High School Coordination

You should absolutely insist upon meeting with the guidance counselor. That's what they're there for!

She's a freshman? So find out who helps her enroll in her classes. They should be the ones telling her which classes she has to take each semester. The core classes anyway but the electives are totally up to her, for fun.

Call the school and make an appt with the college guidance counselor. I had to do that because our school was not putting our son in the class we knew he needed for college. The counselor was shocked we were worrying about college requirements freshman year. I thought he was an idiot lol. There are very specific needs if you are attending a 4 year college. And trying to cram those in junior and senior year can be tough. He told us "we usually do us history and chemistry and some other big English class senior year if they decide they are going" To which we replied that doesn't work for us. They need 4 years English, 4 years math, 4 years science and then a bunch of other stuff like history, geography, and ours did band, chorus etc. If by chance they fail a big class there is no time to fix that.

I'm adding this for you to know. Just because a student meets the high school graduation requirements of that school it doesn't mean they meet college admission requirements. That's not to scare you or your daughter but you need to know going in that if you are planning to attend college you need to have a plan.

That's weird. Our middle school is grades 6-8 and your assigned guidance counselor meets with each student to plan the schedule for the upcoming year starting the spring of 5th grade.

In 8th grade, that counselor meets with student and parent to set up the 4yr plan for graduation so the parents and student know what is expected for graduation and what plan the student will be on. For instance, our daughter was in Honors and AP classes and those were coordinated with a sit down meeting between us, daughter and counselor. This is when you learn if you will be graduating as recognized, with honors, etc.

Our High School is grades 9-10 and the same process takes effect yearly to make sure students are on the right track.

Senior High School.... grades 11-12, same thing again except more thorough since graduation is looming closely and you make sure you have all of the state requirements for graduation. You also meet with counselors for college prep exams and college applications. The senior high school counseling center has an entire area set up for students to apply for college and scholarships.

If your child plans to go to college which I hope she is, she needs to make sure she is following the expected guidelines for college. Say, if she is in AP classes, those classes can get college credit if you do well on the overall final exam. Our schools actively involve parents and students with college in mind. Transcripts for college info starts in 9th grade so you want the best scores you can possibly get in order to help yourself get into a better college.

Now when it comes to classes in grades 9-12, the student is expected to be able to self manage him/herself. From day 1 in K around here students are given an agenda for planning and it is drilled in their heads from K about planning and managing time.

There are no home rooms or 1 teacher to look out for certain students. By high school, they are expected to be able to get to class on time, have work completed and participate in class.

We have a large school district which is why high school is broken down the way it is. We have 3 Senior High schools and graduating classes range from 1200 to almost 2000 students. I believe one of the high schools had the largest (or one of ) graduating senior class in 2013 in the nation.

I don't understand why any guidance counselor at any school would refuse to meet with a parent who had questions. Parents need to know the navigation process so your child does not screw up a schedule and ends up not graduating for lack of hours. If I were you, I would as to meet with someone at the school who could help me understand the process. It is different beginning in 9th grade and sometimes an adjustment for some students.

Best wishes.

If you are having issues with a class have your daughter talk to them, if that doesn't work then contact the teachers.

Most schools have the requirements posted on their website.

A big pet peeve of mine is parents thinking everything is the schools responsibility. If I wanted to know the answers you are seeking I would ask my child.

I teach AP English in a very large, urban high school. Our students don't have a homeroom. The counselors help them with their schedules, but they do much of their scheduling online now, so often they end up in the wrong classes. Our counselors review the schedules to try to catch mistakes, but some problems slip through the cracks. Although the counselors are terribly overworked, they are excellent and are always happy to meet with parents and students who are concerned about schedules (or anything else). Teachers generally know what courses students should be taking, too, and we try to help keep kids on track, as well. It's a team effort. It's a flawed system, but it's what we have to work with right now.

I agree with the others. Call and make an appointment with the counselor. You'll probably get all of your questions answered pretty quickly. Good luck! High school is a wild ride! :)

Yes, make an appointment with guidance. What you describe is pretty typical. They might have a "home room" for logistical purposes (handing out notices, taking initial attendance for the day) but my kids' school doesn't even have that. What they did here a few years ago was add an "advisory period" of 15 minutes a day into each day. Each student is assigned a faculty adviser - not sure if it's the same person every year or changes each year - and that's the person who is supposed to be able to help them with general questions, etc. In theory it's nice. In practice, it's 15 minutes of goof-off time each day.

No, there is no one teacher tracking the big picture for your student, it's expected that the student and parents will do that and if you have questions or issues, you can ask guidance. My 16 year old son has learning disabilities and is on an IEP so I do get more centralized support for him but it's not much and other than his annual meeting, I have to initiate any inquiries. My daughter - same grade (11th) - is an honors student who chooses her classes on her own. She runs them by us but for the most part, works with her teachers and guidance counselor on what she should take.

While guidance doesn't initiate scheduling conferences, you can definitely make an appointment to see whoever she is assigned to. I would start off 1:1 with just you and the GC and then have a follow up with your child included if needed. Usually when I've had to go to guidance for an emergency intervention with my son, we meet separately and then the GC pulls him in later in the day without me and they agree on an action plan based on our earlier discussion. I also schedule appointments with individual teachers if needed.

As far as mapping out a big-picture plan, that's something for your child to do, with your help and guidance. Read the student handbook, familiarize yourself with which classes are required and when, and then fill in the blanks with electives that match her interests, aptitude and goals. A competitive student will opt for more academically heavy electives and a less-competitive student will choose things that are interesting (e.g. my daughter's electives have been a second language and this year, she added a second science class while my son's have been his resource room period and this year, a marketing class).

It's very different from elementary and middle school. If there was no "welcome to high school" parent night where this was explained, perhaps you could suggest to the GC that the school provide this kind of info to incoming freshman parents. Before you suggest it though, make sure that you didn't miss a back to school night presentation or something on the website or in a news letter that already went over this.

I would be very puzzled if the school does not have a "student services office" (the name may not be exactly that, but some variation) where there are counselors -- usually one per grade who is assigned to follow that grade through HS and advise on academic choices, curriculum, and eventually to advice on college applications and choices.

If your HS does not have ANY such people who are there to answer questions -- there is a problem with the HS, frankly. Let's hope that you're just needing to find the right person and that the school does offer this very basic and essential help.

There are no homerooms so that's not the question to ask. Go to the main office and ask to see whatever counselor or administrator is the academic advisor for your daughter's grade; say you and she need to sit down with someone to talk about class choices so she is on track not just for this year but for requirements for the coming years. It's true that one wrong class choice in freshman or sophomore year can mean retaking things, or having to do summer school or online work over a summer, or not getting into certain classes in junior and senior year, which can affect college choices. It's important and you are right to seek advice.

If she has had a rough start to the year so far, please do this soon, so she knows who is her advocate and adviser in the administrative or student services staff.

You say that "guidance doesn't do parent-teacher conferences" but be clear with the office that you are seeing an academic adviser here, not a talk with someone about social or adjustment issues (if that's correct). Academic advising is often done by a guidance counselor but it may not be in your particular school. Yet someone in a main office or student services office should be able to talk to you about things like "If she drops Algebra this year, she has to retake it next year because she must have Geometry by junior year or she'll be forced to do summer school" and those kinds of details of the "career path" for students.

Be polite but proactive. Say exactly what you wrote here! "I need someone to help ME figure out what she is supposed to be taking, what classes affect her class choices and options next year and beyond, what classes in what order will affect her graduating on time" and so on. Do not let them brush you off. You should not be expected to know those things automatically and neither should she; the school should be helping kids navigate today's very complex paths toward graduation. If you are told, "Just go online," the still insist that yes, you'll go online but you need first to make an appointment and will go online to prepare for that appointment.

Good luck, and update us. Maybe if the school is small and lacks advisers, you need to approach the next level up or the school board and ask who can answer questions.

Our high schools (and middle schools) have homerooms and home room teachers.
They do not coordinate kids schedules.

That's what the guidance department does.
The high school our son goes to has one guidance counselor per grade plus another for STEM students.
In middle school (they have guidance counselors too) they began working on career development plans - they meet with the kids, go over their grades and plans for the future and lay out what has to happen if they want to be <doctor, lawyer, engineer, hair dresser, business owner, accountant, car mechanic, etc> and they inform <send home hand outs and/or send emails> parents what the career plan is and how it's shaping up.
Guidance had forms for the students to fill out WITH the parents input.
This happened for us in 7th and 8th grade.

Guidance doesn't do regular teacher conferences but you certainly can make an appointment to meet with them.
I'm not sure 'insist' is the right word - just call and make an appointment to talk to them without your child being present.
Primarily guidance works with the students.
It would be helpful for you to learn the process.
It seems you've been left a little out of the loop so far - I don't know if it's by accident or by design (is your daughter not telling you things?) - but it's not too late to recover from this.

High schools don't typically have homerooms. There should be a guidance counselor assigned to each student who helps with class registration. Check the school website for more information. Encourage your daughter to make an appointment with the counselor.

Grade wise, the progress reports should tell you what you need. We can check daily grades online with a parent portal code. I'm sure you can do that as well. A guidance counselor would help you in the area of "direction" for the future classes etc. Yes, I'd make an appointment with the counselor. They get VERY busy in the Spring so now would be a great time to get on track. BTW...I hear the freshman year is pretty tough for a lot of kids so she's no alone. Hang in there Mama! :)

In our high school, they have "advisory" for 15 minutes each day to look up grades, meet with teachers, have meetings, etc. Their advisory teacher changes each year. There is also a guidance counselor that reviews requirements and what each student needs to graduate. Freshmen year is a big adjustment for kids b/c the expectations change. First have your daughter talk to her counselor to find out what she needs to do and then talk to your daughter about it. IF and only if your don't get the answers needed, then schedule a conference with the counselor for yourself. This is the age that she needs to start taking some of that responsibility for herself.

Also, get access to the school portal so you can look up her grades. They'll be broken down by daily assignments, quizzes and tests. There should also be some information about grad requirements, GPA, and lots of other stuff. That should be a good starting point.

Don't wait for Guidance to call you. You set up an appointment and find out how classes are chosen, what the requirements will be later on, and what's a good foundation for her later HS years.

There should be a way to access her grades on line and view progress reports or teacher comments. If they don't do things on line as a matter of course, but your daughter is having a rough time, then set up regular paper progress reports (at least in the most problematic subjects) until she's on track.

Homeroom is usually for attendance & announcements only, and it has nothing to do with academic supervision and advice. If there's no lead teacher or team approach, then go to Guidance.

She is young and has no idea what she's doing. Later on, she can take a more active role in advocating for herself, but she's not there yet. However, if she's having trouble in a class, that teacher should have regular extra help sessions at least a couple of days after school. Find out about those and insist that she go or at least approach the teacher and say, "I'm lost here." It's a good way to foster a teacher-student relationship, and most teachers actually welcome it. Failure to talk to them says "I don't care" and that's not the message you want her to convey.

Isn't your school on edline or other online site?
You can see grades, homework, missed assignments, etc.
I don't think there's anything wrong with scheduling O. on ones with her teachers. Conferences make it easy to see them all at once, but if you don't have that--email them for appointments.

At our school it is the guidance counselor. There is only ONE scheduled meeting with the parents, and that's nothing more than a quick 15 minute or so "welcome to high school here is your student's schedule for 9th grade" meeting that happens some time in the spring of 8th grade.
I guess we are lucky to at least have this because we have friends in neighboring districts where the kids/parents don't get anything other than a letter in the mail over the summer saying "here's your schedule, school starts on 9/1."
My kids' counselor only meets with them in the spring, to discuss their progress and pick their classes for the following year. The counselor will NOT get involved in any other way unless the student is struggling, either academically or socially. Kids at this age are expected to be responsible for themselves, their behavior and their work.
But even so, I know our counselors will meet with parents if requested (I have done this in the past.) So please call the counseling office and request an appointment with her counselor. At the very least they should give you a few minutes to discuss classes, requirements and resources available if your daughter needs support.

High school has changed a lot since I was that age but every school has standards. They have to take a certain number of credits in math, science, social studies, and English. Some schools require 4 years of PE. They also have a certain number of total credits they need to graduate, usually 20 total credits. They also need a credits in an elective, usually art, music, auto shop etc.
You should have been given this information when she enrolled in school. As a freshman she would probably take algebra, biology, history or geography, English and PE with one elective. In most schools the kids can take an extra elective or work on the school newpaper or yearbook.
You should make an appointment with a guidence counselor to get an understanding of what classes your daughter needs to take to prepare her for college.

I went to three different high schools. For 9th and 10th I had a homeroom each day that was 15-20 minutes long. For the first half of 11th grade, I don't think I had one, but I was at that school for only a few months (Sept-Feb) and I honestly don't remember having a homeroom. For the second half of 11th and all of 12th I did not have a homeroom. These schools were in MA, KY, and MD. So I don't know it it's a state thing or what. I don't think we have them here either.

My daughter is in 6th this year and she has and advisory period, but it's connected to her first class which lasts two periods. So I don't know if they just break up the time differently or what.

I would want to meet with the counselor for sure to get a handle on what was going on.

In our high school they have homeroom maybe 5-6 times a year. That teacher has nothing to do with schedules or anything of that nature. All that is handled by the guidance counselor. Most of that is addressed to parents via a general meeting in Jan/Feb (starting in 8th grade). Your student should meet with the guidance counselor if there are issues. If these issues are not being addressed then you should contact the counselor and if he/she doesn't help, contact the principal.

S.,

wow....what a difference. Our high school has guidance counselors and what is called Seahawks Seminars - where the kids are in this class for 90 minutes to get help on subjects.

Our kids don't have a "home room". We get progress reports every two weeks that notates grade and missing homework, if any.

I know we also have a Student Services Office - where the kids go to ask questions regarding subjects, schedules, plans for the next semester and year....and the guidance counselor is informed as well.

High School is where the kids are expected to have more responsibility...but the freshman year has got to be hard without knowing what the next year holds...

I would go to the PTA and find out what's going. Then set up a meeting with the principal and guidance counselors so you can understand the process...

Good luck!

Have you checked her school's website and/or college admissions class requirements for a potential college of choice?

I agree with Gamma G. Someone signed her up for the classes she has been assigned. I would start there perhaps but not before checking the school's website for the requirements for each grade if on a college track but most of the owness should be on your daughter. It's time to encourage her to handle her business afterall she will become a young adult who needs to learn how to problem solve and find answers.

My daughter is a junior and this is the first year her home room teacher teaches one of her classes.

My daughter was in the gifted program in elementary school so she still has a GIEP. The teacher I met with to go over her goals etc. not only didn't know a few of my daughter's teachers she had never met my daughter.

If there is a problem with a particular class I think you should just go to that individual teacher.

My daughter does work with her assigned guidance counselor to select classes each year but I can't think of a reason I would ever contact him unless I had a question about future college applications. Even then, I would tend to let my daughter handle things.

That is what the guidance counselor is for. If your daughter has questions, she should schedule a meeting with the guidance counselor. High school freshman is a bit old for a parent/teacher conference.