Dear Parent:
We are well into the thirteenth year for Kerr High School with 766 students. Our usual request at this time of the year is to ask for your help in making your child’s education a team effort by your active participation in your child’s education. As we tell the students, “Get Involved!” Did you know that if parents make just one visit a year, their child’s grades are apt to improve? You can see from the enclosed calendar, there are some important dates coming up very quickly. The counselors have met with your child individually, and pointed out many of these upcoming events. We hope you will help us reinforce their importance.
· Prospective students may fill out an application for the 2007-2008 school year at a Prospective Student meeting. Meetings have been scheduled for October 17 and November 14 for interested students and their parents.
· The PSAT will be given on October 21 at Kerr High School, at a cost of $22.00 (cash only) to 11th graders and at no cost to 10th graders. Students must sign up in the counselors’ office the week of September 25-29 if they plan to take the test. All college bound juniors should take it. The district offers prep courses for the PSAT and SAT. Registration forms are in the counselors’ office.
· Grade averaging is available to students enrolled in one-credit courses. If a student makes a 65-69 in a course for one of the two terms, he/she can salvage the credit by making a grade high enough in the other term, so that the two grades average to at least a “70”. The failing grade remains as is on the transcript, however, credit is restored.
· Credit by exam for students who fail a course, is available for many of the courses offered at Kerr. The cost is $30 per test. Testing must be done and grades received in the counselors’ office before a student is scheduled to take that course.
· Parent/teacher conferences can be scheduled by contacting your child’s advisor.
· Pre-AP and AP classes are open to all students who request them, have passed the TAKS, and have at least a “B” average in the previous course in that content area. However, if a student fails any term in a Pre-AP or AP class, he/she will not be allowed to take the subsequent class in that content area.
· Testing for Gifted and Talented identification is available. Requests for testing must be made in the counselors’ office by December 15, 2006 in order to be screened.
· Progress reports are sent home every three weeks with the students. (See enclosed calendar dates.) Report cards are mailed home at the end of each nine-week term.
· Parent Education Seminars are scheduled twice a year. The first one will be November 7 at 7:00 pm, with Laura Klubert speaking on dating and gender respect. Family Help Resources of Houston will also be covered. Please call the counselors’ office to RSVP if you and your child will attend so we can prepare appropriately.
· Scholarship information, received in the counselors’ office, is advertised every Tuesday in the Scholarship Bulletin. Scholarship scams are costing some Kerr students a great deal of money. Do not pay a company to help your student find financial aid. That same service is available at Kerr for free. The scholarship bulletin is posted on the Kerr web page at http://www.aliefisd.net/kerr/Counselors/Scholarships/Scholarships.htm
· If career decisions and future plans are still pending, an appointment should be arranged with Ms. Ahmal Tuck, the Kerr career specialist, in the Career and Life Management (CALM) center. If your student has an existing Kuder account, he/she can have unlimited access for life, to some vital information to help with career planning. Once a student has set up an account, he/she can access it anywhere and at anytime on the internet. There are free ACT and SAT practice tests as well as a college search/application, scholarship search, career search, worldwide job search, interest inventory, skills inventory and values inventory, as well as a resume writing section. After the student enters his password he can find all of this and more at the web site: www.kuder.com . If students can’t remember their password, they need to see Ms. Tuck to retrieve it. There is also a Spanish translation available for Spanish speakers.
· Kerr offers an SAT Prep Course which is a nine-week course available to students in grades 9-12. This class may also be taken multiple times. Students should see their counselor if they are interested in scheduling this course for this year.
· Many of the Kerr organizations collect items for fundraisers and would appreciate your donations. The chess club is accepting donations for chess items like mats, pieces, and move time clocks. The art club collects any old and unusable clothes for rag recycling. Student Council collects drink can tabs and Box Tops for Education. The journalism department collects cell phones and printer cartridges. There is a recycling bin in the back of the school for recycling newspaper, magazines, paper and boxes, however the boxes need to be flattened. Take care that you are not putting them in the trash bin by mistake.
· After school pickup for students who don’t ride the bus needs some attention. Please pull into a marked parking space while you are waiting for your student. Do not park in the drive-thru area in front of the building. It is difficult for other vehicles to pass and unsafe for the students.
· If you have any questions or concerns, please call the counselors’ office (281) 983-8484 ext. 263. We wish you the best school year yet.
Sincerely,
Julie Harbick Charlotte Guettner
Counselor (A-L) Counselor (M-Z)