Counseling Corner for January

January Counseling Corner 

 

January is Get Organized (GO) Month 

January is officially Get Organized Month (or GO Month), a nationwide initiative to encourage people to declutter spaces, create efficient systems, and set up productive habits for the new year, leveraging the fresh start feeling of January to reduce stress and boost overall well-being. This is also a good time to get organized, as you prepare for final exams, the end of the semester and a fresh start of the new semester. We encourage you to spend some time setting up systems and decluttering your backpacks, folders, notebooks, etc. as you prepare to start fresh with 2nd semester! 

 

ASVAB – January 14th  

Be the architect of your career. Learn more about the benefits of participating in the ASVAB Career Exploration Program. The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery is the most widely used multiple-aptitude battery test in the world. As an aptitude test, the ASVAB measures your strengths, weaknesses, and potential for future success. The ASVAB also provides you with career information for various civilian and military occupations and is an indicator for success in future endeavors whether you choose to go to college, vocational school, or a military career. 

Issaquah High School offers ASVAB testing twice this school year: January 14th, 2026 at 8 AM and April 8th, 2026 at 8 AM. If you would like to sign up, please use this link: 

https://forms.office.com/r/hxMSVNFTqK 

 

Important Dates in January 

1/13 – ISD Online Virtual Open House 

1/14 – Winter ASVAB 

1/19 – No School – MLK Jr Day 

1/21 – 1/23 – 1st semester Final Exams (Schedule below) 

1/23 – 1st Semester Ends 

1/23 – Deadline for Semester 2 Level Change Requests @ 8am 

1/26 – No School – Teacher Work Day 

1/27 – 2nd Semester Begins 

1/30 – Xello Lessons Due for Seniors 

1/31 – Free Winter Clothing Event 

 

1st Semester Finals 

Wednesday 1/21	Thursday 1/22	Friday 1/23
5th Period – 10:10 – 11:40  All school lunch 11:40 – 12:30	3rd Period – 8:00 – 9:30	1st Period – 8:00 – 9:30
6th Period – 12:35 – 2:05	4th Period – 9:40 – 11:10	2nd Period – 9:40 – 11:10
7th Period – 2:15 – 3:45

 

Schedule Change Requests for 2nd Semester: 

 Please refer to the Counseling website’s Schedule Change page for information about what change requests will be considered (think LEVEL change and ERRORS only!). The request form is now open, and closes at 8am on Friday, 1/23, with counselors beginning to look at changes starting the week of 1/12. The link for the form can be found on the Schedule Change Page. If you have a question about a level change, we invite you to stop in to the Counseling Office during lunches to discuss - appointments are generally not needed! Counselors will also be stationed and available in the Commons and in the hallway outside of the Counseling office for semester change questions during both lunches starting the week of January 12th.  

 

Mid-Year Reports and Transcripts – Seniors Only  

Many colleges require students to send a mid-year progress report. Typically this is an updated transcript with 1st semester senior year grades. For students that require a Mid-Year Report, this process will be handled per the following: 

 

COMMON APPLICATION SCHOOLS: 

If you have applied to a school via Common Application, counselors are able to see if any of your schools require a mid-year report and will submit these automatically. There is no action needed on your part. Please be advised that we cannot send until semester grades are posted, so your college will receive your mid-year report and transcript between 2/3-2/13. We are aware that many schools ask for these earlier, but rest assured that they will still accept these before our mid-winter break.  

 

ALL OTHER APPLICATION TYPES: 

Please log in to your parchment.com account and order a new copy of your official transcript to be sent to each school/program that needs one. Remember you do not need to send to a school that you applied to via Common Application. 

When you are placing your new order please select “HOLD FOR GRADES” – this will postpone the release of your transcript until after semester 1 grades have been added.  If you do not do this step, your schools will receive the document they already have and not the updated version including your first semester grades. Updated transcripts will be released no later than February 4th.  If you have any concerns with timing, you will need to communicate with your admissions office directly. 

If you have any questions about the parchment ordering process please review the following - https://issaquahhigh.isd411.org/student-life/counseling/transcript-requests 

 

Running Start – Spring Quarter 

Attention Running Start students! The colleges are already accepting Enrollment Verification Forms (EVFs) for Spring Quarter. Spring Enrollment starts on Monday, February 9th. The colleges need a few days to process your forms before clearing you to register for classes, so please be mindful of these dates. Since Counselors will be busy during this short window before Mid-Winter Break, planning ahead and connecting with your Counselor ASAP is recommended. You will need a Counselor signature on this form again, so you can either drop a paper form (with the student portion at the top filled out) off in the Counseling Office for us to sign, email us a copy of your form to sign, or schedule a time to meet with us to get this taken care of.   

 

School Day SAT Registration Closes Feb 25  

Issaquah High School is offering the SAT exam to be taken here at school for all interested Juniors and Seniors on Wednesday, March 25th. The Registration Deadline for this opportunity is February 25th at 3:00pm – Late registrations cannot be accepted. Here is the Registration Link (you do not register for this test on College Board): https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=8nAYNexOdUyAWk20-BGuoT8joOcdVxlKu9sZyNr6Ry9URFNXN09YMFVCSDJHVlVMQzVOT1Y5TDZNQi4u.