Guidance

A Message from the Director of Guidance

 

As one enters autumn, thoughts turn to fall festivals, multi-colored leaves, and yes, college football.  For our senior class, this goes one step further – college admissions. During this time, Seniors work on narrowing the college choices down to a select few. Part of this process involves applying for colleges in August, taking the ACT or SAT again, filling out that pesky FAFSA, and delving into the world of scholarships.

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Each year, ACS has on-campus visits from a variety of colleges to help our students more clearly understand the admissions process. The National College Fair comes to the Central Florida area several times a year. Watch for emails that will announce when Mrs. Thomas will be taking interested students to the events.

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Seniors should be working on Khan Academy to prepare for the upcoming admissions exams.  Juniors should use this program to help them prepare for the PSAT/NMSQT, which is scheduled in October each fall.  The SAT will be offered in April on the ACS campus for those wishing to take it or Juniors should plan to take the SAT in May, June, or August at another local high school and the ACT in April or June.

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The FAFSA website will open on October 1, which will begin the process to apply for financial aid. Bright Futures will be available to students on November 1.

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Please visit the Bright Futures website to learn about the requirements.  Your GPA at ACS is not the same GPA that Florida Bright Futures calculates, so keep your GPA as high as possible.

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Because ACS encourages students to get involved in our school and community, we are implementing mandatory community service hours.

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They are as follows:

Class of 2020: 50 hours

Class of 2021: 75 hours

Class of 2022 & forward: 100 hours

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Our student mentoring hours, SWAP hours, and NHS hours are able to be included in your total hours. Volunteering at your church and local non-profit organizations are other ways to complete your hours. (School mentoring/buddies will be automatically added by Mrs. Thomas at the end of each school year. These are 18 hours per year.) Pick up your forms from the office to take to the supervisor of the project or event to verify your participation. Turn completed forms into the office so that Mrs. Thomas can enter the hours into Renweb.

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Please visit and review the links that have been provided on the school website regarding guidance and college admission information.

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I will meet with the seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen to discuss their college and career choices. Please let me know if you would like to schedule a meeting by contacting me via email.

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Mrs. Julie Thomas

Director of Guidance
jthomas@altamontechristian.org

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