Scheduling for the 2025-2026 School Year
During the month of February, the School Counseling Team met with current and future students to discuss scheduling for the 2025-2026 school year. Students had individual appointments with their School Counselor to review the teacher recommendations for core subjects, choose electives and map out the progression of meeting graduation requirements. This stage of scheduling represents a large amount of data collection, critical to understanding staffing and development of the Master Schedule.
RIH School Counselors collaborated with the FLOW school districts to visit each of the middle schools. The objectives of these meeting included reviewing the course information in Genesis, selection of electives and preparing for the transition to high school. Eisenhower Middle School (Wyckoff), Franklin Ave Middle School (Franklin Lakes), and Valley Middle School (Oakland) graciously hosted members of the RIH Counseling team during the week of March 3rd. It was a wonderful way to connect with future students and address scheduling questions.
During the month of March, care will given to reviewing the data on course requests to begin the process of building a Master Scheduling. Emails will be sent at different stages to review the preliminary scheduling information as well the second window for submission of the Override Form, if needed. It is anticipated that the schedule will be shared in late May.
CROI: College Return on Investment
The Bergen County Directors of Guidance hosted an information session on Croi (College Return-On-Investment). This resource was then shared from RIH Guidance to help families navigate the financial aspects of the college process. The platform is free for families of Ramapo Indian Hills. Information about creating a free account was provided to those who registered for the Zoom presentation on Monday, February 24th
The presentation shared the options available through CROI:
- Compare colleges based on four-year costs and future salary projections
- Rank your college list based on ROI factors, personalized to your wants and needs
- See a breakdown of estimated loan payments after graduation
- Get personalized college matches based on your student’s academic and financial profile
- Make informed, data-driven decisions about your student’s future
Additional resources include consultation from:
- The Associate Director of Admissions at Brown University, who brings deep insight into the admissions process at top-tier schools
- The Associate Director of Financial Aid at Endicott College, who can help demystify financial aid and scholarship opportunities
RIH Guidance continues to share resources available to students and families for reference and exploration.
Gap Year Solutions: Zoom Presentation
Katherine Stievater founded Gap Year Solutions to help students successfully transition to college. She works with students across the U.S. to structure internships, work, service, travel and other activities into a customized plan. Her approach creates trust and powerful mentoring relationships with students. Based in Boston, MA, Katherine has four children, three children who have taken Gap Years, is an Accredited Gap Year Consultant, and a Professional member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association. Katherine speaks and publishes regularly about the growing Gap Year movement.
RIH Guidance has hosted Katherine for the past nine years, believing in the importance of sharing opportunities with RIH students and families to post-secondary planning. The presentation was held on Thursday, February 13th via Zoom. Information about Gap Years and short video summary can be found on the Gap Year Solutions website.
Bergen County Unsung Hero Awards
RIH Guidance and faculty nominators honored the RIH Unsung Heroes: Theo Sofocleous (IHHS) and Jenelyn Valdivia (RHS) as part of the larger celebration of Bergen County Unsung Heroes. This special presentation is sponsored by the New Jersey School Boards Association and represents a selection of fifty-seven (57) Bergen County Unsung Heroes for 2025. This prestigious recognition celebrates the exceptional contributions of our students and serves as a testament to their valuable contributions within our high school community
Who qualifies as a Bergen County Unsung Hero? These students have made a lasting impact through their unique and outstanding contributions to our schools. Their efforts to lead with compassion, connect with empathy and enhance the school environment are often overlooked by more traditional student recognition programs. However, these individuals of integrity and quiet leadership are essential in helping our community thrive.
This year's awards ceremony was held on Tuesday, March 4th, at the Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre at Bergen Community College in Paramus.
PSAT10 Testing: March 21st
The PSAT 10 will be administered to all RIH sophomore students on Friday, March 21st. The PSAT 10 will focus on Critical Reading, Writing and Math skills (including Algebra, Geometry and data analysis). Testing time is approximately 2 hours and 14 minutes for standard time. Students who are approved for special testing by The College Board may have different timing standards and accommodations.
Students must have an updated Bluebook application on their desk top for testing. Students will not be able to have their cell phone on their person during testing. Students may NOT bring the following items to the PSAT 10:
- Electronic equipment including phones, smartwatches, fitness trackers, wearable technology, cameras, recording or listening devices, or any other type of electronic or communication device (other than your testing device and any technology where you have an approved testing accommodation),
- All stylus pens, Apple pens, smart pens, iPad pencils, and other electronic writing instruments,
- Books, reference guides, notes, compasses, protractors, dictionaries, highlighters, or colored pencils,
- Papers of any kind (scratch paper will be provided by proctors and collected at the end of the test),
- Watches that beep, make a noise, or have an alarm,
- Calculators that do not meet the College Board requirements located at satsuite.collegeboard.org/psat-10/taking-the-test/what-to-bring-leave/calculator-policy,
- Detachable privacy screens,
- Reference guides, keyboard maps, or other typing instructions,
- Ear plugs,
- Headphones
Students are expected to bring their fully charged laptop and power cord. Test takers will report to school by 7:30 to begin testing. Non-test takers including 9th , 11th and 12th grade students will be arriving at school on a delayed opening schedule. Sophomore students are encouraged to review test prep materials available online: Practice PSAT If students are not able to participate in PSAT 10 testing, then there will be another opportunity to take the PSAT NMSQT in October 2025.
Bergen County Directors of Guidance College Fair
The Annual Bergen County College Fair hosted by the Bergen County Directors of Guidance and Ramapo College of New Jersey will be held on
Wednesday, March 19, 2025, 6:00-8:30p.m.
Bill Bradley Sports and Recreation Center
Ramapo College of New Jersey
Representatives from approximately 200 two-year and four-year colleges, nursing schools, business schools and trade schools will participate in this event. 2025 List of Colleges and Universities can be found here: https://www.ramapo.edu/admissions/bergen-county-college-fair/
Throughout the evening, Ramapo College of New Jersey will also offer information sessions dedicated to understanding the complex world of financial aid to help prepare students and their families for that step in the college search process.
Students must register in advance: https://app.strivescan.com/registration
Volunteer Opportunities
RIH Guidance has shared volunteer opportunities available to students. Throughout the month of March, the following volunteer opportunities have been posted:
Franklin Lakes Board of Health: Seeking volunteer students to attend the Franklin Lakes Board of Health Meetings at the Borough Hall six times per year in the evening. The application has been posted on Schoology to be reviewed by interested students. Two students (Juniors/Seniors) per high school will be considered for this liaison position. The deadline for submission is May 23rd.
Go the Distance for Autism: Go The Distance for Autism is a Cycle/Walk/Run event that takes place at Bergen Community College and raises essential funds for three local Autism programs in Northern New Jersey. The date for this event is June 1st. Interested students are encouraged to review the information available online: Go the Distance for Autism: Go the Distance for Autism 2025
Wyckoff Historical Society: The Wyckoff Historical Society is a private, volunteer organization dedicated to exploring, documenting, and uncovering artifacts, photographs and stories about Wyckoff’s history since 1974. We are responsible for maintaining the historic Union Cemetery and WHS history museum. In particular, the cemetery, located on Franklin Ave. in Wyckoff, requires 2-3 “clean-ups” of fallen branches, weeds, and so on each year. Information can be found here https://wyckoffhistory.org/
Commission on the Status of Women: Leadership Opportunity
The Bergen County Commission on the Status of Women (COSW) is a bridge between government and community to study the needs of women and promote the expansion of women’s rights and empowerment. Those students selected as "Junior Commissioners" will perform community service projects of their choosing or research a topic relevant to their peers. This is a one-year term.
Any junior girl interested in pursuing this leadership opportunity is encouraged to download copy of Application from from www.co.bergen.nj.us. The application has been sent via eblast in Naviance and posted on Schoology. Please direct any questions to Mrs. Dondero (ldondero@rih.org) at Ramapo High School and Mrs. Z (ezakrzewski@rih.org) at Indian Hills High School.
NJ Boys State: Leadership Opportunity
The American Legion Oakland Memorial Post 369 traditionally sponsors delegates attending the Boys State program annually.
Boys State is essentially a civics course “in action.” Students to be considered must have a “B” average, embody good character, be involved in sports inside or outside of school, involvement in extracurricular activities, and have leadership potential.
Students who are interested in law, law enforcement, politics, the military (including potential attendance at a service academy), public administration, and/ or education, would be well served by attending. Please review the information shared through Schoology and Naviance eblast. Applications are due by April 4th.
Please direct any questions to Mrs. Dondero (ldondero@rih.org) at Ramapo High School and Mrs. Z (ezakrzewski@rih.org) at Indian Hills High School.
Class of 2025: College Responses and Scholarships
"March Madness" takes on a different connotation in the Guidance Office as college responses for the Class of 2025 are released. Students are typically notified via email or access to an online portal with a few snail-mail letters also being sent. Decisions released at this time are typically linked to a Regular Decision process. The decisions can include an acceptance, denial or a student being "waitlisted." A denial is final at this stage of the process. A student being offered an acceptance has the opportunity to consider all acceptances over the course of March and April. Students are encouraged to visit (in-person or virtually) the campus using the College Visit Form for an excused absence as needed. The financial deposit for the selected school of enrollment is due on May 1, 2025. Students are to deposit at one school only.
Colleges eagerly anticipate students depositing on May 1st as confirmation of attendance. Between May 1 and May 15th, colleges often review their “yield” and whether or not there are seats available to consider students on the Waitlist. Waitlist decisions can be made from mid-May to mid-August.
The School Counselors are not notified by colleges about their decisions. We are dependent on the student sharing the news with us directly! Students are encouraged to meet with their School Counselor to review the acceptance offers.
Counselors will be visiting all Senior English classes in April to guide Seniors on updating their Application List and completing the Graduation Survey (if possible) in Naviance. We will also be reviewing posted Scholarship Opportunities and sharing the RHS Scholarship Checklist. Scholarship opportunities are being updated in Naviance regularly. These represent independent, community-based scholarship opportunities that are selected by the individual or organization sponsoring the scholarship. The RHS Scholarship Checklist is a Google Form reflecting approximately twenty scholarships on one shared application. The RHS Scholarship Committee will select recipients for scholarships listed on the Scholarship Checklist with exception to particular scholarships such as FLOW Follies with specific membership criteria.
If you or your student have any question regarding this phase of the college process, please do not hesitate to contact your assigned School Counselor!
