Teaneck High School Class of 2022 Junior Parent Night

The Teaneck Advantage: Educational Excellence for All 1

Mr. Douglas Book
	dbook@teaneckschools.org
	
Ms. Beth Fleischer
	bfleischer@teaneckschools.org
	
Ms. Lillian Garcia
	lgarcia@teaneckschools.org
	
Ms. Kharisma Mitchell
	kmitchell@teaneckschools.org
	
Mr. Kelvin Reese
	kreese@teaneckschools.org
	
Ms. Jennifer Taylor
	jtaylor@teaneckschools.org
	
Student Assistance/HIB Coordinator-Ms. Adrienne Williams awilliams@teaneckschools.org
	
Support Staff
	
Ms. Kim Dockery
	kdockery@teaneckschools.org
	
Mr. Chuck Hollis
	chollis@teaneckschools.org

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Check List: Things to Do

● Register for Senior Courses

● Recommendation Letters

● Register for Spring SAT and/or

ACT

● NCAA Clearinghouse

● Naviance

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Graduation Requirements

●	4 Years of English (20 credits) ●	4 Years of Math (20 credits)
●	3 Years of Science (15 credits)
●	1 Year of World History (5 credits) ●	2 Years of US History (10 credits)
●	4 Years of PE/Health/DE (20 credits) ●	1 Year of World Language (5 credits) ●	1 Year of Fine/Perf Art (5 credits)
●	1 Year of Practical/Career/Tech (5 credits) ○	Business, Technology, or Culinary
●	1 Year of Financial Literacy (5 Credits) ●	30 additional credits of electives

Total: 140 Credits

+60 Hours of Community Service
	
❖	Fine/Performing Art ➢	Dance
➢	Music (Vocal & Instrumental) ➢	Art
➢	Theatre/Tech Theatre ➢	Public Speaking
❖	Financial Literacy ➢	Economics
➢	Dynamics of Business
➢	Money Power w/ Tech Apps ➢	Accounting
➢	Financial Planning & Money Mgmt
➢	College Success Seminar ❖	Practical/Career/Technical
➢	All Computer Technology courses
➢     All Business Courses ➢     All Culinary Courses

Types of Colleges

Two Year Schools (e.g. BCC)	Four Year Schools (e.g. FDU)

●	Apply in February (ideal) ●	No transcript until after
graduation ●	No SAT/ACT
●	No letters of recommendation ●	Qualifying students can apply
for NJ STARS Program (Student Tuition Assistance Reward
Scholarship)

●	Apply by deadline (October -January, mostly)
●	THS needs to send information - transcripts, letters of recommendation
●	Student needs to send materials - essay(s), SAT/ACT
scores, etc.

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How to Decide

Consider:

●	School size (small, medium, large) ●	Geographic location
●	Private vs. Public (cost factor) ●	Academic programs offered
●	Admissions Criteria - GPA, Test Scores, Acceptance Rate
●	Student Life/Extracurricular activities available ●	Other services offered

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College Visits

Tour various campuses ●	Looking at:
○ Library facilities ○ Residence halls ○ Campus security ○ Dining facilities ○ Campus setting
○ Athletics/Recreational facilities ●	Consider being a student for a day
●	Arrange for an interview if necessary
●	Follow up with a thank you	7

College Rep Visits

College representatives visit Teaneck High School often. You can check to see which colleges will be visiting by:
•Checking Naviance •Listening For Announcements
•Visiting the Counseling Department

All visits will take place virtually. THS - College Fair - TBA
Class of 2022 Google Classroom: fwzm5z2

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Application Forms

●	Common Application: More than 800 colleges ●	Coalition Application: 100+ colleges
○	(UMD, UWash, VTech- ONLY accept the Coalition) ●	Common Black College Application: over 50 HBCU’s
●	School - Speciﬁc Application

Students should try to complete the fewest application forms possible!

Coalition is more time intensive than the Common App

*Fee Waivers may be available for those who qualify for free/reduced lunch	9

Main Application Options

Early Decision (ED)
●	BINDING - student makes a commitment to a 1st choice institution. (If student is admitted, they are attending)
●	Not the best option if ﬁnancial aid is a factor due to the notiﬁcation timing
●	Should visit school multiple times
●	Deadlines: October -January

Early Action (EA) ●	NON binding
●	Students apply early and receive a decision well in advance of the regular response date
●	Need to check the details- may be Restrictive Early Action (REA) - the students may be restricted from applying ED or EA or REA to other institutions. If offered enrollment they have until May 1 to conﬁrm
●	Deadlines: October -December

Regular/Rolling

●	NON binding

●	May notify on a rolling basis, or may notify all at once (in April)
●	Have until May 1 to decide
●	Deadlines: December -May, but earlier is better

NOTE:
Some schools may have a combination of all 3 types of deadlines.

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Apply to a Range of Schools

● Reach ● Target
● Security

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Students-Get Organized Save Time, Eﬀort and Sanity

Create a list of target schools:

●	Visit each school’s undergraduate admissions web page to gather information

○	Types of applications accepted, deadlines, items required, submission process, essay topics & ﬁnancial aid forms
●	When applying

○	Read and follow directions carefully

○	Answer all of the questions completely. Don't leave any blanks, unless the question doesn't apply.
○	Have the following:

■	Essay/Personal Statement/Supplementals ■	Recommendations
○	Send ofﬁcial SAT/ACT scores

Use a spreadsheet, checklist, calendar or whatever works!

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Application Components What do colleges need to make a decision?

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Colleges Look At...

● High School Grades

● Rigor of Courses Taken in High School
● Standardized Test Scores (if submitted)
● College Application Essays ● Extracurricular Activities ● Leadership Skills
● Recommendations

● Demonstrated Interest	14

YourTranscript

●	Includes grades for all courses taken from grades 9-11 and senior courses in progress ●	Includes an unweighted and weighted GPA
●	Ofﬁcial transcripts are sent by the School Counselor

However...

Some schools no longer require transcripts (e.g. Rutgers, Penn State, CA system schools, NC State, Pitt.)

●	They require a Self Reported Academic Record (SRAR)

●	Students need to enter each course and each grade into the school’s online application system
●	Students can ask for an unofﬁcial transcript from Skyward

Community Colleges (e.g. BCC) require transcripts only after graduation

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SATTests

Go to collegeboard.org to register and ﬁnd all SAT related information and deadlines

Cost: $52 (no essay); $68 (with essay)

Teaneck High School is a Test Center

Fee Waivers available for those who qualify for free/reduced lunch

Current upcoming tests in December, March, May, June (usually a test in
August as well)

IMPORTANT:

Your child should check each college website to see the last accepted test date, depending upon how they are applying.

Some schools will accept the Nov. 3 test scores for a Nov. 15 deadline, and some will not!

Scores are released to colleges 10 days AFTER the student receives the scores.

SAT Subject Tests are required by a handful of schools. Be sure to check school-speciﬁc testing requirements.

Few schools require the SAT with

essay.	16

THE ACT

Go to ACT.org for registration and all ACT related information.

Cost: $55 (no writing); $70 (with writing)

ACT Dates: December, February, April, June, July

Fee Waivers available for those who qualify for free/reduced lunch

Calculator allowed throughout math section (cannot use calculator on parts of
SAT)

Don’t Forget! There are many
test-optional schools

www.fairtest.org!

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Testing Accommodations

● Students who have IEPs, 504s, or ESL accommodations at Teaneck High School may be eligible for SAT and/or ACT testing accommodations
● Parents should contact school counselors to complete a consent form ● Approval decisions are made by the testing company, not THS

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Sending Scores

●	Some schools accept self-reporting of scores. Check the school’s requirements!

●	A majority of schools require scores directly from the testing service (College Board or ACT)

●	Request via online account at LEAST three weeks before the deadline

●	4 free score reports when registering for SAT’s up to 9 days after test taken (unless fee waiver); after that, $12 per report

●	4 free score reports for ACT until Thursday after test date (unless fee waiver), after that $13 per report

TESTING WEBSITES

www.collegeboard.org                        www.actstudent.org                              20

Recommendation Letters

●	School Counselor Letter of Recommendation* ●	Two Teacher Letters of Recommendation
●	Character Reference Letter (optional but many scholarships require it)

* Students must ﬁll out the Student Brag Sheet on Naviance in order for their Counselors to complete the counselor recommendation.

Where Can I Find the Brag Sheet?

→ Log into Naviance → Click “About Me” → Click “My Surveys” → “Surveys Not Started”→Student Brag Sheet and Parent Brag Sheet

Save the brag sheet frequently as you ﬁll it out!

Students should ﬁrst ask their teacher(s) for recommendations in person (via email

during COVID), and then make the request in Naviance.	21

Essay or Personal Statement

●	MUST be the student’s own original work, written in the student’s voice
●	Not required by all schools

●	Some schools require the personal statement along with other essays or short answer pieces
●	EDIT EDIT EDIT- teachers and school counselors can proofread ●	Students may work on the college essay in junior year or senior
year English class

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THS Process Overview

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Naviance

What is Naviance?

● The gateway to post-secondary planning ● Based on Teaneck High School data
● The fast track to ﬁnding all the information about a college

● Provides career exploration via the Career Interest Proﬁler & other tools ● The online ﬁling cabinet and submission process for student transcripts,
letters of recommendation, and mid-year reports

Please reach out to your child’s counselor to access Naviance if you do not have access already!
https://student.naviance.com/teaneck

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Naviance College Exploration Tools

●	College Searches: Advanced Search, Super Match, College Compare, College Match, and more
● See which colleges are hosting virtual THS visits and sign up ● Save prefered colleges in “Colleges I’m Thinking About”
● Summer/Senior Year move to “Colleges I’m Applying To”

○	Indicate: Early Decision, Early Action, Regular, Rolling

●	At THS, counselors submit transcripts and letters to colleges electronically through Naviance.

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IN ORDER FOR THS TO SUBMIT OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS & LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATIONS TO COLLEGES:

THE COUNSELOR MUST HAVE: 1. Student Brag Sheet
2. Parent/Guardian Brag Sheet

3. Parent Transcript Consent Form (submitted only once)

4. Student Transcript Request Form (submitted as many times as needed) 5. Activities List

If student is planning to apply to a college Early Decision or Early Action, start planning early.

ALL applications require the ParentTranscript Consent form and Student Request foms so that transcripts and letters of recommendation can be
sent in a timely manner.
	These forms are
	
due to counselors at least 10 school days
	
prior to the deadline.

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Other Important Information

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FinancialAid

●	It’s all about the FAFSA!!!!!

Free Application for Federal Student Aid- www.studentaid.ed.gov

➢ Familiarize yourself with Federal Pell GRANTSandsubsidized LOANS

●	File the FAFSA & CSS Proﬁle starting October 1st of senior yearat www.FAFSA.org.
○	College Scholarship Service Proﬁle, is an online application created and maintained by College Board that allows college students to apply for non-federal ﬁnancial aid. There is a cost associated. cssproﬁle.collegeboard.com

●	For NJ State Grants and Loans, go to www.HESAA.org.

○ Familiarize yourself with NJ TAG Grant , NJ EOF/EOP, and the NJ Community College Opportunity Grant

● THS ANNUAL FAFSA/ Financial Aid Night - Fall of Senior Year

Deadlines are CRITICAL - and vary by schools and decision plan	28

NJ STARS

(NewJersey Student Tuition Assistance Reward Scholarship)

●	Scholarship covers tuition for NJ community colleges

Requirements:

●	Top 15% of class

●	In past, weighted class rank has determined eligibility

●	Students must complete a rigorous series of high school courses ●	Learn more via this hyperlinked pamphlet

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Scholarship Information

●	To learn about and ﬁnd scholarships go to:

○	the U.S. Department of Labor’s FREE scholarship search tool
○	Goingmerry.com ○     Fastweb.com
○	Cappex.com

○	JLVCOLLEGECOUNSELING.com

● Check each of our colleges’ Merit Scholarship web pages for scholarship consideration guidelines

○	Some have earlier FAFSA Filing Deadlines ○	Some have earlier Admission Deadlines
○	Sometimes speciﬁc scholarships may require

additional materials (e.g. essay)

●	Check the Class of 2022 College & Career Google Classroom (code
is fwzm5z2)

●	Other helpful resources:

○	Net Price Calculator

○	College Score Card

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NCAA Clearing House

● In order for athletes to be eligible for Division I & II, the NCAA eligibility registration must be completed online.

● Register online with the NCAA www.ELIGIBILITYCENTER.ORG
➢ They host webinars for students and their families. ➢ Navigating Initial Eligibility During COVID-19

● Submit the NCAA Transcript Release form to your School Counselor

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THS College Visits… virtual for now

Various college reps visit weekly! Steps:
1. Sign-in to Naviance Family Connection
2. Find the “What’s New” area in the home screen (lower right)
3. The next three visits are automatically displayed 4. Click on “Show More” to see the full list
5. Once you ﬁnd a college of interested, click on “More Info” and sign up

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HOW PARENTS CAN HELP

●	Dialogue with your son/daughter about your opinions on: living on-campus vs living at home, in-state vs out-of-state, loans, starting at a 2-yr vs 4-yr college, etc.
●	Encourage organization and prioritizing ●	Help make a plan
●	Hang college application calendar or checklists in a common area (kitchen, etc.)
●	Set weekly times to review progress/status

●	This can be a fun journey for you and your teen

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FinalTips for Parents

Be supportive

Be a sounding board

Be a proofreader

Use Naviance for communication, research and surveys

Ask your son/daughter ― How can I help???

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The Teaneck Advantage: Educational Excellence for All

Questions???

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