WAR GAMES: Technology for High School Counselors

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WAR GAMESTechnology for High School Counselors

• GPACAC/MOACAC Spring Conference
• May 2, 2005
• Peggy FitzGibbon, Kirkwood HS
• Mary Catherine Newman, Rockhurst HS
• Stephen M. Smith, Naviance

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Agenda

• Introductions
• School environment
• Technology
• Lessons learned
• Questions and answers

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Panel

• Peggy FitzGibbon
• School Counselor, Kirkwood High School
• Kirkwood, MO
• Mary Catherine Newman
• College Counselor, Rockhurst High School
• Kansas City, MO
• Stephen M. Smith
• President, Naviance
• Washington, DC

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Counseling Environment

• Growing case loads
• Intensifying accountability demands
• Greater selectivity in admissions
• Higher levels of stress

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Technology

• Student information systems
• Individual and group e-mail
• School and college websites
• Career content and assessments
• Planning, tracking, and advising systems
• Home-grown databases

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Panel Discussion

• Connect counseling environment with available
  technology
• Show two different types of schools
• Provide food for thought
• Invite questions, comments, discussion

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Mary Catherine Newman

• Rockhurst High School
• Kansas City, MO

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School Environment

• Jesuit college preparatory program
• Student population
• All male
• 1035 students / 250 seniors
• 98 attend 4-year college
• Separate college placement office
• 2 full-time college advisers
• 1 full-time office assistant
• Guidance office
• Focus on course scheduling as well as academic
  and personal counseling
• 5.5 full-time counselors

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Technology Environment

• Blackbaud student information system
• Microsoft Office
• Naviance Services
• TCCi Extended Edition
• Family Connection

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Issues

• Managing expectations
• Administration, Board of trustees
• Current and incoming parents
• Making and maintaining contact
• Starting earlier
• Getting them to think about variety of colleges
• Providing tangible resources
• Tracking trends and graduates
• Accurate, historical data
• Having fun with the process
• Ownership of the process among students

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Managing Expectations

• Concentrate on fit
• Broaden horizons
• Positioning of opportunities
• Outlining role of student, parent, counselor
• Emphasize ownership
• Utilize faculty

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Making and Maintaining Contact

• Comprehensive 4-year program
• Begins during freshman year
• Encourages early exploration of student goals

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Freshman Year

• Letter to families
• Campus visits - utilizing local campuses,
  relationship building

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Sophomore Year

• Sophomore Family Conversations
• Handouts Integrating the Grad at Grad
• Spring program prior to course selection
• Summer programming on college campuses

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Junior Year

• Fall workshop for families
• Small group meetings in spring followed by
  individual and/or parent meetings
• Launch TCCi programming
• On-line portfolio
• Parent survey
• Essays
• Transcript/waiver release
• Prospective colleges list
• College searches
• Journal documentation of meetings and
  correspondence

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Senior Year

• Individual meetings
• Application assistance
• TCCi programming
• Resumes
• College essays
• Journal documentation of meetings and
  correspondence
• Scheduling/tracking of college representative
  visits
• Confirmation message regarding visit to
  representatives

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Communications Strategies

• Family Connection
• From the counselor on college profiles
• Plan and Journal options in TCCi
• Scholarship database on the web
• Email by groups, students, parents
• College Corner newsletter
• Group e-mails from school database
• Brown bags lunch meetings
• Calendar of events

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Tracking Trends and Graduates

• Family Connection usage
• Completed surveys and milestones
• Applications submitted final decisions
• Senior survey handout batch update feature
• Test Scores (from high school placement to ACT
  SAT)
• Class profiles (testing, GPA, acceptance
  percentages)
• Historical data on colleges (acceptance,
  matriculation)
• Student survey responses
• Teacher recommendations

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Having Fun

• Defining success broadly
• Managing stress
• Making better-informed decisions

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Peggy FitzGibbon

• Kirkwood High School
• Kirkwood, MO

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School Environment

• Comprehensive public high school
• Student population
• 1,800 students / 450 seniors
• 86 attend 2- or 4-year college
• Counseling office staffing
• 2 full-time college counselors
• 4 grade-level counselors
• College planning begins in Spring of junior year

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Technology Environment

• Pentamation student information system
• Novell GroupWise
• Microsoft Office
• Naviance Services
• TCCi Standard Edition
• Family Connection

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Challenges

• Timely communication with students and parents
• Managing moving targets
• Students re-classified
• Using historical data to assist current students
• Maintaining a student profile
• IEPs
• Athletes/Musicians, etc.
• Free/Reduced lunch program
• Top, middle and bottom of the class
• Documentation of student meetings
• Summary and action items

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More Challenges

• College Representative Visits
• At school and in area
• Contact information for student follow up
• Application Assistance
• College search engines Building a list
• Tracking for transcripts
• Tracking for letters of recommendation
• Limited deadlines for students personal
  responsibility
• Scholarship Tracking
• Awareness of scholarship opportunities
• Nominations
• Scholarships awarded

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Responses

• Publicity
• Parent coffees
• Junior college planning meetings
• TV announcements
• Bulletin boards, flyers, speaker series, etc.
• Microsoft Office
• Student Meeting Summaries
• Personal data management

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Responses

• TCCi
• Collect and analyze student data
• Manage applications and testing
• Provide history of accepted applicants
• Track scholarship qualifications
• Group students for analysis and follow up
• Websites
• School website and Family Connection
• Calendar of events
• College search engine and other links
• Testing information

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Group Discussion

• Ideas
• Questions
• Comments

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Contact Information

• Peggy FitzGibbon
• [phone] x1041
• fitzgip_at_gw.kirkwood.k12.mo.us
• Mary Catherine Newman
• [phone] x520
• mnewman_at_rockhursths.edu
• Stephen M. Smith
• [phone]
• stephen.smith_at_naviance.com
• Presentation available on-line at
  http//www.rockhursths.edu/
• go to Students - click on College Placement, then
  forms