Services: School Counseling
High School Counseling
Case managers help students and families take advantage of high school choices through individualized school application advisories that help students apply for and enter academically rigorous high schools.
San Francisco is an “Open Enrollment” school district, which enables us to move students from poorly performing middle schools to high performing high schools. In their new high schools, students take pre-college courses and First Graduate provides the additional academic and personal support our students need to succeed in their challenging new school environments.
We work closely with high school teachers and administrators, and indeed many of our partner schools accept our students because they know that First Graduate is working with them. Case managers ensure that students are taking their pre-college courses and maintaining competitive grades. Staff and mentors take students on a three-day camping retreat in the August before ninth grade to team-build and develop coping skills.
College Counseling
Case managers help students and families research college programs and financial aid, conduct campus visits, and hold test and college application workshops. College visits take place each year - every student in First Graduate will be visiting colleges with First Graduate staff. These visits help students gain a better understanding of the variety of types of colleges, inform them about possible majors and campus life, give them opportunities to meet other first-generation or nontraditional students, and foster an atmosphere of college expectation in First Graduate’s program. First Graduate also hosts college admissions counselors at our facilities to talk to students.
We hold standardized test workshops for all students in 10-12 grade. Our population typically struggles with standardized test scores and we contract with a professional test coaching company to help students compete with their more affluent peers. The Academic Program helps build basic math and literacy skills in grades 7-9, and test workshops focus on test skills and refresher courses. A senior retreat is held in August for students to gather and develop their college choice list, timeline, and working plan for college applications.
The high school selection and application process is difficult to navigate, especially for recent immigrant families. First Graduate case managers help students understand high school choices and ensure that students fulfill college entrance requirements.
