The fall semester is well underway! Please read below for important updates and resources. Our team is here to support students and families in the Counseling & Wellness Center on the 2nd floor of the main office. Students may visit during break/lunch, or with a pass from their teachers. Caregivers should contact the counselor to schedule an appointment.

October is National Bullying Prevention Month. Learn what you can do at https://www.pacer.org/bullying/. If you or someone you know is impacted by bullying, talk to your school counselor. We're here to listen and offer ideas on how school staff might be able to intervene and/or connect you with support. We partner with the San Diego Youth Services Anti-Bias program, which provides specialized counseling and advocacy services for GHS students who are impacted by bullying. Click here for more information and contact your student's counselor or ldawson@guhsd.net for a referral to the program. You can also utilize the Stomp Out Bullying Help Chat Line or call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.

Red Ribbon Week will take place at Grossmont on the week of October 23rd. It is a time to engage students in critical dialogues about the importance of making positive life choices and avoiding drug and alcohol use.

The Red Ribbon Week Campaign was created to honor Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, a special agent who worked for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and was kidnapped and killed by drug traffickers in Guadalajara, Mexico. Together in Kiki’s honor, schools and youth in communities nationwide wear red ribbons as a symbol of their commitment to raise awareness around his killing and the destruction caused by drugs in America.

During the week, students will learn about the harmful effects of drugs and alcohol, sign a pledge to live drug free and have the opportunity to win red ribbon swag, and take part in a PRIDE Lesson on Friday, October 27th further helping them to understand the issue. Students are also encouraged to wear red on that Friday in support of the campaign.

Grossmont High is fortunate to partner with the CAT (Community Assessment Team) and Elizabeth Hospice programs. We are hoping to provide 8 weeks of psycho-educational groups on our campus! Possible groups include Expressive Art, Let's Talk, Healthy Coping Skills, or Grief Support. Please complete this form if your student may be interested in services. We will reach out to you and your student with more details and to confirm interest.

The Upward Bound program is currently accepting students who are low-income and/or will be the first generation in their family to earn a bachelor's degree. This is an incredible opportunity for students to benefit from free tutoring, mentoring, college fieldtrips, test prep, academic advising, career exploration, scholarship info, and assistance with college and financial aid applications. Check out the GHS Upward Bound website here.

GHS teachers use Schoology to post and grade assignments, assessments, resources, updates, and discussions. You can obtain a schoology code from your student's teacher to view your student's grades, missing work, and more. These letters describe how to sign up and log in:

English parent letter

Arabic parent letter

Spanish parent letter

Students are encouraged to listen for announcements in the bulletin and sign up here to attend College Visits with admissions representatives at GHS!

October 6th, period 2: USC (University of Southern California)

October 18th, period 6: Whittier College

October 19th, period 5: Scripps College

October 24th, period 3: UCSD (University of California, San Diego)

October 30th, period 4, USD (University of San Diego)

AP (Advanced Placement) Exams are now on sale! Students must be enrolled in an AP class through the College Board My Classroom website. All students planning to take an AP Exam must sign up in their AP classes and pay the fee in the Finance Office by November 4th to avoid a late fee. The fee is $98 per test and the late fee will be an extra $40. Fee waiver forms are available in the Finance Office for those in need ($15 per exam for those who qualify).

Students with disabilities, please see this link for detailed instructions on how to request testing accommodations from the College Board or ACT organization. Please note the deadlines to request accommodations such as Oct. 13th for the December SAT, Nov. 13th for the December ACT, and January 18th for all AP Exams.

GUHSD has updated our policy regarding how we grant credit for community college classes taken through concurrent enrollment with prior approval. Coursework completed at colleges will now be calculated as weighted for courses which earn three college credits or higher and are transferable to UC, CSU, or other CA community colleges. The complete operational bulletin can be found here. Students who have completed community college coursework and submitted official transcripts should check their high school transcript to verify that it has been updated appropriately. See your counselor with any questions.

Take advantage of this opportunity to work on your college applications with a counselor available for support! Bring your chrome book and drop in during periods 6 or 7, every Tuesday during October and November in the College & Career Center (Upstairs in the Main Office).

"If you view the application as a story, it will change the entire way you approach applying to college. And it will greatly reduce some of the stress you feel along the way. Win-Win." Read more from this Georgia Tech Admissions Blog article.

Counselors have been meeting with each senior to review credits, post-secondary goals and next steps. We will send letters home to families, detailing your student's progress toward graduation requirements. Please ask your student about our conversation and review the resources we provided them. Watch for the graduation progress letter during the second week of October, and please let us know if you have any questions!

This chart and search tool show which CSU campuses and programs are impacted, meaning they receive many more applications than they can accommodate, making them more competitive. Four-year university bound students are encouraged to apply to a variety of schools, including reach, target, and safety schools. The non-impacted CSU campuses can be good options to consider as safety schools for many of our students!

Students who need to request a letter of recommendation from their counselor for colleges or scholarships must complete a brag packet. Click here to download a copy and return it to your counselor. Please allow three weeks notice and keep in mind that counselors do not work during holiday breaks. Letters will be sent directly to the college or scholarship committee. To request a letter of recommendation from a teacher, we have a different form that you may find helpful (optional-click here). Please give your teachers plenty of notice, too.

UC applications are due on November 30th! Students, this is your opportunity to let the UC admissions representatives get to know the real you. Think of it like an interview rather than an English essay. You will need to respond in your own voice, with a maximum of 350 words, to each of four out of eight prompts. You should write your responses in a separate document, take time to proofread, revise, ask someone else for feedback, and then paste the final draft into the application. Here are some great resources to help!

UC Website: Personal Insight Questions

University of California PIQ Worksheet

College Essay Guy University of California Resources