Fall BHS Student Support Newsletter
SOUTH COUNTRY CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, FALL 2023
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Welcome Back!
Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! The Guidance and Student Support Departments would like to welcome all of our students back to Bellport High School and are excited for the year ahead.
As we return back to school, now is the time to start planning for the future! Whether you want to go to college, start a career education program or enlist in the military, now is the time to start thinking about how you can prepare for your future. We encourage all students to take challenging courses, start studying and planning to take the SAT and ACT and join clubs, activities and volunteer groups.
Throughout the year your School Counselor will be available to meet with you about various needs including college, career, military, employment, scheduling, college testing and social/emotional needs. Please know we are here to support you in every way that we can!
How do I make an appointment with my counselor or Social Worker
Support Staff will meet with their students by appointment.
Please click on this link to request an appointment with your School Counselor.
Please click on this link to request an appointment with your School Social Worker.
Please make sure to list a valid email address and we will send you your appointment time shortly!
2023-2024 Guidance Events - Save the Date!
- College Board Testing Day Bellport High School - October 11, 2023 at 7am
- District-Wide College Shirt Day - October 11, 2023
- Fall College Fair- October 12, 2023 at 11:40am
- Financial Aid Night - November 2, 2023 at 7pm
- 8th Grade Transition Parent Meeting - January 11, 2024 at 7pm
- 8th Grade Transition Student Assembly - January 11, 2024
- P.S. I Love You Day - February 9, 2024
- Junior College Planning Night - February 29, 2024 at 7pm
- Spring College Fair and Career Fair- April 12, 2024 at 11am
- District-Wide College Shirt Day - May 1, 2024
- ACT at Bellport High School - June 8, 2024 at 7am
- Senior Graduation Walks at Elementary Schools - June 24, 2024 at 12:30pm
BHS Guidance Workshops for Students
The High School Counselors offer fall college application workshops for students after school from 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays in the BHS library throughout the month of October. Seniors are welcome to attend. The students do not need to pre-register but are asked to bring their Chromebooks to participate.
Find us on Instagram! @bellportguidance
Remind App!
Text 81010 with your class code
Grade 12 - @bhs2024gc https://www.remind.com/join/bhs2024gc
Grade 11 - @bhs2025gc https://www.remind.com/join/bhs2025gc
Grade 10 - @bhs2026gc https://www.remind.com/join/bhs2026gc
Grade 9 - @bhs2027gc http://www.remind.com/join/bhs2027gc
To Register please go to: SAT: www.college.org or ACT: www.actstudent.org
Group Counseling
Are you interested in joining one of our groups?
Groups:
- Why Try - A group to increase motivation, self-esteem and school success
- Why Try Resiliency - A group to help students with their resiliency skills when facing adversity
- New To Bellport High School - new entrants to the district
- Children in Change - A group to assist with major life changes such as death of a loved one and family changes
Senior Year "To Do List"
APPLY
Complete and submit your college applications online. Remember! You want Safety, Target and Reach schools on your list!
The most popular sites to complete college applications are www.commonapp.org , www.suny.edu/applysuny/ , and/or http://www2.cuny.edu/admissions/apply-to-cuny/ .
SEND SAT OR ACT SCORES
Submit either your SAT (by visiting www.collegeboard.org) or ACT (by visiting www.actstudent.org) scores to each college which requires the scores.
NCAA - If you are a student athlete and have applied to the NCAA at www.eligibilitycenter.org to play Division I or Division II college athletics, you must also send your scores to the NCAA Eligibility Center.
GIVE SIGNED COLLEGE APPLICATION PROCESSING FORM TO YOUR COUNSELOR FOR EACH SCHOOL YOU HAVE APPLIED TO
Be sure to indicate which type of application you used to submit your application for each college on your College Application Processing form.
Common App - If you used the Common App, you will need to link your Common App account to your Naviance account in order to complete your application.
FOLLOW UP
In two weeks, follow up with each college to verify that your application has been received and is complete with all supporting materials.
APPLY FOR FINANCIAL AID
Be sure to complete your financial aid applications online at https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa. The FAFSA is changing this year and will be released sometime in December 2023. You may indicate up to 10 colleges that you are applying to on your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). On the last page of the FAFSA online, as long as you have listed at least 1 college in New York State which you are applying to on the FAFSA, it will ask you if you would like complete the New York State TAP (Tuition Assistance Program) application. Indicate yes and complete the TAP application.
COLLEGE APPLICATION HELP
Ms. Merry, the College and Career Counselor, is available to meet with seniors to help them through the college application process. Students may make an appointment with her to go over their applications and any questions they may have.
Junior Year "To-Do" List
Junior Year “To Do” List
- Take the PSAT in the fall, review your results and start preparing for the SAT
- Research colleges and plan college visits. The earlier the better!
- Make sure you have safety, target and reach schools. Having a range of schools will improve your options and also help with scholarships and financial aid eligibility. It is important to have at least one academically safe school and one financially safe school
- Take at least one SAT or ACT in the Spring! Make sure you have enough time to take a second administration in the spring or fall or senior year, to try to improve your score!
- Log into your Naviance account to research colleges, see which schools might be good options for you based on your GPA and SAT/ACT scores, and explore your interests and strengths to find the careers associated with your results
- Attend College Fairs! SUNY is offering several virtual college fairs this year
- If you are planning on playing a competitive sport in college, check eligibility through NCAA Eligibility Center and use tools like corecoursegpa.com. Complete the NCAA Eligibility Center forms online and send your standardized test scores directly to the NCAA
- Review your academic course load. Colleges look for you to take a full, challenging scheduling every year
- Remember to speak to your parents/guardians about your post high school plans – cost of school, size of campus, and distance
- Create a professional e-mail account, if you do not already have one
Freshman/Sophomore Checklists:
Freshman and Sophomore Checklists:
FALL:
· Meet your school counselor
· Get involved in extracurricular activities
· Enroll in the appropriate college-prep or tech-prep classes. Talk with your school counselor to make sure you’re enrolled in the classes you need to prepare you for college or a career
· Study hard and get good grades
· Read!
WINTER:
· Start off on the right foot with your grades
· Explore your interests and possible careers
· Discuss your skills and interests with your school counselor
· Consider a college savings plan and add to an existing one if you have already have one started
· Start thinking about the classes you want to take next year
SPRING:
· Getting involved: Continue to build your credentials- Keep track of your extracurricular awards, community service achievements, and anything else you participate in
· Begin learning about college
· Keep your grades up!
· Search for summer internship or job opportunities
SUMMER:
· Volunteer
· Schedule college visits
· Create your resume and fill it with activities and accomplishments from freshmen and sophomore year
*List from thescholarshipsystem.com
Scholarship Information!
Re: Scholarship Opportunities
As a service to our students, the Bellport High School Guidance Office compiles scholarship newsletters. A scholarship is money for college, vocational, and/or trade school. Students would need to apply for scholarships in order to be considered for a monetary award. Students may apply for multiple scholarships and be awarded multiple scholarships. Some scholarships are highly selective and require time to complete the application, and sometimes students may be considered for scholarships simply by applying to a particular college during their senior year of high school. Scholarships may be based on various factors including but not limited to academic merit, athletic merit, extracurricular involvement, membership in an organization, skills (computer-based, dance, theatre, musical performance, art, etc.), race, ethnicity, financial need, etc.
Our newsletters cannot replace the amount of information that is available on the internet about scholarships. The newsletters are meant to assist students and families in finding scholarship information more easily.
Please visit our virtual bookmark using the link below to view available scholarship opportunities. These links will be updated throughout the school year as new scholarship opportunities become available, so be sure to check back during the school year to view this updated information.
If we may be of assistance, please contact your School Counselor in the BHS Guidance Office.
Scholarships Virtual Bookmark: https://www.canva.com/design/DAFlWyvqTtI/swJChTDvE97u4ILgeFFKVQ/view?utm_content=DAFlWyvqTtI&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink
Helpful College and Career Websites
Standardized Tests & Review
ACT www.act.org
Princeton Review www.princetonreview.com
Method Test Prep www.methodtestprep.com
Khan Academy www.khanacademy.org
College Research
Naviance www.naviance.com
Big Future https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/
College Scorecard https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
Test Optional Schools www.fairtest.org
College Navigator https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/
Financial Aid/Scholarship Information
FAFSA https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa
CSS Profile www.collegeboard.org
Fast Web www.fastweb.com
NY State Higher Ed Services Corp. www.hesc.ny.gov
Federal Student Aid Information www.studentaid.gov
BHS Guidance Scholarship Newsletter: https://www.smore.com/p76ye
Wear Orange on Unity Day! October 18, 2023
Our Staff
Guidance Staff
Guidance Staff
Director of Guidance and Counseling Programs
Jenna Restivo
Phone: 631-730-1607
Guidance Secretaries
Marisol Capraro
631-730-1607
Fabiola Moraes-Narvaez
631-730-1608
Counselors
Brittany Ensalata (A-Co)
631-730-1603
Katelyn Burke (Cr-G)
631-730-1592
Patricia McCallum (H-Mi)
631-730-1775
April Orenstein (Mo-San)
631-730-1602
Jessica Negron (Sao-Z and Out of District)
631-730-1660
Stephanie Merry (College & Career)
631-730-3489
Student Support Staff
Social Workers - Room 100
Kathryn Henglein (A-Ge)
631-730-1605
khenglein@southcountry.org
Crista Pervelis (Gh-Pi)
631-730-1612
cpervelis@southcountry.org
Junior Turcios (Pl-Ta + Bilingual ENL)
631-730-1614
jturcios@southcountry.org
Gail Freeman Scallon (Te-Z) - Room 252a
631-730-2129
gfreeman@southcountry.org
Ann Haddad (District-wide)
631-730-1680
ahaddad@southcountry.org
Psychologists
Nicole Murn (McCl - Z) - Room 123
631-730-2119
nmurn@southcountry.org
Brian Dalpiaz (A-McCa) - Room 103
631-730-1671
bdalpiaz@southcountry.org
Mental Health Resources
DASH in Hauppauge is open 24/7, 365 days a year. It is essentially a "walk-in clinic" for mental health support. You will be assessed and supported in person the same day by a psychiatric nurse practitioner, registered nurse and social worker. DASH also has a mobile crisis team that can come to your home. DASH will help in a crisis situation as well as make long term referrals.
24 hour hotline: 631-952-3333
RESPONSE crisis phone hotline is also available 23/7, 364 days a year. A trained crisis counselor will provide support by phone at 631-751-7500. https://www.responsecrisiscenter.org/
Family Service League is a social service agency that provides support and security to our Long Island neighbors who need it most. From children and families to individuals and seniors, they empower more than 50,000 of our community’s most vulnerable to mobilize their strengths and improve their quality of life.
988 is the new Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is a United States-based suicide prevention network of over 200+ crisis centers that provides 24/7 service via a toll-free hotline with the number 9-8-8. It is available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.
More Resources
Compass Unity School/Community Resource Guide: click here
Student Support Services Website:
https://southcountry.org/departments/student_support_services
Comprehensive Resource Guide: https://www.southcountry.org/Assets/Student_Support_Services_Documents/09152020_Resource_List.pdf?t=637357721395300000
The New York State Technical and Educational Assistance Center for Homeless Students
Bellport High School Guidance
Website: https://www.southcountry.org/schools/bhs_guidance
Location: 205 Beaver Dam Road, Brookhaven, NY, USA
Phone: 6317301607