Oak Park High School Counseling Oak Park High School Counseling

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

To schedule an appointment with your counselor - please go click here to find your counselor website and their email address. For any non-urgent matters, send your counselor an email or drop in to the Counseling Office during Nutrition, Lunch, or 7th period. For any urgent matters during the school day, go immediately to the Counseling/Main office.

If it is an emergency regarding someone's safety - please come to the office and inform an adult immediately.

Students can see their School Counselor via self-referral, parental request, request of the counselor, administrative referral, and/or teacher or staff referral.

Parents are notified at the discretion of the counselor. State law and ethical practice requires notification of appropriate adults (admin, parent, law enforcement, CPS, etc.) in instances of risk to self, risk to others or a student is in danger. Confidentiality is an important component of the student/counselor relationship. We err on the side of caution whenever possible.

When you receive a blue slip with the Counselor’s name on it, it does not mean you have been called in because you are in trouble or “bad.” In fact, a counselor is an adult who acts as your advocate! An advocate is someone who wants to listen to what you have to say and help you come up with reasonable solutions to making your situation better. It does not mean that your counselor can solve the problem for you; it does mean that you have a safe place that you can go to when you are not sure what to do.

Our CEEB code is 050006. This code is issued by Educational Testing Service and is used for SAT and ACT testing. College applications also may request the code.

A student's GPA is indicated in Q and can be found in Q under GPA.

There are three GPAs indicated on a student's transcript: Unweighted, Weighted, and Academic 10-12th. All three GPAs are visible to any college/university, although some universities will calculate a student's GPA using their own process. The weighted GPA is calculating all AP/Honors class with a weighted grade, where as unweighted does not. The Academic 10-12th GPA does not include any courses from a students 9th grade year and is both weighted and unweighted courses.

Students should consider the increased time needed to successfully handle the rigor of advanced courses, and not select more advanced courses than they can realistically handle. Specifically regarding AP courses, they are college level courses. Students may enroll in any AP course, as long as they meet the prerequisites for the course, but should exercise judgment. For any student enrolling in 3 or more advanced level courses, the AP/Honor Contract must be completed and turned into the student's counselor.

For more information, please watch this video.

Students are able to drop a course with no penalty, up to 10 days after the start of a semester. After ten days, if a student drops a class, they will receive a W (Withdrawal) indicated on their transcript, which is visible to any university they may apply to. However, students may not add a replacement class this late in the semester and may be assigned to a study hall, school service (if they meet the grade level prerequisite), or if eligible, may elect to have a free period (if they meet the prerequisites and grade level requirements).

A student who withdraws from a class after the 11th week of the semester (i.e. one week after the quarter report card) will receive a “WF” (Withdrawal/Fail) on their transcript.