10th Grade Planning

For this year, you’ll want to stay on track with your high school classes and activities and begin to narrow down the plan for your future.

Fall

Update academic and career plan.
Explore your career options in more detail—research possible careers to learn about the tasks, education, and training necessary for each occupation.  Use Naviance to conduct a career interest inventory and help you find areas of interest. Also, update your academic course plan for junior year--think about future courses and connections to possible career interests. Counselors will work with sophomores in the classroom to do this research and planning.

Begin learning about the college admissions process.
Get familiar with general college entrance requirements. The counselor’s office, Naviance, and college websites are all good sources of information.

Winter

Take on new roles.
Stay involved with your extracurricular activities and work toward leadership positions in the activities you like best. Become involved in community service and other volunteer activities.

Read, read, read.
Developing your reading skills will help prepare you for tests and make you a well-rounded individual. Read as many books as you can and read the newspaper to learn about current affairs.

Practice your writing.
You’ll need good writing skills no matter what path you pursue, so work on those skills now to get prepared. Find a teacher or another adult who can advise and encourage you to write well.

Get advice from your counselor.
Meet with your counselor to make sure you’re staying on track.

Spring/Summer

Keep your grades up.
There’s probably a lot competing for your attention, but it’s important to remain focused on doing well in your classes. Remember that your grades affect your GPA.

Take another practice ACT.
Taking another state-mandated practice test (ACT Aspire) as a sophomore will help prepare you for the real thing next year. This practice test will be done at school. 

Start your college search.
Naviance can help begin your college research process.  Attend college fairs and read the material you get from all types of schools—you may see something you like. 

Get a summer job.
Finding steady summer work will look good to prospective colleges and employers.  Putting the money you earn away for college will also help you get a head start on a personal savings plan.

Adapted from Petersons.com

Tenth grade is a banner year for most kids. For the most part, the classes your child takes this year will determine the courses your child will be qualified to take in grades 11 and 12.

In terms of preparing for college, it's an important time, since AP classes require prerequisites that your child will need to be fulfilling this year and next. You and your child should have an open discussion and strategically map out classes together.

Fall

Get a head start
It's time to start checking out college fairs and possibly meeting with school representatives that come to town. Encourage your child to start investigating schools by attending one fair and a session or two with representatives that visit the counseling office at school. But don't push it - this might be way too early!

Winter

Keep talking
Just as you've been doing all along, make sure that your child's classes seem to be an appropriate fit. If grades are slipping, perhaps the course levels are too high or study habits are poor.

Stay active
Take a look at extracurricular activities as well, not just from the standpoint of whether or not they're going well, but if they are having a negative impact on your child's studies and need to be cut back.

Winter/Spring

Plan for the coming school year
Gently oversee registration for next fall's classes and activities. Urge your child to select (or continue) the most challenging classes possible and to participate in at least one community service activity. Finalize any summer plans, and, just as you did last year, devise a summer reading list together that will help the transition into junior year.

Make the break a productive one
Your child should have a job or be participating in constructive activities throughout the summer. Summer study, jobs, and volunteer work always rate high with admission officials. If your child has a career goal in mind, see if you can help arrange a day where he or she can "shadow" someone who works in that field.

Do some early research
Naviance provides good college entrance information, as well as online applications to many institutions. Summer is a great time for you and your child to check start getting some initial information about colleges and the various types of colleges out there.

Adapted from Petersons.com