Guidance and College Counseling
Guidance
The Guidance department plays an active role in the course selection process by assisting students, advisors, and parents. There is a direct relationship between a student’s course sequence throughout high school and their post-secondary options, and we recognize the importance of course selection and long-range academic planning.
In addition to academic counseling, the Guidance Department offers a variety of services to assist students in reaching their full potential. Personal counseling, educational testing, career education, and college and financial aid counseling are some of its many functions.
Course Selection
The 220+ available courses at St. Johnsbury Academy require a disciplined approach to course selection and the help of experienced counselors. Our semester-based schedule allows ample time to try new things, and we encourage students to follow their interests while at the same time keeping in mind graduation requirements and future plans.
Graduation Requirements
In order to be granted a diploma by St. Johnsbury Academy, a student must complete four years of study, and accumulate 26 credits.
COURSE |
YEARS OF STUDY |
|
Senior Capstone |
1 credit |
|
English |
4 credits – (One Credit earned from Freshman Humanities) |
|
Science |
3 credits |
|
Mathematics |
3 credits |
|
Social Studies |
3 credits – (Humanities, US History (Junior Year), US Government (Senior Year) |
|
Physical Education |
1 1/2 credits |
|
Computer Literacy |
1/2 credit |
|
Critical Skills |
1 credit |
Underclassmen must take eight blocks of study for the year. Seniors must take seven.
St. Johnsbury Academy will not accelerate graduation. Students must achieve four calendar years of resident study in a high school in order to qualify for graduation.
Grade Progression
The Academy is a four-year institution. Students normally progress from the ninth through the twelfth grades and finally to graduation by accumulating credits through successfully passing courses of study. The age of a student does not determine grade placement; the number of credits that the student has accumulated is the determining factor. Students enrolling after grade nine will receive a credit evaluation which will include the specific classes and number of credits needed to meet graduation requirements. At any point in the student’s progression through the Academy, if the student does not accumulate the requisite number of credits to advance to the next class, he will remain in the same class until accumulating enough credits to be promoted to the next class. Some students who fall behind are able to make up missed credits and graduate in four years.
Ability Grouping
Because we are a comprehensive school, we admit students whose intellectual capacities and abilities span a wide range. We believe that students learn best when the material that they are required to learn is presented in a form and at a degree of difficulty matched to their abilities. In nearly all of our academic departments, students are homogeneously grouped; that is, they are placed in instructional sections with students of similar abilities and academic preparation.
All of our academic departments offer courses at four levels of instruction: basic, standard, accelerated, and Advanced Placement. Students who are placed at the basic level have demonstrated a need for instruction in the basic skills required to learn the material of the course. Further, they frequently possess less information than their peers. Students who are placed at the standard level of a course have demonstrated average ability and skills. They possess threshold skills and are sufficiently versed in requisite information to be successful in this college preparatory curriculum.
Students who are placed in the accelerated level of a course have demonstrated advanced skills and possess considerably more information than most students. They have also demonstrated the ability to learn more quickly than their peers. Students are placed in various levels of instruction after careful study of standardized tests they have taken, recommendations of teachers and guidance personnel in the schools from which they came to us, and consultations with each Academy department chair. Students are not placed automatically at a given level of instruction in any department simply because they are in that level of instruction in another department. It is quite common at the Academy for students to be placed at different levels of instruction within different departments. Further, it is the aim of the basic courses at the Academy to equip the students to move to standard levels of instruction as soon as possible.
Department personnel meet regularly to make sure that students are appropriately placed.
SNHU in the High School Dual Enrollment Program
Southern New Hampshire University in the High School’s dual enrollment program with St. Johnsbury Academy, allows qualified high school students (sophomores, juniors or seniors) the opportunity to earn early college credits while in high school. At St. Johnsbury Academy designated courses have been aligned to meet the same content, rigor and learning outcomes as that of the University. The high school teachers instructing these courses meet the University’s adjunct faculty requirement and have been approved by the University. Students will have the opportunity to take advantage of the dual credit opportunities at the beginning of the courses by completing an application and submitting the course registration fee for each class. Once the registration period closes, students will not be allowed to register for college credit. Since these courses are college courses, credit will be awarded by St. Johnsbury Academy and Southern New Hampshire University. SNHU credits portability and transferability rests solely with individual colleges and universities as they have varying policies on accepting transfer credits; thus, it is the students’ responsibility to obtain a transcript from SNHU and to consult with higher educational institutions to determine whether the SNHU course(s) can be transferred. Additional information regarding the program can be directed to the Director of Guidance. In order for dual enrollment course to run, a minimum of six students must enrolled.
Current St. Johnsbury Academy courses offered for dual credit include:
St. Johnsbury Academy Course
Studies in Rhetoric and Composition ACC
Studies in Literature and Composition ACC
Creative Writing ACC/Advanced Creative Writing
United States History ACC
World Civilization Post 1500 ACC
AP European History
AP Microeconomics
Applied Statistics ACC
Applied Calculus ACC
AP Biology
AP Biology Prep
AP Physics C: E & M
Anatomy & Physiology ACC
Chemistry ACC
French I ACC
French II ACC
French III ACC
*French IV ACC
Spanish I ACC
*Spanish II ACC
*Spanish III ACC
*Spanish IV ACC
SNHU Course
College Composition I
Introduction to Literature
Introduction to Creative Writing
U.S. History II: 1865-Present
World Civilizations: 1500-Present
Western Civilization Since 1500
Microeconomics 201
Applied Statistics
Calculus I: Single Variable
General Biology I
General Biology II
Physics I with Lab
Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology with Lab
Fundamentals of Chemistry with Lab
Beginning French I
Beginning French II
*Intermediate French I
*Intermediate French II
Beginning Spanish I
Beginning Spanish II
*Intermediate Spanish I
*Intermediate Spanish II
*SNHU dual enrollment in French and Spanish languages courses, requires beginning with Beginning French I/Beginning Spanish I.
Additional course are being considered for the 21-22 school year.
College Counseling
Because of the very diverse group of students at St. Johnsbury Academy, our approach to College Counseling is student-based, thorough, and wide-ranging. Each year, we place students at top universities and liberal arts colleges, culinary schools, fashion design schools, fine arts schools, engineering schools, technical colleges, and an array of other 2- and 4-year institutions.
Colleges Attended by the Class of 2022
Adelphi University
American University
Barnard College
Bates College
Bentley University
Bishops University
Boston University
Brigham Young University
Champlain College
Colby College
Colby-Sawyer College
College of the Atlantic
Colorado School of Mines
Colorado State University
Columbia University
Community College of Vermont
Concordia College
Cornell University
Curry College
Dalhousie University
Drew University
Eckerd College
Endicott College
ESMOD Paris
Fashion Institute of Technology
Florida International University
Franklin Pierce University
Hofstra University
Hope College
Horry Georgetown Technical College
Husson University
Indiana University – Bloomington
Ithaca College
James Madison University
Keene State College
Lakes Region Community College
Liberty University
Loyola University – New Orleans
Marquette University
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
McGill University
Middlebury College
Montana State University
New Hampshire Technical Institute
Northeastern University
Northern Arizona University
Northern Vermont University
Norwich University
Oberlin College
Pace University
Penn State University
Plymouth State University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rhode Island School of Design
Richard Bland College
Roanoke College
Rochester Institute of Technology
Roger Williams University
Saint Anselm College
Saint Michael’s College
Savannah College of Art & Design
Skidmore College
Southern Maine Community College
St. Lawrence University
Stetson University
Stonehill College
SUNY Canton
Sweet Briar College
Syracuse University
The New School
Tufts University
University Carlos III of Madrid
University of Alaska – Fairbanks
University of Arizona
University of California – Davis
University of California – Irvine
University of California – San Diego
University of California – Santa Barbara
University of Colorado – Boulder
University of Connecticut
University of Denver
University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign
University of Maine – Farmington
University of Maine – Orono
University of Michigan
University of New England
University of New Hampshire
University of New Haven
University of North Carolina – Greensboro
University of Scranton
University of Tampa
University of Tennessee
University of Toronto
University of Utah
University of Vermont
Vermont Technical College
Wellesley College
Wesleyan University
Westminster College – UT
Wheaton College
White Mountains Community College
Word of Life Bible Institute
Colleges Attended the Past Five Years
St. Johnsbury Academy graduates attend a wide range of colleges and universities each year. This is a representative list of schools SJA graduates have enrolled in over the past five years.
American University
Art Institute Chicago
Bard College
Baylor University
Bentley University
Berklee College of Music
Boston University
Bowdoin College
Brandeis University
Brown University
Bucknell University
Business School Lausanne
California College of the Arts
Carnegie Mellon University
Clark University
Clarkson University
Colorado School of Mines
Columbia University
Concordia University (Montreal)
Cornell University
Culinary Institute of America
Dartmouth College
Davidson College
Denison University
Dickinson College
Elon University
Emory University
Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (Los Angeles)
Fashion Institute of Technology
Flagler College
Fordham University
Franklin and Marshall College
George Washington University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Hamilton College
Harvard University
Haverford College
Imperial College London
Indiana University at Bloomington
Johns Hopkins University
Keio University (Japan)
Kent State University
King’s College (London)
Lander University
Lehigh University
Loyola University (New Orleans)
Macalester College
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
McGill University
Miami University (Oxford)
Michigan State University
Middlebury College
Mount Holyoke College
New York University
Northeastern University
Parsons The New School for Design
Pennsylvania State University
Pratt Institute
Princeton University
Providence College
Purdue University
Reed College
Regent’s University (London)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rhode Island School of Design
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rutgers University (New Brunswick)
Sarah Lawrence College
Savannah College of Art and Design
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
School of Visual Arts
Skidmore College
Smith College
St. Lawrence University
St. Olaf College
Syracuse University
Temple University
Trinity College
Trinity College (Dublin)
TUFTS UNIVERSITY
Union College
U.S. Airforce Academy
University of Arizona
University of British Columbia
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Davis
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Irvine
University of California, San Diego
University of Chicago
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Connecticut
University of Florida
University of Illinois at Urbana — Champaign
University of Iowa
University of Maine
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota
University of Montana, Missoula
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
University of New Hampshire
University of Nottingham (UK)
University of Oregon
University of Redlands
University of Rhode Island
University of Rochester
University of Southern California
University of St. Andrews (UK)
University of Texas Dallas
University of the West of England, Bristol (UK)
University of Vermont
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Vassar College
Villanova University
Washington University in St. Louis
Wellesley College
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
