SOUTH FORSYTH HIGH SCHOOL

Rising 9th Grade Registration and Recommendation Information – January 30th A-L and February 1st M-Z

More than just a school---we are a United South!

We are…South Forsyth!

Meet Your South Forsyth High School Administrative Team

Principal – Laura Wilson

Asst. Principal – Carrie MacAllaster

Asst. Principal – Jim Parrish (12th)

Meet Your South Forsyth High School Administrative Team

Asst. Principal – Dawn Phipps (10th)

Asst. Principal – Keith Sargent (9th)

Asst. Principal – Tracy Verrigni (11th)

Meet Your South Forsyth High School Adminstrative Team

Asst. Administrator – Rebecca Hewitt

Asst. Administrator – Scott Morlanne

South Forsyth High School Counseling Staff

Lead Counselor – Edward Fernandez (Dual Enrollment)

Lindsay Burnell – Alpha A-H

Aaron Pileggi – Alpha CI- G

Corinna Spurlock – Alpha H-LE

Stacye Fickle – Alpha LI-PAR

Michele Vargas – Alpha PAS-SL

Shari Frankel – Alpha SM-Z

Steps in Transition from Eighth Grade to Ninth Grade

February 5th – 9th – Teachers make recommendations for students for core classes (this includes World Language)

February 21st – 28th – Students make elective choices in Infinite Campus (Parent Portal)

March 5th – March 12th @ 4pm – Online waivers available (SFHS website)

March 27th – 29th – View recommendations and course selections in the portal

July (usually day before school starts) – 9th Grade Orientation

August 2nd – First Day of School

August 9th – Open House

South Forsyth High School – What You Need to Know

3509 Students (as of 1/28/18)

Students have 7 classes in their schedule (4 core and then 3 electives)

We are a yearlong schedule of classes (we do offer some semester courses, but there are very few)

A student’s schedule will NOT change in the core class areas within the school year. Only the semester electives like Health and PE will change semester to semester.

Modified 7 period and block schedule

Monday, Tuesday, and Friday are 7 period days

Wednesday and Thursday are 4 period block days = Wednesday is even and Thursday is odd

8th Grade Courses Matter

Students taking Physical Science, Spanish, and/or Accelerate Math can earn a high school credit. Students can deny the credit for these course if they feel they need to take them again; however, if a student does not deny the credit in MS the grade will follow them to high school and will be recorded on their transcript. Middle school grades do not factor into the student’s GPA.

A student’s course average and work ethic will factor into the recommendation from the 8th grade teacher.

Student should work hard and strive for their best in all courses, but specifically in the courses that can count for high school credit. Make sure the grade reflects the student abilities and hard work.

Course Offerings for Rising 9th Graders

For 9th grade we ONLY offer 1 AP course – AP Human Geography

If a student does not take APHG then they will automatically be enrolled in US History in Film/World Geography

AP courses are the equivalent to a freshman college course; the curriculum is developed by the College Board; there is an AP test at the end of the year in April; student scoring high enough 3 or better may receive college credit; SFHS offers 29 AP courses; 77% of SFHS students taking an AP course scored a 3 or higher on their AP Exams.

Students can take on-level or honors courses for (ELA, Math, and Science)

We suggest a balanced schedule, so allow your student to choose which courses that he/she has a passion for.

Honors courses do not give a student the quality point, only AP courses do. So, all courses are out of a 4.0 scale with the exception of AP Human which is out of a 5.0 scale because of the quality point.

Honors vs On-Level Courses

Honors courses are more rigorous and require more critical thinking

Students with an A in middle school who show a good work ethic will be recommended for honors level courses.

Honors students should be self-motivated and self-directed

Honors students should have a high level of interest in the subject.

We encourage students and parents to have a discussion about their course load. We suggest a balanced schedule, and that means with life outside of school. Parents, please look at the total picture when making decisions about classes for next year.

Math Courses – Accelerated vs On-Level

Math courses vary for all 9th graders. Typically we have students who take Algebra I, Accelerated A (All of Alg I and ½ of Geometry), and Accelerated B (1/2 of Geometry and All of Alg II).

The accelerated courses are much more rigorous than Algebra I. We encourage students to really step back and look at their schedules before agreeing to take an accelerated course. If you do not LOVE math, then you should probably stick with an on-level course.

Students who take Algebra I, but then decide to accelerate can take block math their 10th grad year (requires 2 periods in the schedule). This is possible if the student shows proficiency in Algebra I and really LOVES math.

Graduation Requirements for a High School Diploma

English 4 units are required (9th Lit, 10th Lit, American Lit or AP Lang, Adv Comp or Dual Enrollment)

Math 4 units are required (Alg I, Geometry, Alg II, Stat/AMDM)

Science 4 units are required (students MUST have Physical Science to graduate)

Social Studies 3 units are required (World History (1 credit), US History (1 credit), Econ/Gov = .5 credit each)

Electives Health/PE = REQUIRED course for graduation

Career Tech/World Language/Fine Arts = 3 credits (1 from each area or a concentration of 3 from one area) -*Students planning to attend a University System of Georgia Institution must take 2 credits of the same World Language (middle school credit counts)

Total = 23

Pathways

Legislation indicates that all students need to complete a College & Career Pathway

Advanced Academic

World Language (French, German, Latin, or Spanish)

Fine Arts

Career Technology

AP Capstone Program

This prestigious program is offered to juniors and seniors. Students will apply in January of their 10th grade year to be accepted into the program.

Two Course

AP Seminar – Social Studies

AP Research – Science

Both courses focus on analysis, research methodologies, and argumentation

4 other AP courses with a score of 3 or higher

Fine Arts Electives

Band – This is an audition class (see your middle school band director for details, or visit our band website @ www.sfhsbands.net

Chorus – This is an audition class (see your middle school chorus teacher for details)

Drama – This is an audition class ( see your middle school drama teacher for details)

Acting

Advanced Drama

Theater Tech

Visual Arts – All students wanting to take art classes must take Visual Arts I or Sculpting I as their first course. Jewelry is also a course 9th grade students may take, but this is a very popular course, so make sure you have an alternate in mind in case you don’t get your first choice

Career Tech (CTAE) Elective Courses – Pathway Options

SFHS offers many pathway options (see below)

Computer Science

Culinary Arts (10th -12th grade only)

Engineering & Technology

Entrepreneurship

Fashion Marketing

Financial Services

Human Resources Management

Marketing Communications & Promotions

Programming

Sports & Entertainment Marketing

Teaching as a Profession

CTAE – 9th Grade Course Offerings

Marketing Principles

Intro to Business & Technology

Intro to Digital Techology

Foundations of Integrated Robotics and Manufacturing

Examining the Teaching Profession

World Language 9th Grade Course Offerings

French I

German I

Latin I

Spanish II (Spanish I is not offered since it was taught in MS)

Other Elective Offerings for 9th Grade Students

Intro to Digital Media (Video Production) = NOT a pathway course

Journalism (Newspaper) – This is an application course (please see the SFHS website for the application and additional information)

Journalism (Yearbook) – This is an application course (please see the SFHS website for the application and additional information)

General PE IV

It is good to know…

FAQ provided tonight

Habitudes and Advisement and Instructional Focus Instructional Focus – Wednesdays for 90 minutes (remediation or study time)

20 minutes during 4th period

Helps give students an opportunity to discuss their social and emotional growth

Advisement is ONLY on Fridays for 20 minutes

Advisement covers information about classes and helps students with academic information

Report Cards Distributed in January and mailed home in June

Parent Portal Make sure you have a login (use the App sparingly)

Make sure you have checked the information necessary to receive updates

REMIND Join for your student’s grade level (if you have multiple children join for each grade level)

Encourage your student to join as well – updates are sent often about school events

Academic Opportunities for Help

All teachers post help sessions (these aren’t offered every day, so look on the ItsLearning page or check in the classroom for details)

Saturday Academy – Not every Saturday, but at least once a month 9:00 a.m. – noon

Location: Media Center

Mu Alpha Theta Student-led tutoring offered on Thursdays

Literacy Lab Student-led writing lab

Students can receive help during IF

After school on Tuesdays

SAT/ACT Prep Sycamore Learning - Paid prep sessions (see website in the fall for details)

PSAT

PSAT is offered for free for ALL 10th graders

9th grade students are encouraged to take this assessment (registration opens in September 2018)

PSAT – taken in October

11th grade students are also encourage to take this assessment for scholarship consideration

January – Advisement period for score interpretation

Good tool to help you gauge where your students strengthens and weaknesses are

Athletics

All sports teams hold tryouts

Tryouts are held at different times, so contact the coach or check the SFHS website for dates and times (example softball tryouts will be in late spring for the fall season)

SFHS has a tradition of excellence in sports. We hold our athletes to a high standard and we expect them to be an leader and to represent SFHS proudly where ever they go.

South Forsyth High School

Excellence in all areas – South consistently ranks in the top in the Nation and the State of Georgia

All Core Academic Areas

Career Technical Areas

Fine Arts

Athletics

AP

IB

Student Leadership

Academic Planning Guide and South A-Z

Where to find these documents

See the QR code for the Academic Planning Guide

South A-Z will be available on the SFHS website starting 2/24/18 and can be downloaded using the QR codes at Sofopalooza

REMIND Sign-UP

Parents please text:

To: 81010

Message: @9ha9e8k

Students please text:

To: 81010

Message: @7kgb6d4

Thank you!

South Strong