8th to 9th Transition

Information is beginning to come in regarding the registration process for the 2023/2024 school year. Below, you will find information about this year's transition process. All 8th graders have two potential options for next year. Almost all students will continue on to Albemarle High School for 9th grade. The Academies such as MESA, HMSA, and ESA no longer are open to 9th grade students as they begin in 10th grade. This means a traditional 9th grade year at AHS. The one school in the county that is open to rising 9th grade is the Community Lab School. Below, you will find dates for both schools.

AHS Registration Dates to be aware of:

• December 6th, 2022: ParentPortal opens for AHS Registration
• December 6th, 2022: 6:30 PM on Zoom - 8th grade Family Meeting by AHS. Link to meeting can be accessed here.
• December 7th and 8th: Classroom lessons with 8th grade on the transition process. 
• January 6th, 2023: ParentPortal Registration closes for AHS.
• January 4th to February 17th: Individual family meetings at LMS to discuss 9th grade classes/transition to high school. 
• January 27th: AVID application due
• February 20th - February 28th: 8th grade teachers review student course selections and enter comments on ParentPortal.
• Late March: Summer School registration usually begins (applies to those interested in Summer health and PE).
• March 31st: Last day for class changes.

Community Lab School Dates and Lottery Information:

For those students interested in attending CLS next year, the school admission process is based on interest as well as a lottery system. There are three informational session being held throughout the Winter months. To register for a session, you must fill out this interest form. 

CLS Information Session Dates:

• November 15th 2022
• December 15th, 2022
• January 19th, 2023

Lottery Information:

The Community Lab School is small, and thus can only take a handful of students each year. Their system of enrollment is based on both interest and a lottery. If your child is interested in attending CLS, you should fill out the lottery interest form located here. The admission deadline is January 27th, 2023. Students should receive a lottery update on enrollment by February 3rd, 2023.

Parent Portal Access:

Parent Portal will open for students and parents on December 6th, 2022 and will remain open until January 6th, 2023. Students and families will have one month to register for all classes. All students will select their courses, as well as alternative electives, at this time.

How to Register for Courses on ParentPortal

Starting in January, counselors will meet with all 8th grade students and families to review the courses selected for AHS and answer questions about high school. A sign-up genius will be sent out for meeting dates.

Courses will be finalized in February. Students will not be able to make changes to their course requests for 9th grade by the end of March. At the end of the year, any questions regarding 9th grade courses should be directed to the AHS Counseling Office.
 

Selecting Classes:

9th graders at all high schools will take 8 classes. Freshman Seminar is a required course and will be auto-populated by the high school. Students will select seven classes for their freshman year: English, Math, History, Science, Health and PE I, and two electives or an elective and World Language.
 

Because students may have at most two electives, we ask that students select a few alternates on ParentPortal during the registration window. Many freshmen do not receive their first choice electives, so it is important to review the Program of Studies to select a few back-up choices.

Family/Student/Counselor Meetings:

We all know this is overwhelming, so we invite all of our families in for individual meetings to sit down and talk about 9th grade and answer questions. These 30 minute meetings will be offered throughout January and February. We do this through Sign-up Genius (found below). We do need students at the meeting, so if you sign up to come for a meeting, make sure your child is in school that day. Because there are so many 8th graders and we only have six weeks, Ms. Lindsay is helping me with the registration appointments. We are going with an old school breakdown of last names, so A - K is with Ms. Lindsay, and L - Z will be with Mr. Guy.

Students with the Last Names A - K: Ms. Lindsay’s Sign Up Genius

Students with the Last Names L - Z: Mr. Guy’s Sign Up Genius
 

Denial of Credit Letters: At the end of the current school year, any student who took a high school credit class will receive a Denial of Credit letter. These letters will list all high school credits received in middle school (Spanish I, French I, Algebra I, and/or Geometry) and the grades received for each class. Before entering high school, rising 9th graders can opt to deny the credit if the family was not satisfied with the grade. If a credit is denied, the grade will not show up on a high school transcript. Generally students who choose to deny a credit either repeat the course the following year or opt to take a different course in its place.