Your Questions Answered: Can a New Student Join Seton Halfway through the Year?

Can a new student join Seton halfway through the year?

Yes, new transfers only need to complete one or two quarters of the year (Grades 1-12) and can receive a $100 discount by signing up for a Half-Year Enrollment. They receive all the books and lesson plans and still have a full year to complete the work, but they can only submit up to two quarters in each subject.

Half-year enrollment is a good option for students who want to finish the school year with Seton but have already completed half the year with another school.

You can enroll online for a Half-Year Enrollment at www.setonhome.org. When you enroll, it will be specified which two quarters to do for each subject. For questions, contact counselors at counselors@setonhome.org.

Amy Nutt, Admissions Counselor

How much time should we take off for the holidays?

That depends on how you homeschool. For example, if you teach year-round, you may take weeks off.

If, on the other hand, you are trying to follow the traditional school year, you may stick to shorter breaks. It is typical to take off the Wednesday and Friday surrounding Thanksgiving and from the 23rd of December to the first Monday or Tuesday after New Year’s.

Also, consider how on track your students are and how much time off they can afford. It may be a couple of weeks, or it may be that they need to work on that English assignment between Christmas and New Year’s. It’s up to you!

Theresa O’Connor, Academic Counselor

My kids really struggle with elementary reading and high school literature. Can a counselor help us?

Elementary or high school English counselors can help you with specific assignments and overall course problems. For example, suppose the problem is a particular assignment. In that case, counselors can help your student work through any issue they have understanding the assignment or perhaps getting started on it. For overall issues, the counselors can help the student with tips on determining the most important points and focusing on those.

Counselors can also help parents decide how to proceed daily and how to pick out which exercises to do or skip.

Sometimes students need to do remedial work, and counselors can recommend materials. If the work is too difficult for a student, counselors can help parents decide whether to drop a grade level or make some other adjustment.

If the problems require something more, then the Special Services department can work to modify courses for students.

Modifications can include adjusting the format and reading level of the books and working with your child’s strengths to adapt the writing portion of a course. Students incrementally develop their writing skills at the elementary level using adapted book reports with different levels: sentence writing, paragraph writing, and five-paragraph essay writing.

In high school, the Special Services department can offer more manageable assignments while giving students a solid literary foundation. If you’re fully enrolled, there’s no extra cost for a single course adaptation. (If a student needs to have a fully adapted curriculum, there is an additional fee.)

So, if a student is struggling, don’t wait—call the counselors for help getting back on track.

Compiled by Seton Staff

Where can Seton students get help on a plan for life after high school?

The first step to making a plan is knowing where you want to go AND why. I typically recommend a student start with some self-assessment.

Identify the innate strengths that will help you succeed in specific environments. For example: What is important to you? Which career paths make the most sense for your unique interests and values?

Identify these and be better positioned to consider the different steps you can take. Those steps might be attending college first, starting a career right away, or discerning a religious vocation.

The Guidance Department has helpful articles about these topics at setonhome.org/college-career-guidance/ All enrolled students have access to a free self-assessing tool called Jobzology through their MySeton account. Please feel free to contact our guidance counselors at guidance@setonhome.org or by phone at 540-636-2238. They are here to help you start the journey well!

John Thorp, Guidance Director

How often should I check in with my high schooler?

It is a good idea to check in at the beginning or end of every week to discuss the work they’ve been doing.

What was the History chapter they read about? How did that Spanish quiz go? Can you look over the character sketch they wrote for English? Has every required assignment been uploaded to their MySeton account?

This check-in allows you to monitor your student’s progress, note any particular difficulties they are having, and remedy any issue before it worsens. For example, you don’t want to arrive at the end of the year and discover that your student has not taken half their Algebra tests or failed multiple English assignments due to plagiarism.

Besides the comprehensive weekly review, a daily report from the student is ideal. This daily connection need only be a brief review of activities, but it provides accountability and builds responsibility.

It’s also a time to encourage or congratulate your student on what they’ve done well.

You noticed they’ve been reading faithfully daily; let them know that’s great. They finally spelled “Renaissance” correctly: way to go! They got an outline written: good start!

Teenagers are at a unique time when they often want to work independently, but it’s to their benefit that you check in on them regularly to correct and encourage them.

Theresa O’Connor, Academic Counselor