Commercial real estate shifts northwest with residential growth

24 | July 2010 Community Impact Newspaper • Northwest Houston Edition
Education Focus
Cy-Fair ISD high school counselors
By Betsy Ellison
High school counselors at Cy-Fair ISD
strive to make students aware of their
options—current and future—and the
director of guidance and counseling for the
district, Darlene Davenport, said though
it may be a challenging job due to the district’s
size, it is also extremely rewarding.
“On the high school level,” she said,
“each counselor might be in charge of 400
to 500 students. It is my goal to make sure
no student walks across that stage and
says, ‘I didn’t know my counselor.’”
During the school year, each grade level
has specific issues the counseling services
are responsible for, including graduation
requirement information, SAT and ACT
preparation, college applications, advanced
placement courses and much more.
Davenport said the counselors make
sure to give focus to all grades, though the
junior and senior years of a high school
student are extremely important as well.
“The district requires that every student
meet with their counselor both their
junior and senior year,” she said. “They
discuss GPAs, class rank, where students
are applying for college and future career
options.”
Another aspect the counseling department
oversees are advanced placement and
dual credit courses, which allow students
to begin earning college credit hours as
early as the 10th grade.
Advanced placement courses are taught
on a college-level and require passing an
exam to earn transcript credit. Dual credit
classes are actual college courses that can
be taken through Lone Star College-CyFair
or, if a teacher is qualified, on the high
school’s campus. These classes fulfill district
graduation requirements for students.
Jersey Village High School’s coordinating
counselor, Sharla Schmidt-Baker, has
been with the school district for 25 years
and said she loves talking with the students
and helping them solve problems.
Betsy Ellison
“I’ve never heard a counselor say, ‘I
can’t help’ or ‘That’s not my job,’” she said.
“We really do care about these kids and
their well-being. Cy-Fair ISD has some of
the best counselors in the world.”
Susan Firth, coordinator for transcript
evaluation for Cy-Fair ISD, said the counselors
make sure each student has options
available that will fit his or her needs.
“We recognize that our students are all
different and sometimes high school can
be difficult,” she said. “We try to match
our resources to the students’ individual
needs.”
One option the counseling department
promotes is Windfern High School of
Choice, the district’s nontraditional high
school where classes are taken at an accelerated
level and on a credit-need basis.
“Windfern lends itself to an adult
The age groups we serve:
Lil’ Adventurers-Preschoolers from 3-6 years old
Adventurers K-2 • Explorers 3rd-5th
Jr. Trekkers 6th-8th • Sr. Trekkers 9th+
Adults
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Langham Creek High School counselor Richard Armstrong decorated his office with bright colors and fun patterns to stay inviting
for students.
atmosphere,” Firth said. “Students are
treated almost as if they are at a community
college.”
Students must apply to attend Windfern
and be under the age of 21 years old.
Counseling outside the office
Programs, informational meetings and events
are held throughout the school year by each
high school’s counseling department to keep
parents and students in the know.
• College night
• Military night
• Financial aid night
• Senior parent meeting
• College 101*
• Junior/senior conferences
*Not at all 10 high schools
For more information visit
www.cfisd.net/dept2/counseling/contents.htm
PENNY
PINCHING
MAMAS
Cy-Fair Independent School District 2010
Cy-Fair ISD statistics
$25.1 million
in academic scholarships given to
class of 2010
7,621
students were seen by counselors
from May 10–14, 2010
95.8%
graduation rate for the
class of 2008*
4,585
students took 7,100 advanced
placement tests in May 2010
2,700
students took dual credit courses
in 2009–10
$500,000
total amount saved by families of dual
credit students compared to taking
same course at a university
63%
of 2009 CFISD graduates attended
a Texas college*
*Most current information available from district.
Top 5 schools attended:
35% Lone Star College CyFair*
8% Texas A&M University*
7% University of Houston*
6% The University of Texas at Austin*
6% Blinn College*
*Record kept by Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board
Source: CFISD guidance and counseling department
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