Freshman Planning Guide
Earl Warren High School
Welcome to High School!
You’re a freshman now and freshman year is about breaking ground, but even while you’re adjusting and exploring new opportunities, your academic life is being recorded on your official transcript that will be sent to colleges and career prep programs. As a result, strategic planning should increasingly become a significant part of your daily routine. Managing your time becomes essential as preparing for tests, papers, and in-class projects becomes an exciting challenge. School becomes busy with responsibility and new possibilities, so prepare yourself for a fun and productive high school experience.
Take advantage of new opportunities and you will grow to recognize your strengths, interests, and passions along the way. Open yourself to academic endeavors, excel, and begin shaping your life—class by class, year by year. Practice making one good decision after another and you will find that you have created dynamic college options for yourself.
Graduation
You will need to take and pass your classes to earn credits and graduate. You need 26 credits to graduate. You earn 1 credit for each year long class that you pass and .5 credit for each semester class you pass. Attendance does matter. You can have no more than 8 absences first semester and 10 absences second semester to earn credit for the semester. If you do not earn credit for a course either due to attendance or grades, you will have to retake it.
STAAR End of Course Exams
You must also pass your STAAR End Of Course (EOC) exams for English 1, English 2, Algebra 1, Biology and US History to graduate. You will take your STAAR EOC for English 1, Algebra 1 and Biology your freshman year.
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Fall
- _____ Meet with your guidance counselor: Carefully build your four year plan from the beginning. Think about how your course load will unfold over four years and begin creating a map for setting and accomplishing your goals. Grades are important in ninth grade, but rigor is key, so don’t just go for easy A’s. There’s no way to over-emphasize the importance of good planning.
- _____ Get involved in extracurricular activities: Join a club.
- _____ Earn money now for college: Go to Raise.me and sign up.
- _____ Study hard and make good grades.
Winter
- _____ Explore your interests: Take an interest assessment to make sure your endorsement path and courses align with your interests/values. Click on career interest assessment .
- _____ Explore possible careers: Visit CareerShip. CareerShip lets students review careers by cluster, match careers to interest, or search on and get information about a particular career.
- _____ Start thinking about the classes you will be taking next year: Meet with your counselor to do individual planning and create your four year plan.
- _____ Study hard and make good grades.
Spring
- _____ Get 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: Visit the College, Career and Military Readiness Center in A.106 or the CCMRC Smore!
- _____ Start studying for your PSAT/NMSQT: You will take the PSAT this year. It is practice for the SAT and will determine your eligibility for National Merit Scholarships. Start studying for it early. Click here to review and start a study plan.
- _____ Search for summer internship opportunities: An internship or a job may provide a brilliant opportunity for applying knowledge while gaining significant work experience. Internships and paid positions often require a resume and interview, both of which provide useful practice for the college application process.
- _____ Study hard and make good grades.
Summer
- _____ Volunteer
- _____ Schedule college visits
- _____ Create your resume: Fill it with activities and accomplishments from freshmen year.
Helpful Links
Warren High School course offering
Review current Warren High School Course Selection for the 2022-2023 school year.
9th/10th Planning
There are some steps you can take as a 9th and 10th grader to make sure you’re on the right track for college. For more information and to get a list that will help you navigate the college planning process, click on the link below.
PSAT/NMSQT Practice
Simulate test day by taking PSAT/NMSQT practice tests. Click on the link below.
Raise.me
Earn money now by doing well in school. Raise.me is a program that allows high school students to start earning scholarship money for college. The money is tied to a students' individual achievements. The better you do in school, the more engaged you are with the community, the more money you can earn from Raise.me college partners. Go to the link below for more information.
Cafe College
Cafe College strives to create college opportunities, access and success for students in San Antonio and surrounding areas. For more information on the programs and services they offer, click on Cafe College below.
Tips on Building a High School Resume
Resumes are not just for adult job applicants. High school students applying to college, summer jobs and internships need resumes too. Click on the link below to receive tips on building your high school resume.
Military Careers
Interested in exploring a military career? Click on the link to below to go to Today's Military.
Mapping Your Future
Are you still undecided about the career you should pursue? Visit CareerShip at the link below. CareerShip lets students review careers by cluster, match careers to interest, or search on and get information about a particular career.
TEA Graduation Toolkit
Please visit the TEA Graduation Toolkit for information on High School years and beyond provided by the Texas Education Agency.