Academic Counseling
Academic Guidance
Counselors provide support, resources, and guidance necessary to ensure academic success. through the following activities and services:
- Orientation to St. Francis High School’s course offerings and graduation requirements;
- Counselors meet with each student individually at least twice a year;
- On-going monitoring of student’s fulfillment of graduation requirements and college entrance eligibility;
- Facilitation of parent/teacher/student conferences if needed;
- Referral to teacher support and peer tutoring;
- Administration of national tests (PSAT, preACT, SAT, ACT, AP); Learn More
- Training and advising through Naviance Family Connection.
- For students with learning differences, the counselors partner with our Resource Specialist and, who will work with your student to provide academic support; Learn More
Questions? Contact Counseling & Wellness
2024-25 Course Schedules
Deadline for student-initiated changes: May 22
The last day for any student-initiated schedule change is May 22, 2024. Students must contact their Counselor to discuss the schedule change. Schedules will be emailed to families the first week of July.
Course Verification Review
Counselors are now reviewing the Course Registration Forms that students submitted. While SFHS makes every effort to accommodate course requests, depending on course availability, sometimes students do not get all of the courses they have requested. Counselors will contact students if there is a schedule conflict after the Master Schedule is created in May. The final date for any course request changes is May 22. Final schedules will be distributed in July.
Summer Youth Academies at Sacramento State University
Are you a freshman, sophomore, or junior looking for something to do this summer? CSUS offers numerous week-long academies focusing on a wide variety of topics, including Coding, Creating an Online Business, Digital Forensics, and many more! Check them out.
Individual Meetings with Counselors
This semester, class counselors will be meeting with students individually to review their course requests for next year, talk about extracurricular involvement and time management, and discuss Naviance and college information. Meetings will be conducted through the end of March.
Summer Course Offerings
Summer course offerings will be posted on the St. Francis website in February. Students may also take summer school courses at Jesuit and Christian Brothers but must have approval from their SFHS Counselor.
2024-25 Course Registration
The Academic Counselors are meeting with students to discuss their course selections for next year. As a reminder, students will input their course requests into PowerSchool the week of March 4th and complete a Course Registration form for parents to sign. March 11, 12, and 13 are Course Verification Days in which students bring in their signed forms to the Counseling and College Center, and a Counselor will review them with the information in PowerSchool.
Preparing for Finals:
Ask an Angel Podcast featuring Ms. Dickson
The Guardian Angels Peer Team’s podcast focuses on preparing for finals. Ms. Dickson, our amazing Learning Support Specialist, is featured on the podcast. It can be accessed here:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5onfzjExoWrYhDbA2SgOYe?si=WPliVmyFS5qY3Jto6jjhdw
Revolution Prep e-Books
Revolution Prep has shared two eBooks that have a wonderful overview of the high school years. The book for 9th & 10th graders gives good insights into topics we already share with our students: academic planning, keys to academic success, and planning for college and beyond. The book for 11th & 12th grade focuses on academic rigor and grades, leadership opportunities, college applications and admissions, and testing.
Sophomore Check-ins with Counselors
Ms. Anderson and Mr. Poggi will begin meeting with Sophomores individually and in small groups. It’s an opportunity to remind them of what we do in Counseling and of the support offered on campus.
Academic Support
Students who are struggling academically have several avenues of support, both on campus and off campus.
The first stop for support is with their teachers. Teachers are often available at lunch and can meet during other times, as well.
On campus, students can schedule an appointment with a trained peer tutor in the Tutor Lab (located in the library). A tutor is available at every block and can tutor in a variety of subjects.
Mark Your Calendar: Class Level Mandatory Late Start Advisory Sessions
All grade levels met with the Counselors and/or College Advisors during a late start in the fall for mandatory advisory sessions. Freshmen and Sophomores have one additional advisory meeting in January, and Juniors have two advisories – one in January and one in February. These sessions are critical as we will discuss course options for next year, the process for course registration, as well as focus on college-related topics for juniors.
Welcome Back Mrs. Fox!
Counseling Assignments
Mrs. Fox has returned from leave and is excited to be back on campus. She spent the last few months at home with the newest member of her family. Those of you who are on her caseload were assigned an interim counselor while she was on leave. Thank you to the Counseling Team for working with her students in her absence. If you are assigned to Mrs. Fox’s caseload, you will now work with her for the remainder of the school year. She looks forward to meeting with her students! As a reminder, counseling assignments are as follows:
Student Daily Schedule Worksheet
The Guidance Department has implemented a tool to help students and parents determine the appropriate class load while preparing the upcoming school year’s course schedule. Each student is asked to complete the Student Daily Schedule Worksheet to assist her in evaluating her daily time commitments and requirements.