leland high school career center september 2011 parent newsletter f

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LELAND HIGH SCHOOL CAREER CENTER
SEPTEMBER 2011 PARENT NEWSLETTER
LELAND’S COLLEGE & CAREER EVENTS
Career Center Web Site:
sjusd.org/leland/index.html
College Event: Leland will offer a College Event for
students and their parents on a Saturday this year to be
announced through the electronic parent newsletter
and the Leland Weekly Bulletin.
Financial Aid Night for our seniors and their parents
will be held in January (TBA). Attendance at this
workshop is encouraged for any senior looking for
any financial aid.
Announcements: Look for Career Center
announcements in The Charger Account and in our
electronic parent newsletter.
COLLEGE & CAREER CENTER INFO
Leland offers a four-year comprehensive
career/college guidance program. Our program is
integrated directly into the student’s course work.
There are appropriate career/college guidance
activities for each grade level. The students may also
complete a computer activity during this unit using
the following online programs: Get In 2 College,
Choices Explorer, and Choices Planner.
Leland’s Career Center has excellent college and
career resources for parents and students. We have a
library of books that can be checked out. We
encourage students and parents to use the computer
guidance programs and Get In 2 College (info on next
page) throughout the year to research careers, majors,
colleges, and financial aid.
Leland’s Career Center is open Monday through
Friday during school and after school hours to 4:00
p.m. You may reach Joan Albers in the Career Center
at 535-6290 x 241 or at joan_albers@sjusd.org.
Brenda Stone is our new Academic Counselor who
works in an office in the ITC/Career Center. Mrs.
Stone is currently working with credit deficient
seniors and juniors. She is willing to meet with
students of any grade level who have questions about
credit deficiencies, graduation requirements and
options for credit recovery.
COLLEGE INFORMATION FOR SENIORS
College Application Packets with application tips and UC and CSU
information will be available on the Career Center Web Site October 1st.
The Career Center offers many application workshops to our seniors.
CSU and UC applications are accepted until 11/30. Seniors and their
parents are encouraged to read the Senior Newsletter that is posted on
the Career Center Web Site. Seniors applying to independents need to
obtain Letter of Rec. (info and deadlines are in the Senior Newsletter).
California has one of the best public college systems in the country. Every
year, it becomes more competitive for available spaces. The California
Budget will impact the numbers of students the public universities admit
and are now affecting academics. We are encouraging our students to
consider all post secondary options including CSU, UC, independents and
public out of state colleges (some schools may offer reductions in out of
state fees). Students interested in California public colleges need to apply
broadly. Facts to consider when making decisions are: the total cost of the
education, number of years to obtain a degree (if more that four years loss
of income), and availability of classes and services. Seniors planning on
enrolling at a community college will begin the process next spring.
SAT/ACT TESTING INFO
Students may obtain SAT Reasoning, SAT Subject, and ACT registration
forms in the Career Center. Colleges will accept both the SAT Reasoning
or ACT and will take their best score, therefore, we encourage students to
take both tests. For the ACT, many colleges (including UC) also require
the Optional Writing Test. Most colleges will not accept test scores from
seniors after the December testing dates. However, some CSU’s (San Jose
State) require testing completed by November. Seniors are responsible
for meeting deadlines and officially sending test scores to each college.
We recommend by the end of the junior year that students have taken the
required test. UC’s and some independent colleges also require SAT
Subject Tests. Beginning with the Class 2012 UC will no longer require
SAT Subject Tests, however, some majors may recommend Subject
Test/s. Test dates are available on the Career Center Page at the Leland
Web Site. Students requesting fee waivers for these tests need to see Mrs.
Albers in the Career Center.
TEST PREP INFO
Information about test prep resources and courses is available in the
Career Center. Students can prepare for these tests with books, online and
in person classes. The Career Center has many testing books that students
can checkout. Revolution will offer a Mock ACT on Saturday, 9/17 and
Mock SAT on Saturday, 9/24 for a fee of $10 each (Leland Career Center
fundraiser). Register at revolutionprep.com. Revolution offers financial
aid to students who qualify (call 877-738-7737).

PSAT INFO
The PSAT will be offered at Leland on Wednesday, Oct.12.
The district will register and pay for all juniors to take the
test. So, juniors do not need to register or pay for the test.
Because the PSAT is geared for juniors, we do not encourage
sophomores to take the test. However, if a sophomore is in
Algebra II, he/she may consider taking the PSAT for
practice. Sophomores may register and pay in the Career
Center on 9/26 or 9/27 during lunch or after school or on
9/28 during lunch. Cost is $15. Make checks payable to
Leland High School. Freshmen will not be allowed to take
the PSAT.
COLLEGE & CAREER GUIDANCE ONLINE
PROGRAMS
LHS has two comprehensive career/college guidance
computer programs that are Internet based that can be
accessed at home and school and can be used to research
careers, colleges, financial aid and many other topics.
Parents and students can set up an account with these
excellent programs using any computer with Internet access.
Instructions for parents to access Choices Planner and
Choices Explorer are available at the Career Center. In
addition to these two programs at this site there is an online
personality assessment that we have sophomores complete
“Do What You Are”. Also at this site is a Learning Styles
Inventory that the freshmen take. If your student has not
taken the Learning Styles Indicator, encourage them to see
Mrs. Albers in the Career Center. This will provide a helpful
report that can help the student study smarter. Parents are
encouraged to take advantage of the excellent resources by
clicking on the Parent Tab. Parents can use all of these
programs as well. These programs will be available shortly.
COLLEGE WEEK LIVE
College Week Live is a service that is “making it possible for
students to gain direct access to hundreds of colleges through
our virtual events; opening up education possibilities that
had previously seemed unreachable.”
September 14 is Diversity Day, October 6 is University of
California System Day, October 13 is International Day and
November 2 and 3 is CollegeWeekLive FALL (this event
will feature over 300 schools). On the 10/6 UC Day
admissions officers from 9 campuses will be available to
connect live with students. Visit
www.CollegeWeekLive.com for information.
COLLEGE FAIRS
East Side Union High School District will be hosting a
College Night on 9/19 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 at
Independence High School. There will be representatives
from over 100 colleges. WACAC College Fair will be
held on Thursday, April 19th at Mission College. The East
Side College Fair will include over 100 colleges and the
WACAC Fair will have around 140 colleges. We encourage
students and parents to take advantage of these excellent
opportunities to meet with representatives from colleges,
universities, and military academies.
GET IN 2 COLLEGE PROGRAM
Get In 2 College is a wonderful resource for students and parents
that is available at the Career Center Web Site. This program
includes a College Admission Handbook, Private Subscriber Site,
Consolidated Page of Links, Mini-Manuals and Power Points. The
43 page College Admission Handbook has comprehensive
information about the college process. We feel this Handbook is a
must read for our students and parents. The private website has
downloadable documents including grade level calendars and check
lists, campus visits, financing college, college comparison,
SAT/ACT Testing, etc. The consolidated page of over 600 helpful
links is sorted by category. Some topics in the Mini-Manuals
include: Getting Organized for College, College Visits, Common
Application, Effective Essays, Standardized Testing, and Financial
Aid/Scholarships. We strongly encourage you to use this great
program and take advantage of the wealth of information in the
Handbook and at this site. This program will be updated with the
2011-2012 resources shortly.
CALIFORNIACOLLEGES.EDU: An excellent resource for all
colleges in California.
FINANCIAL AID INFORMATION
Leland will offer a Financial Aid Night for seniors and their
parents in January (TBA). The FAFSA (the form that needs to be
submitted for any senior applying for federal, state and institutional
aid) will be available in January. If you are planning on submitting
the FAFSA online, you will need to request a PIN in advance for a
parent and student at fafsa.ed.gov. Students need to be aware of all
required forms and deadlines. Information is available in the
Career Center.
Independent/private colleges require additional financial aid forms.
Many colleges require the CSS Profile. The Profile needs to be
submitted and can be accessed at collegeboard.com.
Most colleges offer merit scholarships. Many colleges have
programs and funding for underrepresented minority and
economically disadvantaged students.
If your senior is applying for California’s financial aid, Cal Grant,
he or she will need to submit the FAFSA and GPA Verification
Form by 3/2.
If you would like to find out how much you will be expected to
contribute for your child’s college education, Financial Aid
Calculators are available at fafsa4caster.ed.gov, collegeboard.com
or act.org. Financial Aid websites: finaid.org, csac.ca.gov,
salliemae.com, fafsa.ed.gov, collegeboard.org. Scams: Parents and
students need to be aware of scholarship scams, fraudulent
scholarship search services, and fraudulent financial aid seminars.
Information is available in the Career Center.
SCHOLARSHIPS
Leland’s Scholarship Bulletin is posted in the Career Center,
Social Science, and English classrooms. This bulletin has
information about many scholarship opportunities for high school
students in grades 9-12 and is updated monthly. Students may
obtain copies of this bulletin and the scholarship applications from
the Career Center. Scholarship websites: fastweb.com, finaid.org,
srnexpress.com, gocollege.com, finaid.org, Petersons.com.