While senior year is filled with lots of fun activities and celebrations, the time truly does fly by. Our hope is that you are able to intentionally savor these special moments in this season of life with your student.

The best way for counselors to share information with seniors is through our "Senior Class of 2025" Google Classroom! Every senior has been invited to join.

Students can also join using the code: zsmsjz5

Throughout the year, we will share reminders, scholarships, graduation information and more using this platform. Make sure that your senior has joined and is watching for notifications.

In addition to using Google Classroom, we encourage seniors to pay close attention to daily announcements and check the counselor page (linked below) of the website regularly. There will be lots of information that you do not want to miss.

Seniors can still schedule a senior yearbook photo session at Prestige anytime until early December. Prestige will be coming to Monterey November 13th to take photos of any senior student who hasn't already visited the studio. Students can schedule appointments online at prestigeportraits.com/studios

• When is graduation? May 24th at 6 pm
• Where is graduation? United Supermarkets Arena
• How many tickets do we get to graduation? There are no tickets. Invite as many people as you would like.
• Do I need a clear bag at graduation? YES
• What about my out of town friends and family that cannot attend? The ceremony will be live streamed by LISD-TV.
• Can students decorate the top of the cap? No. Decorated caps will not be allowed at graduation.
• Where can I find the pictures taken at graduation? They will be posted on the LISD website after the ceremony.

West Texas Graduation Services (Herff-Jones) is the company we contract with for cap & gowns. They will be on campus on October 29th and November 8th to take student orders. Students may also order online. All orders processed in time will be delivered to students at school on March 13th.

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

Juniors and Seniors at Monterey High School will be able to participate in a College Fair on campus on October 9th from 1-3 pm. Mark your calendars now for this exciting opportunity!

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. Upcoming dates are listed below.

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is a standardized test that helps determine a person's suitability for military service and job training. It measures developed abilities and helps predict future academic and occupational success. It's given to students in grades 10–12 and to applicants joining the U.S. Air Force, Army, and National Guard. The ASVAB assesses a person's abilities in four domains: verbal, math, science and technical, and spatial. It covers ten subject areas, including general sciences, arithmetic reasoning, word knowledge, and paragraph comprehension. The test also evaluates a person's ability to learn different subject areas and their propensity to succeed in certain careers. It is administered annually to more than one million military applicants, high school and post-secondary students.

Monterey High School will offer the ASVAB on Wednesday, September 25, 2024 during 1st-4th periods. Students will be excused from their classes to participate in this exam. Students can register on the testing page of the MHS website or using the link below.

The state of Texas requires every graduating senior to either complete the FAFSA or complete an opt-out form as part of state graduation requirements. FAFSA is scheduled to open for 25-26 on December 1st. 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 FAFSA workshop days at Monterey to help families complete this important step in the spring. Sign up links will be available soon.

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.

Our LEARN advisor is generally on campus each Wednesday and Thursday and is available to meet with students throughout the day. Students can sign up online to request an appointment with LEARN. Don't put off this important step in planning for what is next! All seniors MUST complete either the FAFSA, TAFSA, or an opt out form.

We are so excited to celebrate our Plainsmen who are going on to continue their education or enlist after graduation! If your senior has been accepted to any school or is enlisting, please share their acceptance information with your alpha counselor so that we can add them to the wall! Forwarding a simple admissions email to your alpha counselor will get your name on the wall!

We will have a commitment event to celebrate the next steps of these students in May. More information will be coming about that!

Seniors may need transcripts for a variety of things- college admissions, scholarship applications, military enlistment, auto insurance discounts, etc.

Students or parents may either request a transcript from the registrar in the main office or may request a transcript online.

Your first transcript request is free. After that, a fee of $1 must be paid in the front office in order to process the request.

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. All of these scholarship opportunities will be shared with students through 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 resources on the counselor page of the Monterey website.

The senior year is packed full of test dates that you need to know about. The testing page on the MHS website is a good starting point.

Here are some handy links as you plan:

AP Exam Dates

SAT Dates

ACT Dates

TSI Information and Registration

STAAR / EOC Dates and Information

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.

Many schools currently have a test optional policy and allow students to make the determination about whether or not they wish to submit standardized test scores as part of their admissions and scholarship decision process.

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.

Seniors that need to take the TSI will have multiple testing opportunities at MHS this school year. Find more information on the testing page of the Monterey website. 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).

Please Note- Registration for Each Test Day Closes 24 Hours Prior to Testing.

Tuesday, October 22, 2024; 8:15am-12:00pm; MHS- BTR - - - Seniors ONLY

Wednesday, December 4, 2024; 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

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!

Many students earn college credits in high school through Dual Credit, OnRamps, or Advanced Placement. It is the responsibility of the student to send record of that completion to their university. Qualifying AP scores can be submitted through your College Board account. You can access links to send other scores on the MHS Counselor Website.

Alpha A-C

Hannah Jones

806-219-1983

hannah.jones2@lubbockisd.org

Alpha D (Lead Counselor)

Kristen Lewis

806-219-1998

kristen.lewis@lubbockisd.org

Alpha E-I

Jennifer Strong

806-219-1918

jennifer.strong@lubbockisd.org

Alpha J-M

Donna Short

806-219-2028

donna.short@lubbockisd.org

Alpha N-R

Adrienne Greaser

806-219-2036

adrienne.greaser@lubbockisd.org

Alpha S-Z

Crystal Scott

806-219-2087

crystal.scott@lubbockisd.org

Special Services

Katelyn Graham

806-219-2065

katelyn.graham@lubbockisd.org