Senior Reminders

SENIOR REMINDERS:

1.      The next available SAT test is on December 1^st. The deadline to register is November 1^st. The late registration deadline is November 16^th.

2.      The following SAT is on January 26^th. The deadline to register is on December 28^th. The late registration deadline is January 11^th. (Most of your applications will need to be in by then!)

3.      McKee’s High School code (CEEB Code): 335375. You will need this when registering for the SAT.

4.      Fee waivers are still available for the SAT!! If you qualify for free lunch, you are automatically eligible for a waiver; if not, please bring in your tax information to see if you qualify. See Ms. Jensen in the Guidance office (room 307) for more information. *Fee waivers cannot be used for late registration.*

5.      Your must send score reports to your colleges! You can send scores to FOUR colleges for FREE, and the rest are an additional $11.00. A few tips to save you money:

a.       The CUNY UAPC (University Application Processing Center) code is 2950. This sends your scores to all CUNY schools.

b.      We are able to send SAT scores free from McKee to a select *few* SUNY schools, and all CUNY schools.

c.       Use your free spots to send scores to your top schools right away. Your college choices will notice that you sent your score in as soon as you could.

d.      Keep your www.collegeboard.com login information handy. You need this if you have to register to take the test over; you need it if you have to send your scores to more schools after registration; you need it to log in and get personalized information about your test scores.

6.      The next available ACT test date is on December 8^th. The deadline to register is on November 2^nd. The late registration deadline is November 16^th. Some information on the ACT test:

a.       The ACT is an achievement test, measuring what a student has learned in school. It has up to 5 components: English, Mathematics, Reading, Science, and an optional Writing Test.

b.      All four-year colleges and universities in the US accept either the SAT or the ACT, most will also accept a combination of both scores.

7.      Student athletes who will play a sport in college: Send your scores to the NCAA Eligibility Center by entering the code 9999. Also, you must complete the NCAA Eligibility Center form at www.eligibilitycenter.org. You cannot receive any sports scholarships without registering with the NCAA Eligibility Center.

College info

College application deadlines are fast approaching. Please be aware of the following dates. Students, start getting your applications together! Parents/guardians, support your children in this process. Make sure they're getting everything done on time!

CUNY Freshman General Admission :       February 1

            Macaulay Honors Program : December 1 @ 6:00pm

The City College Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture :                             January 1

SUNY Freshman General Admission : December 1

            Early Action : November 15

Private Colleges General Admission : December – January

SUNY and Private Colleges will each have their own different deadlines. However, it is incredibly important for you to get your application in EARLY – there are many items that you need to put together on your own and that the school needs to put together for you. Don’t wait until the last minute to get everything together!!

STUDENTS: Please update your Naviance account – if you have not made one, see Ms. Starkey for your registration code ASAP. Use Naviance to let us know what schools you have applied to.

*IMPORTANT*

Since we are a Naviance school, your Common App automatically links up with your Naviance account. That means this is the *only* way for us to electronically submit your transcript and other information. Updating your Naviance information will also help us to match you to appropriate schools and scholarships if you're having trouble searching!!

Overcoming Obstacles

Today was the first day we began presenting Overcoming Obstacles in the classroom. We were lucky enough to receive this program in our school free of charge from the NYC Gifting Initiative! Overcoming Obstacles is a life skills program that teaches students over 20 important life skills that all young people need, starting with a strong foundation of the most critical skills: communication, decision making, and goal setting.

With the help of our wonderful History department, Mr. Jeff Thomas and I did an introductory lesson with some of the freshmen and sophomore classes today and it went great! The students responded really well to the topics we were talking about and presenting and we're really looking forward to going further in this program with them.

You can find out more about Overcoming Obstacles at www.overcomingobstacles.org.

-Ms. Miller

Today's positive affirmation:

WHEN I BELIEVE IN MYSELF, SO DO OTHERS

Not sure what to do with this positive affirmation? Read this post explaining the importance and benefits of using positive affirmations in your daily life. And remember, always: POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE!

-Ms. Miller

Positive Affirmations

Affirmations are positive statements that describe a desired situation, and which are repeated many times, in order to impress the subconscious mind and trigger it into positive action. This means you repeat it over and over to yourself in order to convince your brain into thinking and processing it as the truth. In order to ensure the effectiveness of the affirmations, they have to be repeated with attention, conviction, interest and desire.

The best positive affirmations to repeat are short and easy to remember. Repeat them every time your mind is not engaged in something important, like when you're taking the bus or train to school, but do not affirm while crossing a street, or while sitting in class or while taking a test!

Relax any physical, emotional or mental tension when you start repeating it to yourself (also known as "affirming"). The stronger the concentration, the more faith you have in what you are doing, the more feelings you put into the act, the stronger and faster will be the results.

Choose only positive words, describing what you really want. If you desire to lose weight, do not tell yourself "I am not fat" or "I am losing weight." These are negative statements, bringing into the mind mental images of what you do not want. Say instead, "I am getting slim" or "I have reached my right weight". Such words evoke positive images in the mind.

Always affirm in the present tense, not the future tense. Saying, "I will be rich", means that you intend to be rich one day, in the indefinite future, but not now. It's more effective to say, and also feel, "I am rich now", and the subconscious mind will work at overtime to make this happen now, in the present.

The power of affirmations can help you to transform your life. By stating what you want to be true in your life, you mentally and emotionally see and feel it as true, no matter what your current circumstances are, and thereby attract it into your life.

Today's positive affirmation for you repeat to yourself as often as you can is this:

I AM SUCCESSFUL IN WHATEVER I DO

Positive Mental Attitude! PMA!!!

-Ms. Miller

End of summer

WHOA!

Summer is almost over! It's been a busy one for me so I apologize for the COMPLETE lack of posts on here over the past 2 months. But school is starting back up so soon and I'm really excited for the 2012-13 school year at McKee. We're going to have some new activities going on during and after school, you're going to be seeing me in your classroom more often doing class lessons, and everything is going be awesome and exciting.

To all McKee students who have been attending summer school at Curtis, congratulations! Today is the final day, and you have a nice 2 weeks off until school starts up again. I hope you never have to take summer school again! But I'm sure you're just glad it's over right now. For those that attended everyday and worked hard to get their credit, good for you! You deserve these 2 weeks of relaxation before you start working hard again.

I hope you're as excited for the new school year as I am, and if you're not, then GET EXCITED! We all have to work together to start off this school year (and every school year, and everything we do!) thinking positively and optimistically. POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE!

• Positive mental attitude (PMA) is the philosophy that having an optimistic disposition in every situation in one's life attracts positive changes and increases achievement. It employs a state of mind that continues to seek, find and execute ways to win, or find a desirable outcome, regardless of the circumstances. It opposes negativity, defeatism and hopelessness. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_mental_attitude)

I just got an idea. At least once a week, I will post a positive affirmation for you to think about and repeat to yourself throughout the day to get your brain on a POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE kick! PMA!

Well, here's to the end of summer being better than the rest of the summer. Enjoy yourselves and be safe!

-Ms. Miller

Seniors!

McKee's class of 2012 is set to graduate in just about 2 weeks and I couldn't be more excited for all of you!! Last night (June 7th) was the McKee 2012 Prom and all of the seniors looked incredible! The party was at The Vanderbilt on Staten Island. The DJ was great!! Everyone was dancing all night; students and teachers. I know I had a great time dancing all night at prom. I might have been more excited to celebrate with my seniors last night than I was at my own prom! Here are some pictures to show you what a great time everyone had and how AMAZING everyone looked.

They definitely danced a lot all night!

 
The lovely prom King and Queen: Izzy Alcivar and Nathalie Ubaldegaray! 

 
Ms. Miller (that's me!) with students Anu McPherson and Aaron Oquendo, with Ms. Starkey - who put the whole prom together. Great job, Ms. Starkey!!

I hope everyone had a great time! It definitely looked like everyone did. Also, I hope everyone was SAFE after prom!

I'd also just like to throw in a quick note here. 

I've only been your Guidance Counselor at McKee for about 8 months, but it has truly been MY privilege to be your Counselor. As your Guidance Counselor and as a member of the McKee community, I've learned what it means to truly LOVE your job and feel fulfilled by the work that you do everyday. To the 2012 Senior class: thank you for being some of the most amazing, coolest, funniest, smartest kids I've ever met. I wish I could have gone through your four years of high school with you but I hope to hear about your upcoming years of college/work/whatever you do! I wish you all the best of luck and I know you'll do great things - I'll try my best to take some credit when you get famous ;). 

To my underclassmen, I'm excited to keep working with you and see you through high school and work together to make it the best few years of your life! 

This doesn't mean the school year is over (sorry to be a bummer). Check the schedule for Regents and make sure you go to tutoring!! Some of you seniors still need to pass Regents in order to graduate - this means if you do not pass the required Regents, you will unfortunately NOT be able to take part in the graduation ceremony. Parents, please be aware of this and contact either me or Ms. Ippolito to find out if your child falls in this situation. 

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Fingers crossed for no rain!!

-Ms. Miller

Why Four-Year College?

FOUR YEAR COLLEGE
A four-year college education, or bachelor's degree, can open doors and prepare students for a wide variety of rewarding careers.
While all four-year colleges hope to attract bright, well-prepared students, colleges vary greatly in their size, admission requirements, costs, and in the majors they offer.
At most four-year colleges, students take about half of their courses in their major (the subject they have chosen to study in depth). The rest of their courses are required general education courses (English, science, history, math, etc.) and electives (courses they want to take).

COLLEGE PREPARATION
Colleges recommend that students follow a college prep program in high school, and that they get the highest possible grades. 

College Prep Courses
Most colleges recommend that students take the following college prep courses in high school:
4 years of English
3-4 years of math (including Algebra I, Geometry and Trigonometry/Algebra II)
3 years of social studies
3 years of science
2-3 years of the same foreign language*
1 year of fine or performing arts*

*The NYC DOE Public High School requirement for foreign language recently changed to 2 credits, which is equal to 1 year. McKee offers 1 year of Spanish to our students to meet graduation requirements. We also offer one year of General Art class to meet the 2 credits of Art/Music requirement.

Competitive schools and programs consider the above to be the minimum requirements. They commend that students take advanced courses when possible. Students who haven't taken several of the above recommended college prep courses may want to start at a community college or at a college's branch campus. The requirements for admission are less competitive, the classes are smaller, and there's less pressure.

Activities and Interests
Colleges are looking for students who are active and involved. Develop your interests, skills, and talents, and get involved in activities in your high school and your community.

CHOOSING A COLLEGE
There are many things to consider when you choose a college.

Size
Do you want to go to a large school with lots of majors and activities, or to a small school with fewer students and smaller classes?

Academic Programs
If you have a specific subject you want to study, you need to find the colleges that offer that major. If you don't know what subject you want to study, look for a college with a variety of majors.

Location
Where do you want to go to college? Staying in Staten Island? Living at home but commuting to NYC? In another state completely? In an urban or rural area?

Admission Requirements
Look for colleges that accept students with grades and test scores similar to yours.

Cost
If cost is a concern, keep the following in mind:

• public colleges (in-state) are generally less expensive than private colleges
• you can save money by living at home and commuting, or by starting at a community college
• there is a great deal of financial aid available!!

Here is a very, very general and broad college outline. As I continue this blog, I will be adding more about month-by-month steps for each grade level.

9th grade
Get off to a good start academically. Look for ways to develop your interests and talents.

10th grade
Consider taking the PSAT.

11th grade
-Take the PSAT in October.
-Begin to seriously research your college options.
-Start thinking of your interests and abilities in terms of possible college majors.
-Talk to your counselor about your college plans.
-Take the ACT and/or SAT in the spring.
-Make college visits. 

12th grade
-Retake the ACT and/or SAT, if necessary
-Fill out applications. Be aware of deadlines.
-Meet with your counselor to discuss your college plans, possible majors, financial aid, etc.
-If you are applying for financial aid, apply for your PIN and submit your FAFSA as after January 1 as possible.

Finally, the internet knows a lot more than me about all of this. Here are some extremely helpful websites:
www.collegeboard.com
www.educationplanner.org
www.finaid.org
www.actstudent.org
studentaid.ed.gov
www.collegesavings.org

-Ms. Miller

REGENTS

18 DAYS UNTIL FINALS BEGIN (12 FOR SENIORS!)

26 DAYS UNTIL REGENTS BEGIN!! Please see the Regents schedule for June 2012!! Please be on the lookout for Regents prep and tutoring after school!

40 DAYS UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR (that's actually only 27 SCHOOL DAYS left!)

The end of the year is fast approaching!! That doesn't mean it's any time to slack off, though - keep working hard to bring up whatever grades may have dropped in the second marking period, or just keep working to get your great grades even higher and greater!! (Can you tell I'm excited for summer and am a fan of exclamation points?)

As it gets closer to finals week, I will be posting the schedule for all students and parents to be aware. If you have any questions leading up to them, please get in touch!

-Ms. Miller

Show Me app

Have you heard about this cool new iPad app called Show Me? Our students in the AVID program have been utilizing this very cool app as a classroom tool to teach and learn lessons. Students are able to create and share lessons that they make with each other and with the world on the Show Me website. Check out some of the lessons our AVID students have made here: http://www.showme.com/mckeehighschool

ALSO! Congratulations to some of our seniors, Caleb King, Epifanio Ortiz, Corey Newell-Hopkins, Jonathan Cortes and Patrick Fleming on their exit interview from the Construction Skills Program.  
The Edward J. Malloy Initiative for Construction Skills provides pre-apprenticeship training that prepares graduating New York City public high school seniors for entry into unionized building and construction trades apprenticeship programs.
The pre-apprenticeship program is designed to prepare New York City public high school students for the rigors of the construction industry.  Through the provision of classroom and hands-on training, students complete the program armed with the skills necessary to be successful in the unionized construction industry.
Upon successful completion of the program, graduates of Construction Skills are referred to union apprenticeship programs through a “direct entry” track.  In other words, Construction Skills graduates earn access to union building and construction trades apprenticeship opportunities without going through the public recruitment process.

This is a great motivator for sophomores and juniors in the Construction shop to keep in mind! Successful students will be referred to the program by Mr. O'Connell, the Construction teacher, and will be able to receive even more support from outside the building through this program. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to work in the construction field right after high school?? If construction is your field, make sure you talk to Mr. O'Connell about this opportunity!

-Ms. Miller

Thank you, from Ms. Ippolito

Ralph R. McKee High School held its very successful second annual Career Fair on Thursday, May 3, 2012.  The Career Fair consisted of over twenty professionals from various career and technical areas.  Professionals included Nick Manfredi and Frank Agostino; Emil Galante from Galante Home Improvement; Leroy Cooper from Lincoln Tech; Lawrence Chiarelli from Poly Tech; Richard Rothenberg from Fashion Institute of Technology; FDNY; William Smith and Dan Wardrope, Construction Managers for the State of NY (DASNY); William Ellis (Graphics); Dan Morio, Information Technology (NYCDOE); Alan Broth, Information Technology from Queens Hospital; William Bonner, CFN Network Leader; Tracy Brown, author and former student; Cheryl Farrell, Cristelle Yamada and Julia Harris who are engineers in different areas of construction and computer science; Carol Burt, National Association of Women in Construction; Denise Schiera, salon owner; Samantha Bernadine, NYS My Health Careers. 

The McKee High School students have received immense support from these professionals. We feel especially privileged to have had some of these individuals join us in the past.  Their dedication and consistency has reinforced and enhanced our efforts and ability to assist our students through active engagement, providing materials/information to our students and discussing internship and employment opportunities available for the CTE areas.

The goal is to prepare students for careers in Architecture, Computer Networking, Computer Graphics, Construction Technology, Automotive Technology and Cosmetology.  McKee students experience great success in higher education, internships and employment. Having professionals visit our school is the ideal means to experience what we offer as a career and academic institution.  It also provides our students with more exposure to the career and technical fields, develops their knowledge and enhances their skills. Our staff is thankful to the professionals who have taken the time to assist us toward our goal to motivate and encourage our students to continue exploring, enhancing their skills and pursuing the career and technical areas.

Joyce Ippolito, Guidance Counselor

Do you know about Pupil Path??

Parents,
Do you know about Pupil Path? It's a great website program that McKee uses to keep everyone connected - staff, teachers, parents, and students. On Pupil Path, you can check your child's current academic progress, their attendance, and anecdotal logs left by teachers. If you already know about this website and have been utilizing it, that's great! You already know the benefits of using Pupil Path. If you didn't know about this program, I'm here to help you with it.

The website is www.PupilPath.com; you will need a registration code to get into this program. You can call your student's Guidance Counselor (myself at 718.420.2619 or Ms. Ippolito at 718.420.2629) to receive your code. Once you have it, log onto the website and click the link that says, "New User? Signup Here!" From here, you will select "Parent," and give your information. Your own personal e-mail address is required. Please use one that you check often, as you will receive updates or messages from teachers there! On the next page, you will input your child's information. Choose "Ralph R. McKee Career and Technical Education High School," their 9-digit student ID number, their birthday and YOUR registration code (Your child can also register; they should go to their Guidance Counselor to get their separate registration code). After this step, you will  be able to create your own unique password and use it to log into the website.

Please utilize Pupil Path as it is something that our school is starting to use more widely and it will be a very important source of information for you and your child, and a very simple and convenient way to monitor your child's progress. Don't hesitate to call with any questions about the website and how to get yourself onto it!

-Ms. Miller