Waldwick High School Principal's Blog

Waldwick High School will be a national testing center for the administration of the PSAT Exam and National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test on Wednesday, October 14, 2020. This test will be available to Juniors only. In the past, we have offered the PSAT's/NMSQT on Saturday's and students were charged a fee. We now offer the test free of charge during the school day. The PSAT is an excellent opportunity to prepare and gain an understanding of the SAT exam. Juniors are eligible for a National Merit Scholarship depending upon their score. PSAT study guides will be handed out to all Juniors. English and Math teachers will be taking time to review the study guide with the students.  For full-time remote learners, we will be scheduling a time for you to pickup your study guide and pre-grid your answer sheet. A separate email will be sent on those details. If there is a parent/guardian who wishes not to have their child sit for the test, I ask that you have a conversation with yo...

  Class of 2021 - Info on the College Admission Process (COVID-19 related).   This video is a summary of a Zoom meeting I attended with College Admissions Officers from Michigan State University, Stevens Institute of Technology and  San Diego State University.   Notes from the meeting. Notes 8/20 Zoom

MEET THE WHS GUIDANCE COUNSELORS DATE: Wednesday, October 3, 2018 TIME: 6:00pm - 7:00pm PLACE: WHS Little Theatre The guidance counselors will be on hand to meet with parents and provide generalized information about the WHS Guidance office. The counselors will talk about WHS graduation requirements, Naviance, and generalized college and career topics. After a short presentation, the counselors will answer any questions you may have. This presentation is not intended for student specific questions. If you have specific questions about your child, you would need to make an appointment or call your child’s counselor.

Register now for next year's PSAT Test @ Waldwick High School on October 13, 2018 The Waldwick High School Guidance Department advises that all juniors take the PSAT/Preliminary SAT Test, which is held in October each year. The Guidance Department highly recommends all sophomores take this test as well. This test serves as a practice SAT for 10th grade student. For the 11th grade student, taking this test will qualify them for the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) scholarship programs.  See link for everything you need to know regarding the PSAT @ WHS  (Registration, cost, etc) PSAT Registration Info  (Registration is still open) 

The guidance counselors will be meeting with each grade level this week during the common hour, regarding course selections for next year. This year the course requests will be done online and submitted during the grade level meetings. All students need to bring their Chromebook with them to the meeting. Wednesday 1/24 - Current 9th Graders Thursday 1/25 - Current 10th Graders Friday 1/26 - Current 11th Graders Over the next few days students should start thinking about the elective courses they are interested in taking and review the 2018 - 2019 Course Selection Guide . In early March, parents and students will have the ability to view and confirm course requests in Genesis Parent Access via the Course Request Tab.  At that point, all Advanced Placement, Honors, college prep and survey level recommendations for the 2018-2019 school year will have been entered.   An email will be sent to advise when the tab is available. If you have any questions, please co...

Register now for next year's PSAT Test @ Waldwick High School on October 14, 2017 The Waldwick High School Guidance Department advises that all juniors take the PSAT/Preliminary SAT Test, which is held in October each year. The Guidance Department highly recommends all sophomores take this test as well. This test serves as a practice SAT for 10th grade student. For the 11th grade student, taking this test will qualify them for the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) scholarship programs. Final Deadline is Friday, August 18. See link for everything you need to know regarding the PSAT @ WHS (Registration, cost, etc) ** PSAT Registration Info **

Register now for next year's PSAT Test @ Waldwick High School on October 14, 2017 The Waldwick High School Guidance Department advises that all juniors take the PSAT/Preliminary SAT Test, which is held in October each year. The Guidance Department highly recommends all sophomores take this test as well. This test serves as a practice SAT for 10th grade student. For the 11th grade student, taking this test will qualify them for the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) scholarship programs. We implement the PSAT registration early because we have to meet very specific deadline dates in order to secure enough test materials for the October test. Most of the ordering has to take place prior to the summer break. For that reason, we ask that you register by June 12 for the October administration of the PSAT. Everything you need to know regarding the PSAT @ WHS PSAT Registration Info

PSAT Scores were released via the College Board on Monday, December 12.   It will be the responsibility of each student to access their free on-line College Board account to view scores and the score report.  PSAT scores have also been uploaded to Naviance.  Today, during Period 2, students were shown an overview of how to interpret the PSAT scores,  utilize The College Board site and the many resources available too them. Each student also received their test book back so students may review questions.    Both the Math and Language Arts teachers will be taking time over the next week to review the PSAT data and help students answer any questions they might have.  If a student has any issues accessing The College Board site they can see their guidance counselor.   Below are some resources/videos from The College Board Site:  Get the Most from Your Sco...

*****UPDATE***** 700 Group - Class of 2017 I am proud to share with you the 700 Group for the Class of 2017.   Scoring 700 or higher is quite an accomplishment and something we are extremely proud of at WHS.   700 SAT (Evidence Based Reading & Writing) Liam Blanchard 710 Samantha Hughes 710 Chris Park 700 Sergio Scardigno 730 Jake Schwencke 700 Tyler Semus 700 Julianna Terracciano 700 George Thomson 700 700 SAT (Mathematics) Michael Conyngham 710 Emily Dozot 720 Conor Gallagher 750 Colin Post 730 Sergio Scardigno 730 Jake Schwencke 750 George Thomson 720

PARCC results for the 15-16 school year were mailed home on Friday, which have some ramifications related to graduation requirements.  Over the last two years, the NJ Department of Education has made changes and updates related to high school graduation requirements.  Last year,  the New Jersey Department of Education approved the threshold score points (‘cut points’) to define the performance levels on the PARCC assessments. On August 3, 2016, the State Board of Education approved updated state regulations for the high school graduation  assessments requirements in both English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics for the Classes of 2017 through 2021 and beyond. NJDOE memo regarding Graduation requirements August 2016 Students graduating as members of the classes of  2017 through 2019  (Current Sophomores, Juniors & Seniors)   can meet graduation assessment requirements through a variety of ways, including: (1) Achieving pass...

Congratulations to the Valedictorian and Salutatorian for the Class of 2016 Bryan Fotino, Valedictorian Erin Smith,  Salutatorian

Waldwick High School is excited to announce  we are changing our math sequence starting with the Class of 2020 (Current 8th Graders).  Starting this September, all incoming freshman will be taking Geometry and the new college prep sequence will be Geometry, Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and Pre-Calculus.  This change does not affect the honors sequence.   After two years of researching the advantages of making this change, we determined this would be best for the students of Waldwick High school.  This proposed change was presented to the Board of Education at two of the Curriculum Committee meetings (October 2015 & January 2016)  and spoken about at the February 8 Board Meeting.  Some of the key reasons for this change are: All classes K-8 have Geometry standards in their curriculum High School Algebra 1 does not have any Geometry standards; therefore, it is more beneficial to move Geometry closer to the MS level and Algebra 1 to come before A...

Starting on Tuesday, January 12, the guidance counselors will be providing the current 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students with a 2016/2017 Course Selection Sheet for next year’s schedules. The students must complete these sheets which include the parent’s review/signature and return back to their Language Arts teachers within two days of receipt of the forms. The distribution of the forms is noted as follows: Tuesday, January 12 – Forms to be provided to the 9th graders. The forms are due back by January 14 (Thursday) to their English teachers. Wednesday, January 13 - Forms to be provided to the 10th graders. The forms are due back by January 15 (Friday) to their English teachers. Thursday, January 14 - Forms to be provided to the 11th graders. The forms are due back by January 18 (Monday) to their English teachers. 2016-2017 Course Selection 

Below is an announcement I received from The College Board regarding the October PSAT results.   (Directly from College Board) We want to make you aware of a change to the delivery schedule for PSAT/NMSQT® and PSAT™ 8/9 scores and provide you with information and resources to help you transition to the new integrated reporting portal. We apologize for the inconvenience this change will cause. Score Delivery Schedule for PSAT/NMSQT and September–November PSAT 8/9 Jan. 6 Educators will be able to access the score reporting portal at  k12reports.collegeboard.org  and AP Potential™ data at  appotential.collegeboard.org . Jan. 7 Students will be able to access their scores and AP Potential information at  studentscores.collegeboard.org . By  Jan. 29 Educators will receive paper score reports. Please note:  The new delivery schedule will not affect students' eligibility for the National Merit Scholarship Pro...

Update on PARCC and Graduation Requirements  Recently the New Jersey State Board of Education approved the threshold score points (‘cut points’) to define the performance levels in the PARCC assessment program. Below you will find the newly updated list of assessments and their various score points that members of the classes of 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 can use to demonstrate that they have met the competency testing requirements needed for a regular high school diploma with the appropriate threshold scores for PARCC assessments included. (Special Education students, whose Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) specify an alternative way to demonstrate proficiency, will continue to follow the graduation requirements set forth in their IEPs.) Going out in the mail today are the individual test reports for the students that took the PARCC assessment last year. Here is a copy of my cover letter regrading the student reports . To meet the graduation requirement through th...

Waldwick High School will be a national testing center for the administration of the PSAT Exam on Wednesday, October 14, 2015.   Most sophomores and juniors have already registered to take the PSAT Exam. The PSAT is an excellent opportunity to prepare and gain an understanding of the SAT exam. Juniors are also eligible for a National Merit Scholarship depending on the score. He have a few open spots left, so if you have registered yet please contact Ms. Cassidy in Guidance. The SAT will be re-redesigned beginning in the spring of 2016. This will impact students in the class of 2017 and beyond. The 2015 PSAT has also been redesigned. Resources from the CollegeBoard Comparison of the Major Features: Pre-2015 and New PSAT/NMSQT Prepare for the new PSAT - presentation by CollegeBoard

WALDWICK HIGH SCHOOL FINAL EXAM SCHEDULE Exams will generally be given in the same rooms as classes are held.  The Media Center Computer Lab will be used for any students (SN/ESL/504) that might need accommodations for their final exams. Any student may use the Media Center for quiet study during the period prior to or between scheduled exams.  Students are required to be present only when they have an exam scheduled.  Students must remain in their classrooms for the entire exam period. 2014 – 2015 School Year Friday, June 12, 2015             Period 8 – 1:00 – 3:00             (All Period 8 classes will meet for two hours whether there is a Final Exam or not) Monday, June 15, 2015             Period 2 – 8:05 – 10:05              Period 5 or 6 – 10:15 – 12:15 ...