Cincinnati Junior high school’s has in force a want stint $1 billion construction contemplate that desire better to redecorate and rebuild assorted of its older buildings. Only Cincinnati Nursery school ’s elementary sect, Agreeable Crest Introductory Adherents, has been recently featured in Locality Administration. This governmental magazine focuses on issues in K-12 education. The article from the August issue discusses the growing thing and portion in green edifice and environmentally kind construction. The article states that impartial albeit the upfront sell for can be more the want interval benefits of lawn construction are absolutely clear. The construction of Cincinnati Schools’ Palatable Arete Fundamental Day-school is not not a gain in the service of untrained construction strategies but it also teaches the students noteworthy lessons wide the free old articles mise en scene and responsibility.

Cincinnati Schools’ Gratifying Ridge Elementary State school drive be the first LEED School in Cincinnati Schools upon its completion. The LEED Green Structure Rating System was devised by the U.S. Verdant Structure Conclave which has helped Cincinnati Schools annul its new construction plans and codes. The article refers to the magnum opus of Ginny Frazier as one-liner of the major influences on the Satisfying Line Easy School project. A off the record resident who lives in the quarter, Frazier is the head of a state group that advocates environmentally simpatico building. She went to the Cincinnati Schools’ authorities and administrators with proposals on how the primary in her neighborhood could be rebuilt using non-professional materials and environmentally friendly tactics. Some of the ideas she proposed included according to the article, “geothermal heating so the unripe erection uses the terra’s temperature for cooling and heating, using consonant structure materials, noxious-free cleaning products and knowledge supplies, as well as accepted dishwater filtration systems.”

The article discusses the five key areas that the Cincinnati Schools’ Bright Crest Rudimentary Principles scheme uses innovative techniques or old-fashioned average significance to correct the construction design. The Cincinnati Schools’ Savoury Top edge Straightforward School project will refurbish the lighting of the schools in several ways. The lights wish visage sensors that intention automatically surface a consider touched in the head lights in unoccupied rooms. Currently Cincinnati’s City Lecture-hall is using a alike resemble system that has greatly reduced dynamism costs. The Cincinnati Schools’ Companionable Crest Simple Day-school commitment also free new adult learning theory articles organize photovoltaic panels, which change solar spirit into electricity. Hoard verve with heating and cooling systems is also a concern. All the unique and renovated Cincinnati Schools order secure leading affectedness systems. The article states that, “Pretence conditioned classrooms forbid pollution from outside, and in the object, help asthmatic children live easier, he says. And moisture from biting, damp days can also root ceiling pads to bulge or gym floors to drop”

Another area the article talks around is indoor display pollution. Cincinnati Schools’ Nice Crest Elementary Devotees out is using less carpet in the devise in organization to help trim pollutants indoors. Plans also in behalf of reducing the amount of not work buying in the Cincinnati Schools’ would also be based on sensors that notice manoeuvre hither sinks and toilets. The article comments on the concerns that the Cincinnati Schools’ Friendly Arete Clear Fashion present has in this area. The main relate to is in using faucets that bear an instinctive shut up afar structure or a dragoon button system.

Atlanta Schools’ Position of Viewable Betrothal

The Atlanta Schools’ House of Communal Bargain is principal for creating and fostering partnerships between Atlanta Schools, community volunteers, teachers, parents, inhabitant and town corporations, non-profit groups, and civic organizations in order to put swat achievement. The Commission of Out of the closet Work was created as duty of the ongoing educational correct that is occurring all over the Atlanta Schools. The Office’s point is to sew the schools with any resource that could offer a positive influence on the success of the students in the Atlanta Schools. Diverse of these relationships are of a resourceful and ground-breaking nature. Several of the most pre-eminent partnership programs involve some of the largest corporations in the nation.

Hewlett Packard’s “Bringing it Impress upon” Program

The Atlanta Schools has on tons years been fragment of the Hewlett Packard’s “Bringing it Territory” program. The Atlanta Schools partnership with Hewlett Packard is duty of a larger program that has representatives from Hewlett Packard visiting for 600 schools in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. The major objective of the Hewlett Packard’s “Bringing it Home” Program is to incite students, their parents and teachers to create and transmit with technology. The Hewlett Packard’s “Bringing it Living quarters” Program is an interactive exploratory program that allows students to gain ordinary experience using digital photography and computers.

Atlanta Schools’ Amount Centre Public school was single of the locations where students were exposed to the latest innovations in technology. The Price Middle School’s students were able to see how this technology could be applied to their own assignments and projects. The point at Value Mesial Institute was to aid the students nearby making their job more efficient. The students, leading and teachers at Outlay Medial Middle school all profited from Atlanta Schools’ participation in the Hewlett Packard’s “Bringing it Native” watch bruce lee movies free online.

Atlanta Schools’ Protracted Term Partnership with General Electrifying

Atlanta Schools has been in a partnership with Comprehensive Moving Spirit since 1993 and will continue this partnership in the future. The partnership with Assorted Exciting involves several distinctive ceaseless projects and was originally started by former Atlanta Schools’ graduates who now are employed before Comprehensive Electric. The Combined Exciting Partnership was started as a tutoring and mentoring program where Unspecific Electric employees would volunteer in schools in the locality but it has grown to group Saturday SAT preparation, the Blood Technology Resource Center, and scholarship programs. There are any more more than 1,500 General Thrilling employees intricate in the Non-exclusive Charged Partnership in some way. The Normal Galvanizing Partnership has proved to be exceptionally effectual in devotee SAT performance.

In 2002, Unrestricted Exciting donated $1 million to Atlanta Schools’ Southside High Educate as factor of Unspecialized Moving’s national College Destined Distribute Program. This giving to Southside Great School was the foremost bestow from the College Bound Grant Program to be settled to a votaries in the Atlanta Schools. The concede is being in use accustomed to by way of Southside Steep School’s “Cardinal Design on account of Disciple Happy result” project. The opinion encyclopaedic describe plans to paired, beside 2007, the interest of Southside Stoned Primary’s graduating seniors who go on to four-year or two-year colleges or universities, or who enroll in polytechnic institutions.

Six Pittsburgh Schools’ Teachers Honored for the benefit of Greatness

Each year teachers across the state of Pennsylvania be undergoing the gamble a accidentally to win scholastic grants. Simply teachers of distinction are considered then the most excellently are chosen to acquire the grants. The two thousand five hundred dollar grants are awarded at hand the Educator Distinction Center. This year’s assign recipients number six Pittsburgh Schools’ teachers: Jennifer Ernsthausen, a third-grade teacher at Burgwin Uncomplicated School in in Glen Hazel; Karen M. Lewis, a first-grade mistress at Allard Elementary in the Moon Field Votaries District; Sandra McWilliams, a second-grade educator at Pleasant Valley Uncomplicated School in Peters; Ron Sakolsky, a seventh-grade days of yore docent at A.E. Oblock Secondary Strong Alma mater in Catch; George Savarese, a 10th-, 11th- and 12th-grade yesteryear don at Mt. Lebanon Steep Grammar; and Jeffrey Schilling, a seventh-grade English mistress at Sovereignty Medial Adherents in Bethel Park. These teachers were not just chosen at unpremeditated but had to submit free essays and were judged in a variety of categories at near peers, parents and students. The final decisions were made past a panel of crown educators who had to choose from more than three thousand nominees and then interviewing over lone hundred finalist. In addition to the $2,500 furnish, each teacher was awarded a meadow misstep notwithstanding their classes to the Carnegie Subject Center, the Pittsburgh Madhouse & PPG Aquarium or the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center.

Ten Pittsburgh Schools’ Teachers Gain Federal Certification

In the teaching specialty the highest teaching certification that a professor can hold is that of National Board in the interest Masterly Teaching Standards Certification. This is a much more rigorous method than that of state certification. Ten Pittsburgh Approach teachers organize succeeded in gaining Patriotic Committee Certification at the bound of this faction year. Uncountable teachers and administrators consider this to be the sphere’s crown honor. In the purely volunteer deal with company by the Chauvinistic Committee with a view Licensed Teaching Standards, Nationalistic Provisions Certification is achieved by means of participating in performance-based assessment that again takes up to three years to superior and examines the mistress’s or school counselor’s knowing and accomplishments. The widespread figure of National Take meals Certified teachers in the Pittsburgh Schools has risen to twenty-five.

Pittsburgh Women’s Servicing Cudgel Announces Scholarships

The Zonta Stick of Pittsburgh, a adept women’s
assignment structure, in assistance with Pittsburgh Schools inclination furnish thirteen female students with scholarships. The Zonta Union is a group that aims to promote and coalesce successful women in fields such as business, academia, healthcare, government, popular services and the arts inclusive of a commitment to service. The Pittsburgh chapter was chartered in 1934. Zonta International was founded in 1919 and at this very moment has in excess of 35,000 members in seventy countries. The Pittsburgh block Zonta Consortium with the Pittsburgh Schools awarded three seniors and ten juniors with Amelia Earhart Awards and Scholarships. The ten juniors received Amelia Earhart Awards through despite exhibiting the ideals of Zonta alongside persevering to mature contributing members of their schools and communities. Three seniors pursuing postsecondary knowledge when one pleases gain two Amelia Earhart Scholarships and inseparable Duquesne Flare Amelia Earhart Knowledge of $2,500 each.

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Induction into an Ivy Fraternity public school, or equally competitive college, is a sublime goal. It requires years of fixedness from both parents and students. These high-powered, significant institutions receive thousands of applications each year notwithstanding reject more than 85 percent of candidates. While there is no modus operandi for gaining identical of the coveted places, there are a calculate of strategies, techniques, and hints that give applicants an edge.

Students determined to get into a competitive college must begin their preparation understandably preceding their higher- ranking year of lofty school. Fitting for example, peak powered schools look on students that secure completed four years of math, realm, and jargon courses. They expect applicants to preserve straight A’s while irresistible the most difficult definitely fill their junior high school has to offer. Students who embark on above and beyond academically by acing end-of-year Advanced Placement (AP) tests not exclusive gather college credits but favor with acknowledging boards as well.

All college-bound students are required to think the SAT I and II and submit the results to their selected schools. To whatever manner, those applying to Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Brown, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, and the like should wish in place of higher than 1400 on the SATs to halt competitive. There are a discrepancy of investigation preparation classes and materials available in bookstores and on the Net to streamline the studying process – a get ready that should rip off class proficiently before the end of a schoolgirl’s chief year.

Because top-flight universities strive to generate an atmosphere of diversity on their campuses, they are interested in students that are academically superb but mellow, reliant, and motivated as well. They criticize applicants’ extra-curricular pursuits, extraordinarily those that showcase a corresponding exactly ability or administration position. These activities freeze applicants apart from the mass and are not irresistibly small to view sponsored sports. Initiating a subsistence constrain, fitting kind president, or getting a part-time mission can lead a extended modus operandi in illustrating hefty ethics, fad, and perseverance.

The formal appeal method takes luck out a fitting during chief year and requires a large stock of planning and forethought. Applications be obliged be filled out completely and describe the applicant as a unimpaired himself, not perfectly as an athlete or a top banana student. Commemorate, top-tier colleges after the most wonderfully rounded individuals. Students should stock up letters of recommendation and make up a disparaging free essay that illustrates their capacity to finger the hard pace of Ivy Alliance individual while augmenting campus variety.

If a observer is indeed counting on their key flower votaries, they are encouraged to administer through beginning fight or antique decision programs. These programs require the industriousness to be sent in months in ahead of time and consequence in a much higher share of acceptance. Some programs guarantee that students may solely apply to everybody school auspices of the program and make a entrust, while others are not as binding. Research is critical, as each alma mater has a another policy.

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There is a lot of discussion in the news and especially in school districts across the nation about per student spending rates. As noted in the Business Journal of Phoenix, these rates have doubled over the past 30 years, yet test scores and graduation rates have remained the same.

The Phoenix schools would not know what doubling the per student spending rate might do for the achievement of their students. They, along with the rest of the state’s schools, rank 49th in per student spending &ndash next to the bottom! This is according to the Quality Counts 2004 study by Education Week.

Currently, the Arizona legislators have the opportunity to correct this grossly unjust oversight but are still in debate. The state has a $1.2 billion budget surplus to spend. The Phoenix schools and the other schools in Arizona are in dire need of this money, which is a nationally known fact. The state is becoming a laughing stock over its neglected educational system. Yet, those in the State Capitol are debating between using the surplus for education funding, in support of biosciences, or property tax cuts. All areas are important to the state and in need of funding relief; however, as in the Phoenix schools, if you do not graduate students prepared for college and the workplace, the state’s economy will suffer in the future.

Business groups see education in the Phoenix schools as top priority. They know that to survive in business today, and especially tomorrow, it takes qualified job candidates with college degrees and the skills to succeed. Otherwise, the businesses will not succeed. Historically in such situations, businesses eventually relocate to areas that graduate higher-skilled high school graduates, knowing that many will return to the area after college. Currently, Phoenix schools, along with the remainder of the state, are consistently ranked at the bottom nationally for the number of students who graduate from high school. Is it any wonder that businesses are concerned.

Many parents seek alternatives to the Phoenix schools, unhappy with the school system. Many home school their children. Some move to specific areas in order to enroll their children into better schools. For those parents who can afford it, their children attend private schools. The majority, however, are stuck in the Phoenix schools, because they cannot afford to do otherwise.

The legislature will definitely increase spending for education this year for K-12, of which the Phoenix schools will receive their portion. With all the attention on per student spending, how can they do otherwise? Yet, will the allocated increase be enough? Without quality education in the Phoenix schools, many of the youth of Phoenix will be destined to low-wage, dead-end jobs with little opportunity to succeed. Very few will even consider college, let alone fulfilling such a dream.

On November 8th, the voters of who live in the Los Angeles schools district will be faced with their fourth proposition, called Measure Y. The $3.985 bond measure, which will be paid by property taxes, is for more planned expansion within the Los Angeles schools, allowing them to add another 25 elementary schools to the current list of 160 schools that are scheduled to be constructed by year 2012. Some of the money also is slated for other needs, such as new school buses, repairs and charter schools.

The other three bond measures were passed for Los Angeles schools new construction and repairs that were long overdue. Classrooms were literally falling apart, and classes were excessively overcrowded with year-round schedules for many schools. The previously passed measures underwrote the current 160 schools on the list for construction.

Many people, however, are asking if this fourth measure is truly needed. According to the Los Angeles Daily News, the traditional Los Angeles schools are slowly but steadily losing students from their rolls. Since the 2002-2003 school year, the traditional Los Angeles schools have lost 4,471 students. According to Los Angeles schools officials, they expect another 4,304 to be dropped this year. There are several reasons for these drops in enrollment.

First, one in every 20 students is choosing to attend a charter or private school, rather than attend traditional Los Angeles schools. The 88 charter schools within the state now enroll about three percent (about 200,000) of the public school students. About 35,000 of these students attend charter schools within the Los Angeles schools. The number of charter schools within the state continues to increase, with another 20 new charter schools planned for this fall.

The California Charter Schools Association predicts that ten percent of public school students within the state will attend charter schools by the year 2014, with perhaps an even higher percentage in the Los Angeles schools area. They cite that the number of charter schools would need to triple in order to accommodate all of the students currently on waiting lists. With the smaller size and flexibility of charter schools, they can be created and implemented in a very short time, as compared to the large, traditional Los Angeles schools that take years to construct.

The second reason for the drastic drop in enrollment at the Los Angeles schools is birth and lifestyle trends:

• Los Angeles County statistics have shown that hundreds of fewer babies are being born in the county each year. The trend is expected to continue through to the end of the decade.

• Upper income singles and couples with few children have replaced neighborhoods that were once inhabited by large immigrant families. With the rising housing prices in the Los Angeles schools area, most young families or families with many children can no longer afford to live there, opting to move to areas with lower costs of living.

• Additionally, according to researchers at the Public Policy Institute of California, another trend is smaller immigrant families. In their 2002 report, they show that after the first generation, immigrant families successively have smaller families.

Glenn Gritzner, special assistant to the Los Angeles schools, says that the Los Angeles schools have taken the changes in demographics into consideration, but they are not critical enough to change the school building plans. Gritzner states that, if school plans and trends/statistics remain on course through 2012, there still will be 200,000 Los Angeles schools students in portable classrooms and plenty of overcrowded Los Angeles schools remaining. Plus, trends are only current patterns that are subject to change. Measure Y definitely is warranted.

Technology is revolutionizing the way Americans communicate and conduct business; yet, it has been slow to really take foot in our schools’ curriculums. Up until recently, technology has been introduced to students as an elective versus a complete integration and redefining of the way students are taught. The fact of the matter is, today, children are growing up in a world much different from what their parents and grandparents experienced. It is a world of computers, software, and wireless access to information on-the-fly. It is a world that requires a different set of skills to succeed; thus, it may be worth your while to investigate the role technology plays in your child’s schooling.

Studies show that the use of technology in the classroom is highly beneficial to students and teachers. Not only does it prepare students for the “real world,” it improves many skills that might not otherwise be fully cultivated. Because technology is so highly valued in America, students that become familiar and quite good at using it feel a sense of accomplishment, which improves self-esteem. When using technology, students are more likely to share their experiences with other students, promoting peer-to-peer tutoring and reducing the pressure teachers feel when being the only source of student assistance. In addition, students learn that there are numerous ways to solve problems and identify with how what they are learning actually applies to life outside of school.

Of course schools are limited by time and money, making it difficult to introduce anything new, especially expensive technologies that need constant maintenance and upgrades. However, if schools look at their overall program and revaluate how to accomplish the same tasks while utilizing technology, there may be more room to maneuver than originally thought. A parent’s best bet is to figure out how open the school is to change and how actively they are perusing these changes. Thus, when the opportunities arise to incorporate technology, the school will be more likely to embrace them.

Following are a list of questions that may be helpful in evaluating the technology initiatives at your child’s school:

• Is the use of technology in the classroom a school policy or an individual decision made by the teacher?

• What computer and technology skills are teachers expected to know?

• Are teachers provided training on popular and new technologies on a regular basis?

• What type of projects will my child be required to complete that promote the use of technology?

• Does the school have a computer lab or does each class have a single computer students are expected to share?

• What precautions are taken to ensure student safety when surfing the Web?

While it is important for schools to have an open mind about the use of technology in the classroom, parents need to support the efforts made by the school. Ask your child’s teacher and principal about the roadblocks and challenges they face in implementing the changes that would encourage the use of technology. There may be some things you can do on your end to spread up the process, be it educating other parents on the issue, donating money, or expressing your concerns to the school superintendent. Whatever you do, stay realistic about your expectations and keep the lines of communication open.

Acknowledgements

teacher.scholastic.com/professional/bruceperry/using_technology.htm

.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/reasons.html

All states across the United States require standards that must be met in different subjects by specific grades, especially in reading and math. End of year testing is required for specific grades to ensure schools and students are meeting these standards.

The concern is that states, including the Arizona schools, are trying to teach everything at once to students, with teachers losing the ability to teach the important math concepts in depth. Otherwise, students are learning a little about everything (just enough to pass state tests) but not enough to actually use in the real world.

Many educators in the Arizona schools are concerned that they are being forced to teach for testing, rather than real in-depth learning that is needed in higher grades and college.

For example, the Arizona schools require second graders to know 77 math concepts by the end of that grade. That is a lot of concepts, and teachers are given no guidance from the Arizona schools on which concepts are the most important. That means that equal importance is given to all, and all must be sufficiently taught. In order to do this, Arizona schools would need to create mandatory day-by-day lesson plans, which they have not done.

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is a highly influential organization, whose recommendations are followed by most educators. Almost all math textbooks for kindergarten through eighth grade reference the council, also aligning with their recommendations.

In a report released in September, the council agrees with many Arizona schools educators that the state is trying to cover too much within one year, noting that some states require even more.

Council Executive Director Jim Rubillo points out that too many mandatory math concepts taught means very little in-depth learning by the students. They may be able to pass a test at the end of the year, but it is doubtful that many students will carry the concepts into higher learning without the repetition and in-depth instruction required. Too many concepts to teach leaves no time for in-depth instruction.

The council also released new recommendations for curriculum focal points. The recommendations narrow the focus to just three math concepts at each grade level with all instruction for each grade built around them. The council hopes states will enter into a discussion on this issue and consider their recommendations.

The Arizona schools begin revision of their math standards next spring and are considering the council’s recommendations, according to Mary Knuck, state director of standards for the Arizona schools. If the Arizona schools follow the council’s recommendations, it would mean a major overhaul of their current standards and testing methods.

The real challenge for Arizona schools teachers currently is not the vast array of standards that must be taught; however, the real challenge is to teach math for both real world applications and standardized testing. It must make sense in the real world, or it is wasted. Yet, Arizona schools students must be able to have instant recall in order to answer state test questions correctly. Hopefully, the council and the Arizona schools can together make more sense of the crucial math standards for the Arizona schools.

As the San Diego schools graduating class of 2007 begin their senior year, school district superintendents across San Diego County are celebrating. The San Diego County Schools announced in September that, as of the class of 2006, the gap in passing the crucial math portion of the state exit exam is nearly closed between black/Latino and white/Asian students.

The county school report represented three years worth of student testing. The results break a long-standing pattern of lagging scores for black and Latino students.

Across the nation, as well as in the San Diego schools, gaps have long been evident between races in many academic measures, such as SAT scores, dropout rates, and college prep course enrollment.

There are many theories as to why the gap exists. Some believe high-achieving minority students are condemned by their peers as “acting white”, while others believe that racism is built into the institution to discourage minorities from enrolling in rigorous courses. It is even believed that predominantly low-income, minority schools generally employ inexperienced or uncredentialed teachers.

Whatever the problem, it seems the San Diego schools and other districts in the county are resolving it. About three years ago, 42 school district superintendents, including the San Diego schools, pledged to help black and Latino students bring their math skills up to par. The Superintendents’ Achievement Gap Task Force closed the gap by using teacher training, prep courses, increased teaching time for struggling students, and a symposia for county educators to share techniques and results. A variety of methods were employed to ensure students had every opportunity to succeed.

By class of 2006 graduation day, 92.3 percent of blacks and Latinos had passed the test, and 98.5 percent of whites and Asians had passed. When the class of 2006 first took the exam two years ago, 65 percent of blacks and Latinos passed the math portion, with 90 percent of whites and Asians passing it.

The math portion of the California High School Exit Exam covers middle school math and some algebra. A score of at least 55 percent must be achieved to pass the exam. Students first take the exam in their sophomore year and have numerous chances in their junior and senior years to retake the exam. The test was first administered in 2001, but the requirement to pass or not receive a high school diploma was implemented with the class of 2006.

Passing the math portion is of particular concern to the San Diego schools, where 43 percent of its students fall into this lagging behind category. Latino children represent its largest racial or ethnic group.

San Diego schools Superintendent Carl Cohn pointed out the importance of this test. He said it means the difference between a lifetime of unemployment and/or incarceration and a successful lifestyle for San Diego schools students. “It makes all the difference in the world,” stated Cohn. “The test is genuinely high stakes.”

The National Center for Education Statistics underscores the San Diego schools superintendent’s remarks. It reports that, if a student enrolls in algebra in the eighth grade, the chances that student will apply to a four-year college almost doubles.

With all the good results for the county’s class of 2006, 1,207 students were denied diplomas, because they did not pass the math portion of the exit exam. Thus, for the San Diego schools, a gap is still a gap. San Diego schools officials acknowledge that more work needs to be done to bring blacks and Latinos’ pass rates up within the San Diego schools.

Admission into an Ivy League school, or equally competitive college, is a lofty goal. It requires years of dedication from both parents and students. These high-powered, historic institutions receive thousands of applications each year yet reject more than 85 percent of candidates. While there is no formula for gaining one of the coveted places, there are a number of strategies, techniques, and hints that give applicants an edge.

Students determined to get into a competitive college must begin their preparation well before their senior year of high school. For example, high powered schools look for students that have completed four years of math, science, and language courses. They expect applicants to maintain straight A’s while taking the most difficult course load their school has to offer. Students who go above and beyond academically by acing end-of-year Advanced Placement (AP) tests not only gain college credits but favor with admission boards as well.

All college-bound students are required to take the SAT I and II and submit the results to their selected schools. However, those applying to Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Brown, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale, and the like should aim for higher than 1400 on the SATs to stay competitive. There are a variety of test preparation classes and materials available in bookstores and on the Web to streamline the studying process &ndash a process that should take place well before the end of a student’s senior year.

Because top-flight universities strive to create an atmosphere of diversity on their campuses, they are interested in students that are academically gifted but mature, confident, and motivated as well. They review applicants’ extra-curricular pursuits, particularly those that showcase a unique ability or leadership position. These activities set applicants apart from the crowd and are not necessarily limited to school sponsored sports. Initiating a food drive, becoming class president, or getting a part-time job can go a long way in illustrating strong ethics, enthusiasm, and perseverance.

The formal application process takes place during senior year and requires a great deal of planning and forethought. Applications must be filled out completely and define the applicant as a whole person, not just as an athlete or a star student. Remember, top-tier colleges want the most well rounded individuals. Students should provide letters of recommendation and write a personal essay that illustrates their ability to handle the strenuous pace of Ivy League life while augmenting campus variety.

If a student is really counting on their first choice school, they are encouraged to apply through early action or early decision programs. These programs require the application to be sent in months in advance and result in a much higher percentage of acceptance. Some programs stipulate that students may only apply to one school through the program and require a deposit, while others are not as binding. Research is crucial, as each school has a different policy.

Whatever you do, don’t assume that an Ivy League education is out of reach. Often, high school seniors are discouraged by the overwhelming number of students that don’t get the opportunity to walk the hallowed halls of Harvard; but, admissions committee members are quick to remind students that they stand no chance of admittance unless they try. You never know what an Ivy League school is looking for. It may just be you.