CHIEFLY

CONARD

CONARD HIGH SCHOOL 110 BEECHWOOD ROAD WEST HARTFORD, CT 06107

ISSUE NO. 5 DIRECT: (860) 231-5000 FAX: (860) 521-6699 May 2015

May

15 Junior Prom

16 Jazzmatazz 7 pm

20 Spring Concert 7:30 pm

27 9/10 Awards Night 7 pm

29 Senior Prom

31 Solisti Spring Concert 7 pm

St Patrick St Anthony Church

June

2 Principal’s Coffee 8:30 am

3 11/12 Awards Night 7 pm

4 Unified Theater 7:30 pm

5 Unified Theater 7:30 pm

7 Solo Concert Choir 7 pm

Immanuel Congregational Church

15 Graduation 5 pm

16 Last Day of School

Dear Conard Families,

It is hard to believe that we are in the final

stretch of the school year. Perhaps the fact

that we seemed to have skipped spring

weather this year has made our perception of

the end appear even quicker. I have to admit

that this time of the school year is my favorite

as it is filled with celebrations with graduation

being the highlight! I simply love being able to

sit down and reflect on all of the achievements

of both our students and faculty. When I do

this, I quickly realize that there is so much to

be proud of!

As we approach the last two months of the

school year, I encourage you to continue

speaking with your student(s) about the

importance of finishing the academic year

strongly. I recommend that you check the

Conard website for the final exam schedule,

and to utilize PowerSchool to monitor your

students’ grades and attendance

(https://powerschool.whps.org/public/).

May and June are certainly busy months filled

with various school events and activities.

Please be sure to check the Conard website for

an updated list.

I would like to extend a sincere thank you and

good luck to the following Conard family

members who are retiring at the end of this

year:

Charlie Daly – Technology Education

Teacher (39 years in education)

June DeGray – Business Education

Teacher (21 years in education)

Steve Potter – Special Education

Teacher (40 years in education)

Elaine Tucker – Attendance

Coordinator (17 years)

Tracey Wilson – Social Studies Teacher

(38 years in education)

Lastly, the 2015 US News and World Report is

out and Conard High School has been named

as the #1 ranked Comprehensive Public High

School in the state of Connecticut. I am also

extremely proud of the fact that we are again

in the top one percent of all high schools in the

country! This is a testament to the concerted

efforts of our students, teachers, support staff,

and parents. Thank you for your support in

helping Conard continue to be a pillar of

excellence in education!

Again, I am extremely grateful for the strong

partnership and support from

parents/guardians I have received this year. I

hope to see you at one of our many

celebrations in June. On behalf of the entire

Conard family, we hope that you have a restful

and enjoyable summer. As always, if you have

any questions or concerns, please do not

hesitate to contact me at 860-231-5001,

Julio_Duarte@whps.org, or feel free to stop by

as my door is always open.

Sincerely,

Julio Duarte

Principal

We challenge and guide our students to be

active learners and productive citizens.

Keeper of the Light

Please join me in congratulating Tom

Verrengia. He is the WHPS 2014-2015

recipient of the WHPS Keeper of the Light

award. This award is Pupil Services' version of

teacher of the year. Tom is a paraprofessional,

coach and friend who has the ability to

connect with students of all abilities as well as

the entire staff. He is a champion of students

who need someone to help them find their

voice in order to advocate for themselves, as

well as one who consistently supports and

encourages our students in all their endeavors.

For twenty years, he has worked with

hundreds of Conard students in multiple

venues.

National Honor Society

The 2015-2016 class of the National Honor Society was inducted on April 23, 2015. Students

pledged to uphold the pillars of the National Honor Society, including: scholarship, leadership,

character and service. As National Honor Society works to become a more 'present'

organization at Conard, NHS students will have more and more opportunities to demonstrate

these pillars. We look forward to a second round of "Study with a Buddy" this year before final

exams in June. All students looking for support when preparing for their exams should take

advantage of this opportunity to work with their peers. Congratulations to the 2015-2016

inductees!

Alexandra Abels

Sophia Appicelli

Maria Armillei

Brianna Barbeau

Jazmine Barber

Kyla Barry

Kirsten Bednarz

Jackson Bell

Kiera Bibeau

Sarah Binder

Zachary Boehm

Lanceley Bondoc

Camilla Bowin

Paige Brink

Rachel Burke

Lucas Busch

Stephanie Caldero

Sean Cavanaugh

Meghan Cobb

Elizabeth Crosby

Emma Damokosh

Callie Dannhauser

Jonathan Davis

William Dickinson

Katlin DiPietro

Derek Ehle

Anis Ehsani

Maya Eisler

Matthew Fernandez

Diana Festa

Luke Flege

Matthew Flynn

Sara Flynn

Michael Gammon

Haley Geithner

Kathleen Gerity

Eve Gilles

Isaac Gilles

Christine Giuffrida

Kayla Golden

Katherine Gosselin

Abigail Gosselin

Rebecca Gotthelf

Isabella Gradante

Torrie Green

Madeline Gregory

Sarah Hamilton

Marisa Haverty

Olivia Heintz

Michael Hennessey

Julia Hook

Pei Ivins

Ajay Jagjivan

Kaitlyn Jones

Natalie Joseph

Jacob Judd

Caroline Kane

Arjun Kaneria

Laura Keck

Anna Kirklin

Anna Lafreniere

Emily Lafreniere

Paul Lafreniere

Emily Ledwith

Ansley Levine

Pavlo Lyalyutskyy

Marli Marconi

Aidan McCaffrey

Matthew McCormick

Josie McCormick

Julie McKenna

Zacharie Mega

Lauren Michaels

Julia Monyak

Carlie Musto

Elizabeth Narwol

Samuel Newton

Grace O'Connell-Bach

John O'Connor

Kate Olguin

Andrew Olmstead

Cassie Orkin

Rosemary O'Rourke

Erin O'Shea

Owen Painter

Wallace Phelps

Katherine Policelli

Kevin Presing

Zenith Rai

Cailyn Regan

Nathaniel Richam-Odoi

Alexus Santos

Avery Schott

Angel Serrano

Lily Siembab

Philip Simplicio

Karman Singh

Michael Sisti

Alexa Stansfield

Alyssa Stokes

Jefrin Thomas

Jason Trieu

Michael Tuite

Gabriel Turco

Seamus Turco

Milo Vath

Isaias Villalobos

Gabriella Vogel-Freedman

Stacie Walsh

Alessia Weber

Rebecca Wilson

Kaylin Wu

Jordyn Zolty

World Language Honor Society Induction Ceremony

The World Language Honor Society Induction Ceremony was held on Tuesday, April 28, 2015 at 7 pm

in the Conard auditorium. Current student members from each of the four national honor societies led

the four ceremonies for the 2015 members who demonstrated high performance in the language and

who met the specific criteria of each of the different national societies. Mrs. Alison Peake, Spanish

Honor Society Advisor, was the organizer of the event with assistance from French Honor Society

Advisors Mrs. Lynn Racz and Mr. John Hegarty, Chinese National Honor Society Advisor Mr. Bing Liu,

and Classical Honor Society Advisor Mr. George Coleman. Other WL department members helped with

different tasks including helping with the reception following the induction. The evening included

greetings, introductions and comments from Mr. Bert Neumaier, WL Supervisor, followed by two

musical selections from Conard's Solo Choir under the direction of Mr. Sam Eurich.

The members of the Rubén Darío Chapter of the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica are: Jonathan Aguilera

William Allen

Hugo Barillon

Gary Battle

Josiah Blackwell-Lipkind

Emily Blinder

Zoe Buntz

Emily Burnett

Alexandra Burns

Miriam Callahan

Joseph Celio

Lauren Cohen

Liam Connelly

Andre Costa

Brendan Dakin

Blake Deresienski

Hailey DiCicco

Rosa-María Diez

Tyler Donoghue

Tyler Flynn

Carly Gorman

Faith Haverty

Chloe Henniger

Fernando Huapaya-Ríos

Ajay Jagjivan

Deborah Kim

Henry Kneidel

Melina Kritzman

Olivia La Casse

Elizabeth Ladd

Vinh-Kha Le

Ansley Levine

Julie McKenna

Emily Miller

Alexander Mock-Rossi

Abrianne Mongillo

Lia Negrón

Julia Nguyen

Erin O’Meara

Kevin Puleo

Elizabeth Quinn

Alyssa Roach

Melanie Roca

Nathan Rodrigues

Elizabeth Sagers

Huda Samakaab

Emily Senecal

Nina Sone

Olivia Starr

Kenneth Thai

Carolina Tran

Kristina Vakhman

Sebastian Venero

Daniel Walsh

Yi Wang

Mia Yanosy

Sami Yonjan Lama

The members of the St. Exupéry Chapter of the Société Honoraire de Français are:

Josiah Blackwell-Lipkind

Hannah Beazoglou

Nicholas Calvi

Madison Carr

Kevin Chen

Brooks Clement

Thomas Costello

Emily Cullina

Kaylee D’Amato

Emma Dowd

Bridget Foley-Johnson

Adam Giroux

Mugdha Gurram

Gabrielle Halsey

Bryce Halter

Grace Hardesty

Ava Karp

Leah Kelly

Caitlyn Krueger

Lauren Kumpa

Timothy Kyle

Nicholas Lagana

Michael Mack

Rebecca Maher

Clare McCrudden

Melissa McGuinness

Khanhvy Nguyen

Libnerys Nunez

Steven Olechna

Emma Oriol

Ethan Petterson

Mollie Petrizzo

Michael Piekarsky

Emily Piker

Samuel Porcello

Jeff Remy

Zoe Schaefer

Serra Tekce

Samantha Tran

Michael Tuite

The members of the Conard Collegium Linguarum Antiquarum Peritorum are: Asim Atreya

Hannah Avenna

Bergen Battiston

Ryan Bell

Samuel Benet*

Andre Costa

Rosa-Maria Diez

Caitlin Dorsey

Edwin Fisher*

Eilish Flaherty

Luke Flege

Alexander Floyd*

Gwendolyn Geisler

Carly Gorman

Jordana Graveley

Bryce Halter

Faith Haverty

Michael J.Hennessey*

Ajay Jagivan

Syed Ebadulah Kaleem

Syed Jawad Kaleem

Ava Karp

Leah Kelly

Henry Kneidel

Shannon Ledwith

Thomas Link

Natalie Lynch*

Sam Morgan

Maggie Murray

Hunter Nager

Paige Pierce

Andrew Placzek

Nicole Souza

Olivia Starr

Alanna Uthgenannt

Peter Wilson

Kirsten Youngstrom

*INDICATES STUDENT OF ANCIENT GREEK

The members of the Conard Confucius Classroom Chapter of the Chinese Language National Honor Association are:

Eric Boccaccio

Yubo Dong

Dillon Forstberg

Gretchen Hambrecht

Danielle Hartshorn

Elle Hartshorn

Andrew Lau

Uen Lee

Brian Lin

Roger Lin

Sandy Lin

Shu Lin

Wei Lin

Anna Liu

Connie Liu

Sunna Liu

Raymond Lu

Zheyuan Lyu

Lauren Michaels

Emily Miller

Syeda Naqvi

Khanhvy Nguyen

Dana Sklar

Ruth Tian

Samantha Tran

World Language Department News

EN FRANCE

35 Conard and 5 Hall French, Latin and Art students traveled to "Roman France" from Thursday, April

9th to Sunday, April 19th, 2015 with chaperones Mr. Coleman, Mr. Jacobs, Mrs. Racz and Mrs. Ellis.

Sites and activities in Paris included: the Quartier Latin, sightseeing boat ride on the Seine, the Musée

d'Orsay, Napoléon's Arc de Triomphe's, Montmartre, the Louvre, La Tour Eiffel, Notre Dame de Paris

(where some climbed the towers), the Luxembourg Gardens, Canal St. Martin. After the TGV trip to

Lyon, the group visited the Musée Gallo-Romaine, Basilique Notre Dame de Fouvière, walked the

Chemin Rosaire, Cathédrale St. Jean, Musée Beaux

Arts, and Pont du Gard. In Nîmes, the Temple of

Diana" Maison Carée, Amphithéâtre, Gate of

Augustus. Then in Carcassonne, the medieval

Fortress with an excursion to St. Sebastián via Saint-

Jean-de-Luz and a walking tour of Le Vieux Port.

Student feedback included: "I learned about the

French culture and how it varied as we moved

throughout France.""Amazing!""Especially

interesting was learning about the gladiators in the

amphitheater in Nîmes.""It was especially

interesting to learn how architecture impacted the country."" "Very fun and busy which was great

because we got to go to so many places in a short time." “Something especially positive that I learned

was speaking and communicating more fluently in French."

CHINA

5 Conard students were among the 33 total West Hartford students who traveled to China from

Wednesday, April 8th to Sunday, April 19th, 2015

with chaperones Mr. Liu, Mrs. Drazen, Mrs. Huang,

Dr. Nicklas and Mr. Simon. Sites in the following

central and southern Chinese cities included: the

capital Beijing which included a Hutong Tour, The

Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the Great

Wall of China; the rice paddies and the village of

Kaili; the old river town of Zhenyuan and its Black

Dragon Cave; and the buildings of the Bund in

Shanghai along with the Buddhist Temple, its Old

City, Yuyuan Garden and the Huangpu River

Cruise. The trip ended with a visit to the Shanghai

Foreign Language School which we anticipate will

be our sister school in China.

Gretchen Hambrecht with students in China

Student feedback: "This trip truly changed my view of the world, and of China and its people. The

experience was priceless." "Although the trip was only ten nights, it felt so much longer...I loved

having a schedule that was so crammed we didn't even have time to go to the bathroom!" "I am

certain that this is not my last trip to China...I've got the China bug."

AU CANADA

In front of the Basilique Saint-Anne-de-Beaupre', just

Northeast of Quebec city one of the most visited churches in North America, known as the "place of miracles".

22 Conard and 1 Hall French students traveled to Québec

and Montréal with Mr. Hegarty and Mrs. Peake from

Friday, April 10th to Tuesday, April 14th, 2015. They

visited Old Québec, Le Château Frontenac, Place Royale,

Le Musée du Fort, a maple sugar shack, Ste Anne de Beaupré Church, Montmorency Falls, Huron

Village. In Montréal, the group visited the Notre Dame Cathedral, Archaeology Museum, Bio-Dome

and Olympic Park Observatory, Radio Canada TV, and the Montréal Mall.

Student feedback: "Fun and interesting!"'How different Quebec is from the US in language and culture

despite being so close.""Positive=Olympic Stadium""Canada's history was interesting."I'd recommend

the trip because we did lots of fun activities, like the sugar shack.""There is a 'Notre Dame' in every

French speaking town!"It was interesting to apply the French that I learned to a real life

situation.""Awesome!"

CONNECTICUT LATIN DAY

36 Conard students participated in this statewide event on May 1st, 2015 at Holiday Hill, Cheshire,

where approximately 2000 students and teachers were dressed in togas/tunicas and participated in a

wide variety of activities. Athletic contests (Conard tied for first place in the soccer tournament),

written tests on grammatical topics (still waiting for the results) and other academic contests, Roman

culture, cooking competitions, beekeeping, military dress and tactics, and the Certamen competitions

(Jeopardy style quiz bowl).

Conard's Certamen students were a top ranked team.

Pictured: Jamie Kurowski, Mr. Jacobs, Nicole Souza,

Maryonna Shimonei, Anna Baker, Leah Dollar

ANCIENT GREEK DAY

Ancient Greek Students attended Ancient Greek Day at the Center For Hellenic Studies at UCONN

Storrs campus. They attended a lecture by a professor of archaeology on the Trojan War, took a tour

of the Greek theater modeled on the famous theater at Epidaurus, toured the Greek Orthodox

Chapel, Conard's Ancient Greek students presented en masse the opening lines of Homer's Iliad. Our

students participated in the "Agon" academic competition, a college bowl like the Latin certamen.

Conard TSA Club Scores BIG at the Connecticut Technology Student

Association STEM Conference

On Saturday, April 25th students from Conard’s TSA club competed in the 2015 TSA State

Competition at Killingly H.S. These students competed in high school STEM events and were the talk

of the championships as Conard took home 14 trophies in total. This amazing group of Technology

and Engineering (T&E) students dominated the high school engineering, game design, dragster design

and technology events.

Congratulations goes out to T&E teacher Anthony Truss and the following STEM State Champions;

Structural Engineering 1st Place

Mike and Rachel Hennessy

Video Game Design 1st Place

Dylan Wu, Jackson O'Sullivan, Charlie Hosek, Ben Ratchford, Trevor Ractchford

C02 Dragster Design / Performance 1st Place

David Giles

Tech Bowl 1st Place

Trevor Ratchford, Ben Ratchford, David Giles

Tech Bowl 2nd Place

Charlie Hosek, Jackson O'Sullivan, Dylan Wu

From the Conard Science Department: You asked and we have listened. Conard is looking to expand its current course offerings in the

Science Department for the 2016-17 school year. In the fall science teachers were surveyed about

potential elective courses that we could consider offering in the future. Based on this information, a

student/parent survey has been developed so we can gauge the interest of parents and students as to

what offerings would be most engaging and beneficial to our students. The courses we are asking for

feedback on are: Anatomy & Physiology, Forensics, Genetics, Botany, and Meteorology/Climatology.

At the end of the year we will review this survey data and determine which courses we will pursue for

addition to our current program of studies. If you are interested in participating in this survey please

email or child's teacher or use the following link: https://sites.google.com/a/whps.org/standard-

earth-science/

We thank you in advance for your input and for helping us continue to make Conard a great place for

learning.

Notes from the Conard English Department – Summer Reading

At this time of year, many families begin making

plans for summer vacation and a well-deserved time

together filled with fun activities, relaxation and

hopefully, rest. The Conard High School English

Department recognizes that students appreciate the

difference between reading for a school assignment

and reading for pleasure. Reading for pleasure is

one of the foremost pastimes we enjoy as English

teachers. Students should read what they enjoy for

pleasure at their own pace and at the appropriate

level of challenge to stimulate their minds and

spirits. We also see it is a necessary development of

students’ awareness and practice with informational

texts that they read newspapers, periodicals, online articles, and forums to gather new ideas and

develop their understanding of local, national, and world events. In doing this, students who read

books, print or online text normally outside of school will fulfill the summer reading requirement for

many classes at Conard.

We also recognize that students who do not read over the summer will see a decline in their reading

skills and a lack of vocabulary development. Studies indicate that lack of reading experiences over the

summer is a primary contributor to the achievement gap in schools. Please take a moment to read

about the effects of “Summer Learning Loss” in this review of studies:

(http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED536514.pdf)

Over a student’s academic career, this effect is alarming. For this reason, all students are required to

complete a summer reading assignment for their English class. For most classes, students may choose

their own texts as long as they are at an appropriate length and reading level for the student.

Students in Honors classes or entering their junior or senior years will find that selected texts for

summer reading are assigned to specific courses. Students will be provided with these details for

summer reading assignments by their English teacher.

While we hope that all students will enjoy the experience of reading the text or texts assigned to their

course, we expect that some students may simply view this as an assignment they will need to

accomplish during their vacation. We recognize that some will want to wait until the end of the

summer to take on their reading assignment, and we advise them to organize their time effectively to

accomplish this task. If you have any questions about the summer reading assignment for your child,

please feel free to contact me at 929-5053 or by email at tom_paleologopoulos@whps.org

Solo Choir End of the Year

Concert

Sunday, June 7th

7:00 pm

Immanuel Congregational Church

10 Woodland St, Hartford

For Parking Instructions: www.iccucc.org

Free Admission

Suggested Donation $5

From the Math Department

Please join the Mathematics Department in congratulating the

following students who are deserving of our recognition for their

superb performance in the American Mathematics Contest (AMC):

1) Vinh Kha Le - Winner of the AMC 12 contest

2) Andre Costa & Christopher Stimson - Winners of the AMC 10 contest

3) Yash Nair and Vinh Kha Le - qualified to participate in the American Invitational

Mathematics Examination

Only the top 5% of AMC 12 test-takers are invited to participate in this competition!

From the Art Department

The Art Department would

like to invite all parents of

Art Students to our Annual

Art Exhibit which will run

from May 28 to June 3, in

the back of the Conard

Cafeteria. A closing

reception will be held

on June 3rd from 5:30 pm

until 6:45 pm in the back of

the Cafeteria prior to the

Junior, Senior Awards in the

Auditorium. The Art Award

Ceremony will begin at 6:00

pm and all Conard Art

students are required to be present for this event. We are very excited to show off the

fabulous skills and creativity of our art students. We are looking forward to seeing you there.

At the show The Art Department will also be selling painted tins and artwork

to raise money for Nepal Relief.

Athletics News

Spring Sports Awards Night

Spring sports awards night will be held on Monday, June 8th at 7 pm in the auditorium.

Individual teams will hold awards nights before and after the main presentation. Please check

the athletic website for details.

Fall Sports Registration Information

Fall Registration – Begins July 1st and ends

Friday, August 21st. To register go to whathletics.org.

A physical form must be printed out and returned to the athletic office or mailed to:

Conard Athletics

110 Beechwood Road

West Hartford, CT 06107

All student-athletes must register with the athletic office each season. Registration is done online,

please see below and visit our website for more information.

**Please note the system is the same one used by summer school and continuing education. If you

already have an account, please login with that information.

Registration Process-

1. All parents must create an account to register their student-athletes. After creating an account,

please add the information for your student and then add the student to a sport and pay by credit

card online. If paying by check, create the account and add the student(s) to your account. The sport

is added in the athletic office after receiving the check and required forms. Fee waiver applications

are also available.

2. Students must also have an up to date physical on file with the school nurse. A student-athlete’s

physical from a physician must be signed and dated after 1/1/2015 to be valid for the 2015/16 school

year. Please note:

• Students must use the State of Connecticut Health Assessment Record ‘HAR-3 Rev. 4/2012’

(attached blue form) for a physical. It is available in the main office, nurses’ office, your

doctor’s office, or on the website.

Questions? Call the athletic office at 860-929-5042.

Conard School Counseling Department

Grades 9-11

Students have met individually with their counselors to discuss next year’s classes, review progress

reports and encourage extra-curricular involvement. If a student needs to see their counselor please

schedule an appointment through Mrs. Hall, the guidance secretary.

Counselors will be sending passes to any student who has a schedule conflict for next year. Please

remind your child to see their counselor when they are given a pass. It is very important and prevents

potential conflicts that may be impossible to resolve if the matter is not attended to in a timely

manner. All scheduling issues need to be completed BEFORE the start of the 2015-16 school year.

Summer School begins on June 29th @ Conard High School and consists of two three week semesters,

the last day of which is August 6th. Summer school is a good time to get ahead or catch up on missing

credits.

Grade 9

Freshmen are encouraged to explore summer opportunities. Summer is an important time to develop

skills and interests that can enhance a resume. Ideas for volunteer and community service can be

researched with Mrs. Davis, the Activities Director, in the Career Center.

Reading is the single most important skill needed for doing well on all college standardized testing.

This summer we encourage your child to read for pleasure. The PSATs are scheduled for the fall and

all tenth grade students will be taking the exam. The more they read, the better they will do!

Grade 10

Counselors have met with sophomores through their English for a Career/College Research

assignment. Students were introduced to Naviance along with a new website link MYNEXTMOVE.

Students completed an interest profile and researched careers within their stated interest. Students

then researched colleges through Naviance based on their potential major or career interest. All

sophomores completed career /college research projects as part of their tenth grade English

curriculum. Naviance is a great research program we strongly encourage the students to use in their

post high school planning process. Naviance can be accessed by going to the Conard website under

For Parents or For Students. Students have been assigned usernames and passwords. If you are

having any difficulties logging on, please contact your counselor.

The PSAT will be offered for free to all sophomores in October. Juniors must register and pay to take

this test in the fall. You can prepare by reading for pleasure. Remember to READ, READ, and READ!!!

The faster you train yourself to read and comprehend the easier the exam will be.

Grade 11

Counselors have completed the individual junior planning sessions along with the Junior Workshops

with their juniors. During the quarter-long Workshop, juniors registered for SATs/ACTs, completed

college searches on Naviance, reviewed the Common Application, worked on their student brag

sheets, and completed resumes. Juniors also participated in a “mock admissions day” and a “Careers

in the Middle” career fair.

All juniors attended a presentation on interviewing skills by Superintendent of Schools, Tom Moore

on March 11th. Students were offered the opportunity to have a practice interview after the

presentation. Many juniors have requested interviews. These juniors are currently participating in

mock interviews with school administrators as a way of gaining authentic experiences which will help

them in the future.

All juniors attended a presentation on Financial Aid on March 25th. Ashley Dutton, the Director of

Financial Aid at the University of Saint Joseph, gave an overview of the process and steps students

need to be aware of as they plan on financing college.

The workshops are a valuable part of the School Counseling curriculum. The “hands-on” approach

allows juniors the opportunity to work alongside counselors regularly and provides a classroom

environment to complete the majority of their responsibilities in school. Students and parents are

reminded to complete the parent and student brag sheets (located on Naviance) and update resumes

as soon as possible. Counselors will begin to write college letters of recommendation and will need

these documents to write a more meaningful letter.

Summer is the time to continue to research colleges, firm up schools of interest and either visit or

revisit them before September. Students are urged to research their ‘Target’ and ‘Likely’ schools as

thoroughly as their ‘Reach’ schools. This includes college visits and possible interviews.

College Board exams (SATs) will be offered in the fall in October, November, and December. ACTs will

be offered September and October. Please check the CollegeBoard and ACT websites for the dates

and deadlines. Any student considering early action or early decision should have all their

standardized testing completed before their early application deadlines. Reminder, all SATs or ACTs

scores need to be officially sent to colleges by the family from the testing websites. Student

application decisions can be delayed if this step has not been completed. Counselors are not able to

send scores to colleges.

Students should begin work on their applications/essays this summer. The Common Application is

used by many colleges and can be started during the summer. The more students do before school,

the lower their stress level will be. All students will be encouraged to apply to their

colleges/university early in their senior year, especially if they are applying to any state schools. This

past year, students who applied later in the school year were at a disadvantage in the admissions

process.

Parents of current juniors need to be aware of future expenses as the college process can quickly add

up. SATs cost $52.50 per test date and reports sent to schools cost $11.25 per college. College

applications cost roughly $40.00 to $80.00 per school. The School Counseling Department encourages

parents to keep an eye on costs and plan accordingly. Financial assistance is available for

students/families who qualify. If there are any questions, please see your counselor.

Grade 12

Seniors must inform their counselor or the guidance secretary of their post high school plans (name of

College, Vocational School, Gap Year program they plan to attend, employment plans, etc.). Seniors

also need to update their counselor on all admissions decisions so we can keep accurate records.

Colleges require a final transcript and it will be sent automatically, only if we know a student’s final

college decision.

Do not allow the nasty bug, SENIORITIS to hit. Colleges will be reviewing the final semester’s results

and they have been known to place a freshman on academic probation, or even worse, withdraw a

student’s acceptance letter. With graduation day quickly approaching, keep working. You are almost

there!

From the Nurses

GRADE 10 PHYSICALS: All grade 10 students are required by state law to have a physical exam done by

their primary care provider and to provide the completed State Health Assessment (blue form) to the

school nurse. Any physical exam done since July 1, 2014 will fulfill this requirement for students who

will be in grade 10 for the 2015-2016 school year. We will be sending out letters and forms soon to all

present grade 9 students. Please plan ahead and make appointments with your primary care

providers if necessary. Call the school nurses at 860-929-5015 if you have questions about this

requirement.

SPORT PHYSICALS: Students planning to participate in fall sports should check the Conard Athletic

website for information about registration, physical examination requirements and the schedule for

school sport physicals.

SEASONAL ALLERGIES: Spring has finally arrived! Unfortunately the nice weather is accompanied by

allergy season as flowers, trees, grasses and weeds release their pollens into the fresh spring breezes.

Common allergy symptoms include sneezing, itchy eyes, runny nose, frequent throat clearing and

nasal congestion. The health tips below may help to minimize these symptoms:

1. Limit outdoor activities in the morning when pollen counts are highest, as well as activities

on newly mowed lawns.

2. Do a thorough spring cleaning- dust and mold collected during the winter can provoke

symptoms.

3. Keep windows closed, especially in bedrooms. If possible use air conditioning when

pollen counts are high. Pollen count information is available on the internet.

4. Talk to your primary care provider about allergy medication that won’t make your teen

sleepy.

5. Shower (or wash face and hands) and change clothes after being outside for extended

time.

6. Wash hands after petting animals that have been outside (pollen settles on their fur).

7. Try to separate “indoor” shoes from “outdoor” shoes to limit tracking of pollen

throughout the house.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance in any way.

Beth Vossler RN, MSN Email: beth_vossler@whps.org Phone: 860-929-5016

Mary Andrews RN, BSN Email: mary_andrews@whps.org Phone: 860-929-5015

Fax: 860-929-5017

West Hartford Special Education PTO will be presenting:

Christine Levine, MS, JD, BCBA, and MSW. Ms. Levine will be speaking on: "Promoting better

communication, social skills, play and leisure skills and increased flexibility in children with Anxiety

Disorders, Autism, ADHD, Learning Disabilities and related disorders.”

It’s up to us to teach our kids how to play and be socially appropriate, but how do we do it? Please

join the Wet Hartford SEPTO and Christine Levine in discussing the important needs of our children in

communicating and socializing in our society.

Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at Sedgwick Middle SchoolSEPTO needs your help!

West Hartford SEPTO (Special Education Parent Teacher Organization) is seeking volunteers to work

in two-hour shifts to help sell water and soda at SEPTO’s booth at Celebrate! West Hartford, a two day

fair held Saturday, June 6 (10am -6pm) or Sunday, June 7 (12-6pm).

If you can’t give your time please consider a donation of money to purchase or buy cases of soda, iced

tea, lemonade or water yourself. Please contact Randi Leopold at (860) 874-3533 or via email at

Randileopold@comcast.net to help.

You can mail or drop off your donations to Randi Leopold, 54 Bainton Rd. West Hartford, CT 06117.

SEPTO thanks you in advance for your participation.

DO YOU FEEL YOUR VOICE IS

BEING HEARD IN WEST

HARTFORD?

• Would you like to change something in town?

• How can West Hartford help to make your life better?

• Does West Hartford feel like a welcoming town?

West Hartford Community Connections (WHCC) invites you to

meet with us individually to share your thoughts about West

Hartford as a changing community.

If you’re interested, please contact us to set up a time and place to meet:

Gale Shapiro – gsjake@yahoo.com or 860.232.6958

Additional information:

1. What is West Hartford Community Connections?

About Us

West Hartford Community Connections is a grass-roots initiative to facilitate and connect

community-building efforts in Town. We acknowledge and celebrate the diversity of our

population, including differences of race, ethnicity, income, sexual orientation, education,

religion, political persuasion, age, physical and mental ability, and more. We believe these

differences add to the vibrancy of the community. This initiative, created as a result of The

Community Conversation (West Hartford: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow) in 2010, brings

about openness and increases good citizenship among our adults and children.

Vision

We envision a West Hartford community that excels in:

• Encouraging participation and a sense of belonging

• Embracing diversity

• Providing opportunities for cross-group experiences

• Responding to the needs of all residents

• Using community organizations and government effectively

Mission

Our mission is to foster inter-group educational, entertainment and transformational

experiences for all segments of the community.

2. What do you mean by Dialogue to Action Initiative?

A Dialogue to Action Initiative is an approach to community changes that starts with small-

group, facilitated dialogues. The dialogues bring different kinds of people together around a

public concern and create a space that enables constructive, respectful conversation using

agreed upon guidelines. Groups of 10 to 12 participants meet for four sessions, develop

trusting relationships, and share understandings of the issue under discussion. During the

fourth dialogue session, participants brainstorm doable action ideas and plan next steps.

West Hartford Community Connections is excited to work with Everyday Democracy. They

bring national experience and resources to conducting small Dialogue to Action groups. The

dialogues reach a depth that forums, public hearings, focus groups, and town meetings

cannot.