Student Services / Counseling

Click here to view the Counseling Department Calendar. 

Find test dates, college representative visits, scholarship & financial aid application deadlines, opportunities and events, other key deadlines, and more, all in one location.

Our top priority is ensuring that all students have a complete and correct schedule based on the courses they chose last spring. Therefore, we will handle possible errors before making changes for preferential requests, particularly in elective courses. Preferential elective changes will be addressed last and will be made only if there is space available.

If you believe you are placed in an incorrect class (based on what you requested last spring) or the incorrect level for a CORE class, please fill out the schedule change request google form.

• Deadline to submit all requests for schedule changes is Friday, August 6th.
   
• All requests must be submitted using this online Google Form no later than August 6th. (Only schedule changes requested through this form will be considered. Please do not submit schedule changes via email or phone). 
   
• To help us process requests more quickly, please do not submit multiple requests for the same change.
   
• Counselors will begin addressing requests on July 27, in the order they were submitted. 
   
• Please check Skyward to see if changes have been made and also check your email for communication from your counselor.
   
• For lists of courses for each grade level, complete course descriptions, and prerequisites, please consult the SME Enrollment Resources website. 
   
• Many classes are full, including core classes, which makes it difficult to move classes around. Options may be limited and not all changes requested will be possible. 
   
• Students should have the same teacher in both semesters of a yearlong class, except in ELA 1 and Integrated Alg/Geom 1. Some students may have a different teacher in the spring semester in one or both of those classes. (This is not an error.) 

We appreciate your patience and look forward to seeing you in August!

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

• Before requesting a transcript, you should always confirm first that your college or university actually needs and wants a transcript right now---many do not! If the school uses self-reporting for courses and grades, you'll just enter them yourself. Do not request that a transcript be sent now unless you're sure they want and need it.

• If you're sure the college needs a transcript, you may request it in ONE OF TWO WAYS, depending on the application method you used for each particular college or university:

OPTION 1:
Use only if you are applying directly via a college or university's website:

(For Common App or SendEDu, see Option 2, below.)

1. Request your transcript through your Xello account, but only after you have contacted the SME registrar and signed a transcript release form. Only students may do this (parents are not able to request transcripts using their child's Xello account). Please allow at least seven school days after you submit the request for your transcript to be sent.
    
2. In your Xello account:

   • To the right, click Request.

     • A banner at the top of the screen will indicate the request was sent..
        

   • Under the Application Checklist, find Transcript.

   • Under College Applications, select the institution to which you'd like your transcript sent.

   • In your Xello Student Dashboard, under Goals & Plans, click College Planning.

OPTION 2:
Use only if you are applying to a college or university via Common App or SendEdu:

1. You must contact the registrar first, to obtain and submit a transcript release form. (Keep in mind that many colleges do not require a counselor recommendation.
    

2. Invite your counselor in your Common App account and email your counselor to update her on your colleges and deadlines.

3. Your counselor will upload your School Report (which includes your transcript) to Common App and each college will download it when you submit your application.

4. If a college requires a counselor recommendation, let your counselor know immediately, but no later than a month before your application deadline. Your counselor will then send you a Google Form questionnaire.

5. Keep in mind that it may take several days (or even weeks, during busy times), for a college or university to download and match your transcript to your application file. This must be done manually, even with transcripts sent electronically. Your application status may continue to indicate they have not yet received your transcript if they haven't yet matched it to your file (even if it has already been sent by SME). If you have questions, first check with your college's admissions department directly.

For all other transcripts or questions about GPA:  

Please contact SME Registrar, Melanie Lowe, directly:  melanielowe@smsd.org

Graduates (alumni):   

• Final Transcripts:
  ​​​​A final official transcript was automatically sent to the college indicated in the Graduate Information form in Skyward (first item in this module). Therefore, students do NOT need to send another request for a final transcript to their counselor or to the registrar.

  • A senior may request an unofficial transcript for their personal use by emailing the SME registrar after June 1^st (Melanie Lowe, melanielowe@smsd.org)

• For all other transcripts (for example, fraternity or sorority), you must contact the SME registrar, Melanie Lowe.

Please review the information on our College FAQ and Financial Aid & Scholarships web pages, for frequently asked questions and lots of resources to help you through this process.

After you have reviewed the information on our website, contact your counselor if you have additional questions or need to request a recommendation letter.

The following online courses may be taken in eSchool for INITIAL CREDIT (not credit recovery) in fall and spring, outside the school day.

Health (9-12), Fitness for Life (9-12), Art History (9-12), Financial Literacy (10-12), Psychology (10-12), ELA 3 (11), US History (11-12), ELA 4 (12). and Government (12).

• Courses are taken outside the school day and all work is completed entirely online.
• Fee is $180.
• All students must complete mandatory online orientation before they may begin the class.
• Check with your counselor before enrolling, to be sure you're in the correct class.
• Find important details on the eSchool website.
• Fitness for Life may be taken only once.
• Check back in August for fall 2022 enrollment information.

SME is now using RepVisits.com to schedule virtual visits with college representatives! (In-person visits are pending, based on COVID protocol at the time of the visit.)

View all virtual visits on our Counseling Calendar. 

• Only juniors and seniors may participate.
• Students should inform their teachers they will be missing class.
• Students are responsible for making up any classwork they miss during a visit with a college representative.
• Copy and paste the url listed in the calendar to join the virtual visit on the scheduled date/time.

Future exams (Saturday testing sessions):

Check the ACT and College Board (for SAT) websites for registration and updated information on future test dates. 

Click here for ACT Frequently Asked Questions (registration, MyACT account help, COVID updates, etc.) 

Test Prep:  New online testing resources from ZAPS / Doorway to College.

Juniors who took the ACT at SME on Feb 23rd:

• Scores are often rolled out in batches, not all at once. If you have created a MyACT account and still don’t see your scores, it should be added later,

• If you did not receive a paper on the day of the exam, with instructions on how to create your MyACT account, and would like to retrieve your scores,  you have two options:

1. Wait for the paper copy of your results to come in the mail.  ACT has indicated that they will have some instructions attached for use with MyACT

2. The other option:  go to www.myact.org and sign in as far as you can with the e-mail you put on the ACT answer sheet.  There will be a “contact us” hyperlink in the account somewhere.  Contact ACT and explain that you missed the deadline from the Feb 23rd ACT and would like to link to your scores.  You may need to plan on being on hold while they work through the solution.

In fall 2021, students and their families will be able to register for an AP exam on College Board and pay for test(s) on Total Registration.

• Registration will close after 2 weeks on Nov. 2^nd and a $40 late fee will begin. 
• Students enrolled in Macroeconomics for 2nd semester - Do NOT enroll or pay at this time. There will be an opportunity to enroll and pay without a late fee in February. 

• The fee for each exam will be $100 (plus $40 per exam for late registration).

• The testing schedule is listed on the College Board website below:   https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/exam-dates-and-fees
• There is a TWO-STEP PROCESS----both steps are required!  See more detailed information about the TWO-STEP PROCESS to enroll and pay in the daily announcements.

​​​​​​See the Student Services Contacts website for email addresses. 

Your teachers should be your first point of contact with questions about grades.

Canvas should be updated regularly. Teachers will then export grades to Skyward later.

If you're having difficulty communicating with teachers or getting the information you need, send your counselor an email.
 

Free breakfast and lunch will be provided to all children ages 1 to 18 at four school sites in the Shawnee Mission School District.

Click here for details.

• Johnson County Mental Health Center Crisis Line: 913-268-0156
   
• Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255; Text: 741741
   
• Johnson County Resource Connection
   
• Youth Line Teen crisis helpline: Text TEEN2TEEN to 839863
   
• Crisis Text Line: Text HELLO to 741741
   
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
   

• SMSD Resources for Parents
  Includes a variety of activities to do at home, community resources, COVID-19 specific resources, and the SMSD PickUp and Go Meals information

• EverFi Family Portal: receive direct access to a library of digital courses. Simply enter your state and your child's school name to receive the full catalogue of age-appropriate courses for your child.