College visits next week

The guidance office (with a lot of help from our guidance intern) has scheduled some college visit field trips for next week. We have been announcing them all week in school. We will visit Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne on Tuesday3/24/09 ("A new school of thought, Indiana Tech" is their catch phrase. They are a four year college with a technology focus). IUPUI in Indy on 3/26/09. Announcements have been made during daily announcements and paperwork is available at the front guidance office desk.

Junior- Making it Count presentation March 19, 2009

We will have our annual Making it Count presentation for juniors on march 19, 2009 in the auditorium. Students will be called from 5th hour for the presentation. The presentation typically reminds students what they should be doing to prepare for the following schoool year & to prepare for their future.

I will send information to junior English or US history classes in the week following the presentation to reinforce ideas heard in the presentation. We will remind students to sign up for SAT/ACT tests the spring of thier junior year (so they will have scores to send to colleges). it is best to check with colleges of interest annd see if they have a preference of ACT/SAT.

FAFSA deadline was 3/10/09(financial aid for post high school)

We had a large push throughout the building regarding the FAFSA deadline. HHS hosted a financial aid night in January, distributed info on College Goal Sunday, FAFSA Friday, & we hosted Murray & Associates (3/5/09) who visited both high schools & assisted families in filling out & submitting electronic FAFSA's. HHS counselors visited senior English classes 3/3/09 and completed surveys of all seniors to assess post high school goals and to assess FAFSA status. We also handed out FAFSA worksheets & handed out fliers/info about the Murray & Associates assistance in house later that week. According to our surveys, we had a large number of students who had already filed their on-line FAFSAs. This (I believe) is thanks to Mr Poyer who visited all senior classes in December and had students file for their electronic PINs and reminded students of the importance of the FAFSA deadline.

Scheduling for 2009-2010

I must apologize, I was locked out for a while.

course fairs:
current 9, 10, 11 January 29th 6pm-8pm will provide info to parents and students about course offerings. will be in cafeteria. Doors open at 5:45pm. Teachers will set up an area & can provide info to students/parents (handouts/videos/ etc.). Suggested times will be: 6-6:30pm for 9th, 6:30-7:15pm for 10th, 7:15-8pm for 11th (to try and control volume of people coming thru). counselors will have handouts made available here: Recommendation sheets/worksheets /grad requirements/etc. these will be handed out Friday at HHS following meeting for anyone unable to attend. Our planning and information packets were delivered to all in house 9th & 10th grade English classes. Announcements went out over PA beginning January 30th for students to come pick up planning sheets. Financial aid night for seniors also scheduled for this night in library, 7pm.

Actual scheduling:
Feb 2-6 counselors will meet in English classrooms to schedule 9th graders for 10th grade year
Feb 9-13 counselors will meet in English classrooms to schedule 10th graders for 11th grade year
Feb 17-20 counselors will meet in US History classrooms to schedule 11th graders for 12th grade year

meetings with current 8th to schedule 6:30pm Sat Feb 21st at 9am Feb 25th Wed (early release day), and February 26th thurs. We will have a course fair and we will complete schedules at that time.

reviewing schedules for 2nd semester

Today during activity period, we handed out schedules to all students and asked that they review their schedules for errors - missing a required class, missing a period, etc.
Students were reminded that schedules are created for the year and elective changes are not to happen at this point.... this is merely a double check for the double checks the counselors have done. This helps smooth the start of 2nd semester considerably.
Again, schedules in our corporation are set for the year. This is not a time for elective changes - this is a time to assure a smooth transition to 2nd semester.

in Senior English classes - signing up for FAFSA PIN

Mr Poyer is meeting in Senior English classes and having students go on-line and register for their PIN.

www.pin.ed.gov log on to get electronic signature PIN for FAFSA.
This is required for the electronic FAFSA form.
Paper FAFSA takes about 10 weeks for initial paperwork, then another 10 for revisions. electronic takes a matter of days.
Parents must get a PIN separate from their student - Mr Poyer handed out 'homework' sheets for students to take to their parents.
FAFSA's are completed after January 1st using 2008 tax information.

Mr Poyer stated: get FAFSA apps in early so benefit from the most money.
Talk to your financial aid office once the FAFSA is completed - they may have discretionary funds to give out (they decide who gets it).
We've posted financial aid dates in January - those posters will be in senior classes (should already be posted).
Murray and Associates will be in our building in January. They are a free service (paid for by Madison County Community Foundation) to help you figure out the true cost of college, work through financial aid, etc. They are a free service you can use throughout your college career. More info to come in February.

Financial dates - seniors, mark your calendars

The tentative date for the financial aid assistance night for parents at Highland High High School is scheduled for January 29,2009.

College Goal Sunday on February 15, 2009, at 36 locations statewide

FAFSA Friday on February 27, 2009, which will provide online help via the Web and online videos.

- more info to follow as more details become available!