College and Career Awareness Day:
Planning for and Celebrating Your Future
Wednesday, October 17, will be a minimum day and there will be no regularlyscheduled classes at Paly. We will devote the entire morning to college admittance test preparation and careerexploration for freshman, sophomores and juniors. Seniors will be able to participate in several college application workshops and/or drop-in to the Guidance office. Seniors go here for workshop details.
About Attendance: Roll will be taken for all grade levels. For seniors, there will be two workshop sessions, and/or they may drop by the Guidance office. Students who are absent must have a parent call in for them.
What are we doing?
9th graders - EXPLORE
10th graders - PLAN
11th graders - PSAT
12th graders - Optional College Information Sessions and Workshops
Schedule: 9th, 10th and 11th
8:15am-12pm: EXPLORE, PLAN or PSAT
12:00 pm: Jamba Juice and music on the quad
What are EXPLORE & PLAN?
The EXPORE and PLAN are both essentially pre-ACT assessments designed for 9th and 10th grade students. Each exam consists of 4 academic achievement tests: English, Math, Reading, and Science. Additionally, these assessments contain a career interest inventory that provides students with a variety of possiblecareer choices. The content of both tests closely mirrors the ACT and scores correlate with established college/post- secondary readiness benchmarks.
Academically, these assessments provide a wealth of information including focused interventions, course planning information and a breakdown of how our 9th and 10th grade students are doing overall. Students will have an opportunity to analyze and reflect on their results with their Teacher Advisor during Advisory periods in January. Hopefully, students will be able to take the career information and utilize it during Career Month as they choose which speaker forums to attend.
Students and families will find this information helpful:
Why take EXPLORE? http://www.act.org/path/parent/tests/explore.html
EXPLORE at a glance: https://www.act.org/products/k-12-act-explore/#.UGt6XL_Kpe4
Why take PLAN?: http://www.act.org/path/parent/tests/plan.html
PLAN at a glance: https://www.act.org/products/k-12-act-plan/#.UGt6ir_Kpe4
For more information, please see the ACT website: http://www.act.org/aap/ and click on the EPAS link.
Both EXPLORE and PLAN are free for students because of a generous donation from PTSA.
What is the PSAT?
The PSAT is a test preparation exam for the SAT, the college admissions test sponsored by College Board. The test is designed for 11th grade students. This test measures critical reading, math problem-solving, and writing skill development. Results are mailed home, but there is an enhanced score report that allows students to review questions, their answers and correct answers with explanations. Students will have an opportunity to analyze and reflect on their results with their Teacher Advisor during Advisory periods in January. This is a wonderful tool for students to use in assessing what are their strengths going into the SAT and what areas to focus on in preparing for the SAT. The PSAT also provides a start list of colleges as well. For more information and sample questions with answers, see their website: www.collegeboard.com/psat .
Those students who do well on the test are eligible to enter scholarship competitions sponsored by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (www.nationalmerit.org ).
There is no need to register for the PSAT. The PTSA has made a generous donation and will pay for all of the PSAT tests this year.
Students and their families will find this information helpful:
The Parent Perspective: http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/PSATParentPerspective.pdf
Benefits for Juniors: http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/junior-pn-testing.pdf
Perspectiva de los Padres: http://professionals.collegeboard.com/profdownload/PSATPerspectivaPadres.pdf
10th graders will not be allowed to take the PSAT on October 17th at Paly.
Senior Activities
9:00-11:45am - College Information Sessions and Workshops
Session 1: 9:00 - 10:15
Session 2: 10:30 - 11:45
12:00 pm: Jamba Juice and music on the quad
College Information Sessions and Workshops include: help with college essay writing; UC and CSU applications and tips; college interviews; application help, community college overview
If you have any questions, please e-mail:
Assistant Principal Kathie Laurence: klaurence@pausd.org
Assistant Principal Jerry Berkson: jberkson@pausd.org
Dean of Students Craig Tuana: ctuana@pausd.org