Welcoming the School Year: A Message from Your School Counselor

Welcome to the 2020-2021 school year! I hope you are all safe, healthy, and managing our “new” normal. For those of you who are new, I am the school counselor, which means I have the honor to work with students and families in all grade levels.  I am here to provide academic, social/emotional, and college readiness support.  I am available via email and zoom, and my email address is asiniscalco@sis.sch.id.  Our current situation can be extremely stressful, for students and parents, and I am here to support you.  I also collaborate with teachers and staff on a regular basis.

Sometimes kids show stress and worry through physical complaints, such as headaches or stomach aches. If you have any concerns or questions, please reach out to me, and we can schedule a time to meet to discuss them.

I have been meeting with the 12th graders in order to help them prepare for applying to universities. They are all linked with BridgeU, an online college exploration and application platform.  If you have a 12th grader, ask them what schools are coming up as Reach, Match, or Safety schools for them, based on their profile they created.  I will continue to meet with them during their advisory period over the next several weeks.

COVID-19 Shift: University Visits, Challenges, and Future Perspectives

I have been attending several webinars regarding COVID and college admissions.and as you may know, universities this year are using an online or hybrid model for teaching.  As no one can predict the future, I have encouraged students to apply to schools as if it were pre-COVID, as it is better to be able to defer enrollment or turn down an offer, then to not have any options.  I am the parent of a 12th grader now, so I understand the dilemma parents and students may be facing. 

Due to COVID, we are not able to host University visits at this time.  There is a free virtual college fair coming up that high school students and parents can sign up for.  There will be schools from many different countries and opportunities to sign up for individual meetings with recruiters. The downfall is that the times are Eastern Daylight Time (New York), but there are 2 that begin at 23:00.  I attended the Counselor Preview last week, at 1 in the morning, and found the sessions very informative.