South High SchoolCounseling Department

Freshman Parent Night

Student Services Department Counselors

Alpha Name Ext: Email A-Fe Brian Polun 7360 polun.brian@tusd.orgFi-K Amelia Harr 7361 harr.amelia@tusd.orgL-Q Tanna McGarry 7363 mcgarry.tanna@tusd.orgRe-Z Teresa

Maldonado7362 maldonado.teresa@tusd.org

College/Career

Stephanie Ramirez

7367 ramirez.stephanie@tusd.org

Dean of Students – Leo Klemm—ext. 7356School Psychologist – Christina Dillard —ext. 7378On site therapist- Brittany Stanley

The Counselor’s Role■ Academic Guidance

■ College and Career Counseling

■ Personal/Social/Emotional Counseling

Guidance Throughout High School 9th Grade

■ September- Freshman Parent Night■ October-Freshmen Orientation■ November- Naviance Activity■ February/March- Freshman Scheduling

10th Grade■ October- Pre-ACT■ November- Sophomore Workshop■ November-Naviance Activity■ March/April- Sophomore Scheduling■ Naviance Assessment

11th Grade■ October- PSAT■ November- Junior Workshop■ November-Naviance Activity■ March- Junior Scheduling

12th Grade■ September- Senior Workshop■ September/October/November- College

Workshops/Naviance Activity■ October- Senior Conferences ■ October- Local Scholarship Workshop

All Grades:

■ All Year- College/Career Visits■ September- Road Map to College ■ October- Financial Aid Night ■ February- TUSD College Fair■ February- Honors/AP Information

Meetings

Transitioning to High School: Things to know…

■ Graduation Requirements

■ A-G college prep requirements

■ College/Career --Naviance

High School Graduation Requirements

■ 220 total credits■ 6 semesters of satisfactory

or excellent citizenship

■ Math- 20 credits■ Science- 20 credits■ English- 40 credits■ Social Sci.- 30 credits■ Physical Ed.- 20 credits■ Fine Arts or Foreign

Language- 10 credits■ Health- 5 credits■ Electives- 75 credits

■ Includes any class you take over the required graduation credits

Knowing the A-G ListA-G College Prep Requirements – With Grade of C or Higher

Letter AreaYears

RequiredYears

Recommended

A History/Social Sciences 2 years

B English 4 years

C Mathematics 3 years 4 years

D Laboratory Sciences 2 years 3 years

E Language Other Than English 2 years 3 years

F Visual and Performing Arts 1 year

G College-Preparatory Electives 1 year

High School Procedures/Supports

■ Connecting with Counselors

■ Grading Periods■ Academic

Resources/Supports■ Activities and

Athletics ■ Attendance

Connecting with Counselors ■ Drop-in times for students

■ Before school ■ Lunch ■ After school

■ Counselor Appointments ■ Students can sign up to see their counselor in the

counseling office.■ Office will send a “call slip” to student’s class

■ Parent requests by appointment ■ Please call or email your individual counselor to set

up an appointment.

Grading Periods■ Quarter 1- November 1st■ Semester 1- January 24th■ Quarter 3- April 3rd■ Semester 2- June 11th

■ Quarters are 10 weeks ■ PE and Athletics- only grades that are posted at

the quarter.■ Semesters are 20 weeks

■ Semester grades (January and June) posted on transcript

Academic Resources and Support ■ Email teachers and counselors- see South High

Website- www.shs.tusd.org■ Many teachers offer additional support (lunchtime)

■ eTUSD- https://www.etusd.org

■ PowerSchool: http://Torrance.powerschool.com■ Parent portal for checking grades■ Access IDs and Passwords were given to families■ Contact secretary in Counseling office if you did not

receive.

■ Spartan Seminar

What is Spartan Seminar?

● Spartan Seminar is a mandatory 60 minutes of additional instruction a week for students who need extra help in any subject.

● This time is within the school day during what used to be SSR. (30 minutes every Wed. and Thur)

● Research shows that timely, targeted intervention, embedded in the school day, is the best way to improve student achievement.

● The purpose of Spartan Seminar is to give targeted content help to students who do not understand a concept taught the previous week.

Why are we doing it?

Spartan Seminar: Closed and Open SessionsOPEN Seminar● Single day sessions that

students choose, sign up for and attend.

● Teachers will post their Open Seminar topic on etusd.

● Students may sign up for different Wed. and Thurs. Open Seminar sessions.

CLOSED Seminar● A two-day session (Wed &

Thur) that teachers assign students to in etusd.

● Only students assigned by a teacher will be able to attend.

students will sign up for seminar

every Tuesday at 8:40

More Academic Resources and Support ❖ Use of planner/agenda book highly

recommended

❖ CSF Tutoring■ Free!■ Monday – Thursday■ 3:00-4:00 SHS Library

❖ Private Tutors

❖ South High Library Open Mon-Thurs from 3-5 for study time

Extracurricular Activities/Athletics■ Activities Office- K-1

■ Activities Director – Mrs. Vicki Hildreth ■ Student Council/Clubs/Organizations

■ Athletic Office- F-1■ Athletic Director – Mr. Kevin VanWaardenburg ■ Eligibility – 2.0 G.P.A and no more than one U■ Eligibility is looked at every 10 weeks at the

quarter ■ Athletics questions

■ Coach approval■ Athletic Concerns/Issues■ Clearance procedures

Student Attendance■ Student must bring parent note to Attendance Office following

absence

■ 2 days to clear absence or it becomes “truant”

■ TUSD sends automated phone calls home when students are absent

■ Attendance Office does not call students out of class to pick-up forgotten items

■ Off Campus Pass requests- give to attendance office in the morning

College/Career Counseling ● All students and parents can meet with

College and Career Coordinator-Ms. Ramirez

● College/Career Center (Room R-4)- resources for colleges, military, careers, and financial aid

● College and Career Visits- colleges and professionals come to campus to speak with our students (mostly 10th-12th graders)

Naviance■ Naviance is a comprehensive college and

career search tool. All students have an account, and can access their page from anywhere.

■ Student accounts are set up with the etusd login information.

■ The counseling department will work with all grades yearly to complete various assessments and searches in order to help students create goals and plan for the future

Naviance Features….■ College Searches■ Super Match

Feature■ College Visits■ Career Searches■ Assessments ■ National

Scholarship Search ■ Resume Builder

Thank you!