RIH Guidance Newsletter

The Guidance Department hosted the annual Community Service Fair on Friday, September 27th. The Fair was hosted in the RHS Media Center during lunch periods. Students of all grade levels were invited to attend and were commended for how engaging they were by the organizations represented. Nonprofit organizations in attendance were looking for volunteers for various community outreach projects and service endeavors. Organizations included Bergen Volunteers, Families for Families, Franklin Lakes Environmental Commission, Relay for Life, Table to Table, St. Elizabeth Episcopal Church Teen Outreach, Wyckoff Economy Shop, Wyckoff Ambulance and Wyckoff Fire Department.

Lunch for the volunteers was generously donated by the Shoprite of Wyckoff.

The RIH College Panel features College Admissions Counselors from different colleges. Care is taken to represent colleges of different sizes, geographic areas and whether or not private / public university status. The Admissions Counselors participate in a guided question and answer period to provide insight on the college admissions review, decision making process, trends in admissions and general advice. Colleges participating this year include Hamilton College (NY), High Point University (NC), Michigan State University (MI), Ramapo College (NJ) and Rutgers University (NJ).

While the presentation is targeted to Juniors and Seniors, students of all grade levels are invited to attend along with parents/ guardians. The Panel will be on Tuesday, October 15th beginning at 6:30 until 8pm. The location is the IHHS Auditorium.

It is the season of recognition at RIH! Indian Hills High School is proud to recognize Hunter Bialoglow, Jia Chen, Isabella Saldano, and Ruhaab Shuja as National Merit Commended Students.

Ramapo High School is proud to recognize Victoria Acunto, Hudson Beauchamp, Gregory Cannizzo, Stephen Cannizzo, Matthew Deamer Jacob Hamilton McKenna Houston Warren Hsu, Michael Jung Lawrence Neuburger and Matthew Ostrovsky as National Merit Commended Students.

The PSAT/ NMSQT Scholarship Search identified high scorers on the PSAT / NMSQT as having achieved a "commended" status given their score performance (a score of 208). Commended students are generally the top 3-5% of scorers on the PSAT/NMSQT. This means about 34,000 students will receive commended status in the Fall 2024. This is a worthy accomplishment, indicating an overall strong PSAT score, and recognized students receive Letters of Commendation from the NMSC to mark their achievement.

Additional information on the National Merit Scholarship Program can be found here: Program Recognition.

The Guidance Departments requires that each Senior have a Transcript Authorization on file. This requires you as the parent/guardian to view your child's transcript in Genesis and confirm its accuracy. Once you have confirmed the accuracy of their courses and grades, you must submit the Transcript Authorization Google Form. This form only needs to be completed once. The Guidance Department can not send any transcript materials to applied colleges until this form is submitted. Students are expected to request transcripts at least 10 days ahead of the deadline.

We thank you for your time and assistance in reviewing your child's transcript and submitting the Transcript Authorization Google Form. Please access the Transcript Authorization Google Form through the link below:

IHHS Class of 2025: https://forms.gle/f25Wj8N2o4o2dNtXA

RHS Class of 2025: https://forms.gle/XhLnx7qEEZbEFFsr9

Please note that the Student Profile and Parent Brag Sheet are also required to be completed prior to completion of a Counselor letter of recommendation. This information has been discussed at the college conference and referenced through the proceeding eblasts. You can find the Student Profile and the Parent Brag Sheet in Naviance using the Student Account. Log in and then navigate to the "About Me" tab before selecting "Surveys from my School."

Your assigned School Counselor is the best point of contact for any questions or concerns.

The RIH Guidance Departments will administer the digital PSAT to Juniors on Tuesday, October 22nd. This test administration will be an all-digital test administration of the PSAT. The PSAT is a practice SAT given to provide students exposure to test material, give indicators of areas of strength and areas to focus for improvement when planning to take the SAT as a standardized test for college readiness.

Junior students who took the PSAT are also reviewed for the National Merit Scholarship eligibility. The PSAT is administered annually in October. Here is a great guide to interpreting the scores: Understanding your PSAT/ NMSQT Scores

Any test administration requires significant collaboration. Thank you to the Teachers, Counselors, Case Managers and Staff who proctor the exams. Thank you to the ITC Department for readying Bluebook as the testing format and troubleshooting technical issues. Thank you to the Maintenance staff for preparing the testing rooms for test day. Thank you the Administrative Assistants for supporting students getting to testing rooms on time and answering questions pertaining to Attendance.