School Counseling Newsletter

Hello, from the student services department! Please take time to review the following important information. The student services department consists of six school counselors, a school psychologist, and two school social workers. During the school year, students would typically go to the school counselor for any personal-social or academic concern or for assistance with the college process. Our school social workers help students get connected to community resources and oversee attendance concerns. During the school year, students can reach out to your assigned counselor through Canvas and parents can email the counselor if you have specific questions regarding your child. See below regarding transcripts and registrations.

Students Services Staff are OFF for summer starting June 4th

Jamie Wolford: last names A-C, jamie.wolford@hcps.net

Lisa Poirier: last names D-Hi, lisa.poirier@hcps.net

Athena Dicus: last names Ho-Mi, athena.dicus@hcps.net

Allison Castellano: last names Mo-Sa, allison.castellano@hcps.net

Counselor TBD: last names Sc-Z

Transcript Requests: kathleen.cachon@hcps.net (until June 4-see below)

New Student Registrations: elizabeth.arellano@hcps.net (until June 4 contact the main office after)

Lauren Moseley: College & Career Counselor. lauren.moseley@hcps.net

**Contact the Main Office after June 4 with questions about transcripts for colleges. Transcripts are not sent until they are ready after report cards are published. Therefore, there is a delay for colleges to receive them.

Sincerely,

Athena Dicus

Student Services Department Head

Counselors publish courses on Canvas that contain lots of good resources for students and parents. Students can learn more about colleges, dual enrollment, test resources, community service, and more. This is a good place to get started when you have questions. Take the time to review the information at each icon on the dashboard.

Families new to Plant or returning can review course selection information at the following link. Be sure to review graduation requirements and course progression prerequisites and criteria for enrolling in core classes and AP classes. Requirements are outlined, along with course descriptions in the curriculum guide.

Students at Plant are required to complete specific summer reading assigned by the English department. Students need to complete this task, so they are prepared for assignments they will receive in their English class in August. Read all about it at the link below. Counselors do not oversee summer reading. All questions can be directed to Melisa Toothman on Canvas or at melisa.toothman@hcps.net.

SAVE THE DATE!

What: Senior Night

Where: Auditorium

When: Tuesday, August 26

Time: 4:00PM

Review important information at the following links to prepare for the college process and post-secondary options. Class of 2026 info & new presentation will be posted after their Senior Night in August.

Counselors do not handle grade corrections. You will need to email the teacher with questions. If the teacher is already out for the summer, then this can be remedied in the fall. Counselors do not facilitate or intervene in communication between the student/parent and teacher for grade corrections. Concerns can be directed to charles.morris@hcps.net.

If there is an error, then the teacher will need to submit a grade change to the main office. The main office will process grade change requests. Report cards are never reprinted/corrected, but students can get a transcript summary from the registrar or main office to verify a grade correction.

Make sure you are in the know and monitor your student's progress with graduation requirements and specific credits! When students choose to take classes online through virtual programs, it is the parents' responsibility to oversee course completion. Because the virtual programs are separate schools, Plant does not have control over courses.

HVK-12 Virtual School-(FLVS/HVK-12) Information

• School staff periodically reviews virtual requests that are submitted over summer. Course approvals can take place within a few days. FLVS instructions say to contact the counselor, but counselors are off for summer. Office staff will approve courses. If you have questions, then call the Plant main office.
  
• When a student chooses to have virtual periods during the school year, where they leave campus early or come in late, the student will sign up for virtual classes at FLVS.net.
• Counselors do not register students for virtual classes. FLVS is a separate school, and parents would oversee registration, progress, completion of coursework, and grades.
• When virtual classes are complete, grades are sent directly to Plant to be added to the transcript by the registrar.
• Virtual classes ARE NEVER on the Plant report card because the classes are not taken at Plant. Counselors do not enter virtual credits.
• Students could retake courses through virtual programs for grade forgiveness if they earned a D or F for the semester. To stay eligible for college admissions and the Bright Futures scholarship, students would NOT register for the "credit recovery" version. If students have an overall GPA near 2.0 and/or are planning on junior college (ex. HCC), then they can choose the credit recovery version.

Plant campus is closed for summer programs. However, students can attend other schools to retake courses. Review the following options for credit recovery that other schools are offering this summer. Student can enroll at any school. Counselors submitted their courses needed into the registration system to electronically submit enrollment for SLP on any campus. The student courses should be available in their system.

**If a student shows up to a site and does not have a course in the system, then he/she will need to contact the main office at Plant for the courses to be entered.

Current Plant students taking courses through Bowers-Whitley credit recovery with our staff (Sigmon, Evans, Massey, or Lavender) can continue courses over summer through the Bowers Whitley or Jefferson adult program locations. Students who are planning to continue coursework can simply show up to the adult site to continue working on their course. Jefferson is open Monday - Thursday from 1pm -9pm or Friday 8am- 4pm.

**We typically recommend this program for students who are 16years or older. Students must be 16 to enroll.

Grade forgiveness happens when a student retakes a course to earn a higher grade.

• Students can only retake courses in the following scenarios.
• Students cannot retake a course if/when they have earned a B or higher for the semester.
• When a course is retaken, it is added to the transcript and factored into the GPA.
• The old course grade always remains on the transcript and cannot be removed or erased. However, the old grade can be removed from the GPA.
• The grade forgiveness is not automatic, as our computer systems are not that sophisticated. Therefore, the student must notify the counselor when it is complete so the counselor can notify the registrar to enhance the grade in the system.

High School Courses taken in Middle School:

• Students can only retake high school courses taken in middle school when they have earned a grade of C or lower for the semester.

High School Courses taken in High School:

• Students can only retake high school courses when they have earned a grade of D or F for the semester. A regular level course can enhance the honors level course. Students do not have to retake a course as honors if they do not wish to do so or if they believe they will perform better in the regular level.

***BOTH the credit recovery versions AND full versions of classes taken through virtual or at Plant through Edgenuity count for GRADE FORGIVENESS.

The Summer CLT Prep program is for any rising 11th or 12th grader who has not met the Math Algebra 1 Benchmark and/or the 10th grade Reading Benchmark. Students will engage in test taking strategies and skills-based practice and will receive face-to-face instruction by a certified teacher to work through CLT practice assessments. If a student is successful in scoring a concordant score, they will satisfy the assessment benchmark(s) for graduation.

Each session will offer prep for both reading and math. For the preparation to be effective, focus will be on one subject during the session. If your student needs to earn a passing score on both the reading and math assessments, please plan for your student to attend both sessions. The CLT test will be given in-person at the end of each session.

Registration Deadline=June 4th

Location: Jefferson High School

• CLT Math Prep for Graduation Benchmark:

Session 1: June 12 – June 18 (4 days, Th-W)

Session 2: July 14 – July 17 (4 days, M-Th)

Student Hours: 8:30am-11:30am

• CLT Reading Graduation Benchmark Prep:

Session 1: June 12 – June 18 (4 days, Th-W)

Session 2: July 14 – July 17 (4 days, M-Th)

Student Hours: 8:30am-11:30am

*A concordant score for math is achieved through a CLT Quantitative Reasoning score of 11.

*A concordant score for reading is achieved through a CLT Verbal Reasoning & Grammar, summative score of 36.

***These scores may change for students as determined by the year they enter/begin high school.

Plant has several credit recovery programs to support students. The first is traditional Credit Recovery. This is on campus and is for students who earned a D or F for the semester 1 or semester 2 of a high school core required course (English, science, math, social studies). Electives are not offered. The courses are offered through the Edgenuity online credit recovery program.

BOTH the credit recovery versions and full versions of classes taken through FLVS or at Plant through Edgenuity count for GRADE FORGIVENESS.

****The "credit recovery" version of classes can be finished much quicker BUT does not count for university admissions or for Bright Futures, so this should be a factor when considering this option. Students would need to make sure the teachers at Plant set them up for the full version of a class to meet the admissions or BF requirement. They can set students up to take either the credit recovery version OR the full version of a course on the Edgenuity program at Plant. Alternatively, if and when courses are retaken through FLVS.net, students will need to be cautions when choosing the version of the class being retaken. Full versions take longer, while credit recovery versions are quicker. If students have an overall GPA near 2.0 and/or are planning on junior college (ex. HCC), then they can choose the credit recovery version.

This is on campus and is for students who are 16 years or older. Students who earned a D or F for the semester 1 or semester 2 of a high school core required course (English, science, math, social studies) can retake the class through this program. Electives are not offered. The courses are offered through the Edgenuity online credit recovery adult education program.

NEW! The GAP program is for students who are behind in credits and want to accelerate their education to graduate early or on time. Students are enrolled in this program full-time and complete classes on our campus. The GAP program offers scholarships for students to attend our technical colleges. Interested students can speak with their counselor about this program.

Students will receive schedules for the 25-26 school year in August. Counselors will work on balancing classes and making "corrections" during the first few weeks of school.

THESE ARE SOME REASONS THAT ARE NOT CONSIDERED CORRECTIONS:

(These typically cannot be honored)

• LUNCH preference and preference for lunch to line up with virtual periods off
• TEACHER preference
• Electives changes (many are not available or do not fit the student's schedules)
• Preference for specific class periods
• Requesting closed classes
• Preference for more periods off for a job
• More than 2 virtual periods

The extended learning program (ELP) tutoring by Plant staff is offered each year! Students can simply show up to any of the tutoring sessions advertised on the flyer. If you have specific questions, then you can reach out to the teacher at firstname.lastname@hcps.net or by checking the directory here. The ELP tutoring schedule for the 25-26 school year will be allocated in September or October.

Students can be eligible for one of the Florida Bright Futures Scholarships by earning a required GPA, test score and service/work hours. The Florida Academic Scholars award offers 100% tuition and requires higher test scores, 100 service/work hours and a 3.5 core GPA. The Medallion award offers 75% tuition and requires 75 service/work hours, 3.0 core GPA, and lower test scores. If students attend a junior/community college, then the medallion converts to 100%. Because we don't know where students will fall by senior year, we recommend they complete 25 hours each year. Help your student keep up or catch up with service hours this year. Read all about it here.

Students can use the district "volunteer service log form" to keep a personal log of service hours or use the "paid work hours log form" to document work hours. Service hours submission procedures for the upcoming school year have not been determined. However, hours will be accepted starting in September.

The deadlines for students to enroll in the dual enrollment program at HCC, USF, and UF are published on their websites. Students who want to consider this option can review the deadlines, steps, and information on the websites.

*The deadline to request a Form B from your counselor for fall enrollment for HCC is Tuesday, May 13th.

*We strongly encourage students to drive the dual enrollment process, as their ability to navigate enrollment and registration is a good predictor for their self-discipline and success in college courses moving forward. Most students who READ all the instructions tend to fare well, while students who do not tend to have difficulty with enrollment, registration, and textbook ordering.

*Students and families can reach out to Kristen Phillips during the school year for assistance with dual enrollment.

*Students can get a Form B from the counselor 10 days in advance of the paperwork deadline. To request a Form B, students will need to send a message to the counselor through canvas with the HCC email address, the HCC ID, the Plant ID, and the classes they want to take.

*If you decide you no longer want to take a DE class for any reason, be sure to drop the class during the drop/add deadlines published on the HCC website. If you are passed the deadline, then you can look into withdrawing from the class. A "W" will go onto the transcript but will not penalize the student.

At the start of the new school year, Synergy’s ParentVUE will replace MySpot as the HCPS parent application. Parents and guardians will need to create their ParentVUE accounts to view student information like reports cards, attendance, and graduation status. Parents and guardians will continue to use Canvas to view current class grades, assignments, and for communication with teachers.

Since MySpot is being replaced, existing Canvas parent accounts will be disabled and archived. To access Canvas moving forward, parents MUST first create their ParentVUE account and then Synergy will share the account information and student relationships to Canvas. Parents will use the same username in both ParentVUE and Canvas. Activation codes will be distributed after school begins.

Canvas Technical Support

If you are having difficulty with Canvas (locked out, not loading, etc.), you will need to contact technical support at 813-744-6673. The counselors cannot provide technical support.

Check out the Florida SUS Matrix to review college admissions data for Florida colleges. You can do walking tours of many colleges on a really cool site called YouVisit. It's never too early to start researching. More information can be found on the counselor's canvas page or on the guidance website.

• Florida SUS Admissions Matrix
• https://www.youvisit.com/collegesearch/

Hillsborough County Public Schools implemented a revised Grade Point Average (GPA) weighting scale/calculation model for the class of 2027 and beyond. The new scale is recognized universally by colleges and universities, to better prepare students for gaining admission to the postsecondary school of their choice. Any changes would only impact incoming 9th and 10th graders. You can read more about the changes at the following link.

https://www.hillsboroughschools.org/gpa

The old GPA calculation method was developed in 2007. You can read all about the rationale behind it. The intention was good, but the outcome as that students overburden themselves by taking an overabundance of coursework predominately for rank purposes. You can read all about the method at the following link.

Website: http://planthighguidance.weebly.com
Location: 2415 S. Himes Ave, Tampa, FL 33629
Phone: 813-272-3033