SLHS: Academic Advising

01/03/2020

 

Academic Advising Season has begun!  Our second annual Curriculum Fair took  place during the school day for students on December 19, 2019. Students had the opportunity to visit three elective course presentations to learn more about the elective course options, homework requirements and materials needed for the course. If you have not yet talked with your student about the sessions they attended please do so.

 

Starting later this month (January 2020), students will meet individually with their school counselor to request courses for the 2020-21 school year. It is so important that parents and students are informed of their academic options. Families are encouraged to talk with current teachers for their recommendations for next school year. New this year, students will choose classes via their SIS Student accounts. After the students choose their courses via their accounts they will meet with their counselor to confirm the selections. Parents can always view the course selections via their SIS Parent account. If you do not have an active account, please contact Ms. Joan Freidman (jcfriedman@fcps.edu )in Student Services to obtain a login.

 

There are numerous ways to stay informed about course selections and graduation requirements which include:

  • Curriculum Night will be January 8, 2020  starting at 6:30pm at South Lakes High School. This is a chance for parents and students of all grade levels, rising 9th through 2th, to talk with teachers about courses available, homework expectations, reading materials required and more. There are several new courses and course sequences being offered so we are strongly encouraging families of upper-class students to attend this year.
    • There will be break out sessions including IB information, Graduation Requirements/Online course selections, and information from different departments such has Fine Arts.
  • Open Houses are being held at Fairfax Academy (Tuesday, Feb 4th from 6:30-8:30pm) & Chantilly Academy (Thursday, January 16th 6-8pm) for families who want to learn more about Academy course options.
  • Mini-conferences with Counselors  will once again be held this Spring, in late February. Be on the lookout for sign-up genius links coming in early February to sign up for 10 minute conferences with your student’s school counselor to discuss courses selected.

 

The goal of all of these activities is to ensure that our students are making the best decisions when it comes to course selections. It is not easy to go through a schedule change, especially in the fall, so it is extremely important for students to choose wisely and be informed about their decisions. From January through early March students can make whatever changes to their course selections that they would like, however, after March 6, 2020, requests to change any course selection will be made via the school counselor based on space availability.

Schools in FCPS will begin making staffing decisions in March for the 2020-2021 school year based on the courses students select.  It is based on these selections that schools indicate to the county how many staff members are needed in each department for how many sections. Once we make the commitment to our staffing there is very little flexibility to make changes in personnel. Therefore, the course selection process is key to making sure we have the right combination of staff in place for our students for the coming school year.

 

Please speak with your student’s school counselor if you have any questions.

 

Heather Thomas

Director of Student Services

South Lakes High School