On Jan. 6, there will be a meeting at 7 p.m. in the auditorium for parents of juniors to discuss senior year schedules and plans after high school. According to counselor Maria Cottone, the meeting will focus on students’ senior year but also discuss the beginning of the college application process.

“Parents will be getting an overview of some of the course choices and requirements for a student’s senior year,” Cottone said. “We’ll also be talking a little about planning for college, college applications, and all the other things that student and their families will have to deal with once senior year arrives.”

Cottone said she encourages all parents of juniors to attend the meeting, but in the case that the parents cannot make it, all of the information will be posted on the school website. Though all parents of juniors are welcome to attend the meeting, Cottone said she feels it would be most beneficial for parents for whom this is the first time a child will go to college.

“The meeting is definitely a good idea for parents who have never put a kid through college before,” Cottone said. “Though college is still quite far off, it is best for the family to get some knowledge beforehand of what the process will be like.”

For junior Brian McDonald, he said his family has not really started thinking about next year and thinks it would be a good idea to get started as soon as possible. McDonald also said that, due to the meeting being on a weekday, his parents will most likely not be able to make it to the meeting.

“My family hasn’t really started thinking about next year yet, let alone college, because it’s so far off,” McDonald said. “But senior year and college are a pretty big deal, so I think it’ll be good for us to plan ahead. My parents can’t make it to the meeting, so I think it’s cool that the school will put the information online for us to look through.”

As for the students themselves, Cottone said there will be a junior class meeting on Jan. 10 to give juniors some information about and start scheduling for next year.

“The meeting (on Jan. 10) will be for juniors to start planning for next year and even after that,” Cottone said. “Juniors will be getting an updated version of the program of studies and a recommendation sheet for their teachers to fill out. The information is mostly the same for the students as for the parents so that parents can stay involved in their kids’ lives. There’s always the tendency for students to take senior year lightly, but it’s important to end their high school careers with a strong finish.”

McDonald said he is looking forward to senior year and has been tempted to ease up next year, but ultimately has not made any concrete decisions about his last year of high school.

“I live in the present and don’t think ahead all that much, so I don’t really know what I’m going to do next year yet,” McDonald said. “I’m looking forward to being a senior next year, and I want to make sure next year goes as well as possible.” By Henry Zhu <[email protected]>