - Briar Woods, Dominion, Independence, John Champe and Woodgrove High Schools
- May 8 - Broad Run and John Champe High Schools
- June 5 - Broad Run and Park View High Schools
ACT
- December 12 - Briar Woods, Dominion and John Champe High Schools
- February 6 - Briar Woods, Dominion and John Champe High School
Wondering which colleges are "test optional?" Check out fairtest.org