Senior Newsletter

All seniors have been invited to join a senior Google Classroom where we will post announcements and information relevant to senior students. Any senior can join with the code: ZSMSJZ5.

This will be an important resource for seniors to stay connected to as we approach graduation!

Make sure that your contact information is up to date and accurate in your student's gradebook account. You do not want to miss communication coming from the school with graduation on the horizon.

With graduation in sight, we often see seniors start to "check out" this time of year. We aren't across the finish line yet! Please encourage your students to give it their all. Grades and credits are still critically important. Some seniors still need to pass End of Course tests to meet graduation requirements. Some seniors are digging holes with attendance that will be difficult to climb out of. There is nothing more heartbreaking than telling a senior that they will not graduate because they got close but not across the finish line. Teachers, counselors and administrators will be monitoring senior progress on our end, but we value and appreciate your help and support from home! Please never hesitate to reach out to us if we can help motivate or encourage your student.

For graduation purposes, senior rank and GPA will be finalized and locked at the end of the 3rd nine weeks. Grades will continue to be calculated and updated on senior transcripts through the end of the second semester, but GPA will not be re-calculated after the completion of the 3rd nine weeks. This allows time to finalize the status of honor and high honor graduates for graduation.

FAFSA is now open for 25-26. Any student considering going to school after graduation should complete the FAFSA as soon as possible. Some families prefer to complete this important step on their own. We are fortunate to have a partnership with LEARN to assist students and families that would like some help!

LEARN will be hosting two FAFSA workshop days at Monterey to help families complete this important step. Appointments are available beginning at 8 am through 6 pm on January 14th and 23rd. Use the link above to schedule your time. Book quickly if you need an after-work appointment!

Both the student and at least one parent MUST be available to complete FAFSA. Please double check everyone's availability before scheduling.

Both parent and student MUST have their FSA-ID created 3-4 days before your appointment. Students that have worked with LEARN should have already created their FSA-ID. If you still need to create one, click the "Create your FSA-ID" link below, select "get started" and follow the instructions. If you already have an FSA ID from helping an older student or from your own college financial aid, please make sure you can log in or go ahead and reset the password. Students can work with our LEARN advisor before the FAFSA workshop days to set up their FSA-ID if they need help with the process. Students can request an appointment to meet with our LEARN advisor using the link below.

Things to bring to your FAFSA appointment include:

• Both student and parent FSA-IDs
• The parents' 2023 IRS 1040 & W-2s
• The student's 2023 IRS 1040 & W2s if they worked and/or filed taxes in 2023.
• Any social security/disability, child support, TANF, workers comp, or SNAP benefits.

Call Rhonda, your LEARN Talent Search advisor, with any questions regarding your appointment at (806) 763-4265.

West Texas Graduation Services (Herff-Jones) is the company we contract with for cap & gowns. If you have already ordered your cap and gown, it will be delivered to you at school on March 13th.

IF YOU HAVE NOT ORDERED YET, YOU WILL WANT TO TAKE CARE OF THAT ASAP! Order early to guarantee that you will get everything delivered in time.

If you are planning to borrow graduation regalia from a previous MHS grad, make sure that they graduated in 2022 or after and that it looks like the one pictured here. If money is an obstacle, please visit with your counselor now. We have a limited supply of caps and gowns that we can make arrangements to loan to students in need.

Any questions regarding cap & gown orders can be directed to:

Herff-Jones

2904 50th St. Lubbock, Texas 79413

Phone: (806) 744-7737

E-mail: info@westtexasgrad.com

Website: www.westtexasgrad.com

Students that are committed to serving our country through military service will receive a cord to wear at graduation and will be introduced during the ceremony. Submit the completed military commitment form (linked below) to your alpha counselor no later than Monday, May 6th, 2024.

We want to highlight all of our students who have been accepted to any postsecondary institution (trade school, vocational school, junior college, college or university) and students who have committed to serve our country through military enlistment. These are both huge accomplishments that we want to celebrate!

In order to be included on "the wall", please show your alpha counselor verification of your acceptance. You can swing by their office to share your big news or email them a copy of the verification. If you have been accepted to more than one school, let us know about all of them! We will also use this information to plan our "signing event" closer to graduation.

Monterey is fortunate to have many college recruiters visit campus to answer questions and work with students personally. Dates and sign up links are kept updated on the counselor page of the MHS website.

Any interested juniors or seniors can take advantage of this opportunity by signing up to meet with an admissions representative.

Most colleges and universities have a variety of merit and need-based scholarships available for students to apply for. Students are encouraged to work closely with admissions and financial aid personnel to ensure that they are taking advantage of all of these school-specific opportunities.

It is best practice to apply for any scholarship that you meet the eligibility requirements for.

You won't get money if you don't apply for it!

Many scholarships are shared with local high schools to post for students. These will start coming in more frequently in the Spring semester. As these become available, they will be posted in the senior Google Classroom.

Several scholarship search engines exist to help attempt to match students to scholarships they might qualify for.

You can find links for all of these opportunities on the counselor page of the Monterey website.

Seniors are recognized in the graduation program and during the ceremony for all scholarship money that was offered to them. Students do not have to accept the offers in order to be recognized at graduation- they simply have had awards offered to them. Please list all scholarships offered. Return the scholarship offer form (linked below) along with verification (an email, letter, or a certificate, etc.) from the college or organization for each scholarship listed to your alpha counselor. The deadline to submit forms in order to be recognized at graduation is Monday, May 6th 2024.

The scholarship application window at South Plains College is now open!

Students attending South Plains College will only have to complete one general scholarship application. Students will need to submit at least one reference letter, an activity resume, SAT/ACT scores, if they have taken the tests (they are not required), and a high school transcript with grades through the Fall 2024 semester and answer the short answer essay questions. Any question with an * is required and must be answered.

Students will need to have applied and been accepted to South Plains College before they can log into the scholarship portal. If they are current dual credit students, then they can sign in with their current SPC email address and MySPC/Blackboard password.

The deadline date for this application will be Monday, March 1, 2025.

Seniors that need to take the TSI will have multiple testing opportunities at MHS this Spring. Find more information using the link below.

ALL MHS TSI testing will take place in the BTR/LTR. Arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of the test. Enter through the marked cafeteria doors (closest to the annex).

• Wednesday, December 4, 2024 ; 1:30pm-5:30pm; MHS- BTR
• Tuesday, January, 14, 2025; 1:30pm-5:30pm; MHS- BTR
• Tuesday, March 4, 2025; 8:15am-12:00pm; MHS- BTR - - - Seniors ONLY
• Tuesday, April 15, 2025; 8:15am-12:00pm; MHS- BTR - - - non-STAAR Biology testers ONLY
• Thursday, April 17, 2025; 8:15am-12:00pm; MHS- BTR - - - non-STAAR US History testers ONLY
• Tuesday, April 22, 2025; 8:15am-12:00pm; MHS- BTR - - - non-STAAR Algebra 1 testers ONLY
• Tuesday, May 20, 2025; 12:00pm-4:00pm ; MHS- BTR
• 
  

*The TSI is available at Texas Tech Testing Center on a more frequent basis. Texas Tech Testing Center Texas Tech Testing Center Link (806) 742-3661

Most universities will use SAT and/or ACT scores for two primary purposes: admissions and scholarships. Hopefully most students are narrowing their college focus and know whether or not they stand to benefit from testing again. Many students will take both tests and might even retest multiple times. It is important to know if your school will "superscore." Schools that superscore use the best section scores, even if they were from different test administrations. If your school offers guaranteed scholarships based on test scores and they superscore, you might benefit by continuing to test in order to potentially hit a higher scholarship threshold. If your school does not offer scholarships for test scores and you are already admitted, there is not much purpose in testing again.

This is definitely an individual decision, but it is important to be informed about what you potentially stand to gain by testing again and taking the initiative to register and test if you could potentially benefit from improved scores.

Your senior year comes with a lot of big decisions.

What do you want to do next? College? Career? Military?

These tools will help you explore costs and benefits of all these options.

From understanding post high school options, to exploring careers, to applying for college and planning finances for after graduation, you can find resources to help with all of this and more at Texas OnCourse!

The spring semester of senior year is packed with activities and information. We do our best to communicate with students and families in a variety of ways.

• You will continue to receive newsletters and emails with important information
• A letter and tentative senior activity calendar will be mailed home after Christmas
• The counselor website will continue to be updated regularly
• We will have an informational senior meeting on Thursday, April 3rd for all seniors
• The senior Google Classroom will have tons of information
• Relevant information will be included in daily announcements

Counselors are always happy to answer emails and phone calls and help in any way possible. Don't hesitate to reach out to us!

Alpha A-C

Alpha D (Lead Counselor)

Alpha E-I

Alpha J-M

Alpha N-R

Alpha S-Z

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