Thursday, February 25, 2016

AHS Elective Forms Due Tuesday


Allatoona High School elective forms are due to Dr. Deane by Tuesday, March 1st.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

N Cobb Freshman Academy Field Trip

Permission slips for the North Cobb Freshman Academy tour were distributed in homeroom. See below for details.



Monday, February 22, 2016

Prevent Gang Involvement Resource




N Cobb Elective Forms Due 2/23/16



North Cobb elective forms are due to Dr. Deane on Tuesday, February 23rd.  Only forms with changes need to be returned.  Contact Dr. Deane if you have questions.

Friday, February 19, 2016

Magnet Acceptance Decisions Posted 2/19

Students accepted into the Magnet School Programs will be notified through the magnet program portal at 4:30 on February 19th.  This is the same portal used to complete the application process.

Good luck Awtrey applicants.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

N Cobb Elective Form

Students are required to select six classes and number them in priority order.  Band, Chorus, and Orchestra are year long classes so they count as two selections (for example, Band as a top priority should be numbered 1,2).

General PE and Girl's Aerobics can be taken one or two semesters and should be numbered the same way if both semesters are desired. Also, note that the General PE class listed below is not the Health and PE class required for graduation.  North Cobb does not offer that class to Freshmen.

Finally, it is highly recommended NJROTC be taken year long but it is not a requirement.

The due date on the form was not updated from last year's version.  The actual due date is Tuesday, February 23rd.





Wednesday, February 10, 2016

N Cobb Elective Brochure

This week North Cobb counselors met with students to start the elective selection process.  Students picked six electives from the attached brochure and ranked them in priority order on the Elective Registration form. Student copies were sent home February 10th.  Students have until Tuesday, February 23rd to make changes to the initial selections.  The original copies will be forwarded to North Cobb the afternoon of the 23rd for processing. 

Parents wishing to make changes may either adjust the selections on the student copy and return the form to Dr. Deane, or email the adjusted selections to Christopher.deane@cobbk12.org.  Only edited forms need to be returned.

Selections made this week are merely starting the process.  A final draft will be sent home for parent approval in mid-April that will include core subject recommendations.  Additional changes can be made at that time. 






N Cobb Foreign Language Elective Form

North Cobb foreign language classes are signed up for separately than general electives using the form below.  Students should still select 6 electives from the elective brochure knowing foreign languages will replace some of their selections.



Allatoona Elective Registration Form

Students zoned for Allatoona received a Freshman Registration Planner booklet. Students should select three primary electives in priority order, then two alternatives.  A question/answer segment regarding course selections is on the agenda for the parent night Allatoona is hosting on February 11th.

The form is due to Dr. Deane on Tuesday, March 1st.



Monday, February 8, 2016

Kik App Investigated After Teen's Death: What Every Parent Should Know

This article was from the Channel 2 news website.  It's posted because the Kik app is widely used by Awtrey students.

By Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Anonymous messaging app Kik is under heavy scrutiny because of its association with the murder of 13-year-old Nicole Lovell. The Virginia middle schooler was messaging 18-year-old David Eisenhauer, a Virginia Tech freshman on the app.CNN reported that investigators believe Eisenhauer and Lovell had an inappropriate relationship.  When she threatened to go public with their relationship, police believe he kidnapped and stabbed Lovell to death.

Eisenhauer has been jailed and is charged with abduction and murder.Another freshman, 19-year-old Natalie Keepers, was denied bail Thursday and remains in jail for being an accessory before and after the crime, as she allegedly helped Eisenhauer hide Nicole's body.

Here is what parents need to know about Kik to protect their children and teens. Kik is an anonymous messaging app. It is unlike other popular messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp in that users can make a an anonymous profile. Users are identified only by a username they create when they sign up. The app press page says it is used by over 40 percent of U.S. teens.

Usernames can be searched. The site recommends users create a username that is hard to figure out, but many teens have their Kik usernames on their public Twitter pages and Instagram feeds. ABC News reported that users can search "Kik user" and find lists for usernames sorted by gender. Once a user discovers a username, they can message that person.

Parents need to be involved. The National Children's Advocacy Center encourages parents to talk with their teens about how they spend their time online. Speak with kids about how they use their mobile phones and limit who can locate them with location services and enhanced privacy and monitoring permissions from downloaded apps.

Teens need parent or guardian permission to use the app. Teens ages 13 to 18 need permission to sue Kik. Teens under 13 are prohibited from the app. "If Kik obtains knowledge that a user is under the age of 13, it’s our policy to permanently deactivate their account and delete their personal information," according to Kik FAQs. There is also no way to verify users ages.

Parents can disable the app.  There is a roundabout way parents can disable Kik and other apps from their teen's phones. On the iPhone, parents can use restrictions to limit specific apps and features, including installing apps, with the settings app under general and restrictions. Google Play apps can be disabled in the apps or application manager section of the device's settings app.

School Choice Transfers

Several parents have requested information about school choice transfers related to where they are zoned for high school.  The information below comes directly from the district webpage:

The Cobb County School District offers School Choice (HB 251 and SB10) transfers for the 2016-2017 school year. Individual school capacity information and applications will be available beginning February 1, 2016 on the District website. For more information, please see our School Choice webpage.

Friday, February 5, 2016

Allatoona Future Freshman Parent Night Feb. 11

Allatoona High School is hosting their Future Freshman Parent Night on February 11th. 

The meeting will be held in the Allatoona Theater at 6:30 PM.

PSAT Score Reports Coming Home Today

PSAT score reports were distributed to students this morning in homeroom.  The following information is pasted from the College Board website to help parents interpret the report.  Click the following link to access the site directly.

 
College Board Testing Website

Understanding Scores


Find out how your PSAT 8/9 scores are calculated and what those scores mean.

Calculating Your Score


Because there’s no penalty for guessing, your raw score is the number of questions you answered correctly. Raw scores are converted to scores on a scale of 120 to 720 using a process called equating. Equating adjusts for slight differences in difficulty between various versions of the test (such as versions taken on different days).  The College Board uses equating to make sure that there’s no advantage in taking the test on a particular day. A score of 400, for instance, on one day’s test means the same thing as a 400 on a test taken on a different day — even though the questions are different.

Making Sense of the Numbers


Score ranges, mean (average) scores, benchmarks, and percentiles can be used to see if you’re on track for college readiness.  For the next few years, norm groups for the score ranges, mean scores, and percentiles described below will be derived from research data, not the prior year’s test-taking populations. A norm group, also called a reference population, is the group whose data your results are compared to.

Score Ranges


Tests can’t measure exactly what you know, and many factors can affect your score. After all, no two days are the same, and if you were to take the PSAT 8/9 three times in a week or once a week for a month, your scores would vary.  That’s why it’s helpful to think of each score as a range that extends from a few points below to a few points above the score earned. Score ranges show how much your score might change with repeated testing, assuming that your skill level remains the same.

Mean (Average) Scores 


Your score report will show you the mean, or average, scores earned by typical U.S. test-takers per grade. Unless your score is much lower than average, you’re probably developing the kinds of reading, writing and language, and math skills you’ll need in college.

College Readiness Benchmarks


You’ll see a benchmark for each section of the PSAT 8/9. Benchmarks are the scores that represent college readiness. In other words, if you score at or above the benchmark, you’re on track to be ready for college when you graduate high school. If you score below the benchmark, you still have time to work on your skills. Use the detailed feedback in your online score report to see which skills need the most improvement.

Percentiles


A percentile is a number between 0 and 100 that shows how you rank compared to other students. It represents the percentage of students in a particular grade whose scores fall at or below your score. For example, a 9th-grade student whose Math percentile is 57 scored higher or equal to 57 percent of 9th-graders. You’ll see two percentiles:

The Nationally Representative Sample percentile shows how your score compares to the scores of all U.S. students in a particular grade, including those who don’t typically take the test.

The User Percentile — Nation shows how your score compares to the scores of only some U.S. students in a particular grade, a group limited to students who typically take the test.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Using Career Cruising in Classroom Talks

This week in 8th grade Language Arts classes students are completing the final Career Cruising activity.  Earlier in the year students completed the career interest inventory then selected three careers they were interested in learning more about.  This week students selected one of the three to research using the following questions.



Monday, February 1, 2016

Peace Talk Survey for Students in Ms. Wilson's Small Group Only


Please follow this link to provide feedback related to "Peace Talks with Ms. Wilson", a small group opportunity for 6th grade students to meet with the counseling intern during lunch. Please do not respond unless actively participating. Participants will receive a "password" that will validate their response. Participants are not asked to provide any identifying information, and only the counselors will have direct access to their responses (unless requested by school administration).