CERTIFICATES OF ATTENDANCE
Students need to come in person to the Guidance and Counseling office or the Discipline Office.  Certificates of attendance are needed to obtain a learner's permit and a driver's license.

WORK PERMITS
Students may obtain work permits from the Guidance and Counseling office.

GUIDANCE FOR GRADE LEVELS
 
9th Grade
Counselors will call in all 9th graders within the first month to see how they are doing and introduce them to our services. All freshmen will be in a 4-week Life Choices group as part of their health class either first or second semester.

10th Grade
At the Sophomore Pot Luck, counselors will answer questions regarding academics and colleges.  We meet with sophomores during their second semester to go over college information and look at Naviance.

11th Grade
All juniors will be in a career/college awareness group either first or second semester during their lunch or free period once a week for 6-8 weeks. The parents are invited to come in for a meeting at the end of the College 101 group to meet with the counselor and their student.  Junior College Night occurs in September and is a night where students and parents are invited to come hear information about many different aspects of college.  It is a very important night for juniors and their parents.  The Guidance and Counseling department gives out the college handbook at this time.  Junior parent potluck takes place in the spring.  this session will provide timely information to parents about the end of junior year and the beginning of senior year.

12th Grade
The Guidance and Counseling office goes into all of the senior theology classes the first week of school to refresh seniors on college application information.  In the first month of school counselors meet with their individual seniors to answer questions and check the status of their college applications.  We provide a college essay writing workshop in September.  The Senior parent pot luck occurs in September and the Guidance and Counseling office goes over college application information for the parents.

How does St. Pius X help families prepare for college?

St. Pius X is a college preparatory school. This means that nearly 100% of our graduating seniors go on to college every year. Our faculty, knowing this, is driven by the desire to demand excellence in the classroom and insure that every student who graduates from St. Pius has had experiences with critical thinking, analytical class discussion and systematic instruction in writing. Alum who return every year to visit talk about how well prepared they feel for the rigors of college work.

The Guidance office starts to disseminate college information to students in the freshman year in Life Choices groups.

The 9th graders are registered on Naviance , our web-based college management system. Naviance allows us to use data from our high school to gain insights into college admission decisions that our students are making. The guidance counselors can also examine any trends or changes that are evident by what type of student colleges accept in a given year. Data is analyzed. Statistical information, like GPA, SAT and other important criteria that colleges use to admit students, is updated and published. It is given to the freshmen along with a discussion of what it takes to get into college. Every freshman is given a copy of their transcript and taught how to calculate their GPA and told how every class is an important determinant of their student performance.

Family Connection is a part of Naviance that allows students and parents to access college admission information from home. Every semester each student's GPA is updated and their PSAT/SAT scores are entered as we receive them. Parents and students can keep track of student performance and how they compare with recent admits.

Parents can begin to discuss the college process and take some short trips to nearby colleges. It is never too soon to start looking at campuses and examine first hand what “small” really looks like or that a large university can be overwhelming to some.

In the 11th grade every student is scheduled for a Career/College Awareness group. For 10-12 weeks, once a week, a counselor leads a group of 10 through a systematic examination of interests, personality, careers, majors and finally college selection. Personal data is put in a file on Naviance and My Road , another web-based system that helps a student research college and career opportunities. Parents and students have the ability together to access this information from home and plan for post secondary education. The child has several individual meetings with their counselor as a part of the career/college group. Many parents make individual appointments with the counselor to discuss their child's college choices. This contact is welcomed.

In September of the junior year, College Night is held, inviting all juniors and parents to hear about the college application process from our counselors and noted national and state college admission personnel. Our College Handbook , outlining the St. Pius college admission schedule, critical terms and resources, is handed out to each family that night. (The Handbook is also on the Guidance webpage.) All parents are welcomed to call or come in to discuss the application process as questions arise.

In January of the junior year, a parent potluck supper is held and the guidance office director redefines the timeline and helps parents reassess where each family is in the college process.

This 11th grade preparation sets the stage for a well-framed procedure for applying to colleges in the fall of the 12th grade. Even though many applicants choose to apply online, St. Pius continues to be an integral part of the application process.

• Counselors write recommendations when required, review and help with college essays and interviews, confer with college admission staff when necessary, especially when students are placed on college wait lists and keep tract of teacher recommendations that are being sent out with other transcript data.
• Parents and students are responsible for checking with colleges to make sure all data has been received by the institution. Especially in large universities that may be handling 10 to 20 thousand applications, papers can easily be misplaced. It is also wise to look at your student's online application before it is submitted, to spot possible errors or weaknesses that may hurt their chances for admission.

St. Pius X students apply to a wide variety of colleges all over the country and have recently been accepted at the following:
 
Agnes Scott, Air Force Academy, Alabama A&M, American Academy of Dramatic Arts, American Musical & Dramatic Academy, American University, Amherst, Appalachian State, Archdiocese of Atlanta Seminary, Arizona State, Arkansas State, Armstrong Atlantic, Atlanta College of Art, Auburn, Barry, Berea, Berklee College of Music, Berry, Boston College, Boston University, Brown, Bryn Mawr, California State, Carleton, Catholic, Centenary, Centre, Christian Brothers, Citadel, Clemson, Coastal Carolina, College of Charleston, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State, Columbia (NY), Corcoran College of Art, Creighton, Davidson, Dayton, Denison, DePaul, Duke, East Carolina, Eckerd, Elon, Emerson, Embry-Riddle, Emory, Emory at Oxford, Erskine, Fairfield, Flagler, Florida A&M, Florida Atlantic, Florida Tech, Florida State, Fordham, Franciscan, Franklin & Marshall, Furman, George Washington, Georgetown, Georgia College & State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Gettysburg, Gordon, Guilford, Hampden-Sydney, Hampton, Hawaii Pacific, High Point, Holy Cross, Howard, Indiana State, Jacksonville, James Madison, Johnson & Wales, Kennesaw, Kettering, Lake Forest, Lenoir Rhyne, Life, Loyola (LA), Loyola (IL), LSU, Macalester, Marquette, Marshall, Mary Washington, Maryland Institute College of Art, Maryville, Mercer, Miami of Ohio, Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi State, Montana State, Morehouse, Mount St. Mary's, Naval Academy, NYU, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina State, Northeastern, Northwestern, Oberlin, Oglethorpe, Ohio Wesleyan, Peace College, Penn State, Presbyterian, Princeton, Providence, Purdue, Queen's, Regis, Rice, Ringling School of Art & Design, Rhodes, Roanoke, Rutgers, St. Anslem, St. Cloud State, St. John's (MD), St. Leo, St. Louis, St. Mary's (IN), St. Michael's, Samford, Savannah College of Art & Design, Scripps, Seton Hall, Skidmore, Southern Tech, Spelman, Spring Hill, Springfield, Stanford, SUNY/Stonybrook, Stetson, Stonehill, Swarthmore, Tennessee Tech, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Truett-McConnell, Tufts, Tulane, University of the South (Sewanee), Vanderbilt, Villanova, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Washington, Washington & Lee, Wellesley, Wesleyan, West Point, Western Carolina, Westminster, William & Mary, Winthrop, Wofford, Wright State, Xavier (OH), Xavier (LA), Yale, Young Harris and the Universities of Alabama, Arizona, California, Central Florida, Chicago, Cincinnati, Colorado, Dallas, Denver, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, North Carolina (Asheville, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Greensboro, Wilmington), Notre Dame, Pennsylvania, Portland, Richmond, Rochester, San Diego, San Francisco, South Carolina, South Florida, Southern California, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Valdosta, Virginia and West Virginia.

The passage from adolescence to adulthood is challenging at best. The chances for a smooth transition are enhanced when the school and the family are clear about their responsibilities and work together to help develop a bright future for each child.