Happy Holidays!

Cowboys, as we close out this semester we would like to leave you with a few important messages.

First, thank you for your patience while we finish scheduling for second semester.  Some of you may wonder why you fill out green sheets and aren't allowed in the counseling office.  To summarize it for you, we are trying to avoid THIS. 

When we schedule, to be honest, we would love to see every single one of you and hear your dream schedule.  This semester your counselors received over 750 green sheets (considering we have over 2,500 students, that's not too bad).  Can you imagine a line of over 750 students, waiting to talk to their counselor?  If each student only took five minutes, that would be a line with a wait time of SIXTY TWO HOURS! This is the way we have found that is most fair for everyone to be heard in the shortest amount of time.  Please know we care about you and are really trying to make the best possible schedule for all our students.

You can see your new schedule for second semester starting January 7th in Infinite Campus.  Second semester starts on Monday, January 12th.  Schedules will be changing over break.  Even if you did not request a schedule change, ALL students will need to print out a new schedule before starting on January 12th.  If you are having printer difficulties, you can get a new schedule in the library, or the Student Responsibility Center on Monday morning.

The PSAT, along with the SAT and ACT are important parts of the college admissions process.  Understanding how to read and interpret your PSAT score report, the differences between the tests, which one might be a better choice for you, how (and when) the tests are changing, and how college admission and financial aid offices this data is critical to your success down the road.  Please join us on January 13th at 6:30pm in the CHS Library to learn about all of these topics as our presenter, Rob Schwartz, from The Princeton Review and Premier College Guidance, will tackle these questions and many more for our families.

Seniors, please use this break to get your FAFSA PIN (please see previous post for more details.)

Freshman, Sophomore, and Juniors, this break might be a great time to start to explore campuses either in person or online. 

Whatever you do with your time over winter break, please be safe and make wise choices.  Remember, we care about you and can't wait to see you again in January!

Financial Aid for Seniors Starts Now

Seniors!

The BIG scholarship we have been telling you about is finally available!  The SCV Scholarship Foundation offers over 20 scholarships just for Canyon Seniors.  The largest scholarship is five thousand dollars!  We will be having a meeting to tell you more this Thursday, December 11^th in the Q-theatre during lunch.  The scholarship can be found HERE and the deadline to turn in your application (one application for over twenty scholarships) is Monday, February 2^nd.  

It is now time for us to shift our focus to financial aid.  Once you come back from winter break make it a priority to listen, or read, the bulletin.  We will be announcing scholarships almost weekly.  Scholarships are one way to get free money.  Schools, companies, and individuals gift you with money for college that you don’t need to pay back. 

   

The second way to get free money is to apply for GRANTS.  Grants are also free money that you don’t have to pay back.  The government offers a grant called the Pell grant and the state of California offers a grant called the Cal-Grant.  To apply for both of these, you must fill out the Free Application for Student Aid, or FAFSA.   Starting January 1^st, 2015, you can begin your FAFSA application.  Everything you need to know about the FAFSA can be found HERE. This application is done completely online.  However, you have to “sign” your application so you and your parent must get an electronic signature called a PIN from the government.   This process can take about a week, so it would be a good idea to apply for your FAFSA PIN over the break.  That way you are ready to go January 1^st.  Click HERE to apply for a FAFSA pin.

Are you worried you don't know enough about the FAFSA?  Don't worry, we will give you more information each week once we come back from winter break!

See you on Thursday!

Would You LIke To Play Sports In College?

The William S. Hart Union High School District, in cooperation with the NCAA, invites student athletes and parents to “NCAA ELIGIBILITY NIGHT.”  This workshop will be presented by the district's  director of curriculum and assessment, Mr. Dave LeBarron.

 When: Monday, December 8th

 Time: 6:30 pm

 Place:  Golden Valley High School Theater

             27051 Robert C. Lee Parkway

             Santa Clarita, CA 91350

Information will be presented regarding High School graduation requirements, UC/CSU college entrance requirements recruiting and eligibility for Division I, II, III and NAIA.

If you have questions, please stop by the counseling office.

Movie Listings and Giving Thanks

HERE are the movie listings for the weekend.

Next week we will take a blog break to celebrate Thanksgiving.  To get us in the spirit of thanks, we would like to tell you about a feature on the home page of the school website.

Under the "Quicklinks" heading is a feature labeled Canyon Kudos.
This link will take you to a form where you can tell us about the good things that are happening on campus.  The more we hear from you about what you appreciate, the better we become as a campus community.  Anytime something happens on campus that you are grateful for, please visit this link and let us know!

For this week, especially since it Thanksgiving, think about the teachers, counselors, administrators, librarians, office staff, campus supervisors, instructional assistants, and custodians that work to make your life better here at Canyon.  If there is anyone that has really helped you, please let them know. 

Are You Completing a College Application Using The Common App?

If you are applying to colleges through the Common App, please check to see when your application is due.  A large majority of  colleges have a January 1st deadline.  Most schools that use the Common App require students to have a teacher recommendation.  ALL schools using the Common App will request a counselor recommendation. While YOU may work on your application over Winter break, your counselors and teachers will not.  If you have a January 1st deadline for any colleges, you should plan to give your teachers and counselors your completed brag sheet no later than December 1st. 

Don't panic, you still have two weeks before this deadline. However, now is the time to make this requirement a priority. Please remember your recommendation etiquette and speak to your counselor and teacher ahead of time and request a letter of recommendation.  If they agree, then share your brag sheet with them before December 1st.  If you need brag sheets, or teacher recommendation packets, please stop by the counseling office.

Counselors Will Continue to Help Seniors

Due to popular demand, the counselors will continue to be in the library 7th period to help you fill out your college applications until Tuesday, November 25th.  This gives you SEVEN more days to check in with us before Thanksgiving break.  Don't forget, the application deadline for UC and CSU schools is Sunday, November 30th.  Late applications will not be accepted, so make sure you get all your questions answered before Tuesday, November 25th.

If you need help with CSU Mentor and can't visit with a counselor, THIS link will be helpful.  It will take you through the application, line by line.

Movie Listings

Here are the movie listing for this week.