Transition to 9th grade at Johns Creek High School

• For assistance with class placement, please contact your child's teacher.
• If additional assistance is needed after speaking to the teacher, please contact Fran Meredith, AMMS Graduation Coach, at meredithf@fultonschools.org or use the link at the bottom of the page to schedule an appointment.
• 8th grade teachers make course placement recommendations based on 8th grade course averages. Initial placement is based on first semester, and placement is revisited at the end of May with second semester grades.

Keep checking back! Information will be added as it becomes available.

JCHS Freshman Information Day/Open House

JCHS’ Freshman Information Day/Open House is August 3, 2018 from 8:30am-10:00am. This is a chance to pick up class schedules, get locker assignments, and meet teachers. The JCHS Counselors will be available to help with any schedule issues. If you are unable to attend Freshman Info Day/Open House, your child will get his/her schedule on the first day of school. Watch for JCHS to push out more details about this exciting event!

Freeze on Class Change Requests

JCHS is putting a freeze on class change requests from noon Friday, June 1 through August 3. This is so that the high school can build student schedules and staff teaching positions. Until noon on June 1, please send all class change requests to meredithf@fultonschools.org. After noon on June 1, please hold all class change requests until Freshman Information Day. Please note that class change requests are approved based on class availability, etc.

JCHS will not be providing another sheet containing students' course requests before Information Day.

Standards Assessment for AMMS Audio Video Technology and Film Course

AMMS 8th Graders taking Audio Video Technology and Film will take a 46 question assessment. The assessment is created by JCHS and covers AVTF1 standards. It is 32 multiple choice questions, 12 matching questions, and 2 short answer questions.

The purpose of the assessment is to provide parents/guardians with feedback on your child’s level of mastery of AVTF1 information. This feedback can be used to determine if the student should accept high school credit for AVTF1 and move forward or decline high school credit for AVTF1 and repeat the class or move to a different elective.

The assessment will be scored by the JCHS Audio Video Technology and Film teacher. As soon as scores are available, they will be sent home. Mrs. Meredith, AMMS Graduation Coach, will be mailing the high school credit letter home by the end of this week, and credit decisions are due to Mrs. Meredith by the last day of school.

If you have questions about the assessment or the AVTF1 high school credit, please contact Mrs. Meredith at meredithf@fultonschools.org.

Johns Creek High School Summer Assignments for 9th Grade Lit/Comp Honors, AP American Gov, and AP Human Geography

Here is the webpage for JCHS Honors/AP summer work: https://jchsapsummerreading.weebly.com .

Reading Skills and Speed Reading Programs for Children and Adults- University of Georgia

The University of Georgia will offer reading skills and speed reading programs in Alpharetta, Norcross, Roswell, and Suwanee this summer. For details, call (800) 570-8936 or visit www.uga.readingprograms.org .

JCHS Final Course Verification Forms

JCHS Rising 9^th grade Final Course Verification forms went home through homeroom on March 16. This is the form showing which electives courses JCHS was able to fit into each student’s 9^th grade schedule.

Helpful notes…

• Please read all of the directions on both sides of the form.
  • Top of side 1= student’s list of classes for all of 9^th grade- please note JCHS’ comments about Health and Performing Arts (Band, Chorus, Orchestra)
  • Boxes on side 1= space for students to add additional courses if needed
  • AP Commitment statement at bottom of side 1= Must be signed if student is taking AP American Government or AP Human Geography through teacher recommendation OR course waiver
  • Top of side 2= student’s legal name and contact email- this can be a student email or parent email
  • Summer course statement in middle of side 2= only needs completed if student plans to take a summer class because the class cannot be fit into the school schedule for 9^th-12 grades- Mrs. Meredith can help fill in the submission date if needed.
  • Course waiver at bottom of side 2= JCHS decided to release their course waiver earlier than expected. If you want your student to take a higher level course than recommended by the teacher, please complete one of the waiver sections. Two sections are provided in case you plan to waive multiple recommendations.
• JCHS was only able to schedule students for 1 Career Tech class. If students requested Marketing and Intro to Business, for example, they should have gotten in to the one that was the higher priority.
• Students MUST have exactly 6 credits to have a complete schedule. Mrs. Meredith looked through all of the verification forms and highlighted the 6 credit reminder for those who have too few/too many classes. Students may have too few classes because…
  • they didn’t turn in a signed preliminary course verification form, even though they should have received at least three full sheet, bright red reminders through HR.
  • they turned in a purple preliminary course verification form after the final green forms were printed. In these cases, Mrs. Meredith stapled the purple form to the green form and added the requested electives to the green form boxes.
  • the courses they requested were not available.
  • they applied for a journalism class- As of 4/13/18, all students being considered for a JCHS journalism class (Yearbook, Newspaper, Literary Magazine) have been contacted by Mrs. Meredith. Students not contacted and still holding on to their green verification forms should now choose another elective and return the signed form to Mrs. Meredith in G103.
  • they are an ELL student. In this case, we are waiting on ACCESS scores to determine ELA placement.
  • they are an SEC student, and they didn’t return the purple preliminary course form OR the electives set during their transition meeting did not get added to the final verification form for some reason.
• Some of the high school department names are REALLY long. This caused some students’ course lists to bleed down into the printed directions. If Mrs. Meredith saw something that looked hard to read, she made notes on the form. If kids have trouble reading something, please have them see Mrs. Meredith.
• JCHS scheduled students for General Health (typically a 9^th grade course, required for graduation) if it fit into the 9^th grade schedule. JCHS requests that students not take summer school classes if the classes fit in the school year schedule.
• AMMS teachers will re-evaluate academic placement at the beginning of May. If students are recommended for honors/AP classes at that time, the teacher recommendation will override course waivers.
• A handful of Final Course Verification forms didn’t make it to Mrs. Meredith. She marked these on homeroom rosters so teachers can alert students. She anticipates getting the missing forms early next week- please assure the kids they will have plenty of time to do what they need to do.

Forms were due to Mrs. Meredith by 3/30 even if there are no changes that need to be made.

If you have questions, please email Mrs. Meredith at meredithf@fultonschools.org. You are also welcome to click the neon yellow circle at the bottom of this webpage to access her calendar and schedule an appointment- https://sites.google.com/fultonschools.org/ammstransition/8th-to-9th-transition .

Online Summer School

If your child needs to take the semester of General Health or American Government online during summer school, here are the details.

What: Fulton Virtual Online Summer School for General Health and American Government

When: Registration opens March 1, 2018 and closes June 2, 2018

Summer session runs from June 4- July 13, 2018

Fulton Virtual suggests students plan to spend at least three hours per week day completing the course work.

Where: Because the classes are completed online, students can do their work anywhere in the world as long as they have reliable internet access Mondays through Fridays during summer session. Courses work best on a desktop or laptop computer.

Why: JCHS advises that students only take one class during the online summer session. They also advise that students only take a class if there is absolutely no way to fit the class into the students' schedules before graduation, i.e. students who are taking a World Language and Band/Chorus/Orchestra may want to take one summer course to open up room for another elective during 9th grade.

How: To register for summer school, please do the following:

1. Go to http://www.fultonschools.org/en/schools/fvs2/Pages/Home.aspx .
2. Click on “Registration” in the green task bar at the top of the page.
3. Click “register here” in the first paragraph.
4. Follow the registration directions to register for the above classes for Summer semester 2018.
5. REGISTER AS AN AUTREY MILL MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT!!!
6. Once you have registered, Mrs. Meredith will get a message to mark the class as approved.
7. Families will be responsible for paying for the online summer course. A semester class is $225 ($180 for Free/Reduced Lunch students).
8. When registration is done, you will be contacted by Fulton Virtual with information about the class (teacher name and contact, start date, etc.).

Questions: If you have questions about summer school, please contact Mrs. Meredith, AMMS Graduation Coach, at meredithf@fultonschools.org. Students can stop by G103 to chat with Mrs. Meredith.

Preliminary Course Verification Forms

JCHS sent home Preliminary Course Verification forms through AMMS homerooms on Thursday, February 15, 2018. Students found a general list of their 9th grade academic classes at the top of the form.

• If students/parents want to decline an AP or honors placement, they should have noted this on the course list at the top of the form.
• If students/parents wanted to move in to an AP or honors course for which they have not been recommended, they will need to wait until placement is re-evaluated in May.
• If students were recommended for an AP or honors course, and the form reflects on-level, the subject teacher should have made a note on the course list at the top of the form and signed his/her name.
• Please note that changes marked on the AMMS course recommendation form may not have been updated on the Preliminary Course Verification form. Students and parents could write notes as needed at the top of the form. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

Students used the bottom of the Preliminary Course Verification form to indicate their elective course requests.

• All directions on the form needed to be read and followed.
• Students could use the back of the form as a planning page.
• Students should have written all desired drop/add courses in the boxes on the front of the page. They could add additional boxes, if needed.
• All students must have six credit hours total.
• Electives course descriptions can be found at https://www.johnscreekhs.net/. Click on "Academics" and choose "Course Catalog".

Between February 16 and February 27, Mrs. Meredith was available to students in the 8th Grade Rotunda most mornings from 8:30-9:00 and in the AMMS Cafeteria during most 8th grade lunches.

Completed forms were due to Mrs. Meredith, AMMS Graduation Coach, by Friday, February 23, 2018. The forms mistakenly said they were due to HR teachers.

Parents who have questions should email Fran Meredith at meredithf@fultonschools.org or scroll to the bottom of this web page and click the neon yellow circle to schedule a 30-minute meeting with Mrs. Meredith.

Rising 9th Grade IEP Transition Meetings

If your student is supported through an IEP, a high school transition meeting will be held this Spring to determine 9th grade class placement. Your child's Case Manager will be in touch regarding meeting dates and times. Meetings will be held at AMMS.

If you have questions, please contact your child's Case Manager or email Fran Meredith at meredithf@fultonschools.org.

Johns Creek High School AP (Advanced Placement) Night

Johns Creek HS hosted an AP information night on Thursday, February 8, 2018 from 6:00-7:30pm. While JCHS presented information about AP American Government and AP Human Geography during the Rising 9th Grade Course Information Meeting, rising 9th grade families were welcome to attend AP Night if desired.

Characteristics of successful AP American Government students- AP American Government and Politics students should have a strong motivation to succeed in a year-long college-level government course. These students will be committed to the course work and possess proven critical thinking skills, as well as excellent reading/writing abilities. Students will analyze and debate issues relevant to American government and the political process, so they should enjoy class discussions and formal debates. This course also involves interpreting data and critically evaluating political institutions in the twenty-first century so students should be familiar with current news about American politics and political leaders in all three branches of the federal government. Students should be enthusiastic about this subject, willing to spend many hours learning the material both in and outside of the classroom, and able to work independently. AP American Government is usually taken as a freshman course and satisfies the state graduation requirement for American Government.

Questions about AP American Government and AP Human Geography should be emailed to Fran Meredith at meredithf@fultonschools.org.

Course Recommendation Sheets

8th graders should have received a JCHS Course Recommendation Sheet through homeroom on Friday, 1/26. Teachers marked initial placement recommendations on this form based on guidelines provided by JCHS (see Johns Creek 9th Grade Course Placement Guidelines below). If you disagree with a placement please check "disagree" in the signature box and circle the preferred course for consideration. All placement will be re-evaluated in May using second semester grades. Completed forms were due to homeroom teachers by Monday, February 5.

If your student misplaced his/her form, homeroom teachers can provide a new copy. Students can also stop by Mrs. Meredith's room, G103, and leave their name on the white board- a new form will be delivered to them ASAP.

Rising 9th Grade Course Information Meeting and Building Walk

• When: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 @ 6:00 pm
• Where: Johns Creek High School
• What: During this event, students and parents heard from the JCHS administrators, guidance counselors, and representatives from each of the core and special area departments.
• Note: Questions may be sent via email to AMMS Graduation Coach Fran Meredith at meredithf@fultonschools.org.

Rising 9th Grade Information Meeting

• Held Tuesday, November 28, 2017 at 6:45pm
  • AMMS Cafeteria- Parents heard an overview of the transition process. Please see below for a summary of the presentation.
  • AMMS Gym- 8th grader students heard about 9th grade electives, i.e. connections, offerings.
• Johns Creek HS staff suggests that 8th grade families complete a Build a Schedule practice activity. Please see below for a copy. This activity is aimed at helping 8th graders and their families make informed decisions about how they will balance their time during 9th grade.

Fulton County Schools High School Curriculum Handbook

For information on all things high school, check out Fulton County's high school curriculum handbook at http://www.fultonschools.org/en/divisions/acd/learnteach/Curriculum%20Handbooks/FCS%20Curriculum%20Handbook%20HS%202017-2018.pdf .

JCHS Parent to Parent Information

Want insight and advice from "veteran" high school parents? Check out the Parent to Parent info posted on the JCHS website- http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/d383d3_1bd22930c9ed467ba9aaa7d61b6cb3a7.pdf .

Alcohol and Drug Awareness Card- needed for GA driver's license

GA teens under 18 years old are required to earn their Alcohol and Drug Awareness Card (ADAP) before getting their Class D driver's license. Most JCHS students will earn this card through their General Health class. However, if students are interested in earning the card outside of General Health, they can visit https://dds.georgia.gov/alcohol-and-drug-awareness-program-adapeadap for free program information.

Schedule a 30-minute session with Mrs. Meredith, AMMS Graduation Coach

Would you like to chat face-to-face? Schedule a time to meet me in the AMMS Front Office. Feel free to bring your student!