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Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Academics at Pope |
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AP Classes versus Honors Classes: Honors courses are taught at a faster pace and cover more material in greater depth than regular level college prep classes. Most Honors courses carry an extra .5 quality point toward the overall cumulative weighted GPA calculation, except for honors courses taught only at the 9th grade level (such as 9th grade literature). Honors courses are recommended prerequisites for the AP courses classes typically taught in the junior and senior grades. Both honors and regular level classes are geared to prepare students for college. AP (Advanced Placement) courses are college-level courses taught in the high school setting. Students in AP courses take the national AP exams in May and if they score a 3, 4, or 5 have the possibility of being granted college credit. The policy for awarding credit for high AP scores varies from college to college. AP courses carry a weight of 1.0 extra quality point toward the overall cumulative weighted GPA calculation. Other classes such as Honors World Literature prepare students for college but do not have the option to earn college credit like AP courses. Assignments for a sick child: You can email your child’s teachers directly for assignments or if he or she is expected to be out sick for several days, you can call the counseling office and we can request assignments for your child. We require 24 hours notice to collect the assignments as the teachers have different planning times. If there are worksheets or other information to be picked up, they will be sent to the counseling office Homework Tray for you to pick up. Please also check the teachers’ blogs to keep track of assignments and readings for class. Change in address or contact information: In order to continue to attend Pope, your new residence must be within the Pope attendance zone. We require verification of address by your providing us two(2) proofs of residency such as a lease or sales contract on your home, a utility bill or bank statement, driver’s license or voter registration. To notify us of a change in contact information (i.e. phone number or emergency contact etc.) Please contact our Records Clerk (770) 578-7903x269 and inform her of this change. You may be asked to provide legal documentation of any changes in custody. Changing a schedule or class level: A change in schedule past the due date for submitting your requested courses for the next term will be considered only if it is discovered you are missing a course required for graduation, already have credit for a class which was subsequently scheduled for you, or if you fail a required course. It is extremely important that you thoughtfully choose your courses as you cannot request a schedule change. Schedules are not altered because you have had a “change of mind” about a class. College Information: Starting the College Search Process: A good place to start the college search process is to complete the Career Cruising online survey that indicates which careers in which you may be interested. From there you can search for colleges that have majors that would move you into that career. Also, have a discussion with your parents and your counselor concerning other parameters that are important to you such as geographic region of the country, cost of your education, public or private school, diversity, academic programs and so on. CollegeBoard.com has a good search engine to help you choose the parameters that are the most important to you and it will generate a list of colleges for your consideration. Search through each college’s website, especially the admissions section, to see if the college will meet your needs and if you fit the profile for a student at that college. You can also download a copy of the College Planning booklet from the counseling weblog Arranging College Visits: To arrange a college visit, contact the admissions office of the college you wish to visit to request a visit. Check the admissions website because often there is information concerning a college’s special invitations and programs for prospective students. Click on this link for some sample questions http://www.collegeboard.com/student/csearch/college-visits/73.html Colleges visiting Pope: Check the Counseling bulletin board in the main hall just off the 100 hall, review the School Counseling blog on the Pope High School website, and listen to the morning announcements. Counseling Appointments: 1. If you are a parent who would like to schedule an appointment, call 770-578-7903. 2. If you are a student, you can stop by the counseling office in room 102 and one of our staff members will make the appointment for you and give you a pass that has the appointment time on it. You will need to show your teacher the appointment time to get an approval to see your counselor during the scheduled time. Course Sequence: Pope website has curriculum flow charts that show the sequencing for all courses by subject area. For core academic classes, look at the level of courses to see the appropriate path for each student, such as honors, AP or on-level courses. Each year, the students’ teachers make recommendations for the next in sequence course for their students following these guidelines Curriculum Standards: For information on curriculum standards for any subject go to the CCSD curriculum resources site at: http://picasso.cobbk12.org/ New Math Curriculum - Also refer to the Georgia Department of Educations curriculum web page:
http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/ci_services.aspx
To see information specific to the new Math curriculum, scroll
down to GPS Math. The
Comparison of QCC & GPS Course Content is a helpful guide to see which
content from traditionally named courses (Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra
II) is included in Math 1, Math 2, etc.
You will need a color printer to print out the color coding
accurately. Free math
support resources are available at
www.gavirtualschool.org
scroll down to Important Information and Links, then click on Math
Resources For more information on financial aid opportunities, visit the counseling blog on Freshmen & Junior Advisement: Freshman Advisement is conducted in the spring through individual appointments for each freshman and parent with an advisor who will help them create a 4 year plan to meet graduation requirements while they are in high school Junior Advisement is a guidance lesson led by a counselor in all junior classrooms in the fall to review their transcripts to determine which courses they still need for graduation and create a 2 year plan Graduation Requirements: Graduation requirements for the classes of 2010 and 2011 can be accessed at the following link: http://popehs.typepad.com/files/graduation-requirements-2009-2010-2011.doc Graduation requirements for the classes of 2012 and beyond can be accessed at: http://popehs.typepad.com/guidancedepartment/files/graduation_rule_class_of_2012_and_beyond_powerpoint.ppt Also refer to the Department of Education website for detailed graduation requirements at: www.doe.k12.ga.us/ci_services.aspx Guidance Lessons: Freshmen Lesson – Sophomore Lesson – Action Plan – spring semester Junior Lessons – Junior Advisement in the fall semester and College/Career Planning in the spring semester Senior Lesson – Post-Secondary Planning – fall semester Joint Enrollment: Joint Enrollment (JE) is a program for high school students to be jointly enrolled in high school and college for some or all coursework. The JE student will earn both high school and college credit for these classes. JE is available to juniors and seniors. They apply in the fall or early spring of the school year prior to the JE year. Most deadlines for JE applications are by early February. Check the Pope Counseling Web page for information about which colleges offer JE programs and their specific requirements and deadlines. Popular programs for Pope students are at Meetings for Parents: 1. Freshmen Parent Night – High School 101, usually held in the fall semester for Freshmen parents 2. PSAT and GaCollege 411 Parent/Student Info Night, usually held in the spring semester for parents of students in all grade levels 3. Financial Aid Night - usually held early in the spring semester for parents of students in all grade levels 4. Joint Enrollment/Accel Program, usually held in the fall semester for current Sophomores’ and Juniors’ parents 5. College Bound Planning – For all grade levels but especially junior and sophomore parents, later in the fall semester 6. College Admissions – For senior parents as their students are applying early in the fall semester On-line classes: C Students register for courses on-line at the schools’ web sites above. Contact your child’s counselor to be sure you are signing up for the correct course before you register. Elective credit may be accepted from other distance learning programs provided you receive prior approval from Cobb County Schools before taking the course. For details about how to obtain prior county approval for elective distance learning go to: www.cobbk12.org/centraloffice/adminrules/I_Rules/Form%20IKF-1.doc Recommendations: A counselor recommendation is usually requested in conjunction with a transcript request. Counselor recommendations are required by the more competitive colleges and private colleges. Look at their application requirements on the colleges’ websites to see if a counselor recommendation is required and if there is a specific form to use. In order to complete a counselor recommendation, the student must provide: 1. The institution’s Counselor Recommendation Form (also called a Secondary School Report) and 2. Personal Information Form (yellow) which you must complete 3. Teacher Input Form (green) which four (4) of your teachers complete. It is the student’s responsibility to distribute teacher forms to 4 of their selected teachers. These forms are available in the counseling office. Recovering Course Credits: You can recover credit for failed core classes in the following ways: 1. Retake the course during the summer via traditional Cobb County Summer School. This typically runs the second week of June through the second week of July and costs $300.00 per half credit. Registration typically starts at the end of April. There is a late registration date in early June. Go to http://www.cobbk12.org/~oakwood/EventCalend/SUMMERSCHOOL.htm 2. Other credit recovery options include: A. Cobb Virtual School B. Georgia Virtual School C. NovaNet – taken in computer lab at school during the school day. See link below for details about these and other credit recovery options: http://www.cobbk12.org/eHigh/eHighSchool/documents/GuideforPlacementinOnlinePrograms.3.4.09.pdf Cobb Virtual is the best option if online learning is needed/desired. Please note: Any credit you earn via these methods will be posted, along with the prior failed course, on the student’s transcript. Courses repeated do not replace the previous grade, however, do offset the impact of the failed grade on the GPA, especially if the student earns a much better grade the second time. Students cannot repeat a course in which they have already earned credit, unless they audit the course, which means they sit through the entire course, do all the required work, but typically receive no credit. The only reason that a student would audit a course would be if they earned a very low but passing grade in - say - Spanish I, but wanted to go on and take Spanish II. They could audit Spanish I in hopes they would get a better foundation so that they would then be better prepared for Spanish II. Students cannot audit elective courses, this is a county policy Registering a New Student: Verify that you are living in the Registering for Classes Next Year: To register for classes for next year, complete the course registration form given to you by the scheduling office and turn in by the deadline date. Registration forms are distributed in March for fall classes. Be sure to obtain your parent(s)’s signature on the form. SAT or ACT Information: Registration: For the SAT, register online at www.collegeboard.com and for the ACT, go to www.act.org. You will set up an account for your student to register at the website and use the account name for future information such as sending your test scores to colleges. The Counseling Office has paper registration packets for standby registrations or if you prefer not to do them online. When to Take It: Most students take one or both college admissions tests during their junior year and again in the fall of their senior year if they have not obtained the score they want during the junior year. In order to have completed the appropriate level of math for both tests, we recommend taking them for the first time after a student has completed Algebra II or is at least halfway through that class, or the student has completed Accelerated Math 2 or is halfway through Math 3. A student in advanced math classes may take the tests prior to his/her junior year if the Algebra II or Accelerated Math 2 is completed before then; he or she can take it again in the junior year to benefit from more literature and vocabulary exposure. Which Test Is Best To Take: Many students benefit from taking both tests to see which one is the best fit for them. A student might do better on one section from the SAT and another on the ACT, so taking both can provide additional good information for colleges to consider. The SAT is more abilities oriented whereas the ACT is more curriculum based so some students who earn good grades but have not tested well on the PSAT might obtain a higher score on the ACT. There is a science section on the ACT that does not exist on the SAT so a strong science student might like to demonstrate this strength on the ACT. There is no “guessing penalty” on the ACT so a student who has a hard time narrowing choices might benefit from this. The writing section is optional on the ACT, but be aware that most 4 year colleges will require the writing portion. The ACT has fewer sections that are longer than the sections on the SAT. Overall both tests require about 3.5 hours to complete if you take the writing portion. Summer School: Summer school information and registration materials are available in the school counseling office in room 102 starting the third week in April. The cost is $300 for ˝ credit and $600 for a full credit. For more information about summer school go to: http://www.cobbk12.org/~oakwood/EventCalend/SUMMERSCHOOL.htm Transcripts: To order a transcript, come to the counseling office to complete your personal transcript request card. Bring the following information: Name of institution to which it will be mailed, receiving institution deadline date, counselor recommendation form (if required), and $2. Your first transcript is free; subsequent orders are $2/transcript. We have addresses for most major institutions in the Tutoring: The Counseling Office has lists of private tutors for each broad subject area as well as SAT/ACT preparation. Also many teachers will offer extra assistance before or after school to their students. Please refer to their blogs or syllabi for their planned help times, or email the specific teacher for that information. Withdrawing a Student: To withdraw your child from Pope, you must call, inform in person, or inform in writing your child’s counselor or the School Counseling Office Secretary at (770) 578-7900 x271 that you wish to withdraw your child from * Copy of withdrawal form * Copy of transcript * Copies of health records Please request if you also need the following: * Copy of attendance history * Copy of discipline history * Future schedule requests or current schedule * Any other documentation you may need |
