| Naviance Family Connection |
Naviance Family Connection is an integral part of the HS Counseling program.
Throughout the year, counselors are available to meet with students and parents to discuss and help with academic issues. In each of the grade levels, nine through twelve (and during second semester of grade eight), counselors meet with students to discuss the various issues that are pertinent to their individual academic concerns. While yearly schedules are tailored to meet the academic requirements of the school, the diverse abilities, talents, and interests of each student is considered and schedules are designed to meet individual needs.
During the ninth grade, students are introduced to a variety of topics, including transcripts, graduation requirements and the IB Program. In each of the grade level registration meetings in March counselors address the issues of course selection and program planning throughout the high school years.
All ISB high school students will have an individual account through Naviance, a web based program for students' recording personal profile information, resume creation and many other features. My Personality Type is a survey for students to explore their personality and investigate careers that match particualr personality profiles. The emphasis is for students to learn more about themselves and the process of investigating numerous options in planning their high school program and ultimately determining college majors for career preparation.
Although many of our counseling programs throughout high school center around college planning and placement, the junior year is the formal start to the College Search and Application Process (CSAP).
In January of the junior year, the counselors present an introduction to the CSAP for the juniors and their parents. At this meeting, the process is explained in general and then parents are asked to set an appointment (the Junior Conference) with their child's counselor during the month of February. Counselors are available two evenings a week during this month to assist families who need evening appointments.
During the Junior Conference, the ISB Guide to College Admissions is given to the student and parents. This handbook details the CSAP including Junior and Senior year timelines, college selection criteria, the application, the college essay, and financial aid and scholarships.
While counselors are available at any time to answer questions regarding the college process – for any grade level student – the junior year is the critical time to begin the process because vital academic information is available (first semester junior year grades, PSAT scores, past academic performance).
Throughout the year, students have opportunities to meet with college representatives from around the world who visit ISB individually or as part of large group tours. These visits are advertised in the student daily bulletin, on the school website, in Communication Groups, and in the monthly Counseling and IB Newsletters.
Freshmen Seminar is a program designed for incoming ninth grade students to help them adjust to the high school environment. In essence, freshman seminar is an extended orientation. All of the seminar classes are fixed in the student's daily rotation and discussions include topics such as: college guidance and counseling, time management skills, what it means to be a member of the ISB community, communication, cooperation with peers, service to the greater Bangkok community, freedom from chemical dependency, academic planning, and IB and AP Programs. These classes are conducted for the first 10 weeks of the freshmen year after which time the students are allowed to have a planning period for study or library use.
In March, the Program of Studies and registration forms are distributed to students. On the registration form, general requirements are indicated. Students have a choice of electives that fulfill the remainder of graduation requirements. To assist in appropriate course selection, counselors meet with students in groups or individually to discuss course planning and academic goals. Students are then required to obtain parent and teacher signatures and submit the forms to the Counseling Center for processing. The counselors then check the requests to be sure that all diploma requirements are being met.Registration meetings are held for parents by grade level to ensure full understanding of the graduation requirements and course planning and selection.
International School Bangkok is a testing site for the following: PSAT, SSAT, SAT, and ACT. The test dates for the school year are indicated on the school calendar. Registration forms are available for the SSAT, SAT, and ACT exams in the Counseling Center. In October, the PSAT, as well as the Institutional TOEFL, are administered to eleventh grade students during the school day. In addition, information regarding registration for the TOEFL exam is available in the Counseling Center.
For students who have pursued IB and/or AP courses, these exams are administered in May. Registration for IB exams takes place in October while registration for AP exams occurs in February/March.
The Counseling Center has a fully stocked library of preparatory books for the various tests that are offered. Students are welcome to check out these materials for home study.
Transitional programs are specifically designed for four groups of people: those students entering grade nine from the middle school; new students in all grades; students leaving ISB prior to their senior year; and graduating seniors. For each of these groups, we offer general counseling services as well as a special program dealing with the specific type of transition.
At the beginning of each school year, and prior to the first day of classes, students and parents are invited to join the counseling staff in an orientation day. Orientation programs for new students as well as the incoming freshmen class are held concurrently. The senior transition program takes place over five sessions during second semester concluding with an alumni panel. For students in grades nine through eleven leaving ISB, a luncheon is held to discuss transition issues and provide closure activities.
