PASS

Panther Academic Success Services (P.A.S.S.)

Panther Academic Support Services (PASS), is offered every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 3 to 4 p.m. and staffed by NCCHS faculty. Students attending PASS can receive tutoring and homework support as well as organizational or other academic support. All PASS services are tailored to meet the needs of each individual student.

PASS is Nouvel Catholic Central's system of support for:

• Students who struggle with one or more school subjects
• Students who are looking for extra help or review in a subject
• Students who are in jeopardy of becoming ineligible for extra-curricular activities due to academic progress.

Who will attend PASS?

• Students who are failing one or more classes are required to attend PASS until they are no longer failing. (Students who are required to attend PASS must stay for the entire hour.)
• Parents can require their students to go to PASS for additional help and support.
• Teachers can highly suggest that students who are struggling and/or may be in danger of failing, go to PASS.
• Students who want help in a particular subject can attend PASS at any time.

In addition to the after-school PASS program, Nouvel offers a Math lab during both lunch periods, where students can receive tutoring from Nouvel faculty.

Additional Tutoring Options

1. Teachers will provide extra academic help if you ask.  If unavailable, ask the teacher to recommend an older or more advanced student who can help.

2. Give Khan Academy a try! Tutorials, videos, practice assessments, and more are available for various subjects including all levels of mathematics, sciences, social studies, arts & humanities, and more! You can even access ACT/SAT preparation tools. The website is completely free!  https://www.khanacademy.org/

3. Parents and other family members can be a good resource.

4. Many churches and community programs provide assistance to students.  Though some may only provide mentoring, ask if they have anyone who can also help a student who’s struggling with school work.

5. College professors can recommend student tutors, especially students who are studying to become future teachers.  They may charge a small fee.

6. Private tutoring is available.  Costs may range from $10-$70 per hour.

7. Online tutoring is also an option and may provide resources such as free homework help sites. Tutoring centers specialize in a systematic approach to bringing students up to speed. These centers offer an easy to use service. Styles, quality and costs vary.

IEP & Accommodation Plans

• Please complete the following form to initiate coordination of additional suppport services for your child

College Essay Tips

Components of a College Essay

Your college essay is not a static piece of writing.  It is a picture of who you are as an individual – in the past, present and in the future.  The essay is a representation of the “you” that is below the surface, that is more than your clothes, more than a list of activities. The essay should be dynamic, meaningful, and personal – only you could write it.  If the essay prompt is asking about your family’s impact on you – it is asking about the impact on you, not extensive information about your family.  The essay is all about YOU!

College Essay - What Should I Write? What Do They Want Me To Write About?

• Don’t describe your science project in detail – describe your curiosity.

• Don't write what you think others want to hear. Answer the question honestly.

• Don't talk about Aunt Sally's death. Talk about how Aunt Sally's death affected you.

• If it's the first time you've thought about it, choose a topic you're more familiar with/interested in.

• Write about something personal that you can be passionate about.

• Don’t spend time/words on a travelogue - where you went and how you got there. If you visited a site where bombings occurred, for example, this could be a great chance to talk about how the violence in the world was now in your face and how you felt about it. Spend more time on connecting your feelings of violence with the bombings. Don’t simply express sympathy for victims. Or relief that you live in a safe environment. You have to get way down inside yourself and express how you really feel.

• Don't ask "what does the admission committee want to read?" but instead ask yourself: "what is it about me that I want to be sure colleges know?"

• Show AND tell; don't simply write that you are a leader; i.e., show how you lobbied the administration to change the study hall policy. Essays show who you are, not simply what you've done.

The following are ideas from college admissions counselors who will be reading your essays.

 What we look for in an essay (in general):

• Sophisticated writing

• Cogent communication

• Passion

• Content

• Answer the question

Landmines - things to avoid or to be very, very careful with:

• the "I" essay

• it's/its

• their/there/they're; etc

• trite phrases or words, such as myriad, plethora, broaden your horizons, etc

• using larger words that don't fit or are inappropriate

  Risks (these topics might work well, but students should be warned of the inherent risks):

• Profanity

• Drugs

• Describing inappropriate behavior

• Boyfriend/girlfriend

• Shock value

• Sympathy

• Travel/community service ("those poor people") - not a warning to not write about these trips, just to be careful about tone when doing so

• Humor

• Writing about depression or other mental health issues

• Writing about religion

• Poetry

Do not rely on spell check!
Online applications - don't treat informally like an email; take care in crafting responses and looking for errors.

Recipe for the College Essay:

• 3 parts thinking to one part writing.

• Write about something you care about (demonstrate passion and intellectual curiosity).

• Be focused and provide detail rather than choosing too broad a topic and not getting specific enough (trying to solve the world in 500 words).

• Attention to detail - avoid the landmines mentioned above and other careless errors such as spelling and grammatical errors, writing in different colored pens on the same application, having your parent or someone else fill out part and you fill out another (different handwriting). No sloppy applications!

• Keep in mind your audience - 23-65 years old with diverse backgrounds.

• Read your essay out loud.

• Have two people review your essays, edit but don't over edit.

• When having someone read your essay, recreate the situation the essay will face - have someone read it in about 2 minutes and then take it away. Ask them what you wrote about (to see if you are clearly getting your point across).

 More about what college admissions staffs say about the personal statement:

• “Write from your soul, write from your heart, and reflect upon your experiences.”

• Be personal.

• Select a subject you can write about with feeling and authority, yet unusual enough to distinguish you from the mass of other applicants.

• Use vivid and precise language; avoid typos, misspellings and grammatical errors.

• It is easy to write about one’s parent(s) as influential, but it is difficult to make a defining difference between your wonderful parent and all the other influential parents.

• The death of a grandparent can be moving and emotional but not unusual.

• It takes time, thought and some intellectualism to write about a particular book, world/local issue or historical figure; perhaps you might interest the reader in your ideas, feelings and analysis of such items.

• Choice of topic is not as important as the level of insight, meaning and analysis offered.

• Tasteful humor is always appreciated; arrogance or fluff turns readers off.

• Personal adversity that affected your academic performance can be the topic of an essay but not as an excuse or to be whined about.

• The most successful essays show curiosity and self-awareness.

The best personal statements are not necessarily the longest.