College Counseling & More

Mar 11, 2022

A college counselor’s work is never done. Just ask Ms. Crys Latham and Ms. Sayaka Smith.  The pair of high school counselors work tirelessly to make sure our Upper School students are prepared for and supported as they think about life after Washington Latin. Besides providing guidance during the college application process, they also help students consider other post-secondary options, including gap years. And they occasionally advise Latin alumni about graduate school. Ms. Latham was one of the key sources in the recent Legenda letter about our Washington Latin alumni continuing their education after college.

The college counseling program starts as early as ninth grade. The team visits English classes once a semester to explain how student GPAs work and preview options for honors and AP courses, community service, and clubs. The counselors advise students on building relationships and networking. All Upper School students, including those in their first couple of years, receive schedules for weekly visits by various college representatives. The college counseling team also publicizes details about summer enrichment programs, scholarships, local or virtual college fairs, and other resources to help support students in their journey. Their work is supplemented by Ms. Hope Foster’s “Beyond These Walls” programming on career readiness.

An intensive (and comprehensive) search and application process ramps up in the fall of the Junior year, when students and parents are assigned an interview in the first semester for the Junior Portfolio, with over 80 questions designed to understand student interests and career goals and family needs. The counselors then schedule a meeting in the winter with each of the Juniors to review the questionnaire, and ask follow-up questions. Ms. Smith and Ms. Latham provide five to eight college recommendations for Juniors to review. After that they schedule a family meeting to cover the transcripts, GPAs, graduation plans, standardized testing, and an overview of the financial aid process. Junior Jumpstart class meets in quarter 4 once a week during study hall to help with the college research, college essays, resume drafting.

During the month of August before Senior year, students attend Application Boot Camp, with another round in September. Students can also schedule check-ins with their counselor for application and essay support. Several English teachers provide help with the essay writing and editing process.

In the fall, the counselors continue to focus primarily on the Seniors’ applications, teaching a weekly Senior Seminar to provide additional support and guidance on time management and organization. Seniors are urged to schedule quarterly check-in meetings with their counselor, plus sign up for additional drop-in hours as needed. But the college counselors continue with Seniors even after acceptance letters arrive.  During the fourth quarter of Senior year, the counselors teach a weekly “Life After Latin” seminar, to focus on the upcoming transition.

Both Ms. Latham and Ms. Smith have a wealth of experience working in college admissions. Ms. Smith worked for nearly six years in admissions at Tufts University before joining Washington Latin this year. Ms. Latham worked at Oberlin, The College of Wooster, and  Ohio Northern. She also worked for two years during her undergraduate career in the admissions office at Mount Holyoke.

“As a first-generation [to college], low-income student, I wanted to create for Latin’s students the kind of post-secondary advice I didn’t get as part of a senior class of 471 students at my own high school,” noted Ms. Latham. “Ms. Smith, who is also a first-generation college student, values the kind of work we are doing here, so she wanted to be part of our team as well.”

Valete!

Two Years Later

Mar 11, 2022

In late February 2020, I was in Park City, Utah participating in a week-long convening as a part of my fellowship with the Pahara Institute. Leaders from across the country were gathered together to discuss topics related to equity, innovation, and educator sustainability. None of us were focused on the spreading coronavirus and cataclysmic events that would soon unfold. There were so many other more pressing issues and more relevant concerns from the presidential election scheduled for just over eight months from then to questions about college access to ideas for reimagining high school.

Even after returning to DC and after the WHO characterized the outbreak as a pandemic, few of us (as educator leaders and policymakers) expected that we would be directly impacted by this new virus. When we pivoted to online instruction in the third week of March, I remember us thinking that our lockdown would probably be for a couple of weeks and life would likely return to “normal” soon after spring break. As we look back two years later, after quarantines, isolations, shutdowns, closures, drive-by parties and funerals, and disruptions to learning, to the economy, and to family structure, I wonder how we could have been so naive.

How have the past two years changed us? Have any of those changes been positive? And, if so, can they be sustained? At a minimum, many of us have seen that it’s possible to be resilient in a crisis. And people (including policymakers) now seem more willing to take mental health concerns seriously. As a result of recent investments by the city, we will soon have a new behavioral health clinician joining our team. Many of us have also learned how to practice self-care in new ways. Latin initiatives like our Wellness Days and early release days are likely here to stay. There seems to be a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the value of community and connection. Those outside our walls appear to have come to a realization that we have long embraced: “People matter.” And, we at Latin have also accepted an important role that technology can play, as we have transitioned to a “one-to-one” school.

While we know that the pandemic is not over, we have seen sufficient progress (including in the rate of vaccination in our student body and the steady decline in positive new cases) to consider how we might begin to unwind some of the restrictions that we have had in place for the past two years. We will discuss this in more detail at next week’s Latin Cafe.

There is also much to look forward to this spring. Our Council on Diversity and Equity (CODE) will resume meetings after spring break, so please let me know if you are interested in being a part of the work of this team. We are also looking for hosts for both in-person and virtual Bacchanalia parties, critical for us to raise money for our Faculty Fund; we hope to get many volunteers. Finally, we are honoring some important milestones in the life of our community including a 10-year alumni reunion for our first graduating class and a celebration of our Sweet Sixteen year.  We look forward to these opportunities to celebrate this Spring.

Valete!