Principal's Guide to Success by Grade

Focus on making a strong transition to high school

• Cement basic study skills
• Tutorial every day–Build habit of getting started on difficult homework in the presence of the teacher. Get help so you can finish independently at home. Avoid the myths.
• Balanced self care (sleep, eat, move, laugh)
• Seize opportunities to demonstrate problem solving

Taking Steady Steps Forward & Building Confidence

• Improve class participation. We learn best by using the knowledge. Use of information and skills anchors knowledge in your brain for ready recall when needed.
• Identify one thing at time that you want to improve. Set goals, make a plan. Everyone can grow and improve in any subject. Start where you are and build on that.
• Find a variety of Study Skill information here.

Transition year: Facing high-stakes decisions with limited executive function

• Push yourself out of your comfort zone with a difficult class.
• Ask teachers and counselors to help you tackle only what you can handle, and then do that well.
• Use your study of content in the course to improve your universal skills—communication, analysis, teamwork, and problem-solving.

Cement choices & independence

• Practice independence in decision-making & life skills. Practice with adults to suggest and support, but seniors lead and decide.
• Continue to take challenging courses but only with a load that allows you to do well and thrive personally.
• Colleges & employers want students who can manage themselves and persevere, as well as achieve.

Focus on making a strong transition to high school

• Actively work toward independence in small steps with parents & mentors to coach. Students need practice making complex or emotional decisions when an adult is there for guidance on the process. By giving the answer, planning everything, and making things easier, adults rob  students of the opportunity to learn and practice for independent living in college and career.

• Practice intensely until these two habits become an immediate response when you need them:
  • What Went Well
  • Notice, Name, Navigate
• Learn to seek out support when you need it (tutorial, counselor, mental health support, friends, family, and community).
  • Asking for help IS NOT a sign of weakness.
  • Knowing when and how to get help is a sign of strength and knowledge.
  • Asking for help and granting it to others is an important team skill that employers expect you to know.

Taking Steady Steps Forward & Building Confidence

• Understand the Upside of Stress (it’s a tool to help you excel, but it must be managed)
• Work to identify your purpose–that goal that makes struggle worthwhile for you
• Identify the healthy coping strategies that work for you
• Develop the habit of turning to those skills before stress builds to a disruptive level.

Transition year: Facing high-stakes decisions with limited executive function

• Practice a deeper understanding in Notice, Name, Navigate.
  • Go beyond angry, happy, sad to annoyed, invigorated, hurt.
  • Use your vocabulary to help you understand why you feel what you do and use that knowledge to make decisions about yourself, other people in your life, your endeavors, your plans for the future.
• Use that knowledge of yourself to understand your strengths, take on challenges, and build the knowledge that you can manage yourself, get what you need, and accomplish things that matter to you.

Cement choices & independence

• Use trusted relationships to refine Purpose (that goal that gives your life a sense of meaning).

• Develop your strengths—grow them, rely on them.

Focus on making a strong transition to high school

• Look for activities and classes that appeal to the real you. Consider where (in your free time) you spend your energy and find joy. What are you doing when you don’t notice time passing?
• Don’t be afraid to expand your friendship group. You will find new ones that share your interests, and you won’t lose true friends that you already have.
• Pick one or two activities and teams. You can do everything you want; you just can’t do it all at the same time. Colleges look for students who demonstrate discipline in making choices that encourage their growth.
• Colleges want to see students who pursue their interests in depth. Rather than students who scatter time and attention among many things, they look for students who know how to persist in acquiring deep knowledge and expertise in areas of interest.
• An officer title means little to college recruiters.
  • Admissions officers don’t look for students with long lists of titles; they look for students who demonstrate leadership in their actions, who show an ability to work with and influence others, and those who get things done and can write about their learning and resilience experiences. They expect students to cite specific examples in essays and interviews.
  • Writing college essays requires describing experiences that presented difficult challenges and the growth you experienced as a person and as a learner by persisting through those challenges. 

Taking Steady Steps Forward & Building Confidence

• Begin to narrow and focus your involvement to activities that suit you.
• Seek out classmates that share your purpose and your interests.
• Begin learning to build a network of people who will support you and the goals you want to achieve.
• Avoid the temptation to do too many things. We can do everything we want, but not all at the same time.
  • Universities and employers want people who can pursue a goal with focus and perseverance.
  • Work on developing deeper knowledge or using positions to strengthen skills in other categories.

Transition year: Facing high-stakes decisions with limited executive function

• Consider ways to demonstrate leadership. Leading is not about holding office. Leading is communicating, building a collaborative team, and helping guide that team to an objective.
• Narrow your leadership to one or maybe two things where you can demonstrate accomplishment through teamwork.
•  Colleges look for students who can lead without the authority of office. Practice influencing others as a peer rather than an officer.

Cement choices & independence

• Pursue experiences out of your comfort zone.
• Test your sense of Purpose (that goal that gives your life a sense of meaning).

Focus on making a strong transition to high school

• Take on responsibilities that require you to work with others (e.g., teams, group projects, clubs, family projects).
• Practice asking people you respect for advice:
  • Include fellow students, teachers, professionals in your community, and family.
  • Develop the poise to approach with professionalism and confidence, state what you need, listen and learn, and show appropriate gratitude.
• Use tutorial as a chance to learn from other students as well as asking the teacher for help. Practicing this teamwork will prepare you to solve problems with others in your career.

Taking Steady Steps Forward & Building Confidence

• Continue intentional use & development of skills introduced last year.
• Understand the concept of Social Capital. Think about where investment in relationships will support you.

Transition year: Facing high-stakes decisions with limited executive function

• Plan more intense use & development of skills introduced in 9th grade.
• Begin intentional development of Social Capital beyond Newport (e.g., church, community service, mentors, coaches, family friends, parents of friends).

Cement choices & independence

• Take courses with Project Based Learning to test and refine “soft skills” (communication, teamwork, problem-solving).
• Test & improve skills with challenging tasks at school and in your activities.
• Research leaders among intended fields of study and follow them on professional social media platforms (e.g., professors in intended field at universities of choice, industry leaders, journalists who cover your field of interest).

Focus on making a strong transition to high school

• Challenge yourself. Know that deep learning feels challenging and that your brain captures more during challenge than it does with routine tasks. Your brain knows when to wake up and pay attention. The knowledge sticks.
• Practice getting comfortable with challenge and learning ways to settle yourself and get the help you need.
• Identify subjects that fascinate you—where time flies by and your curiosity drives you toward more information. These are the subjects that you should pursue throughout high school.
• Don’t overload. REALLY, don’t!  It’s a myth that universities want to see heavy AP course loads. The reality is different.
  • They want to see that you can master difficult material and that you have the independent study skills required for college courses.
  • They know that one or two AP classes in high school demonstrates your ability to work independently with challenging material.
  • They want people who can balance life, take care of themselves, learn the “soft skills” required to work well with others, as well as complete courses toward graduation.
  • You undermine yourself if you overextend because you lose opportunities to pursue interests and demonstrate growth outside your classes.
  • They expect you to take AP courses only in topics that interest you. Otherwise, they would rather see that you are savvy enough to build the groundwork for where you want your future studies to take you.
  • They expect the courses on your transcript to reflect the person you describe in essays—subjects that interest you, activities you enjoy, the teamwork and other skills you claim to have developed are required by your course choices.
  • They want to see you plan time carefully so that you can do well in the courses you select.
  • They recruit students who do very well in the courses they take. 
  • Take courses outside of AP.
  • Demonstrate curiosity and perseverance with a line of inquiry.

Taking Steady Steps Forward & Building Confidence

• Seek out new topics that spark your interest.
• Continue to dig deeper into subjects that fascinate you.
• Concentrate on setting goals and getting better. Perfection is not the goal; seek growth.

Transition year: Facing high-stakes decisions with limited executive function

• Use Naviance to identify career and college goals.

• Research courses necessary to those goals & courses that will help you confirm your desire to pursue those goals.

• Understand entrance requirements of first-choice colleges.

Cement choices & independence

• Ensure that you are meeting requirements of the college or career you plan to pursue next year.

• Continue to seek depth in one or two subject areas to demonstrate your perseverance and ability to master complex, upper-level content.

Focus on making a strong transition to high school

• Complete the 9th grade High School & Beyond Plan tasks in Naviance (a graduation requirement).

• Review College Knowledge task sheet for the year.

• Introduce yourself to our College & Career advisor. Describe  your interests and ask for suggestions for this stage in your education.

Taking Steady Steps Forward & Building Confidence

Improve class participation. We learn best by using the knowledge. Use of information and skills anchors knowledge in your brain for ready recall when needed.

• Complete the 10th grade High School & Beyond Plan tasks in Naviance (a graduation requirement).

• Review College Knowledge task sheet for the year.

• Use Community Service hours to explore your career ideas.

Transition year: Facing high-stakes decisions with limited executive function

• Complete the 11th grade High School & Beyond Plan tasks in Naviance (a graduation requirement).

• Review College Knowledge task sheet for the year.

• Continue Community Service in areas of interest, but look for something with greater depth of knowledge and skills.

Cement choices & independence

• Complete the 12th grade High School & Beyond Plan tasks in Naviance (a graduation requirement).

• Review College Knowledge task sheet for the year.

• FAFSA Deadline 

• Senior Blitz appointment with counselor in September—Review with your counselor your plans for the future and your transcript to make final plans to meet requirements for graduation and your plans afterward.