Barbe High School Information Meeting

1. Barbe High SchoolInformation Meeting December 2010

2. Welcome Mr. Goodly, Assistant Principal, 11th grade New Counselor this year: Karen Fackrell 217-4460 ext 1436 karen.fackrell@cpsb.org

3. Purpose of Meeting Tonight Go over Graduation Requirements and Paths College/TOPS general requirements Grades/Attendance/Behavior Upcoming dates to remember

4. Graduation Requirements Academic Component 24 credits required for graduation Can be on either LA Core 4 Track OR Louisiana Basic Core Track Difference in how credits are allocated/required LA Core 4 is a college preparatory track Students must fill out forms to switch to Basic

5. Graduation Requirements (con) Testing component MUST pass ELA and Mathematics GEE with at least Approaching Basic Must also pass ONE of these tests: Social Studies or Science Will need to retest if not passed Testing requirements for students with IEPS are per IEP (i.e., LAA 2)

6. Course Requirements (con) MUST PASS CLASSES TO EARN CREDIT For a year long class, students need 360 points to pass (60 points per grading period (6) 60x6=360) Barbe Grading Scale 90-100 A 70-79 C 59-Below U 89-80 B 60-69 D Semester exams will be given THIS week, starting Tuesday, December 14th. Most courses will also cumulate with a final exam. Exams are worth 15% of grade for that grading period!

7. DIFFERENCE: TOPS/Grad Reqs TOPS requires 17.5 credits in core curriculum It is POSSIBLE a student can meet the requirements for graduation and NOT meet the requirements for Tops, or vice versa TOPs website: www.osfa.la.gov Students will not apply for TOPS until next year but need to ensure they are scheduled in correct courses to meet eligibility The better a student does GPA/Test scores, the more award and aid funded through TOPS (Opportunity, Performance, Honor)

8. TOPS requirements The TOPS statute requires that you earn at least a 2.50 grade point average (NO rounding). Can not be waived. GPA calculated by LOSFA from Tops CORE The ACT qualifying scores for students graduating from eligible Louisiana high schools in 2011 are: TOPS-Tech � 17 or the silver level score on the assessments of the ACT WorkKeys system TOPS Opportunity � 20 TOPS Performance - 23 TOPS Honors - 27

9. Post Secondary Planning Louisiana schools governed by Board of Regents-sets Admissions qualifications. http://regents.state.la.us/ This website lists the minimum admission requirements for admittance to any of the 19 public schools/universities in Louisiana Regents Core and TOPS core NOT the same for 2012

10. Preparation for Post Secondary Most 4 year institutions require college preparatory program with ACT or SAT scores KNOW WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR YOUR SCHOOL different schools=different admission reqs

11. College Admissions Testing Juniors should schedule spring testing You can take the ACT or the SAT�. Register online for both the ACT and the SAT. Use the access code on your PSAT/NMSQT score report to sign in to My College QuickStart� to prepare for the SAT using a study plan based on your PSAT/NMSQT results and explore lists of suggested colleges, majors and careers. Our school code is 191-449 (for SAT AND ACT)

12. Things I tell your Students �NEVER TAKE A TEST YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN� ACT and SAT have FREE study guides available online Study guides also available in the public libraries and online Test performance is tied to TOPS and Admissions so TAKE THE TEST SERIOUSLY!!!

13. Test Dates for ACT TEST DATE REG Date Late Reg Feb. 12, 2011 Jan. 7, 2011 Jan. 23, 2011 April 9, 2011, March 4, 2011 March 19,2011 June 11, 2011 May 6, 2011 May 20, 2011

14. SAT test dates Test Date Reg Date Late Reg Jan 22, 2011 Dec 23, 2010 Jan 7, 2011 Mar 12, 2011 Feb 11, 2011 Feb 25, 2011 May 7, 2011 April 8, 2011 April 22, 2011 June 4, 2011 May 6, 2011 May 20, 2011

15. �But what if my kid doesn�t want to go to college?� College is not for everyone (and not everyone qualifies to attend right after high school) 4 years of college right after HS might not sound too enjoyable NOTHING wrong with Community/Tech Schools Military/Peace Corps/Job Training schools are also options

16. (GASP) SENIOR YEAR PREP Scheduling packets will be distributed week of January 31st Packets will be due back by February 18, 2011 Confirmation sheets will be due back by April 21, 2011 NO PHASE CHANGES DURING REGISTRATION SO� SIGN UP FOR THE CLASSES YOU WANT

17. So what should you be doing? Keep up with your grades/attendance If your students miss more than 5 days, they may have to do credit recovery NEED TO BE AT SCHOOL

18. What else? Start looking at colleges/universities Pick 10-15 schools to research, make arrangements to visit if possible Track credits/grades and what will be needed for Senior year Take SAT/ACT- DON�T FORGET TO STUDY What are plans for summer? Internship? Volunteering? Summer job?

19. Scholarship and College Information Sites www.collegenet.com -Search over 600,000 scholarships www.xap.com - A resource site for colleges with profiles, entrance requirements, and costs www.ecampustours.com � A very interesting site! It gives the student the option of doing a virtual campus tour www.scholarships.com -Contains a scholarship search and insights on a variety of scholarship-related topics

20. Sites (continued) www.fastweb.com � Provides details on more than 60,000 scholarships www.finaid.org � Provides financial aid information, it is a guide on �How To� do financial aid. www.collegelink.com - Browse scholarships by academic field www.allaboutcollege.com - A great website that has a college directory, student chat room, study abroad information, test preparation, financial aid and job search options.

21. Other Websites to Remember www.osfa.la.gov LOFSA/TOPS www.collegeboard.com SAT www.actstudent.org ACT http://regents.state.la.us/ LA Colleges www.homeworkla.org Free homework help NEW for JUNIORS!!! Now there is a FAFSA site for juniors. The web site is www.fafsa4caster.com. The site is developed especially for students in their junior year so they can forecast their financial aid.

22. Thank you for your attention! Questions?