8th Graders and Parents, This is Your Semester to Get Ready for High School!

Starting already this week, 8th grade students will be creating their accounts on a website created by the state: IHaveAPlanIowa.org We will begin using this site this week by moving through steps 1 through 4. This will take students into next week as I see students only every 3 days and the fact that getting signed up and learning how it works takes a little bit of time. The first few steps will quiz the students to help them learn what their personality is like, what careers they have interest in, and what careers they may be more successful in. Step 5 is the biggest step....this is where they input their 4-year high school plan.

So, what is a 4-year high school plan? Their 4-year high school plan is a plan that the student creates with the help of me, the high school counselors, their parents, and their high school advisor. In that plan, students will choose classes for each semester of their whole high school career. State law says all students need to have a plan to graduate high school in 4 years and this plan must be in place before the end of the 8th grade. The high school counselors will come over for 2 Life Skills class periods so that the 3 of us can work with each student individually in order to create the best plan possible for each student. You will also be getting a letter included with this week's report card. This letter will lay out some of the other timelines and responsibilities you and your child will have. You will be required to come in one night in February for 9th grade orientation. This is a big night where you get tons of information, meet your child's high school advisor, and sit down together to plan the 4-year plan. Students will be a little bit prepared by this night, but will still lean on you for a lot of help and advice. Sound fun? Sound stressful? Sound overwhelming? If you said 'yes' to all three, then you are right. It is fun, stressful, and overwhelming. But I will be there for all of the students and parents through the whole process, so please email me, call me, or stop by whenever you have a question and I will try to answer it.