The mission of the guidance department is to help each student in our care to develop her full potential academically, emotionally and socially. A natural outgrowth of this process is the task of helping the student to formulate career and college goals, culminating in intensive guidance through the entire college selection and application process.
Ms. Jennifer Maurer, M.A.
Director of Guidance
Mrs. Christina Palmer
Guidance Counselor
Ms. Gabrielle Rivera
Guidance Counselor
Guidance counselors meet with juniors every three to four weeks throughout the year in small group sessions. Senior classes meet once a week in the month of September and resume normal frequency thereafter. In the first semester, the junior curriculum focuses on career exploration with particular emphasis on self-assessment and identifying general career interests. The second semester curriculum centers on the process of choosing a college and the many factors that enter into that decision.
Detailed discussion of public versus private colleges, inevitably leads students to a more sophisticated understanding of their options as well as familiarity with the subject of financial aid and scholarships. Specifically, we introduce students, by means of our classroom technology, to the many internet tools available to them in the college search process. In these guidance sessions juniors choose their subjects for senior year and learn to write the college resume. English Department Chairperson and our guidance counselors work together to conduct a workshop on how to write the college application essay.
The senior guidance curriculum for the fall semester moves students step-by-step through the college application process. The second semester is devoted to discussion on making the transition to college: study skills, social and academic adjustments, strategies to cope with change, and the formation of healthy relationships in college.
Sophomores and juniors sit for the PSAT in October of each year. It is expected that all juniors will take the ACT or SAT I for the first time in the spring of that year and again in the fall of senior year. Students are also offered guidance on the appropriateness or otherwise of preparing for the SAT II Subject Tests.
Saint Saviour runs an in-house ACT prep course on two afternoons a week during the months of February and March in preparation for the May test. The moderate fee charged for this course allows for an affordable alternative to other test preparation options offered outside of school.
Check school calendar for dates: http://www.stsaviour.org/about-us/key-events
September
October
November
December
February-March
Students are provided with additional resources in the Guidance Google Classroom. These span the gamut from time management activities to opportunities for internships and shadowing programs. When students enter their senior year they are entered into another Classroom specifically for seniors that updates the students on what deadlines are approaching for their college process. Both groups will also list scholarship opportunities as appropriate.
ACT
Information and Registration for the ACT
The College Board
Information and Registration for SAT and SAT Subject Tests
College and majors search
https://www.commonapp.org/
The on-line version of the Common Application
CSS Profile
A financial aid form required by some colleges as part of their financial aid application.
FAFSA
Free Application for Federal Student Aid