9 th Grade Advisement Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014

1. 9th Grade Advisement Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014 South Forsyth High School

2. SFHS Counseling Staff • Dr. Jamie D. Brown, Dept. Head A – B • Eddy Fernandez C – Gah • Corinna Spurlock Gai – Kot • Stacye Fickle Kou – Nor

3. SFHS Counseling Staff • Michele Vargas Nos – Smi • Shari Frankel Smj – Z • Kristi Hall Administrative Secretary

4. Pre-Test • Go the South Forsyth High School Webpage. www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/sfhs • Student Services • Counseling • 9th Grade • Pre-Test • Don’t leave the SFHS 9th Grade Counseling page… we’ll use it later!

5. How do I make an appointment? • Come to the Counseling Suite in East Hall and fill out a yellow pass. • Your counselor will call for you during an elective or IF. • If you fear for someone’s safety, make it a priority to talk to your counselor.

6. Grading Scale

7. First Steps for Students • Stay organized • Communicate with your teacher • Attend teacher extra help sessions during IF, before or after school, Saturday Academy • Be proactive not reactive

8. Best Practices for Success • Complete homework nightly, “There is no such thing as no homework,” except for on the last day of the semester • Turn in assignments on time! If not on time, still turn them in, because 0’s destroy your average • Use itsLearning • Ask questions • Use good study habits, pick at least 3 classes to review every night even its only for 15 – 20 minutes

9. Best Practice:Monitor Your Progress! • Correct homework answers • Correct warm up answers • Check Parent Portal • Review nine-week progress reports

10. Academic Support • Teacher Extra Help Sessions • Instructional Focus (IF) • War Eagle Learning Center • Before & After School • Saturday Academy

11. Mathematics Information and Resources • itsLearning • Mathispower4u.com • Patrickjmt.com • Khan Academy • Mu Alpha Theta • Saturday Academy • Instructional Focus

12. Let’s get involved! • Students need to be involved in a club, sport, and/or an organization. Be a part of the SFHS family!

13. Honors & Academic Recognition Forsyth County Schools has set standard criteria to become a member in honor societies and to be named an Honor Graduate.

14. Honor SocietyPreliminary Requirements for Membership

15. Graduation Requirements Students planning to enter/transfer into a 4 year college/university must take a minimum of two units of the same world language.

16. Promotion? Credits • How many credits are required to be in the 10th grade? • 5 credits need to be earned by the start of the 2015/2016 school year for students to be in the 10th grade. • If a student does not have 5 credits then the student remains in a 9th grade Instructional Focus. • How many credits are required to be in the 11th grade? 11 credits need to be earned by the start of the 2016/2017 school year for students to be in the 11th grade. • How many credits are required to be in the 12th grade? 17 credits need to be earned by the start of the 2017/2018 school year for students to be in the 12th grade.

17. Required High School Assessments • Must pass the GHSWT to be eligible for diploma • Are not required to take or pass GHSGT • Required to pass Georgia Milestone courses with the Georgia Milestones contributing 20% of course grade • Are not required to pass the Georgia Milestones

18. PSAT Administration • Math/Critical Reading/Writing • Test Date—October 15th • Registration information will be available soon

19. What Colleges (AND Employers) Are Looking For • GPA (academic core GPA) • Curriculum rigor—Can a student do well in rigorous courses? • Test scores (SAT/ACT) • Extracurricular activities **Depth versus breadth • Well rounded citizens

20. Georgia’s HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarship • Eligible students receive financial assistance covering partial or full tuition • Qualifications • - U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen • - Legal resident of Georgia • - Graduate of an eligible GA high school • Valid Social Security # Selective Service Males must register with the Selective Service no later than 30 days before their 18th birthday. HOPE eligibility will be delayed until this requirement is met www.sss.gov

21. HOPE Scholarship • A 3.0 is required in core courses • Core courses include: English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Language • Students must pass at least 4 academically rigorous courses that are outlined on GACollege411.org • AP weight is removed, but a .5 weight is added & cannot exceed 4.0

22. Zell Miller • Major premise of the program is that a student must meet all the requirements to be eligible for the HOPE Scholarship, plus: • Graduate from an eligible high school with a grade point average of at least a 3.7 as calculated by GSFC and having received a score of at least 1200 combined critical reading score and math score on a single administration of the SAT or an ACT score of at least 26; or • Graduated from an eligible high school as the valedictorian or salutatorian For more information, visit http://www.gacollege411.org

23. Post-Test • Go the South Forsyth High School Webpage. www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/sfhs • Student Services • Counseling • 9th Grade • Post-Test

24. Administrator, Counselors, and Staff Tracy Verrigni, Assistant Principal Grade 9 Administrator tverrigni@forsyth.k12.ga.us (770) 781-2264, ext. 101132 Dr. Jamie D. Brown Stacye Fickle Head Counselor (A – B) Counselor (Kou – Nor) jabrown@forsyth.k12.ga.usfickle@forsyth.k12.ga.us (770) 781-2264, ext. 101105 (770) 781-2264, ext. 101118 Edward Fernandez Michele Vargas Counselor (C – Gah) Counselor (Nos – Smi) efernandez@forsyth.k12.ga.usmvargas@forsyth.k12.ga.us (770) 781-2264, ext. 101121 (770) 781-2264, ext. 101116 Corinna Spurlock Shari Frankel Counselor (Gai – Kot) Counselor (Smj – Z) cspurlock@forsyth.k12.ga.ussfrankel@forsyth.k12.ga.us (770) 781-2264, ext. 101113 (770) 781-2264, ext. 101119 Kristi Hall, Adminstrative Secretary khall@forsyth.k12.ga.us (770) 781-2264, ext. 101101

25. Stay Connected to SFHS For tons of information please log on to our website: http://www.forsyth.k12.ga.us/sfhs Q & A’s