School is out for summer!  Hope you all have a safe and happy summer break.  Don’t forget about Textbook Check-out Aug 20-24th.

First day of school is Wednesday, Aug 28th for Freshmen and Thursday, Aug 29th for the rest of you!

Dear Students and Parents,

The next couple of months are a very busy time in the counseling department. We would like to share what we have upcoming so you can plan ahead in your calendar and know what we are working on to assist your students.

Schedule Changes for Semester 2

1/22/18 The 1^st day of the new semester- Students wanting to make schedule changes for the new semester have until 2/1/18 to get them signed off and finalized. All changes require teacher and parent signatures. Students can choose to change to classes that are offered for S2. Changing of instructors only is not permitted by the counseling department. In addition, going less than 6 credit bearing classes as a senior must be approved by Mr. Chancy. Other grades require additional meetings with admin and extenuating circumstances to be approved. For Grades 10 and 12- Mr. Chancy, for Grades 11 and 9- Mrs. Kidder.

Dual Credit Time Line

Students in S2 Dual Credit Courses (Statistics, Intro to Lit, College Writing, MS Word, MS Excel, Auto) will be given their registration forms on Thursday (1/24/18)

Registration forms are due to the counseling department on Tuesday (1/29) when the rep from Helena College will be in the counseling department from 8:30-2:00 to collect the papers. If they are not turned in during this window, students will have to deliver them to Helena College by 2/1. Bills will be sent out 2/4 and will be due to Helena College 2/22. Items that miss the deadlines will not be accepted. Also, for students who have not taken their 2 free dual credit classes, their class this semester will count for free. Additionally, we have a scholarship opportunity for students who qualify for free and reduced lunch, see Mr. Robinson for more information.

2018-2019 Class Registration

February is registration month in the counseling department, and our attention will be shifted to helping students apply for classes next year.

Junior Week- Future Senior Reg  February 4-8

Monday- Class Visits by counselors (American History)

Tues-Thursday- Counselors available to answer student registration questions

Wednesday- Junior Career Fair

Wednesday- Junior Parent Night

Friday- Students register with counselors in Library

Sophomore Week- Future Junior Reg February 19-22

Tuesday- Class Visits by counselors (Biology Classes)

Wed-Thursday- Counselors available to answer student registration questions

Friday- Students register with counselors in Library

Freshman Week- Future Soph Reg February 25-3/1

Monday- Class Visits by counselors (World Cultures Classes)

Tuesday-Thursday- Counselors available to answer student registration questions

Friday- Students register with counselors in Library

CRA Week- Future Frosh Reg  March 4-8

Monday- Counselors Meet with Students

Wednesday – Incoming Frosh Tour CHS

Thursday – Parent Night 7:30PM CHS Aud.

Friday- Counselor Pick up Reg forms

Parent Nights

We will be hosting a Junior Parent Night on Wednesday, February 6^th at 6PM in the CHS Auditorium

We have stopped running Freshman and Sophomore parent nights due to low attendance, but feel free to make an appointment with your child’s counselor to get all your questions answered.

We will be hosting an incoming Freshman Parent Night on Thursday March 7^th at 7:30PM in the CHS Auditorium.

Suicide Prevention at CHS

The counseling departments at both high schools have worked hard to help develop a comprehensive suicide prevention and mental health awareness program.

YAM (Youth Aware of Mental health)– Freshman year program run through the Frosh PE courses presented by outside mental health professionals. All freshman students will begin the program within their Freshman PE class on January 29^th.  Outside mental health professionals will be meeting with students during 5 individual class periods of Freshman PE.  For more info on YAM, please contact Mrs. Meldrum or Josyln Davidson at jdavidson@helenaschools.org

QPR (Question, Persuade, Respond)- Sophomore program run through the Health classes by health teachers. The focus of this program is for students to reach out for help if they feel their friend is at risk.

SOS (Signs of Suicide)- Junior year program, presented in US History classes by counselors. Was presented in December, and the focus was to try to learn how to recognize the signs of mental health struggles in themselves or peers and to reach out for help. Students will be taught ACT (Acknowledge, Care, Tell)

Career Fair

CHS is hosting a Career Fair for the junior class on Wednesday, February 6. Prior to the event, students will get to choose two out of 22 careers that are of interest to them – from an engineer to a lineman, we will have something for everyone. During fifth period, students will attend two, 15-minute sessions with each professional they chose. The discussion will begin with a description of each person’s job, the educational path that led to that career, and end with a group discussion.

Career Cruising

The counseling department has completed career cruising lessons with the Freshman, Sophomore, and Senior classes. We will do Junior Career Cruising lessons in February, so students have the opportunity to come up with their 5 colleges to send their ACT Scores to.

The focuses at each level are

Freshman Year– Learning Styles Inventory, Career Matchmaker (looking at interests and careers that match them)

Sophomore year– Reality Check- Looking at the lifestyle students want and the salaries needed to provide that lifestyle. We then researched careers and the salaries and checked to see if they would match up with the lifestyle plan.

Junior Year– Post Secondary High School planning. We will spend the period working with them on their post high school plans.

Senior Year– We worked with them on finalizing their post high school plans, taught them how to scholarship searches.

ACT for Juniors

Once again, CHS will be facilitating the ACT test for all juniors on Tuesday, April 2^nd at the Fairgrounds Exhibition Hall. You will receive several communications from CHS regarding this, but we wanted to make sure it is on your calendar.

We have several ACT Prep opportunities upcoming, you should have received a flier about this as well.

We will have an online prep option, afterschool option, as well as an intensive ACT Prep class offered by Sycamore learning. The prep class will be Monday and Tuesday January 28^th and 29^th. We will run 2 different evening sessions, one from 3:30-6 and the other from 6:30-9 so you can pick the time that works best for you. This is a great opportunity and the cost is $75. You should have received a letter in the mail regarding this course and you can sign up at www.prepforthefuture.com . Please feel free to contact Mr. Robinson if you have additional questions.

AP Testing

Students in AP courses will start getting information about the tests in March and signing up for the tests between 3/4 and 3/22. The cost is $94 per test and they will sign up through the book keeper.

May Test Dates

6- AP Government (AM)- @Carroll College

6- AP Environmental Science (PM) @Intermountain

7- AP Spanish (AM) @CHS

7- AP Physics- Algebra (PM) @intermountain

8- AP English Lit (AM) @intermountain

8- AP Euro History (PM) @intermountain

9- AP Chemistry (AM) @intermountain

9- AP German (PM) @CHS

10- AP US History (AM)@Carroll College

13- AP Biology (AM) @Delta (old Radisson)

14- AP Calc AB/BC (AM) @Delta

14- AP Human Geography (PM) @Delta

15- AP English Lang (AM) @Carroll College

Senior Awards Night

Monday, May 6th at 6:30 in the CHS Auditorium. This is a great event where we honor our seniors for all their hard work. Contact Anna Doran for more info at adoran@helenaschools.org

Graduation

Graduation this year will be on June 1st and this year CHS will be at 10 A.M.

Stay tuned to this webpage for updated info on graduation.

http://chs.helenaschools.org/graduation/

Scholarship Information

Remember to keep checking our scholarship page; it is updated at least weekly. There are currently over 50 scholarships listed on the page.

https://chs.helenaschools.org/about/counseling-career-center/scholarship-opportunities/

One big scholarship with an upcoming deadline is the Montana University System Honors Scholarship.

It has a March 15^th deadline

Application:  http://www.sfs.mus.edu

More information:  http://www.mus.edu

The MUS Honor Scholarship is a 4-year renewable scholarship that waives the recipient’s tuition when used at an eligible campus. The value varies depending upon which campus the student attends

Another scholarship to highlight is the Angel Fund Scholarship, which is only for Helena Public Schools students.

Angel Fund Scholarships

• Deadline: March 2019

Award:  $1,000

http://angelfundhelena.org/scholarships

(For Helena Graduates Only)

As always, you can also follow our social media accounts for up to date information.

https://twitter.com/BruinCounseling

https://www.facebook.com/BruinCounseling/

Contact Info

If you need to contact your counselor, you can at

A-D students- Mr. Robinson jrobinson@helenaschools.org

E-K Students- Mrs. Meldrum dmeldrum@helenaschools.org

L-Ri Students- Ms. Bawden jbawden@helenaschools.org

Ro-Z Students- Mr. Ferlicka cferlicka@helenaschools.org

Career Center- Mrs. Doran adoran@helenaschools.org

Counseling Secretary- Mrs. Herndon aherndon@helenaschools.org

We hope this helps you navigate this spring and all the big things happening.

All the best, CHS Counseling Department

To make it easier for you to request transcripts, Capital High School has partnered with Parchment to provide secure online transcript ordering available 24/7. Creating an account is free and only takes a few steps. Get started now!

Go to: 

Transcript Requests: In order to send transcripts for college applications, scholarship programs, N.C.A.A. eligibility, or almost anything else you would need a transcript for, past and present students must register with Parchment to send their transcripts electronically. Transcripts include A.C.T. scores taken at Capital High School during a student’s junior year. A.C.T.,  retake scores are added after scores are received by A.C.T.

• Graduated students: If you graduated after 2009, you may register with Parchment and can request your transcripts electronically. If you graduated before 2009, you must request a hard copy of your official transcript by calling Pam Fliesner at 406-324-2477

We have created unique registration codes for all current students, you can access the site without one, but it streamlines the process and makes it easier to get your transcript sent on time.

With this new program, you can send your official secure transcript to anywhere in the world. It will be free for as many as you need while you are still enrolled at CHS as long as you are sending it to a college or university. ( the state only supplements requests to higher ed at this point)

Parchment : Formerly called Docufide, Parchment is a secure way to send your official, high school transcript electronically. Transcripts are sent, usually within 24 hours, and are received instantly by the college. Parchment also confirms the receipt of the transcript. No more wondering if all of your materials sent through the mail have been received and processed! Transcripts are free to send to all public universities in the state of Michigan and to many other colleges throughout the country. Sending transcripts to certain colleges, scholarship programs, or specialized locations may result in a processing fee through Parchment. This is a fast, easy, and convenient way to ensure that your transcripts are received in a timely manner along with your online college applications. Once you are registered with Parchment, you can request transcripts anytime in the future, even after you graduate. Follow these simple steps to get your transcripts sent:

Register with Parchment : Every senior needs to register! Follow these Parchment Screenshots to complete your registration. If you need some assistance registering with Parchment see Mr. Robinson in the Counseling Office.

Complete College Applications : Students should have their college applications completed and submitted before requesting transcripts be sent. College applications should be completed online through the college’s website.

Request Transcripts : Login to your Parchment account and search for the colleges you would like your transcripts sent to. Select each college you want your transcripts sent to and complete your request. Follow these Parchment Transcript Request Screenshots  to send your transcripts to schools. If you need some assistance requesting transcripts with Parchment see Mr. Robinson in the Counseling Office.

Please call the Attendance Office at 406-324-2499 if your student will be absent or late.  If you are not able to speak with someone directly, please leave a message. Thank You!

For information about Traffic Education, please email trafficeducation@helenaschools.org or visit the District Page by clicking here.