Germantown High School
Mark of Excellence
Mark of Excellence
Madison County has a NO DROP POLICY on scheduled classes. Absolutely no change of schedules will be made except for administrative/academic purposes.
*SENIOR RESOURCES:
Another way to communicate with our students and their families is through newsletters. These newsletters offer important test dates, scholarships, upcoming events and other pertinent information. Seniors are issued newsletters once a month at the beginning of the month. Extra copies are always available in the Counselor’s Office and the counselor's Canvas page.
*REPORT CARDS AND PROGRESS REPORTS:
All report cards and progress reports will be given to students child at school. Parents, it might be helpful if sure you write down the dates and ask your child for the report when he/she gets home! The final report card in May will be mailed to the student's address on file with the exception of Seniors. Therefore, if your mailing address has changed, please come by the Counselor's office to provide the appropriate residency information.
*PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES:
*ACTIVE PARENT REGISTRATION:
You may now access your student’s weekly class averages, attendance, schedule and school news information by setting up an Active Parent Online account. Forms are available in the GHS Counselor’s Office or may be faxed to you upon your request. The form must be completed, signed and returned to GHS. Return faxed forms are accepted. You must provide a username which is your last name and last 4 digits of your Social Security Number. In addition, you must provide a password which must include at least 4 alpha and at least 2 numeric characters which may be in any order. Once a completed form is received, your account will be established and you can access your student’s information by logging on to www.madison-schools.com and selecting the SAM for Parents link,or by going to www.madison-schools.com and selecting the SAM Database link.
*TRANSCRIPTS:
Please refer to the "Transcripts" tab for a link to our online request
For students who have already graduated: upon written request, a student's transcript will be sent to any designated agency, college or school. The student must request, upon graduation, that a final transcript be sent to the agency or college of his/her choice. Transcript requests must be made through our Transcript Request link.
For current GHS students: As a part of the admissions process, most colleges require a 7 semester and/or complete official 8 semester transcript. The transcript contains all the high school semester grades and ACT or SAT test scores. It is the student's responsibility to request, through Parchment, that a transcript be sent. You or your child can request a transcript simply by filling out the information through our Transcript Request link. No requests via phone or e-mail please. Seniors, be sure you apply to the college or university BEFORE sending them a transcript.
We realize you will have numerous questions throughout your senior year. Your counselors do their very best to keep you up to date on what you should be doing throughout the school year. Listed below is information we feel like you need to know regarding policies and procedures at Germantown High School.
Like the essay, teacher or counselor recommendations are another important part of the college application. When so many qualified students are competing for relatively few slots, the admissions office needs more than grades and test records to help them make their decisions. With this in mind, follow these guidelines when requesting teacher recommendations.
1.Request recommendations as soon as possible. September is not too early.Remember, teachers receive many requests and if you wait too long, the quality of your recommendation could suffer.
2.Ask for recommendations from a teacher you have had in previous years. A teacher who has had you for only a month or two this fall does not have enough information to accurately evaluate you.
3.If you know what you are going to major in, try to match the recommendation with the appropriate subject teacher, e.g. Engineering-math teacher,pre-med-science teacher, communications-English teacher.
4.Most importantly, ask teachers who know you well and in whose class you have been successful. Did you have an impact on the intellectual life of the class and did you contribute in terms of effort, interest, responsibility and reliability?
5.Typically you will only need a recommendation from your guidance counselor and 1 or 2 teachers. Please limit your requests to a maximum of 2 classroom teachers.
6. Please, please DO NOT wait until the last minute to ask for a letter of recommendation. Allow at least one week for your recommender to complete your letter.
7. Include a stamped, self-addressed envelope for your recommender.
8. If your recommender returns the recommendation letter to you, please do not open the envelope if it is sealed.
*GHS COLLEGE VISIT DAYS:
Students who are classified as seniors will be permitted two excused college days during their senior year. These visits should be used during the months of September through April. Students are encouraged to call the Office of Admissions of the college/university in which they plan to visit, and set up an appointment time. Once a date is obtained, students should submit a request in writing one full week prior to the scheduled visit. Forms can be picked up from the Counselor’s Office or printed out on our Canvas page. In order for the absence to be excused, the student must present a signed college visitation form upon his/her return to school. Visitation forms are generally available on all college campuses. This visitation form must be on the college’s letterhead and include the student’s name and date of attendance signed by a school official. A college day absence will not count against exam exemption.
The College Visit Day policy is as stated:
1. As stated in the Madison County Schools High School Handbook, “students who are classified as seniors will be permitted two excused college days during their senior year. Students wishing to make a college visit should submit a request in writing one week prior to the scheduled visit”. GHS seniors need to pick up a college visitation form from the Counselor’s Office; have a parent fill it out and sign it; and return it to his/her counselor according to the above time frame.
Germantown is often notified of various scholarship opportunities. There are several ways in which we distribute this information to you:
· Scholarships are listed on the GHS Counselor Canvas page for the duration of the scholarship.
· Scholarships are listed in the Senior monthly newsletters. Newsletters are also posted on our Canvas page.
· The GHS Counseling Office can text you directly with notifications of scholarship opportunities. Please refer to the top of this page for more information.
*SCHOLARSHIP SEARCHES:
Not only do we recommend keeping up with scholarships through the Counselor’s Office, but there are a few other ways to find scholarships.
The internet is a wonderful tool for scholarship searches. Again, beware of anyone asking for a fee.
Ask your individualcollege/university. Be sure you understand what is expected of you to be eligible for scholarships from that school. A meeting with their Office of Admissions or Financial Aid Office can be very beneficial.
*GPA AND CLASS RANK DISTRIBUTION:
Due to the magnitude of our student data base, Germantown can only calculate and distribute GPA and Class Rank to Seniors. Seniors should expect to receive their six semester GPA and Class Rank in September and their seven semester GPA and Class Rank in January. They will receive their final eight semester GPA and class rank at graduation practice, which will be held the day before their graduation ceremony.
Please remember: Most academic scholarships are based on GPA and ACT score. Colleges do not base their academic scholarships on our cumulative GPA that is distributed to the students. The colleges base their scholarships on their core GPA. Each school’s core GPA is different. We recommend that you contact your college of choice to determine what they consider core classes.
*TRANSCRIPTS:
A transcript is a permanent record of your academic career. It includes class taken, grades received, and academic test results. Basically, all you have to do is fill out a Transcript Request Form through Parchment. Request cannot be phoned in, e-mailed or faxed. All colleges must have a copy of your transcript in order to be accepted. A transcript is unofficial unless sent directly from GHS Counselor’s Office. Once a transcript request is submitted, transcripts are sent within seventy-two hours.
*FINAL TRANSCRIPTS: