Guidance

The mission of the guidance department is to help each student in our care to develop her full potential academically, emotionally and socially. A natural outgrowth of this process is the task of helping the student to formulate career and college goals, culminating in intensive guidance through the entire college selection and application process.

Individual counseling

Individual counseling is the cornerstone of the counselor-student relationship. Students meet with their counselors early in 9th grade to discuss their transition to high school and to develop an understanding of how the counselor can help them as they cope with the academic and personal challenges of the high school years. Counselors will meet privately with their advisees as often as meetings are requested. Moreover, we consider the ideal relationship one in which counselors, teachers, parents, and the student herself cooperate to overcome any obstacles she may encounter in school. Unless a change is requested, the student is assigned a counselor who becomes her advisor for her four years of high school.

At every stage of her progress through Saint Saviour each student is encouraged to challenge herself in accordance with her abilities, to broaden and deepen her extracurricular interests, and to become a young woman who contributes to her school and local community through volunteer action.

Group Guidance Classes

During the freshman and sophomore years, Ms. Montes conducts small group guidance classes with all students at least once a month. Topics on this curriculum include academic and social adjustment to high school, good communication skills, successful conflict resolution, bullying, including cyber-bullying, relationships, and other related issues. In October, all freshmen participate in an extended Study Skills Workshop conducted by faculty members in conjunction with the Guidance Department.

Study and organizational skills are built into the guidance curriculum for all students, in each year of high school. In senior year the discussion advances to college preparatory study skills.

College Counseling

The college advising process begins at the end of the sophomore year when counselors meet with students one-on-one to discuss their progress over the previous two years and to set personal and academic goals for junior year. This individual contact with the college counselor continues intensively through junior and senior years as students are required to meet with the counselor and are encouraged to do so as often as they wish.

Our seniors have received their college acceptances. Please click here to view a list of scholarships that the class of 2012 has earned.

College Guidance in the Classroom

Mrs. D’Emic meets with juniors every three to four weeks throughout the year in small group sessions.  Senior classes meet once a week in the month of September and resume normal frequency thereafter. In the first semester, the junior curriculum focuses on career exploration with particular emphasis on self-assessment and identifying general career interests. The second semester curriculum centers on the process of choosing a college and the many factors that enter into that decision. Detailed discussion of public versus private colleges, inevitably leads students to a more sophisticated understanding of their options as well as familiarity with the subject of financial aid and scholarships. Specifically, we introduce students, by means of our classroom technology, to the many internet tools available to them in the college search process. In these guidance sessions juniors choose their subjects for senior year and learn to write the college resume. English Department Head, Ms. Caughey, and Mrs. D’Emic work together to conduct a workshop on how to write the college application essay.

The senior guidance curriculum for the fall semester moves students step-by-step through the college application process. The second semester is devoted to discussion on making the transition to college: study skills, social and academic adjustments, strategies to cope with change, and the formation of healthy relationships in college.

College_Application_Handbook_for_Seniors.pdf

PSAT and SAT

Sophomores and juniors sit for the PSAT in October of each year.  It is expected that all juniors will take the SAT I for the first time in the spring of that year and again in the fall of senior year. Students are also offered guidance on the appropriateness or otherwise of preparing for the SAT II Subject Tests and the ACT.

Saint Saviour runs an in-house SAT prep course on two afternoons a week during the months of March and April in preparation for the May test. The moderate fee charged for this course allows for an affordable alternative to other test preparation options offered outside of school.

In conjunction with Campus Ministry, we facilitate the so-called SAT Retreat in the spring of each year. Built into the junior retreat, this experience is designed to teach students how to develop a holistic approach to test-preparation by drawing upon the inner resources – spiritual, intellectual, emotional, and physical -  that enhance test-taking skills.

Fall College Fair

In October of each year, representatives from 50 or more private and public colleges and universities participate in a morning-long College Fair at Saint Saviour High School. This event affords our juniors and seniors the opportunity to chat with college admissions counselors and to learn more about the accessibility and entry requirements of programs in which they might have interest.

Calendar of Guidance Events for the Year

September

Orientation Night - parents of incoming freshman

October

College Fair at Saint Saviour - juniors and seniors

PSAT Administration - juniors and sophomores

Study Skills Workshop - freshmen

November

College Information Night – parents of juniors

Workshop: long-term financial planning for college.
Conducted by a Certified Financial Planner - parents of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors.

December

College Financial Aid Information Night – parents of seniors

March-April

SAT Preparation Course – juniors

SAT Retreat - juniors

College Office Links

ACT
Information and Registration for the ACT

The College Board
Information and Registration for SAT and SAT Subject Tests
College and majors search

Common App.org
The on-line version of the Common Application

CSS Profile
A financial aid form required by some colleges as part of their financial aid application.

FAFSA
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (Class of 2012 may access only after Jan. 1, 2012)

Colleges Accepting Saint Saviour Graduates 2007-2011