Sophomore Information
Welcome to your Sophomore year!
You have one year of high school under your belt, and this year we begin to focus on career and college exploration. So what should you be doing now?
Explore Careers and interests on Naviance!
Exploring your likes and dislikes can help you determine what career you might thrive in and get your gears turning on possible college majors/post-high school plans.
Utilize the “Career” and “Self-Discovery” tabs on the top bar of the Naviance home page. Under “Self-Discovery”, complete the “Career Cluster Finder” and the “Career Interest Profiler” surveys to learn more about yourself.
All students can login to Naviance utilizing "Clever".
Update your Resume on Naviance!
Are you involved in clubs, sports, community service, or do you hold a part-time job? Remembering all your involvements can be hard when it becomes crunch time senior year, so get a head start by building your Resume on Naviance now and continue to update it as time goes on.
Once on Naviance, click “About me” and then “Resume”
Please note that only you, your parents, and your counselors have access to what you write in Naviance.
Course Selections
Course selection takes place in the winter of your sophomore year. In the Spring, please review your course selections for next year on the Parent Portal and make sure they are correct. Contact your Guidance Counselor to make any changes.
Thinking about Standardized testing already? We know that sometimes students can be anxious over these tests and feel the sooner they start taking them the better, however, that's not always the case. We recommend the following timeline for the majority of students...
FALL of Sophomore Year: Take PSAT (administered at JGHS) for practice only
FALL of Junior Year: Take Practice Exams (PSAT administered at JGHS). PSAT scores in the junior year can make a student eligible for a national merit scholarship.
SPRING of Junior Year: Begin to register for a true SAT/ACT exam. Exams can continue to be taken through October of the senior year.
**This timeline leaves you time to learn more from your core classes in school to be best prepared for the material on the exams. For example there is Algebra II on the SAT and English 11 prepares you for the ELA Regents, which gives students skills that can help on standardized tests as well. **
Utilize Method Learning, accessed through your Castle Learning account. This online platform offers FREE test prep for both the SAT/ACT along with practice exams, vocabulary building, and more.
Attend local college fairs/visit schools! This can help you get comfortable on a college campus for future visits and help you learn more about what potential schools have to offer. ** At the latest, students should begin to visit colleges in the Spring of their junior year**
Looking forward...
In the Spring of the junior year, we begin the college/post-secondary conversation by pushing into 11th-grade classes to speak to students, followed by hosting a Junior College Night for parents and families. Afterward, all students are invited in for an Individual Junior Conference with their parent(s) to go over the college/post-secondary process specific to them.
For now, complete the above steps, continue to start thinking about your future, and get involved!