MHS School Counseling Newsletter

We are so excited to start the 2023-2024 school year! It has been great seeing the building filled with students over the past couple of weeks. We are looking forward to supporting students this year and helping them grow academically, socially, and with their career goals.

We know that the transition back to school can be a challenging one for some students. Please don't hesitate to reach out to your child's school counselor if they need any extra support. We are happy to help in any way we can.

We are so excited to welcome our new 9th graders to MHS! All of our 9th graders are in either PE, Health, Intro to Capstone, or Academic Literacy during G block. We will be visiting all of those classrooms before the end of the month to introduce ourselves to the 9th graders. We will be discussing the main differences between middle school and high school, graduation requirements, and the role of the high school counselor and how to make appointments with us.

We know that the transition to high school can be a tough one for students and parents. If you are struggling with this transition to high school, please reach out to your school counselor.

Save the date! We are offering the PSATs on Wed. Oct. 18th. The test will begin at 7:45am and will end before lunch time.

All juniors will be able to take the test free of charge. Sophomores will be able to opt in for $20. The spots are first come first serve. The deadline to sign up is Sept. 29th. Sophomores will need to fill out this Google form to sign up and will also need to pay the $20 fee to either Ms. Lucas or Ms. Ray in the main office. If the $20 fee poses an issue, please contact your school counselor.

If you have not already begun thinking about your post-secondary plan, now is the time to do so! This week we will be going into the Senior Project Classrooms to talk to students about the college application process and other post-secondary plans. We will be covering what to expect this fall while getting those applications done and getting ready for the next step after high school. If anyone has not already talked to their school counselor about their plan for next year or needs any help with it, please set up a meeting with us! You can sign up on our appointment sheets outside of our offices or send us an email to arrange something. If you are applying early action or early decision with a Nov. 1st deadline or earlier, please reach out to your counselor ASAP to set up a meeting!

- Brag Sheet for Counselor Recommendation - please fill this out in as much detail as possible so that your school counselor has all of the information to write a great letter of recommendation!

- Caregiver Brag Sheet - a questionnaire for parents to fill out in case they want to provide us with some additional background information that would be helpful for us to know for the letter of recommendation, optional but appreciated!

- Transcript Release Form - in order to send any students' transcript to a college or scholarship program, we must legally receive permission to do. If under 18, a parent must also electronically sign

Many colleges are still test optional during for this 2023-2024 admissions year. For a full list of schools with test optional admission policies, please visit fairtest.org.

If you are still interested in taking the SAT or ACT, here are the upcoming test dates:

SAT

- Oct. 7th, late registration deadline (additional fee applies) Sept. 26th

- Nov. 4th, registration deadline Oct. 5th

- Dec. 2nd, registration deadline Nov. 2nd

ACT

- Oct. 28th, registration deadline Sept. 22nd

- Dec. 9th, registration deadline Nov. 3rd

If you need a fee waiver for either of these tests, please see your school counselor

**The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will become available this year in December instead of October as in previous years** This is a change that will only be happening this year due to the FAFSA changing to be more simplified for families.

MEFA (Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority) Webinars

MEFA is offering a handful of different webinars related all aspects of the financial aid process throughout the fall. Here are some in particular to consider attending:

Financial Aid 101 - will provide information and clarity on the entire college financial aid application process, offered many times throughout the fall, for dates and times see event dates here

**We strongly recommend that all families and students attend the Financial Aid 101 webinar. Prior to the pandemic, these workshops were held in person in our auditorium. Now they are conveniently offered online so families can participate from the comfort of their home!

What to Know about the CSS Profile - will introduce the nuts and bolts of the CSS Profile, a financial aid application required by approximately 250 colleges, universities, and scholarship agencies across the country. Thurs. Sept. 28th from 12-1pm, sign up here

Scholarships

Similar to college applications, the timing of scholarships becoming available is cyclical. Scholarships typically pick up during the second semester, but there are some larger scholarships that students can apply for in the fall. Whenever we learn of a scholarship available to students, we will post it on the Class of 2024 Google classroom. Every year in February, the local Maynard Scholarship Application will open up and we will come into the senior English classes to talk to students about the importance of applying.

In the meantime, please check out this Scholarship Handout which has information about scholarship search engines and where to get started on your own.

Barbara J. DeVaney Memorial Scholarship

The Barbara J. DeVaney Memorial Scholarship is available and open to any female-identifying high school, undergraduate, graduate, or trade school student who’s a single mother, widow, immigrant, woman of color, first-generation college student, or survivor of abuse. Students pursuing careers in the medical field, trades or STEM are strongly preferred. The due date for this scholarship is Sept. 21, 2023. For more information, please click here.

NEACAC (New England Association for College Admission Counseling) Fairs

- Sat. Sept. 23rd from 12-2pm at UMass Dartmouth

- Wed. Sept. 27th from 9am-11am at Mount Wachusett Community College

- Sun. Oct. 1st from 11am-1pm at Worcester State University

- Thurs. Oct. 5th from 9am-12pm at Salem State University

These fairs are free to attend! For more information and to see which schools will be at the fair please view this website - https://www.neacac.org/fall-college-fairs-2023

NACAC (National Association for College Admission Counseling) Virtual College Fair

- Sun. Oct. 15th from 1-6pm

- Sun. Nov. 12th from 1-6pm

Sign up at https://www.nacacattend.org/fairs/ and be sure to click the 'Virtual' tab

College fairs can be overwhelming! MEFA offers a great article on some tips for navigating a college fair. View the article here.

On Sept. 28th from 6-7pm Curry College will be hosting an in-person work shop on 'Navigating the college Search for Students with Learning Differences'

This is a beneficial workshop for high school students and families beginning the college admission process. Faculty and staff from Curry's world-renowned Program for Advancement of Learning (PAL) will present critical information about the search process and pursuing colleges with the proper academic support to help students succeed. Visit this website to register.

If you have any questions, or need assistance registering for the 'Navigating the College Search' Workshop, please contact the Admission Office at adm@curry.edu or 617-333-2210.

Visits from college admissions representatives begin next week! These are open to junior and seniors. These visits are done by the admissions representatives who typically read applications for our high school, so please attend! Sign up sheets are available a week in advance for the colleges that are visiting. Please continue to listen to the announcements and check out the Class of 2024 and 2025 Google classroom to see which colleges have scheduled visits. The entire fall schedule for the visits can also be found here.

In order to attend a visit, students need to sign up in the career center at least 2 days in advance. Students must alert their teacher that they will miss class and they are responsible for any missing work.

If you are considering playing a sport in college, please check out the NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-Athlete

This guide covers everything for a college-bound athlete, from academic requirements to compete to what to expect once you are a collegiate athlete.

FAQs about College Essays

Information on the Filing the FAFSA and the FAFSA Delay

Applying for Financial Aid When Parents Are Divorced - a common question we get

Although all students can get one free breakfast and one free lunch at school, we still encourage any family who may qualify for free or reduced lunch to fill out the free/reduced lunch application. Qualifying for free/reduced lunch can also qualify students for:

- Fee waivers for college applications

- Standardized testing (SAT and/or) ACT fee waivers

- Fee waivers for the bus

- Fee waivers for the athletics/student activities fee

Please go to https://www.schoollunchapp.com to apply.

The transition back to a school routine can be a hard one. Visit this website for 8 tips to help teens get back into a school routine.

The Massachusetts Behavioral Health Help Line (BHHL) connects individuals and families to the full range of treatment services for mental health and substance use offered in Massachusetts, including outpatient, urgent, and immediate crisis care. Call for real-time support, initial clinical assessment, ad connection to the right evaluation and treatment. The BHHL is staffed by trained clinicians and certified peer specialists to support every caller's needs.

The BHHL is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by phone call and text at 833-733-2445, and online chat at masshelpline.com

Nicole Fernald nfernald@maynard.k12.ma.us (978) 897-8891 ext. 3209

Dana MacPhee dmacphee@maynard.k12.ma.us (978) 897-8891 ext. 3105

Amy Petroskey apetroskey@maynard.k12.ma.us (978) 897-8891 ext. 3210

Please also visit our MHS School Counseling website!