The Counselor's Corner

Hark! The district angels sing,

Vacation's near - it's happening!

Parties, finals, students run wild,

Counting days till grades are filed!

The Counselor's Corner is a great way for the counseling office to provide parents and students with current events and important dates that are pertinent for your families' calendar for the month. Be sure to save it so that it can be used as a quick reference.

Next week all students will hear from each department about all of the courses SCW will offer next school year. When the students return in January, they will review their ICAP and submit courses for the 25-26 school year. All students currently have an ICAP in their Naviance account that you can review together.

TEST DATE: February 8, 2025

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: January 3, 2025

TEST DATE: April 5, 2025

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: February 28, 2025

Register ACT

TEST DATE: March 8, 2025

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: February 21, 2025

TEST DATE: May 3, 2025

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: April 18, 2025

*Click on the link below to check the website for changes, regular cancellation and late registration.

https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/sat

Please be sure to join your graduation year Guidance Google Classroom today. Everyone will need to join using their SCW email accounts. Important updates and announcements will be shared i these classrooms from the Counseling Office.

GOOGLE CLASSROOM CODES BY GRADUATION YEAR

SENIOR 2025: abcer67

JUNIOR 2026: ihhpawg

SOPHOMORE 2027: p3g3e4w

FRESHMAN: 7o2sjmx

All transcript requests must be submitted through Parchment.com. If you don't already have an account, you can create one using a personal email address (do not use your school email address because you will need to access Parchment after you graduate!). Official transcripts can be sent to any college, workplace, or scholarship organization if requested to be sent directly to them. Any self-view requests are considered unofficial. Please contact your counselor or Mrs. Kimi Becker in the counseling office if you have any questions or need help.

This school year, our Final Exam Exemption policy will include all of the same elements as last year with the addition of a 90% attendance rate requirement. As reminder, any absences that lower attendance below the 90% rate must be supported by medical documentation related to specific dates of absence. The entire policy can be viewed below.

Students eligible to exempt a final exam should be added to the Final Exam Exemption Sheet by their teacher by the end of the day on Monday, December 9th. The main office will be double-checking the attendance rate for all students by Friday, December 13th in order to ensure each student meets the discipline criteria and is still above the required 90% attendance rate on that date. Teachers will confirm your exemption status for you during class on either Monday, December 16th (A Day) or Tuesday, December 17th (B Day).

Students can exempt semester final exam(s) IF:

• Student has a daily attendance rate of 90% or better AND
• Student has an A (90% or greater) in the course AND
• Teacher is giving a final exam AND
• Teacher is participating in the exemption incentive AND
• Student has no major discipline for the semester (i.e. no more than 4 detentions, no Saturday Campus detentions, and no ISS or OSS during the semester of the requested exemption). This includes discipline issued from another building.
• Students need to communicate with their classroom teachers to determine if they are eligible and to have the teacher add the student to the shared Google Exemptions document if eligibility has been met.
• Students must be in attendance the day of their exemption. During that particular final exam, the student may:
• Remain in the classroom to study for any other final exam
• Go to the final exam exemption activity location
• SAMS students may attend their SAMS location if additional hours are needed. This must be approved by both their SAMS teacher and the SAMS coordinator for the building ahead of time.

Due to current attendance policies and procedures, students will not be required to maintain a 96% attendance rate in order to qualify for the final exam exemption incentive at this time. Because of state attendance requirements for public schools, however, students will be required to be in attendance at the time of the exempted final in order to use the exemption.

Please find the First Semester Final Exam Schedule below. As a reminder, the class schedule is altered during final exams. In the case of a conflict, students attending alternate sites (Lewis and Clark, CAPS, Success Campus, etc.) should plan on attending their final exam unless specifically stated otherwise.

During final exams, students on the final exam exemption list will have options available to them during that particular exam block. Students may choose to stay in their classroom in order to quietly work/study, go to the auditorium to watch a movie, go to the auxiliary gym or commons (depending on the day) for games (board games, card games, etc) and gym activities (bags, spike ball, can jam, basketball, etc), or go to the library for quiet reading. All students will report to their scheduled class location each block for attendance. Students attending an exemption location and not taking a final exam will be released from class following attendance.

On Tuesday, December 17th, Student Council will be hosting a final exam study session from 5:30 pm to 8:00 PM in the library. Hot cocoa, snacks, and study help will be provided as students prepare for their final exams. There will be teachers in attendance to help as well. It's a great way to kick off final exam week!

Mark your calendars...the MAC Scholars Homework Academy will be in session Tuesday, December 3rd, Thursday, December 5th, Tuesday, December 10th and Thursday, December 12th from 2:30pm - 4:00pm in the library. There are staff and tutors available to assist students in various subject areas. This is a great opportunity for students to get extra help from staff and work with others to make sure they are succeeding in their classes. Take advantage of this opportunity to get some extra help you need before exams start. It will resume on Tuesday, February 4th.

Let's finish first semester strong!

Thursday, December 5th - Construction & Craft Laborers in Lab A during AIP

Monday, December 2nd - Leaders Meeting

Monday, December 9th - 9th/10th graders

Monday, December 16th - 11th/12th graders

Thursday, December 12th - Lab A or Library Classroom

Are you looking for scholarship opportunities? Be sure to keep an eye out for all scholarships and their deadlines.

• https://studentscholarships.org/newsletters
• ESA (Epsilon Sigma Alpha) Foundation is offering 100 scholarships this year for students in the United States, as well as internationally, who meet the criteria of individual endowments. The information about the scholarships, requirements and applications are available on their website: www.epsilonsigmaalpha.org/scholarships-and-grants.
• St. Johns Bank Excellence Scholarship https://stlouisgraduates.academicworks.com/opportunities/9124 or you can pick on up in the Guidance Office.
• Optimist Scholarship can be picked up in the Guidance Office.

*Always check the website under the Counselors and your Google Classroom for additional scholarships that are posted.

WHAT: St. Charles West Band Arts, Crafts & Vendor Fair

WHEN: Saturday, December 14, 2024 9:00am - 3:00pm

WHERE: St. Charles West High School ~ 3601 Droste Rd. ~ St. Charles, MO

* * 260 Crafter, Artisan & Vender Booths ~ Holiday Cookie Sale ~ Attendance Prizes * *

12/03 - Army

12/10 - Army

12/12 - Marines

12/17 - Army National Guard

Jessie Kulage X4274 jkulage@stcharlessd.org

Counselor (A-G)

Yolanda Curry X4259 ycurry@stcharlessd.org

Counselor (H-P)

Stephanie Moran X4212 smoran@stcharlessd.org

Counselor (Q-Z)

Ellen Heitzig X4295 eheitzig@stcharlessd.org

Social Worker

Kimiko Becker X4272 kbecker@stcharlessd.org

Registrar

Felicia Miller Harris X4219 fmillerharris@stcharlessd.org

Secretary

Email: hi@smore.com
Website: www.smore.com
Location: Smorth Pole
Facebook: facebook.com/smorepages
Twitter: @smorenewsletter