Placement Services For Current Families

List of 9 items.

• Spring Placement Kick-Off Meeting

  This event takes place in mid-April and is geared toward families who will be entering the placement process in the upcoming school year. The Placement Officers present a comprehensive review of the placement process. Topics include standardized testing, interviewing, touring, online applications, and services provided to families and students during the process. Click HERE to view the April 2024 presentation to parents who are entering the placement process for the 2024-25 school year.

• Family Meeting with Placement Officer

  Beginning in late April, all families entering the Placement process are encouraged to schedule a meeting with the appropriate placement officer. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss finding the right “fit” to match the students’ strengths, weaknesses, and areas of interest while complementing the parents’ vision, dreams, and plans. Prior to this meeting, the Placement Officer will have reviewed the student’s permanent file, including report cards and existing standardized testing.

• Application Management

  RCS manages all aspects of teacher and supplemental recommendations including supplying forms and releases to families, working with teachers to be sure that all recommendations speak in harmony, and compiling grades and transcripts, and delivering these documents to secondary schools.

  
  Application materials that are the responsibility of the family include: fee, essays, short answers, graded writing sample (if applicable), parent statement, biographical info, photograph, etc. Parents must also send selected SSAT scores (when applicable) electronically to each admissions office. 

  
  

  Application materials that are sent by RCS include: cover letter, placement counselor recommendation letter and form, current English teacher recommendation letter and form, current math teacher recommendation letter and form, optional additional recommendation letter(s), grades, transcripts.

  
  

  Each school typically requires at least two teacher recommendations. Because our teachers know your child so well, they are able to provide thoughtful, in-depth insights that provide a unique profile of your child and help them stand out from the broader applicant pool.

   

• Interview and Tour Preparation and Practice

  To help students prepare for the one-on-one interactions required for most schools, the Placement Office meets with each student privately to discuss their interests and give tips on tours and interviews.

  
  

  • RCS conducts a mock interview with each student prior to their first school visit. This is an opportunity to practice interview skills and to receive constructive feedback that will help them perform their best during their school interview.

  • Students will be asked to complete a self-reflection to prepare for visits and interviews, as well as to focus on applications. 

  • Prior to each school visit, the Placement Office will send a letter of introduction on your child’s behalf to the appropriate admissions offices.

  • Students are encouraged to send a brief thank you note to the admissions officer with whom they met; sending this note via email is acceptable, and this may be an ideal moment for students to create an email address that can be used for correspondence through high school, college, and beyond. (Students should not use their RCS email addresses, as external emails cannot be received.)

• Q&A Sessions

  Parent Workshop: “Applications: Tips, Logistics, and Managing the Process”

  September 10, 2024 6:00 p.m. 
  
  Click HERE to view a recording of this workshop.

  
  In order to demystify the application process, the Placement Office will provide specific instructions on navigating the various online application sites such as Gateway, SAO, and Ravenna. They will also walk parents through the SSAT and provide answers to FAQs about the process, review deadlines, parent vs. school responsibilities, and best practices for application management.

  
  

  Parent Workshop:  “Nuts and Bolts, Expectations and Myths, and How to Navigate the Final Phases of the Application Process”

  Tuesday, January 21, 2025, 6:00 p.m. (Zoom)
  
  Applications are in — what now? Join this Zoom session to learn about the nuts and bolts of decision-making and how you can support your child through the associated emotional roller coaster.

• Parent/Guardian Support

  The Placement Office hopes to support parent and guardians as well as students. Families are encouraged to schedule private meetings with the Placement Officers as often as necessary. Additionally, the Placement Office is available by phone and email, as needed.

  
  The Placement Office also publishes a monthly newsletter filled with important information and helpful tips for navigating the placement process.

   

• Standardized Testing Administration

  Seventh Graders:

  
  

  RCS administers and pays for the administration of a "benchmark" SSAT to all seventh graders in the spring of their seventh-grade year to expose students to standardized testing and to establish a baseline for each student. These scores are unofficial and are received by RCS to use simply as an internal tool to begin to think about the placement process for each student. As per SSAT’s policy, “Benchmark scores may not be reported to families or other score recipients.” The Placement Office, however, is happy to discuss scores on an individual basis during our one-on-one meetings. 
  
  

  
  

  Eighth and Ninth Graders:

  RCS also administers and pays for the administration of an SSAT “Flex” test for all RCS eighth and ninth grade students. This test is administered during school each November.  A student may take two Flex tests in a testing year (August 1 - July 31). After taking a Flex test, any additional SSATs a student takes in the same testing year must be Standard tests. 

  
  

  RCS is a host site for Standard tests in both December and January. Registration and payment for these tests are the responsibility of the family. Please designate RCS (code: 6046) as a score recipient. 

   

• Test Preparation

  RCS has contracted Test Innovators for all eighth grade students. This test prep platform offers the opportunity for significant online independent practice via diagnostic tests, question banks, performance analysis, and tracking. This course will also support students in developing test-taking strategies. The cost of this course is covered by RCS. 

  
  

  Additionally, eighth graders will receive instruction in test preparation and strategy throughout the fall and taught by RCS faculty members. Seventh graders will receive some test preparation in the spring of 2025.

  
  

  It is important to note that while we can provide these opportunities for your children, it will be the responsibility of the family to help students optimize the Test Innovators program and/or to provide additional supplemental support in preparation for standardized testing, if needed. 

  
  

  Please contact Ridley Sperling at sperling@rcsny.org for more information about Test Innovators.

  
  

   

• Testing Accomodations

  EMA is committed to ensuring that test takers with disabilities receive reasonable accommodations when taking the SSAT.  
  
  If you know your child receives testing accommodations of any sort on standardized tests, or you think your child might receive testing accommodations of any sort on standardized tests, please contact Kristin Sammeta, RCS Learning Center Director at sammeta@rcsny.org.

  
  

  If applicable, parents will need to request specific accommodations and receive approval prior to being able to register for any test. This also impacts RCS's ability to register said student for the November flex test. Once parents make the request for Special Accommodations online through the SSAT website (ssat.org), Kristin Sammeta, as the "approver", will receive an email detailing the requested accommodations, which can either be approved or denied based on the student's testing on file. Once approved, parents will receive confirmation and can then register for any test and will be granted accommodations for any administration during that academic year.

  
  

  Please contact Kristin Sammeta at sammeta@rcsny.org with any questions about this process for your child.