Counseling

Welcome to the GMHS Counseling Department

2009 Summer Registration Hours: Darlene Morris Monday - Thursday 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.

GMHS phone: 301 - 863 - 4001
GMHS Counseling Fax: 301 - 863 - 4026

Name	Position / Phone extension	Email Address
Darlene Morris	Registrar ext 151	dmmorris@smcps.org
Wanda Duran	Counseling Secretary ext 106	widuran@smcps.org
Judi Stokes	Counselor : A - Don ext 111	jhstokes@smcps.org
Audra Bishop	Counselor : Doo - Jor ext 109	abbishop@smcps.org
Jennifer Cole	Counselor : Jos - Ree ext 108	jacole@smcps.org
Diane Ryan, Head	Counselor : Ref - Zz ext 110	dkryan@smcps.org
Ramona Smith	Director Career Center ext 128	rgsmith@smcps.org

Our Counseling Department here at GMHS handles all surrounding enrollment admissions, scheduling, testing, transcripts, scholarships and career planning.

A note from the registrar: If you are withdrawing a student, please allow one week to process. This cannot be processed "on the spot". Please begin the withdrawal process well in advance of your move whenever possible.

Counseling News and Events

RESOURCES:

New student registration
Procedures to withdraw a student
Program and Schedule Changes
Graduation Requirements (Maryland State Graduation Requirements)
Correspondence Courses (Alternatives to Regular Courses at GMHS)
Application for Approval of Correspondence/On-Line Courses
Request for Homework
SAT / ACT registration
Post Secondary Planning
Testing Dates
Transcript Request Form
NCAA Requirements & Registration
Work Permit Procedures
Test Preparation / Test Anxiety
Resources for Depression and Suicide Prevention
Facts for Families
College Representative Meeting Guides
Letters of Recommendation (request from individual teachers or Counselors)
Local Resources for Children and Families in St. Mary's County
Systems of Care for Children in St. Mary's County
Success for School / Skills for Life Online Resource Kit
Maryland Occupational Safety and Health for Teens (Labor and Industry)
No Child Left Behind
MSNBC article: Your brooding teen: Just moody or mentally ill?
Planning for College
Sample contracts for parents to use with children

CAREER CLUSTERS

Graduation Requirements

21 Credits

English (4 Credits)
Social Studies (3 Credits)
- -Civics
- -World History
- -US History
- -Contemporary Issues, AP Government or Global Diplomacy
Math (3 Credits)
Science (3 Credits)
Physical Education/Health (1 Credit)
Technology Education (1 Credit)
Fine Arts (1 Credit)
75 Hours Student Service Learning
Student Portfolio
Program Sequence (1 of the following)
- -Four Year College(2 Years Foreign Language, Algebra 1 & 2, Geometry)
- -Occupational Sequence (4-5 Credits)
- -Advanced Technology Sequence
  
  Senior Portfolio required for Graduation
  careercruising.com
  user name: greatmills
  password: careers
  create a portfolio: select "yes"

Diplomas Offered

GMHS offers two levels of diplomas to its graduates: a Standard High School Diploma which states that the student has completed the state and county requirements for graduation and a Certificate of Merit (CM) that signifies the grantee has completed a more rigorous set of requirements. A Certificate of Merit Diploma requires the above plus three mathematics credits: Algebra level 1 and beyond, Level 3 Foreign Language or Occupational Completer Status, 12 Certificate of Merit advanced classes and a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Do you know and understand all the graduation requirements?

In order to graduate from St. Mary’s County Public Schools, all students must complete the following:

English 9, English 10, English 11, English 12
US History, Government/Civics, World History
3 credits of math including Algebra and Geometry
3 credits of science including Biology
1 tech ed credit (must be Foundations/Intro to Engineering, or Foundations/Intro to Business Adm, or Foundations/Intro to Family/Consumer Science)
1 fine art credit
1 PE 9/10/Health credit
75 hours of community service
Senior Career Portfolio
Minimum combined score of 1602 on English 10 HSA, Biology HSA, Algebra HSA, and Government HSA
One career cluster/program

While you probably already know about most of the requirements, not everyone understands or knows about the career cluster requirement. Students must complete the requirements for at least one career cluster program before they can graduate, even if they have completed everything else and have 21+ credits. Requirements for each career program If a program is only at the tech center, you will see a (TC _yrs) with the number of years needed to complete that particular program at the end of the course lists. Some of the business programs will only be available at ChopticonHigh School. STEM and the Academy of Finance are also clusters. These programs can be found on pages 137 – 143 of the 2008-2009 Program of Studies.

If a student is in 9^th or 10^th grade, the program/cluster can still be changed. Most 11^th and all 12^th grade students are locked into their clusters. If a student doesn’t know his/her cluster, it can be found on the bottom of the schedule.

Please note – Algebra Course A and Algebra Course B cannot be substituted for Algebra 1 CM. The colleges require Algebra 1 CM for entrance. If students wish to attend a 4-year university directly after high school, the student could take Algebra Course A and then switch to Algebra 1 CM the next year.