The counseling department wants to take the time to acknowledge how resilient our students and families have been during this coronavirus pandemic. We also want to acknowledge how accommodating and supportive our Birmingham teachers, support staff, and administrators have been throughout these unprecedented times. Our Birmingham community has been tested in many ways that we can not even imagine and we are stronger for it! We are excited by the possibilities that this new school year brings along with the hope of a new chapter. We have all grown, adapted, and are forever changed and it is up to us to make this a year that we don’t forget. Let’s make every moment count and relish in the joy that Birmingham’s doors are open and filled with students, and staff happy to be back in person!

We want to welcome our new 9th Grade Counselor, Mrs. Perez who has been with us at Birmingham and knows our students and community very well and we are lucky to have her on our team! Next, we want to welcome our new 11th Grade Counselor, Ms. Galvez whose experience and energy are already making their mark with our Patriots! Last but not least we want to give a warm welcome to our new A-G Attendance Counselor, Ms. Rocha, who is no stranger to the Valley and our students' needs. Her enthusiasm and experience have already had her busy supporting students and families. We are so happy to welcome these 3 wonderful and experienced ladies to our counseling team who have hit the ground running!!!

Our 9th grade counselors Mrs. Brown, (A-F), Mrs. Perez (G-N), and Mrs. Palacios (O-Z) will be doing graduation and A-G requirement group presentations for students on September 20th and 21st. The 9th grade counseling team will also begin meeting with students individually to discuss their 4 year plan for high school and to encourage them to start thinking about their futures. One of the best ways to help your student is for parents to monitor student progress through the Aeries Parent Portal. This is how you can see if your student has any missing assignments. If you do not have an Aeries account, please contact the Parent Center at 818-758-5281 and they can help you create an account. Please look out for the 6-week progress report, which will be mailed out on September 24.

Our 10th grade counselors Mrs. Gazarian (A-F), Dr. Harwin (G-N), and Mrs. Mutia (O-Z) are hard at work preparing Grad Checks for their students. What does that mean? They are summonsing all students to discuss their credits, A-G, and Grad Status Report. Grad Checks will be mailed home at the end of this month.

The 10th grade counselors will also be seeing their students and scheduling parent conferences for those students at-risk of not being "On-Track" for graduation requirements. This intervention will begin at the end of September.

We want our students and their families to know we are here for them! Please reach out if you need academic, emotional, or social support. We look forward to getting to know all of you in person and look forward to a FABULOUS year!

Welcome back Juniors! Your counselors Mrs. Scherrer (A-F), Ms. Galvez (G-N) and Mrs. Mowry (O-Z) are so happy to see your faces on campus. It makes us smile! Your junior counselors are working on Junior grad checks and getting prepared to meet the students in their classroom. We will discuss their status for gradation and A-G requirements. WE have been doing many sports changes as well and looking forward to cheering on the teams this year.

The 12th grade counselors Mrs. Hinojosa-Riusech (A-L) and Mrs. Fuentes Martinez (M-Z) are busy checking that our seniors are on track for graduation and college eligibility. Our seniors are off to a great start! Many completed summer school classes that really put them in a good place for senior year and their future! We are meeting with students and creating a GRAD Plan with those that still have several classes to make up and there is no wiggle room for D's or F's. We are also working on Grad Checks, and reviewing CSU (College) Eligibility for our seniors.

Congrats to ALL our seniors who have started their College/ Career Seminar Class that is being offered 4th or 9th period and are working with our fabulous college counselors Ms. Quinonez (A-L) and Ms. Lopez, and our fantastic career counselor Mrs. Zook to either make a plan for their next step after high school or apply to colleges! Check out the events coming up that our College Counselors are having to help your student and family through the college process. These are like GOLD! Mark them on your calendar and attend.

In addition, our Independent Study History and English after-school classes began this week and run from 3:45 PM- 4:45 PM to make up D's or F's! We are thrilled that we have some amazing teachers working with our seniors. Big shout out to Mr. Wydra (English), Mr. Kusaka (English), Ms. Weisenberg (History), and Dr. Chaccatori (History).

Seniors this is your time to shine and we are so proud and excited with what this year holds in store for you!!

We are so excited for the Class of 2022 and what this college application season has in store for our patriots! It is very important that our seniors follow the steps to request a letter of recommendation from teachers and counselors. This letter of recommendation can make the difference between an acceptance and a rejection and therefore it is important that students follow the outlined steps!

Please check out our school counselor homepage for updated information and resources!

Website https://www.birminghamcharter.com/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=168016&type=d&pREC_ID=345429

Instagram handle is @bcchs.counseling

Website: https://www.birminghamcharter.com/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=168016&type=d&pREC_ID=345429
Location: Birmingham Community High School, Haynes Street, Van Nuys, CA, USA
Phone: (818) 758-5200