Welcome
This page will provide information relevant to 9th graders here at Midlothian High School. As you peruse our resources, if you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to your School Counselor!
Graduation Requirements
Standard and Advanced Diploma Requirements
SOL Tests
How to read your transcript:
- Grade Scale for CCPS
- Calculating your GPA
- Weighted vs. Unweighted
- When do I get credit?
Need to see a school counselor?
Tips for Freshmen
- Make sure you are enrolled in classes designed to prepare you for college
- Meet your School Counselor, they will likely be writing a college recommendation for you
- Talk about careers, professions, and/or studies that interest you
- Visit a the website VA Education Wizard- www.vawizard.org and take Career Assessments
- Join service organizations in high school and in your community that may expose you to new interests and possible careers
- Look for opportunities to work or volunteer with people who are professionals in careers that interest you.
- Look for enriching summer programs that you can participate in during the summer
- Talk with your parents or relatives about your options, ambitions, and aspirations
- There have been increasing concerns about how students’ social media image could be affecting their college and employment prospects.
- If you start to feel overwhelmed, talk to someone! Tell your parents, counselor, or teachers, don’t wait until it’s too late!
- Get involved!
- Start keeping track of your activities and accomplishments – use a spreadsheet on Google Drive or another type of document that you will continually have access to throughout high school. You can later use this list to create a resume or fill out applications, and you won’t forget anything!
- Visit your teachers during office hours or after school – you will want to have a strong relationship with your teachers so later on you can ask them to write letters of recommendation for colleges or serve as a reference for job applications.
- Take some career assessments to start getting an idea of what you want to pursue after high school! Some assessments include:
- https://www.vawizard.org/wizard/careersAssess
- https://www.mynextmove.org/explore/ip
- https://www.yourfreecareertest.com/
- https://www.princetonreview.com/quiz/career-quiz
- Look for opportunities to work or volunteer with people who are professionals in careers that interest you. Stop by the school counseling office for the Community Service permission form and the log where you can record volunteer hours.
- Schedule college visits. Research the schools ahead of time and don’t be afraid to ask questions on the tour! Find out what programs they offer and what life on campus will be like. Identify characteristics that you like in a school and try to avoid wanting to go to a school just based on name. Remember you will be looking for the school that is the best fit for YOU.
- Sophomore students will take the PSAT mid-October 2019
- PSAT Practice Material – https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt-psat-10/practice
- Start doing test prep for the SAT/ACT.
- ACT Academy is a free test prep resource for the ACT (www.actstudent.org)
- Khan Academy Practice – (https://www.khanacademy.org/)
- PSAT Practice Material – https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt-psat-10/practice
- Clean up your social media accounts. Colleges and jobs use social media to get an idea of what kind of people their applicants are. Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want a grandparent to see!
- Do your homework and make time to review and study every day. Your grades this year matter! Your freshman and sophomore year grades go into the GPA that you will use to apply to colleges. Even if you are not happy with your current GPA, you can work to improve it!
- Work with your school counselor to ensure you are fulfilling graduation requirements and planning for an appropriately rigorous schedule over the next two years.
- Thinking about taking an AP course? – https://ap.collegeboard.org/
- AP Credit Policy – https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/creditandplacement/search-credit-policies
- Learn to make the most efficient use of your time
- Use SMART goals to keep you on task (www.studyright.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/SMART-Goals-Tracker.pdf)
- Include down time in your schedule
- Prepare for the ACT (www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/test-preparation/act-academy.html)
- Review your four-year academic plan with your counselor
- Plan rigorous academic courses for your junior year
- Enroll in Honors, Dual Enrollment (DE), Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses, which may earn college credit, if you are looking to pursue college as an option beyond high school
- Extracurricular activities – Join a club or try out for a sports team
- Volunteer for something you find important
- Explore summer opportunities—be mindful of application deadlines Career exploration
- Seek summer opportunities to work or volunteer in your field of interest
- Take an interest inventory—it expands your ideas for careers you may enjoy (https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/explore-careers)
- Have conversations with counselors, teachers, family and community members about their career paths and what they studied in college College search
- Visit campuses—think about size, location and campus programs
- Try online college fairs and virtual campus tours (https://campustours.com)
- Use an online search engine to find colleges (http://bigfuture.collegeboard.org) Summer Summer opportunities
- Create a summer reading list from teacher recommendations
- Confirm your summer plans (e.g., work, academic enrichment programs, summer workshops, service learning, travel, camps, internship, campus tours) Money management
- Learn about types of scholarships and grants (www.finaid.org, www.studentaid.gov)
- Take a financial education course (www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/moneysmart/young.html)
Use the tools found on the College Affordability and Transparency Center website (https://collegecost.ed.gov) to compare and estimate your college costs.
Important reminders for Junior Year:
- Do your best in all classes! If you are planning to apply to college, this year will be the most recent academic progress colleges will review when you apply in the fall/winter of your Senior Year.
- If college bound, sign up to take an SAT or ACT test – or both! Most schools will accept either test, some schools no longer require a test score at all. Do your research for the colleges you are interested in.
- Start thinking about your plan for after high school – you don’t have to have it all figured out, but start researching and investigating what interests you.
Resource list for Juniors!
- Opportunities Booklet – this booklet is given to our Juniors during their spring scheduling meeting. This is a fantastic resource covering everything you need to know regarding higher education in Virginia!
- You may download a copy here: https://www.ecmc.org/students/opportunities-guide-workbook.html
- SAT / College Board: www.collegeboard.org
- Sign up for SAT testing, free study prep for the test using Khan Academy, review information on AP courses, college search engine “Big Future”
- ACT: www.actstudent.org
- Sign up for ACT testing
Transcript Requests
If you are a current student and need to order your transcript please place an order in Parchment. If you do not have a Parchment account set up please see the transcript request Process tab on this page for instructions or visit school counseling for assistance. Alumni please follow this link to the Division’s Transcript webpage for more information about ordering a transcript.
Recommendation Letters
Please email your counselor if you need a recommendation letter for your college application. Make sure to include the name of the college applying to and the due date. Please allow 2 weeks processing time. The letter will be uploaded into Parchment and sent to the school electronically. Please make sure you have turned in your Senior autobiography.
- Please note that we do not participate with Common AP so there is no need to print the signature pages to turn in to your counselor.
- Graduation dates will be announced each year by CCPS and can be found on the school calendar.
Senior Information
FAFSA Information
FSA ID
Opportunities Book
Financial Aid Appointments
GRASP Program
GRASP Program Video
Test Prep Resources
PSAT (College Board)
PSAT (Kaplan)
SAT (Kaplan)
SAT – CollegeBoard.org
This is a FABULOUS resource for parents and students to use as they prepare in advance for the SATs. It includes content tips, calculator tips, and frequently asked questions about changes to the Math SAT and is a MUST for students who are taking the new SAT. Link your CollegeBoard account to Khan Academy for personalized SAT prep!
PSAT – CollegeBoard.org
Score reports for the in-school PSAT are available online within just a few weeks. A schedule of when scores are available can be found on the College Board website here. Don't forget that Chesterfield County offers a free SAT prep course in the fall and spring, details can be found here.
ACT – ACTStudent.org
An independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to measurement and research for those making educational and career transitions; administrates a widely taken college admissions test.
AP Exams – CollegeBoard.org
The Advanced Placement (AP) program, sponsored by the College Board and administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), offers secondary school students the opportunity to participate in challenging college-level course work while still in high school. Students can receive credit, advanced placement, or both from thousands of colleges and universities that participate in the AP program. Each exam consists of multiple-choice and free-response sections. Most exams are three hours long and cover two semesters of college-level work; those that test one semester of work are generally two hours long.
Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) – http://www.military.com/asvab
We have a number of resources that are available to students in all grades:
Freshmen: begin your planning now. We can help you assess your academic and personal interests/strengths.
Sophomores: continue to add to your student resume with in and out of school experiences. We can provide you with some SAT/ACT prep materials as you review your PSAT results and acquaint you with career planning websites.
Juniors: develop your career and training paths–in order to focus your efforts as you approach senior year. Begin to attend college representative visits here in the Career Center and prepare for standardized testing-if college bound.
Seniors: refine your list of schools/majors as you compare your college options. Complete the FAFSA [available October 1] and make an appointment with the GRASP representative, to assist with college funding questions. If post-high school employment is your goal, we can assist with this transition as well.
When available, additional scholarship opportunities and links will be shared with students via CANVAS, and after financial aid meetings with our GRASP representative.
For information regarding life after graduation from Midlothian H.S., please contact your student's school counselor. We offer ASVAB testing, information regarding Job Corp, the apprenticeship school, and a school day program entitled "Life after High School."
Here are instructions on how to request access to your transcript on Parchment.com.
What is Parchment.com?
Parchment is the secure site that CCPS has partnered with to store your Midlothian High School transcript. From this site you will be able to view your transcript, save it, print it and email your transcript directly from this site. Once you begin the college application process you will use Parchment.com to request your official transcript be sent directly to the schools you are applying to.
Here are the steps:
Please visit this link to see the whole process: Register with a Registration Link
- Complete the transcript release form: MDHS Transcript Release Form
Please make sure to fill the form and provide a valid personal email address. - Once you finish step 1 , check your email to see if you received an email from Parchment.com with a link to activate your account, it usually takes between 1-3 business days for you to receive it depending on our office hours.
- When you receive the email from Parchment you will be asked to verify some personal information. Then you will be able to view your transcript and order it to be sent to the school/s you are applying to.
**Please Note: If you don't provide our office with your personal email address you will not be able to create an account.
If you have any questions please contact the Midlothian High School Counseling office at 804-378-2440.
If your student is withdrawing from Midlothian High School to enroll in another school, please follow the procedure below to ensure their records are correctly transferred.
Withdrawal Procedure:
- Contact the counseling office: The official withdrawal process is initiated through the MHS counseling office. Please call to schedule an appointment: 804-378-2440 (Select the Counseling option)
- Clear all accounts: Prior to finalizing the withdrawal, the student must return all school-issued materials (Chromebook, library books, textbooks) and settle any outstanding fees.
- Official Records: Once we receive a record request from your student's new school, we will send the records within 24-48 hours.
We wish your student the best of luck at their new school!
