The Counseling Department encourages you to finish the semester strong and wishes you a bright beginning to your life after high school. Congratulations!

AP Exams will given as scheduled by the College Board on Monday, May 1st - Friday, May 5th and Monday, May 8th - Friday, May 12th.

Remember to come prepared to test; be sure to read over the College Board's What Students Should and Should Not Bring. A few reminders include to bring a #2 pencil, a blue or black ink pen, snack and water for breaks, dress in layers due to the temperature in the gym. You should be at the testing room at least 10 minutes prior to the start of your AP Exam.

If you have any questions about your AP Exam(s), check with your AP teacher, Mr. Pratt (D-wing Counselor), or Mr. Lees (Assistant Principal).

The Arizona Family College Savings Plan is a state-sponsored 529 plan is a tax-deferred option that is designed to help families save money for college. Learn more at www.az529.gov.

Summertime can be a good time to research and explore your career and college options.

Have a career in mind? Or, trying to decide between a couple different careers? You could use your summer to conduct an informational interview, job shadow, and/or volunteer with a person or business related to a career you are considering. All of these opportunities can provide valuable insights into the careers you may want to pursue. You can find information about these ideas on our VHS Counseling & Career Center website, www.aguafria.org/vhscounseling.

You can also spend time on Major Clarity, the career exploration program the district provides for our students for their ECAP. To get the most out of a program like Major Clarity, you will want to view your search as a process not a task to be done. You want to complete activities that were introduced in your Advisory class, then go beyond those activities to see what else is on the site.

When choosing a college to attend, you want to make sure that the college offers a major that will lead to the career you are interested in. After that, there are a variety of things you might consider, including the college campus and surrounding community. Summer can be a great time to visit a college campus. Also, remember to compare the college's admission requirements to your high school graduation requirements, and, if applicable, college athletic requirements; you will want to make sure you have covered all applicable requirements.

All Counselor Connections newsletters from this school year can be found on our webpage at www.aguafria.org/vhscounseling.

Dual enrollment is an opportunity for students, while still in high school and taking classes on the high school campus, to earn college and/or university credit. There are certain conditions that have to be in place for a class to be offered under Dual Enrollment; as a result, offerings may vary from year to year and campus to campus.

For the 2023-24 school year, we hoping to offer the following Dual Enrollment classes at Verrado High School:

• Spanish II

• Honors Spanish II

• Honors Spanish III

• AP Biology

• Honors Anatomy and Physiology

• AP Pre-Calculus
  

• AP Calculus AB

• Sports Medicine I

• Sports Medicine II

• Physical Therapy (aka, Sports Medicine III or Rehabilitation/Therapeutic Modalities)

Be sure to check your grades regularly via Student/Parent Vue. Students must pass classes to earn credits toward graduation. To be on-track to graduate, you must have the credit and subject requirements appropriate for your grade level.

You need to know your graduation requirements and your progress toward graduation. You can find our district's graduation requirements in our Course Description Book, www.aguafria.org.

If you need assistance with StudentVue (or ParentVue), be sure to reach out to the main Counseling Center. Our Counseling Clerks and/or our Data Specialist can help you.

The Presidents’ Honors Scholarship covers in-state/in-county tuition up to 15 credit hours (plus the $15 registration fee) per semester, excluding summer sessions.

For information and deadlines specific to EMCC, go to the EMCC Presidents' Honors Scholarship homepage.

Your health, mental and physical, impact the quality of your life. Life is full of challenges so it is important to have coping skills that help you maintain balance in your life.

We hope some of our Wellness Wednesdays posts in your cohort's Google Classroom have given you some strategies to try. We know not every tool works for every student; what's important is that you find the tools that work for you.

Remember, your School Counselors, School Social Worker, and School Psychologist are uniquely educated to support students on-campus and connect you, if needed, with resources off-campus.

Finally, let's support our Psychology Club's efforts to raise awareness for mental health by participating in this week's Spirit Week, Mental Health Fair, and Mental Health Event. Here is the daily theme for Spirit Week (May 1 - 5):

• Music Monday - Band or Musician shirt
• Take it easy Tuesday - PJ's
• Workout Wednesday - Workout gear
• Therapy buddy Thursday - Stuffed animal or animal print
• Suicide Awareness Friday - Wear purple and teal (colors of suicide awareness)

May 1st is National Decision Day! A day to celebrate our graduating seniors and their plans for after high school. This includes joining the military, starting an apprenticeship, entering the workforce, as well as attending a 4 yr college/university, community college, or trade school.

Seniors can complete the National Decision Day Google Form (in the Class of 2023 Google Classroom) to help us recognize their post high school plans.

988 is the new 3-digit dialing code that will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

When you call, text, or chat 988, you will be connected to trained counselors that are part of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network. They can provide support and resources to you.

As a reminder, here are resources our department has for VHS students and families:

• Appointment Request (for students only)

• Career Center (just off the VHS Reading Room)

• Counseling & Career Center Webpage

• Counseling Google Classroom (by grade level/cohort)

• Counseling Remind (by grade level/cohort)

• Counselor Connections (monthly newsletter)

• Instagram: vhscounseling

• Twitter: @Counselors_VHS

Senior Check-Out will be on May 17th starting a 8 am.

Seniors' mandatory graduation practice will be at 3:00 pm on May 18th. You must attend the graduation practice if you plan to participate in graduation ceremonies on May 20th.

Get all the latest graduation information on the school's website, www.aguafria.org/vhs, under the Class of 2023 Information section.

The credit recovery summer school programs still have some openings for this summer. Students who have earned a failing grade in a core course, will want to take the course in our district's summer school program to help stay on-track for graduation.

To learn more about this summer's credit recovery programs go to: https://sites.google.com/aguafria.org/2022afuhsdsummerfreshmen/home.

Questions? Please contact the Summer School Office at 623-932-7106 or summerschool@aguafria.org.